Friday, December 16, 2022

your merry annogram


Dear annogrammers, Wishing you wonderful holidays, where we bring light into the dark of winter, celebrate cherished traditions, and open ourselves to joy. In Huntington (NY), festivities include lighting the Leg Lamp, aka “a major award,” well-known thanks to the iconic film A Christmas Story. Whatever you do, have fun, be safe, and give thanks for those you love.

 

 

What? No Madeleine?

 

In Beth Gersh-Nesic’s fantastic new blog, Beyond Babka, we learn that a tea-soaked madeleine did not inspire Proust’s memory of his childhood—but toast, or the unpalatable French word tranche. A first draft reveals the historic literary moment arrived via toast and jam (confiture). We can thank the great writer for substituting the more magical-sounding madeleine, cradled in a teaspoon of the herbal tilleul. For more, Beth shares this article with more unknown facts on Proust.

 

 

Virginia Woolf: A Modern Mind

 

Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) spent her creative life pushing the boundaries of literature. Best known for Mrs. Dalloway (1925), To the Lighthouse (1927), and A Room of One’s Own (1929), she engaged questions of gender, class, consciousness, and privilege. Now the New York Public Library is providing an intimate view of the author’s life and creative process through her personal notebooks and diaries, family photographs, and unpublished letters. Free through March 5; register here.

 

 

Sarah Bracey White Sizzles

 

Congratulations to Sarah on being named Westchester Senior of the Year. Poet, playwright, memoirist, and public speaker, Sarah has shared her talent for decades by creating, among many projects, youth writing workshops and hundreds of art exhibits as executive director of Greenburgh Arts and Culture. Her memoir Primary Lessons (CavanKerry Press) precipitated Transcendence, where she debuted as playwright and actor last year; and she is a frequent Read650 (see 1:12:45) reader. Wow!

 

 

Holly Jolly Holiday Art Show & Boutique

 

"The Last Supper" (2022)
Watercolor and acrylic on paper
by Laura Lopez
In On December 17, 2-4 pm, Kapej Gallery & Cafe (San Antonio) will host an opening reception for new artworks by artists Laura Lopez, Vera Smith, and Linda Simone. Enjoy stress-free shopping, complimentary refreshments, and unique gifts including exhibited art as well as jewelry, accessories, cards and more. The art exhibit continues through early January. Instagram: @kapej.satx

 

 

Creative Opportunities

 

Apricity Press open call, deadline Jan. 1

Atmosphere Press, open call all genres, read the fine print carefully

 

Codhill Press Pauline Uchmanowicz Poetry Award ($30), deadline Dec. 30

 

The Fairy Tale Magazine, open call on love, deadline Jan. 2

 

The Poet Magazine, on climate change, deadline Dec. 31

 

Pure Slush, writing on Stella’s Secret Sonata, opens Jan. 1

 

 

New and Recent Releases

 

Adam Cornford, Lalia (Chax Press)

 

Ryler Dustin, Something Bright (Green Linden Press)

 

Circumference, Issue 10

 

First Literary Review-East

 

 



Creative Workshops

 

All-Genre Writers Group, 6:30pm, Thursdays

 

John McMullen Poetry Workshop, 6pm, fourth Wednesdays

 

Mahopac Poetry Workshop, 6pm, second Wednesdays

 

ModPo, University of Pennsylvania’s free poetry course and global community

 

Norwalk Poetry Workshop, first and third Mondays, 6:30pm; email poet_laureate@norwalkpl.org to register


 

The Poets Salon, led by Ed Ahern and Alison McBain of Fairfield Scribes Press, 10am, every second Saturday

 

Writers and Artists Lunch Conversation, second Fridays, noon

 

 

December Events – ET

 

Photo by Bill Buschel
Broken Angels: Photography by Bill Buschel; HVWC, Mondays and Wednesdays, 10 am-2 pm; Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, 5-7:30pm, through December; call 914-332-5953 to verify times



Heedan Chung in Members’ Open: Small Works at the Provincetown Art Association and Museum, through January 8

 

Poet Christin Rau with Akua Lezli Hope in Afrofutruistic Pastoral Speculative Poetry Series on Facebook, December 21, at 7pm


Now through March 5, New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, Virgina Woolf: A Modern Mind, free: register here


Voices Group Exhibition, Upstream Gallery (Hastings-on-Hudson), through December

 

 






Monthly Readings – ET

 

First Sunday, 4pm, Poetic License (Austin)

 

Every Tuesday, 2pm, Spoken Word World (Paris)

 

Every Tuesday, 7pm, Curley’s Diner

 

Third Fridays, 7pm, Hudson Valley Writers Center Open Mic – click third Friday for details

 

Frequent Saturdays (check Facebook), 5pm, LitBalm


 

Shortbread Stars

 

This comes via The Vermont Country Store’s Our Vermont journal.

 

16 tablespoons salted butter, softened
1 cup confectioners’ sugar

1 ½ teaspoons almond extract

1 ¼ teaspoons ground cardamom

½ teaspoon table salt

1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cup cornstarch

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate

Flaky sea salt (optional)

 

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F and set racks on upper and lower third. Line two large baking sheets with parchment and set aside. In large bowl, cream butter, sugar, almond extract, cardamom, and salt. Add flour and cornstarch, and beat until dough forms. Gather into a ball, press into a disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour and up to 2 days. Gently roll dough onto floured surface to ¼-inch thickness. Cut out stars and transfer to baking sheets. Gather and reroll dough. Bake 30 minutes, or until pale golden brown. Transfer to wire rack. When cool, melt chocolate in microwave. Dip half of each cookie into melted chocolate, then return to parchment paper and sprinkle with sea salt. Makes about 2 dozen.

 

 

ʼRound the Net

 


The Atomic Heritage Foundation on the 80th Anniversary of the Chicago Pile-1, where Nobel Prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi (1901-1954) directed the first controlled nuclear reaction on December 2, 1942 ("Stacking the Pile," courtesy Argonne National Laboratory)

 

Poet Magazine Editor Robin Barratt on receiving an acknowledgment from Buckingham Palace, specifically on behalf of the King, for receipt of The Queen anthology

 

William Blake (1757-1827)
Poet Adam Cornford for his essay, “Blake, Science, Eternity, and Poetry,” on the Chax Press site

 

Co-translators Chen Du and Xisheng Chen on publication of the Yan An poem, “Fog and Yellow Leaves,” in The Fourth River

 

Poet Cindy Hochman on the latest issue of First Literary Review-East, and on having three alliterative prose poems selected for Poetry Pacific

 

Poet, essayist, and translator J. Chester Johnson on his mention in this NPR article on the Elaine and Tulsa race massacres

 

Poet Heller Levinson and artist Linda Lynch on their recent collaboration, “Pronghorn Baffle,” in Alligator Zine; and Heller’s three poems in the Anvil Tongue Books blog

 

Yorktown Poet Laureate John McMullen for best songs by Frank Sinatra

 

The New York Public Library which lets you purchase a book plate inscription as a gift for only $35


Poet and novelist Kevin Pilkington on raking in great reviews for his new book, Taking on Secrets (Blue Jade Press)

 

Poets and Writers for this video of the late poet Stephen Dunn, one of my beloved teachers

 

Poet and watercolorist Linda Simone on her poem, "South Texas 'Scapes," and work by others such as poet Jim LaVilla-Havelin, published in Texas Poetry Assignment  

 

Playwright, artist, and performer Fran Sisco on the Harrison Players performance last month of her play, “It’s an Italian Thing! No, It’s a Black Thing”

 

Poet, artist, and filmmaker Bob Zaslow on his rap version of Twelfth Night

 


Peace and wonder

 

With the holidays upon us, life speeds to a frenzied pitch. I wish you, as artists on a more interior path, the quiet of roots in deep earth and the iridescent ease of breeze-blown pine. Take their cue, and slow down. I will be doing that in January, so send me your news for February—and scoop up all the wonderment you can before then!

  

Until next time,

Ann

 

 

 

Tuesday, November 01, 2022

your grateful grateful annogram


Dear annogrammers, Art is at its best transformative—so we salute its power to change the lives of viewers, readers, and possibly even society. Below you will read how some of that is happening. And we bring in that harvest with delicious soup—to nourish us, as Virginia Woolf insists, so we can do our best work.

 

 

Celebrating Translation

 

Excited for poetry pals Susana Case, Cindy Hochman, Giorgia Pavlidou, and John McMullen, whose work has found its way into another language. In this video, John discusses his translation journey with translator Mircea Dan Duta. And it is great to try your hand at it if you have a smattering of another language, as I can attest from decades of translating contemporary French poet Hélène Sanguinetti. For a taste of her work, try The Hero (Chax Press).

 

 

Proust and Art

 

Marcel Proust c 1895
Photo by Otto Wegener
In Proust’s A la Recherche du temps perdu - In Search of Lost Time, art collector Charles Swann often recalls first impressions of his beloved Odette in terms of a painting—one way Proust integrates art into his mammoth novel. Art historian Beth Gersh-Nesic PhD will dive into deeper levels of this masterful use of art in her slide presentation, Proust and Art, on November 15, in a Zoom event at 5pm hosted by Alliance Française de Greenwich and Byram Shubert Library (Greenwich). Register by emailing afgreenwich@gmail.com and see November Readings and Events for another Proust-related exploration.

 

 

Freedom Reads

 

Reginald Dwayne Betts
Freedom Reads, founded by poet Reginald Dwayne Betts, brings literature into prisons. Born from an idea to install libraries in prison units nationwide, Betts expanded Freedom Reads into a multifaceted organization that also brings theater productions, book clubs, and world-class writers inside prison walls. As a prisoner himself in his youth, he had begged someone to send him a book and received The Black Poets (Bantam) edited by Dudley Randall. For more, see the original P&W article.

 

 

Holding Up the Sky

 

Ed Jordan could have been one of those people with a book in his hands. After being incarcerated for 19 years for a tragic mistake, Ed educated himself inside those walls. On release, he became an apprentice ironworker and rose to journeyman welder who hires other “returning citizens” whom he successfully mentors. The documentary Holding Up the Sky, in telling his story, seeks to create change in the criminal justice system. Your contribution can help this nearly complete film cross the finish line.

 

 

Creative Opportunities

 

Gnashing Teeth Publishing, poetry and flash fiction chapbooks and full manuscripts

 

Kierkegaard Poetry Competition, by December 1

 

The London Reader, call for work on plant life

 

The Pedestal call for work, by December 4

 

Pure Slush + Truth Serum Press call for work on “home,” by November 30

 

 

New and Recent Releases


Wilhelmina
Obatola Grant- Cooper
Crisosto Apache, Ghostword (Gnashing Teeth Publishing)

 

Shirley Fields-Martin, Rise Up My Soul and Speak: Selected Poetry, Thoughts, and Images 1978-2022 (Dorrance Press)


Mary Gilliland, The Devil’s Fool (Codhill Press)

 

Mary Catherine Kinniburgh, Wild Intelligence: Poets' Libraries and the Politics of Knowledge in Postwar America 
(University of Massachusetts Press)

Ann Lauinger, Dime Saint, Nickel Devil (Broadstone Press)

 

Wilhelmina Obatola Grant-Cooper, Uplifting Cancer Survivors in the COVID Era: Expressions of Kindness between Aunties and Nieces (Independently published)

 


Sandra Smith, translator, Master of Souls (Kales Press) by Irène Némirovsky

 

Estha Weiner, This Insubstantial Pageant (Broadstone Books)

 

 





Creative Workshops

 

All-Genre Writers Group, 6:30pm, Thursdays

 

John McMullen Poetry Workshop, 6pm, fourth Wednesdays

 


Mahopac Poetry Workshop, 6pm, second Wednesdays

 

ModPo, University of Pennsylvania’s free poetry course and global community

 

Norwalk Poetry Workshop, first and third Mondays, 6:30pm; email poet_laureate@norwalkpl.org to register

 

The Peekskill Writing Table, serious critique for writers, second and third Tuesdays via Zoom; email tpwritingtable@gmail.com

 

The Poets Salon, led by Ed Ahern and Alison McBain of Fairfield Scribes Press, 10am, every second Saturday

 

Writers and Artists Lunch Conversation, second Fridays, noon

 

 

November Readings and Events – ET

 

November 4-6, Arizona Translates!, a series of in-person public events held in Tucson

 

November 5-6, RiverArts Studio Tour, Upstream Gallery (Hastings), 11am-6pm

 

November 9, 6pm, Kelly Writers House (Philadelphia), Laynie Browne via Zoom and Live

 


November 12, 1pm, Alliance Française de Greenwich, Marcel Proust: Du côté de la mère (en français), register here

 

The Emily Dickinson House
November 12, 7pm; November 13, 3pm; Studio Theater in Exile, a reading of Not God by Marc J. Straus, $25-30; buy tickets here

 

November 13, 7pm, W-E Poets of the Pandemic, Susana Case, Andre Bagoo, Philip Memmer, Kim Ports Parsons; via Zoom; register here

 

November 14, 7pm, KGB Bar, Lonely Christopher and Estha Weiner

 

November 15, 5pm, Byram Shubert Library (Greenwich), Beth Gersh-Nesic on “Proust and Art,” register by emailing afgreenwich@gmail.com


November 15, 5pm, Kelly Writers House, Jennifer Egan via Zoom and Live

 

Kevin Pilkington
November 16, 7:30pm, Elting Memorial Library (New Paltz), Margo Taft Stever, Susana Case

 

November 17, Emily Dickinson Museum, 6pm, Margo Taft Stever, Indran Amithayanagam, Susana Case; via Zoom; register here

 

November 20, 4pm, Katonah Village Library, Peter Filkins, Kevin Pilkington, Sophie Cabot Black, $15

 

 

Monthly Readings – ET

 

First Sunday, 4pm, Poetic License (Austin)

 

Every Tuesday, 2pm, Spoken Word World (Paris)

 

Every Tuesday, 7pm, Curley’s Diner

 

Third Fridays, 7pm, Hudson Valley Writers Center Open Mic – click third Friday for details

 

Frequent Saturdays (check Facebook), 5pm, LitBalm


 

Curried Squash Soup

 

I found this in my mother’s recipes—among notes for dinners she hosted, where she listed the date, attendees, and what she wore (“red wool dress”). May this soup contribute to lasting memories of your own (index cards not required).

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion

1 cup peeled tart apple

1 teaspoon curry powder

3-4 cups peeled diced butternut squash

3 cups water or vegetarian chicken broth

1 cup milk

Salt and pepper

3 tablespoons plain yogurt

 


Heat oil in heavy saucepan; add onion and apple, and cook until tender. Stir in curry powder. Add squash and water or broth. Cover and simmer until squash is tender, about 30 minutes. Puree with a hand-held blender. Return puree to saucepan and add milk. Season with salt and pepper. Float dollop of yogurt on each serving, said to be six.

 

 

ʼRound the Net

 

Poet, essayist, and fiction writer Terry Dugan for alerting us to Wild Intelligence: Poets' Libraries and the Politics of Knowledge in Postwar America, on the libraries of Charles Olson (1910–1970), Diane di Prima (1934–2020), Gerrit Lansing (1928–2018), and Audre Lorde (1934–1992)

 

Art historian and translator Beth Gersh-Nesic for her interview of translator Sandra Smith on Irène Némirovsky’s Master of Souls (Kales Press)

 

Collage by Bob Heman
Poet and collage artist Bob Heman on his recent collage in Clockwise Cat

 

Poet Cindy Hochman on having prose poems selected for two Australian anthologies, and  Ali F. Bilir’s translation of her poem, "A Sincere Letter From a Reader," which appears in Mersin Sanat Edebiyat (Turkey)

 

Yorktown Poet Laureate John McMullen on being the featured reader last month at Spoken Word World


Giorgia Pavlidou
Poet and painter Giorgia Pavlidou on her poem "The Alchemy of Misperception" in The Ocotillo Review, and a translation of one of her poems and artwork in the new Honidi Magazine Revista Surrealista (Chile)

 

Poets and Writers for literary magazines that pay

 


Poet and watercolorist Linda Simone for Bruce Springsteen’s interview of John Mellencamp on his art and paintings

 

 

Practicing Gratitude


Photo by Margie Herrick
 
This month of gratitude, I honor Wish Mavens Barbara Dickinson and Margie Herrick. Their blog reinforces what a brain researcher said about having a good life—the more we acknowledge the good, the wider our neural pathways open, and somehow life can improve exponentially. Barbara and Margie break it down in a fun, non-“woo-woo” approach and tackle questions about wishing for things that may seem trivial (spoiler alert: they’re fine). Today, I give thanks for you, dear annogram readers!

 

Until next time,

Ann