your summer solstice annogram

Still glowing

From my book launch this spring!  Thanks to the more than 40 people who came to the Hudson River Museum to hear me read from Face Painting in the Dark (Dos Madres Press, 2014). I have such a beautiful circle of talented artists, musicians, poets, and writers in my life, and more in the wider annogram community. You know who you are!  

Auden, Johnson, and the Psalms

When the Episcopal Church set about updating the Book of Common Prayer, its committee to retranslate the Psalms faced a daunting task: Not only did it have to rework the Psalms, but the committee’s one poet, W. H. Auden, was returning to his native England.  In the current Illuminations, I interview poet and translator J. Chester Johnson on how he came to replace Auden, correspond with him, and help refine the Psalms in light of new scholarship. 

Alan Shulman in 1954

Alan Shulman and New York’s Golden Age of Music

Imagine, as part of the NBC Orchestra, rehearsing to perform for the Israel’s first president, Chaim Weizmann, in 1949.  Leonard Bernstein is unhappy with Kurt Weill's arrangement of the Israeli national anthem.  Cellist Alan Shulman offers to rearrange it and, doing so, earns the legendary conductor's “gratitude and great respect.”  To learn more, read this fascinating article by Alan’s son, Jay Shulman.

Carol Booth admires her and
Michael Holstein's photos

Cuba: Contrasting Visions

Congratulations to Michael Holstein and Carol Booth for photos exhibited this month in Cuba: Contrasting Visions at the Museum Gallery at the Palm Beach (FL) Photographic Centre.  Two years ago, Michael and Carol snapped up colorful photos of Cuba—while practicing their other passion—conversing in Spanish.

Texas, fair pay, and cars

I am thrilled to have work in Raising Lilly Ledbetter: Women Poets Occupy the Workspace (Lost Horse Press, 2015); Coming off the line:  The Car in American Culture (Main Street Rag Press, 2015) the 2016 Texas Poetry Calendar (Dos Gatos Press, 2015).  Order now to receive prepublication discounts.

New books

Alexandra Van de Kamp

A Liquid Bird Inside the Night by Alexandra Van de Kamp (Red Glass Books, 2015): “Each night I sleep wrapped in a gown / of crying stars. Whether they cry / to plea or sing is always difficult / and tenuous to decipher….” from “Nightgown.”  Send $12 check (includes shipping) payable to Alexandra van de Kamp, 206 E. Lullwood Avenue, Apt. A, San Antonio, TX 78212. 

Soft Passer by Shane Anderson (Mindmade Books, 2015) pulses with an alluring mosaic-like dissonance. Order for $7 or as part of Mindmade Books’ 2015 series for $25, which includes work by Pedro Xavier Solís Cuadra (trans. Suzanne Jill Levine), Piotr Macierzyński (trans. Aleksandra Malecka & Piotr Marecki), and Ciara Miller.

Summer Solstice Pita

Now is the time to eat light, and this pita is a no-brainer.  Serves two with side such as coleslaw:

One whole pita

Juice of ½ organic lemon

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive (EVO) oil

Handful of organic baby kale

½ cup shredded organic carrots

¼ organic English cucumber, sliced

½ organic avocado, sliced

2-4 slices of smoked salmon (optional)

Halve pita so two pockets form. Toast until crisp in toaster oven.  Combine lemon juice with olive oil.  Stuff each pita-half with vegetables in above order and salmon if desired; drizzle with lemon dressing.  To make chips: Slice whole pita in pie sections, splitting each apart.  Sprinkle with EVO and broil in oven or toaster oven until curled and starting-to-brown. Great for dips and to replace potato chips!

’Round the Net

Congratulations and/or thanks to:

Guy Bennett, poet and publisher, for alert that Mindmade Books is on Facebook

Sarah Bracey White, memoirist, on giving keynote address at Morgan State's Writing Center's First Annual Open House

Lilac and Gold by Hector Bitar

Michael Cefola, guitarist, for this great Gibson interview with Les Paul

Terry Dugan, poet and filmmaker, for this too-true "workshop" critique of Jane Austen

Gary Glauber, for work in Crab Fat Literary Magazine, Pilgrimage, Silver Birch Press, and West Trade Review

Beth Gersh-Nesic, art historian, for introducing me to Hector Bitar’s work, and scholarly review of the Demoiselles Staring Back

Janet Kaplan, poet and publisher, on editing Hofstra’s new literary journal, AMP

Kevin Pilkington, poet, for having his poem appear in the Poetry Society of America's Poem-A-Day

Linda Simone, poet and artist, for this fascinating history on Brooklyn's Free African-American neighborhood

Jay Shulman, music archivist, for remembering jazz saxophonist Ornette Colman and Ronnie Gilbert of the Weavers

Frank Vitale, filmmaker, for Episodes 18-20 of the Metropolis Organism

Wishing you a summer of spontaneity and joy!

Until next time,

Ann

your MLK Jr annogram

Face Painting at Amazon

You can find my poetry collection, Face Painting in the Dark (Dos Madres Press, 2014), on Amazon.  A friend found a copy at Barnes and Noble—which, for me, was like turning onto Hollywood and Vine!  If you love your annograms and enjoyed Face Painting, please write a brief review on Amazon or Goodreads.

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Johnson speaker at Martin Luther King Jr. service

Poet J. Chester Johnson gave the MLK Jr. sermon today at Trinity Wall Street Church; past speakers have included Andrew Young, Jesse Jackson, Marion Wright Edelman and Calvin Butts.  Johnson’s writing on civil rights is archived at Queens College which Andrew Goodman attended before being martyred in Mississippi, with James Chaney and Michael Schwerner.  You can hear Johnson’s extraordinary story of hatred and reconciliation across generations here.

Sarah Bracey White

MLK Jr. Breakfast featuring Sarah Bracey White

Memoirist Sarah Bracey White,  author of Primary Lessons (Cavan Kerry Press, 2013), will be the keynote speaker at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Breakfast held by the Village of Hastings on Monday, January 19 at the James Harmon Community Center.  Breakfast will be served 9:30 – 11 a.m., and the event ends at 12:30 p.m.  Adults $15 and children $5.  Read Sarah’s reflections on how she came to write her book here.

The late Mark Strand

Mark Strand Memorial Reading

Poets House will host a Mark Strand Memorial Reading today at 5 p.m. Poets Laureate Charles Simic and Charles Wright, actor Mary Louise Parker, painter William H. Bailey, composer and pianist John Musto, playwright John Guarre, novelist Francine Prose, and others will pay tribute to Mark Strand (1934-2014). Free admission.

PBS documentary:  Language Matters

On Wednesday, January 21, at 6 p.m., Poets House will honor the PBS documentary Language Matters with Bob Holman with film clips and performances by Native American poets, a Hawaiian hālau hula, talks on Yiddish and Welsh, Q & A with Bob Holman and a reception.  Admission is free at the National Museum of the American Indian.  The film airs on PBS THIRTEEN Sunday, January 25 at 12:30 p.m.

Transgenres with Vijay Seshadri

Vijay Seshadri

Why do so many poets also write prose nonfiction? What transformations occur between poem and essay? Pulitzer Prizewinner Vijay Seshadri, whose newest book is 3 Sections (Graywolf, 2013), will discuss notions of identity, form, and fulfillment for contemporary writers on Saturday, February 7, at 3 p.m. at Poets House.  Admission: $10, $7 for students and seniors, free to Poets House members

Deborah Coulter website

Deborah Coulter

Deborah Coulter’s website features a new portfolio of recent charcoal drawings, and links to latest exhibit info on Facebook, and her blog which includes a new collage each week. You can purchase ArtPrints of Deborah’s drawings and collages in various sizes at Society6.  Annogram loves Deborah’s work and wishes her all the best in 2015!

Chili Con Elote

Blow off winter chill with my version of a New Laurel’s Kitchen (Ten Speed Press, 1986) chili that tastes even better the next day.  The original Laurel’s Kitchen secured my early foray into meatless eating with savory meals, sandwiches and soups.  I treasure this cookbook and its step-by-step directions for making bread.

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic

2 tablespoons oil

1 green pepper, diced

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1 cup chopped tomato, or

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cups of V8 juice

1 cup frozen corn

4 cups cooked kidney, black, or pinto beans*

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon oregano

Sauté onion and garlic clove in oil until onion is soft. Crush garlic clove. Add green pepper and spices. Sauté 2 - 3 minutes.  Add tomatoes, V8 juice and corn. Mash 2 cups of beans and add to pot with whole beans, salt, and oregano. Simmer 30 minutes.  A little soupy at first but great over brown rice the second day.  *If you use canned beans like I do, purchase BPA-free cans such as Eden Foods at a health food store.

ʼRound the Net

Francesco Fragomeni and Chris Limbrick
interpret Degas' "Two Dancers"

Thanks and/or congratulations to:

ALTA list-serve for sharing the 75 most notable translations of 2014

Translation journal Asymptote on its fourth anniversary

Poet Lyn Clague for his poem “Constitution Square” in The Potomac

Food activist Ronnie Cummins on 12 ways consumers can fight GMO foods

Poet Gary Glauber for work in Calliope, Fine Flu, The Gambler, Ginger Piglet, Junkyard Kool, and Work to a Calm

Translator Roger Greenwald for noting the passing of Polish poet Stanislaw Baranczak

Poet Cindy Hochman for Pedestal reviews of When I Wake It Will Be Forever (Sundress Publications, 2014) and On the Bevel (Cinnamon Press, 2014)

Poet S. E. Ingraham for this video of ModPo’s Al Filreis on MOOCs (scroll)

See http://www.demilked.com/fools-do-art-
painting-recreations-francesco-fragomeni-
chris-limbrick/
for more, this link courtesy Linda Simone

Poet Meg Lindsay for her “Buddha Poem” in Tricycle

Poet Robert Murphy reading in New York last fall – Part 1 and Part 2; and a review of Life in the Ordovician (Dos Madres Press, 2007)

The Pedestal on its 14^th anniversary issue

Poet Kevin Pilkington for his recent workshop at MIT on poet Richard Hugo

Bassist Larry Schwartzman for the Pope’s reassurance that all dogs go to heaven

Music archivist Jay Shulman for noting the passing of rocker Joe Cocker

Poet Linda Simone for this workshopped Emily Dickinson poem and inspired take on classical art

Wising Up Press for this call for poetry on siblings

Weird Al Yankovic for taking a stand on correct language only as he can

We close this annogram with a quote from the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968):

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.

Here’s to the final word.

Until next time,

Ann