your new year's annogram

Welcome Back!

Dear annogrammers, I have missed you! I was all set to write a July annogram when filial duty demanded I put my focus elsewhere—more below. In the meantime, you have been writing and painting, and giving readings, exhibits, and performances. Nothing, not even a global pandemic, can stop the lively creativity of annogrammers.

Full Steam Ahead

Helene Sanguinetti

You can also find my work in the journals DoveTales, First Literary Review East, The Poet, and s/tick; in anthologies Mother Mary Comes to Me (Madville Publishing) and Verdant (Truth Serum Press); and in the podcast Poetry Spoken Here Episode 133. Excited for my Sanguinetti translation in the upcoming Hunger Mountain, and my nod to mentor Thomas Lux (1946-2017) in the anthology Poet Echoes and Tributes. 

Your Path to a Fulfilling Life

Barbara Dickinson’s and Margaret Herrick’s gorgeous  book, Your Path to A Fulfilling Life, asks readers to identify specific life wishes—and watch what happens! Or tap into Barbara’s free webinar, “Have I Accomplished Anything This [Last] Year?” and be prepared to be astonished. Choose one of two dates: January 21, 11am-1pm, register here; or January 23, 7-9pm, register here.

Signs and Wonders

Comet Neowise by Rick Bria

A peak moment last year was spying the dual tail of Comet Neowise, diving into a triangle of three stars, through binoculars. As for Jupiter and Saturn, Michael and I saw them inch closer each night but got rained out for the conjunction. Astronomy is a great way to get outside and safely enjoy community—try the Westchester Amateur Astronomers, “the best astronomy club this side of the Oort Cloud,” for star nights and monthly talks.

Journey into Punk

For an intimate look into the 1980s punk scene, read To Hell and Back (Backbeat Press, 2020) by Walter Lure of Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers. Walter had recently reunited with the Fordham University band that started his career when he passed away last year. He dedicates his book to band members which includes my favorite guitarist, Michael Cefola. Fascinating story. Rock on forever, Walter! Wacka Lacka Boom Bop A Loom Bam Boo!

New and Recent Releases

Rae Armantrout, Conjure (Wesleyan University Press)

Patricia Carragon, Angel Fire (Alien Buddha Press)

Circumference Issue 8,welcome relaunch of a fantastic translation journal

Joellen Craft, The Quarry (L+S Press)

Barbara J. Dickinson and Margaret A. Herrick, Your Path to A Fulfilling Life (Independently Published)

Diane Goettel, ed., Far Villages (Black Lawrence Press, 2020)

Nicole Gregory, God's Messenger: The Astounding Achievements of Mother Frances X. Cabrini: A Novel Based on the Life of Mother Cabrini (Barbera Foundation, 2018)

Pauletta Hansel, Friend (Dos Madres Press)

Heller Levinson, Seep (Black Widow Press)

Walter Lure, To Hell and Back: My Life in Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers, in the Words of the Last Man Standing (Backbeat Press, 2020)

Pedestal Magazine’s 20th anniversary issue

Kevin Pilkington, Playing Poker with Tennessee Williams (Black Lawrence Press)

Neal Whitman, From This Moment On (Cyberwit, 2020)

Creative Opportunities

The Poet call for work on theme of faith

Pure Slush Press call for poetry and prose on theme of growing up

The Westchester Review open for submissions

January Readings and Events

Heller Levinson

January 21, 11am, “Have I Accomplished Anything Last Year?”, free webinar, register here

January 23, 3pm, Rae Armantrout and Heller Levinson; respective launches of Conjure and Seep, register here

January 23, 7pm, “Have I Accomplished Anything This [Last] Year?”, free webinar, register here.

January 31, 4pm, Gregory Djanikian, intro by Billy Collins; register here  

Monthly Readings – ET

Special thanks to Yorktown Poet Laureate John McMullen for compiling this list:

Ralph Nazareth

First Sunday, 4pm, Poetic License (Austin)

First and Third Mondays, 6:30pm, Norwalk Poetry

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

Every Tuesday, 7pm, Curley’s Diner led by the impressive Ralph Nazareth

Second Wednesdays, 6:30pm, Mahopac Poetry Workshop

Every Thursday, 6:30pm, Mahopac Writers Group

Second Fridays, Noon, Writers, Artists, Actors, etc. Luncheon

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

Linda’s Wholesome Mac and Cheese

Thanks to dear friend, poet, and watercolorist Linda Simone, we often enjoy this easy and delicious meal:

1 organic cauliflower cleaned and broken into florets

1 box of Annie’s Mac and Cheese

3 Tablespoons milk

2 Tablespoons butter

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

1 cup panko crumbs (optional)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spread cauliflower on cookie sheet and sprinkle with olive oil and salt. Roast for 20 minutes. Make the Annie’s Mac and Cheese per instructions. Combine with cauliflower. You can serve at this point, or put in a low casserole, cover with shredded cheese and panko crumbs, and oven-broil briefly until slightly browned. Try it with steamed broccoli, and crushed potato chips or cheese crackers as topping alternatives.

ʼRound the Net

Blues Band Larkin Poe

Memoirist Sarah Bracey White for her monologue, “Camp Cook,” read at the National Arts Club

Poet Patricia Carragon on her debut novel Angel Fire (Alien Buddha Press)

Guitarist Michael Cefola for pointing out the band Larkin Poe, here with Keith Urban playing “Where the Blacktop Ends,” shares the creative drive of their famous great-great uncle Edgar Allen Poe

Poet Regi Claire on reading her powerful poem, “(Un)certainties,” short-listed for the 2020 Forward Prize for Best Single Poem, at the British Library

Poet and filmmaker Terry Dugan for this article on William Carlos Williams, “Poetry is a rival government”

Henri Matisse (1869-1954)

Art Historian Beth Gersh-Nesic for this fabulous article on Matisse and video on artist Ruby Silvious

Poet Louise Glück on winning the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature

Translator Johannes Göransson for his Poetry Daily essay on translation

Poet Cindy Hochman for her poem, “Inner Life (with Sabotage),” in LIVE Mag! that also features work by Andrei Codrescu and a collage by Bob Heman

Author J. Chester Johnson on having his book, Damaged Heritage (Pegasus Books), recommended by The Harvard Magazine

Translator Jacqueline Lapidus for her personal remembrances of Ruth Bader Ginsberg in Persimmon Tree (scroll down for her contribution)

Yorktown Poet Laureate John McMullen on his reading at the Paris Spoken Word World last fall

Blues bassist Larry Schwartzman for Snooky Pryor’s “Someone to Love Me”

Poet Linda Simon for the Far Villages (Black Lawrence Press) panel where contributors talk about their work

Novelist Ron Tanner on winning the Elixir Press 2020 Book of Fiction Award for Far West to be published this year

Neal Whitman

Poet Estha Weiner for this Indoor Voices Podcast with J Journal editors Jeffrey Herman and Adam Berlin

Poet Neal Whitman for great reviews of his new book From This Moment On (Cyberwit, 2020) in Gusts (Canada) and Kokako (New Zealand)

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

In July, I discovered a request to demolish a home by architect Julius Gregory (1875-1955) required the applicants to prove his work was unworthy of preservation. A leader in historic revival architecture, he designed homes for notables such as publisher Alfred Knopf and Proctor & Gamble heir Sidney Gamble. Architect of the Grand Central School of Art, he also contributed to some of the first planned communities, Fieldston and Khakum Woods, both landscaped by the Olmsted Brothers. I never met Julius but, as his granddaughter, I had to respond. Several annogrammers—thank you again—edited a 47-page defense I wrote which helped block the demolition. While the applicants will appeal next month, we savored this victory in honoring architectural heritage.

Wishing you a fresh start this year, and love for and devotion to your family, your friends, and your craft. 

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

your new year's annogram

Happy new year!  I’d like to express my gratitude to the annogram readership, a collective of extraordinary artists, avid readers, dancers, editors, filmmakers, musicians, poets, translators, and writers that form a generous and supportive online community.  I wish you a year of outstanding creativity and multiple, unanticipated moments of joy.

Hudson Valley Writers Center reading

First we look back to a fabulous reading at the Hudson Valley Writers Center in December.  Memoirist Sarah Bracey White invited me to open her reading, and I was happy to share new work with a full house.  Jo Ann Clark, HVWC executive director, gave us both a warm welcome and poet Dan O’Brien gave a well-researched introduction to my reading.

Cherished friends made the event more like a party:  filmmaker Jeannette Briggs and artist-husband Randy, abstract expressionist Deborah Coulter, poet and filmmaker Terry Dugan, Toadlily Press publisher Myrna Goodman and her husband Larry, award-winning essayist Herb Hadad, photographer Jim Miller, HVWC founder and poet Margo Stever, Toadlily Press co-founder Meredith Trede and husband Brad, Sarah’s husband Bob Gironda, and my biggest fan, Michael Cefola.

More updates

My translation of Chapter 11 of Hélène Sanguinetti’s The Hero goes live this month at eleven eleven.  In addition, Asymptote highlighted my latest publications on its new blog.  I also recorded three poems for the upcoming digital anthology, The Burden of Light, edited by Tanya Chernov.  And more than 140 people have viewed my poem “Velocity” on YouTube.

My grandmother the comic-strip pioneer

You loved hearing about my grandmother, Mary Lovrien Price Gregory (1888-1972), so here’s more:  Lovrien, a Philadelphia Quaker, won a 1906-1907 scholarship to the School of Industrial Arts at the Pennsylvania Museum (today the University of the Arts and Philadelphia Museum of Art).  She also attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1893, the first school to institute drawing from live nudes under the earlier if controversial direction of Thomas Eakins.  In addition to her stint as a comic-strip artist, she illustrated for The Pictorial Review, a New York woman’s fashion magazine launched in 1899.

In 1918, she married Julius Gregory, an architect soon noted for Tudor revival homes in communities such as Riverdale and Scarsdale (NY), and later columnist for House Beautiful and House and Garden.   She gave birth to Jules (left), and then my father, Alfred (right).  A decade later, she won a scholarship, offered by France in gratitude for US assistance during WWI, to attend L’Ecole de Beaux-Arts in Fontainebleau.  Leaving her sons in a care of a nanny, she shipped off in the summer of 1931.  Stay tuned for her amazing later years in the next annogram.

Art full

Let’s keep the talk about great artists going!  Deborah Coulter will be exhibiting drawings and collages at the JCC of Mid-Westchester from January 6-February 6, with opening reception on January 12, 1-4pm.  New York Arts Exchange Director Beth Gersh-Nesic offers truly insightful art tours—to learn more, go to www.nyarts-exchange.com.  In the meantime, she recommends:

The Jewish Museum: "Chagall: Love, War, Exile" through February 2; Art Spiegelman through March 23

Frick Museum: Vermeer's Girl with the Pearl Earring and other paintings from Mauritshuis through January 19 (pwyw Sundays 11am-1pm)

Neue Galerie: Kandinsky through February 10

National Academy of Art: "See It Loud: 7 Post-War American Painters" through January 26 

Museum of Modern Art Magritte through January 12

Scandinavia House (12-5pm): "Danish Painting from the Golden Age through the Modern Breakthrough" through January 25; ICP (pwyw 5-8pm); Morgan Library (free 7-9pm)

The Brooklyn Museum (Target First Saturdays 5–10pm): "Art in the Spanish American Home" through January 12;  Jean Paul Gaultier through February 23; Wangechi Mutu through March 9

PS 1: Mike Kelly, through February 6 (12 noon -6pm)

New year, new studies

A highlight last year was taking ModPo at the University of Pennsylvania.  In 2014 there are plenty of opportunities to learn.  First, poet Robert McDowell (right) will be offering Emily Dickinson: Divine Feminine Prophet, a six-week online writing course starting January 6 (email rmcdowell@mind.net).  If you attended the Sarah Lawrence MFA in Writing, you can take a refresher workshop with superb instructor and poet Kevin Pilkington next month.  Live in the Sarasota (FL)? Painter Lucy Barber offers a variety of workshops and free demos.

Winter poetry readings

Toadlily Press poets Janlori Goldman, Heidi Hart, Pamela Hart and Rachel Simon will read at the Chappaqua Library on January 18 at 1pm; and poet Ruth Handel will read new work at the JCC in Tarrytown, on January 26, at 1:30pm.

Call for submissions

Ginosko, The Journal of Creative Geography, Poetry Storehouse, and Zeteo have issued calls for work.

Round the net

Thanks to the following people for these great links:

Translator Anne Milano Appel for NPR’s best three translations of 2013

Found Poetry Review Editor Jenni Baker’s appeal for contributions to her Millennial Trains Project

Painter Lucy Barber (left) on the launch of her first blog

Filmmaker Jeanette Briggs for this NPR story questioning all the bad lyrics these days in music

Essayist Herb Hadad for his heart-warming holiday story

Red Glass Books Publisher Janet Kaplan for announcing Child World by Thaddeus Rutkowski (send $12 check per copy within US payable to Thaddeus Rutkowski, 249 Eldridge Street #7, New York, NY 10002)

Poet Pamela Laskin for news of nine poems published in Black Renaissance Noire

Poet Mary McCray for this hilarious “history test” with her husband John, the historical consultant on Hulu comedy Quick Draw

Cellist and music archivist Jay Shulman for this great review of the Stuyvesant Quartet

Poet Maxine Silverman for news of her new chapbook, Transport for the Aim (Parallel Press, 2013)

Poet Linda Simone for Maya Angelou’s tribute to Mandela

Author Lou Spirito for Ten Things We Love About Italy

Multimedia creator Frank Vitale for letting us know Kirkus Pro Connect considers The Metropolis Organism (Longtail Distribution, 2012), a “work to discover” and for sharing Episode Two

Memoirist Sarah Bracey White for Vicki Hudson’s interview with her

Emily Dickinson’s Lemon Gingerbread Cakes

"I am going to learn to make bread to-morrow. So you may imagine me with my sleeves rolled up, mixing flour, milk, salaratus, etc., with a great deal of grace. I advise you if you don’t know how to make the staff of life to learn with dispatch.”
- Emily Dickinson to Abiah Root, September 25, 1845 (L8)
 

It’s wicked cold in the Northeast, so I am sharing this recipe which Robert McDowell attributes to Ms. Dickinson—although I seriously doubt they had gluten-free gingerbread mix in her day.  All the same, it might spice up a winter afternoon:

natural olive oil baking spray with flour
(14.5 oz.) package gluten-free gingerbread mix
1 cup and 2 tablespoons water, divided
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 large free-range egg
2 teaspoons ginger root, grated fine
3/4 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 cup whipped cream
1 (10 oz.) jar Lemon Curd divided

HEAT oven to 350°F. Coat 48 mini muffin cups with baking spray with flour.

COMBINE gingerbread mix, water (one cup), butter, egg and ginger in large bowl. Stir by hand until relatively smooth, or beat with electric mixer on medium speed 1 minute. Divide batter into mini muffin cups. Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until toothpick to center emerges clean. Cool in pan 3 minutes.

WHISK powdered sugar, lemon juice and 2 tablespoons water in medium bowl until smooth and blended. Place wax paper under wire rack. Remove mini cakes from pan. Dip bottoms into lemon glaze. Place on wire rack, bottom side up. Cool.

WHISK or BLEND whipped cream and 1/2 cup lemon curd in medium bowl until blended. Spoon into 1-quart heavy-duty resealable plastic bag. Cut 1/2-inch corner off bottom of bag. Place remaining lemon curd in separate 1-quart heavy-duty resealable plastic bag. Cut 1/4-inch corner off bottom of bag. Squeeze whipped cream mixture onto each mini cake, then top with small dollop of lemon curd. Chill until ready to serve. Yield: 4 dozen.  Bon appétit!

Wishing you delicious poetry and gingerbread,

Ann