the ides of annogram

Kattywompus to publish my second chapbook

March seems more like Poetry Month to me! Kattywompus Press accepted my second chapbook, St. Agnes, Pink-Slipped, for publication. I am thrilled to be working with editor Sammy Greenspan, a Pushcart-nominated poet. More details to come.

How I came to translate

My essay, “Learning to Translate Headache Poetry,” appears in the latest Source. This piece recalls how professional translator Ligia Yamazaki guided my first efforts translating the magical poetry of Hélène Sanguinetti. Once again, my appreciation to editor Michele Aynesworth….

Anomalous Press debuts

Thanks to Anomalous Press, you can sample Hélène’s work in this fresh new journal that features recorded as well as print work. Hélène’s fable, although written years ago, seems to anticipate the calls for justice erupting all over the globe. Read or listen and see if you agree.

Not for poets only: Mapping Lyric Narrative

I can’t wait to give this workshop at the second annual Unicorn Writers Conference April 9. Other topics that day include writing the graphic novel, screenplays and comedy, as well as using social media to market one’s work. After attending last year, a friend completed a manuscript which is now in the hands of an agent. Need some traction? This is where you want to be.

How to warm up a winter eve

My husband Michael and I headed out one cold Sunday night to hear The Moses Brothers (Mo’ Bros) at 12 Grapes in Peekskill. Michael’s high school classmate, John Moses, and his brother Bill, created some welcome heat through skillful guitar—from Chicago blues to down-home gospel. Hope to see them again at 12 Grapes, a fantastic venue with big comfortable couches, atmospheric brick walls and excellent menu.

The Metropolis Organism launches

Congratulations to Frank Vitale for the successful book launch of his ground-breaking work, The Metropolis Organism. More than 100 people attended the party at the Garnerville Arts & Industrial Center, heard Frank give a presentation and then purchased his work in CD form. Frank, an outrageously creative filmmaker, interviewed me on the creative process in prior annograms (below).

If the shoe fits…

Racoco Productions will perform If The Shoe Fits at the Emelin Theater on Saturday, March 19 at 3 p.m. The New York Times calls this piece “like being lost in a fun-house mirror, sweet and innocent and threatening all at once.” Tickets $40, $20 for children. Don’t miss this inventive performance troupe!

'Round the Net

Thanks to the following who shared these great links:

· ADA activist and writer Jim Barry for this mind-boggling video on the power of the Internet, supposedly created for SONY executives.

· The ALTA listserv for this NPR interview with translator Lydia Davis.

· Filmmaker extraordinaires Patrick Schechter and Matthew Fernandez who created this hilarious “Journey Through the 20^th Century (With Clay)” as their high school senior options project.

· My niece, Elizabeth Gregory, for leading me to www.DonorsChoose.org, a fantastic site that helps great teachers like Elizabeth fund their school projects.

· Thom Pernice for the updated Scarsdale Rocks site.

· Jay Shulman for new music available by his late father, the composer Alan Shulman.

· Poet Linda Simone for “Cardinal Musings” in Moon Dance and this video of Billy Collins on The Truth About Poetry.

· Artist Angela Virsinger for this “beautiful eye candy” and more.

· And congratulations to Catherine Wald, whose new poetry book, Distant burned out stars, received a Gurfein Family Foundation Honorable Mention Award.

What a winter in New York! Snow piled up like sleeping dinosaurs. We’ve moved the clock forward, and the new season arrives — at least on the calendar — next week. Wishing you creativity that springs ahead too.

Until next time,

Ann