your june moon annogram

New poetry website

I am thrilled to announce my new website, www.anncefola.com.   If you’re a new poet, interested in translation, or would like to read an essay on Whitman or Millay, take a peek under “Toolkit.”  You can also visit “What’s New” to find out my latest poetry forays. 

Thanks to novelist Terry Dugan, memoirist Sarah Bracey White and poet Linda Simone for brainstorming website strategies over raspberry pancakes one fine morning; web designers Dan Gregory and Linda Lee for creating the site; and Linda Simone and Michael Cefola for exquisitely artful photos.

Now in November

My new blog, Now in November, brings together all 30 of my poems from the Pulitzer Remix project, with Depression-era photographs.  The blog has been been viewed nearly 300 times and poet Deborah Hauser has highlighted it on her website.  I am still haunted by Now in November, a sleeper of a novel which should be required American lit in high school, college and beyond.

Big Bang Poetry

Thanks to poet Mary Ladd McCray for interviewing me on Big Bang Poetry.  Mary asked great questions, and I hope you’ll enjoy our conversation.  Mary has her own reasons to celebrate—her long-awaited poetry book, Why Photographers Commit Suicide (Trementina Books, 2012), is an Indie Excellence Award finalist.  And she also completed a breath-taking 30 poems in 30 days for the NaPoWriMo Project last month.  Congratulations, Mary!

Spotlight on Translators

Thanks also to Lisa Carter for interviewing me on her May 22, 2013 Intralingo blog.  Lisa, a translator, writer and editor, is owner of Intralingo Inc., winner of the Alicia Gordon Award for Word Artistry in Translation and an International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award nominee.  In the interview, I shamelessly ask—or dare—publishers to consider the poetry of the ever-adventuresome Hélène Sanguinetti (right) and thank Lisa for the chance to speak about translating Hélène’s work.  Look for a sample in the January 2014 online eleven eleven.

Welcome Pulitzer Remixers

A bonus of the Pulitzer Remix experience has been getting to know the many talented participants.  Congratulations to Peter Cole Friedman for work in Petrichor Machine and forthcoming in Emerge Literary Journal in June; Gary Glauber on his poem in Emerge Literary Journal; Deborah Hauser on her recent reading at Bluestockings in New York;  Reiser Perkins, editor of Otis Nebula, on the journal’s first poetry book prize (below); Sheila Sondik for her gorgeous prints and paintings; Neal Whitman for poems in The MacGuffin and Poems Found in March, a chapbook of his Pulitzer Remix work.  Hello to Seth Crook, Vicki Hudson, S.E. Ingraham, Margo Roby, Scott Stoller, and Kara Synhorst.

Otis Nebula Poetry Prize

Otis Nebula announces its first poetry book contest.  Donald Revell (right) will judge the winning entry and one runner up. The winning volume will be published in a 100-copy print run and as an ebook; runner-up as an e-book. Winner will receive $250 and 10 copies of her book/ebook; runner-up, $50 and 10 e-book copies. Submit typed 40-100 page manuscripts before June 15, 2013 with $15. For complete guidelines and to submit online, go here.

Learning to See Pot Luck and Poetry Party

Come to this fun event sponsored by the Greenburgh Arts and Culture Committee on Wednesday, June 26, from 5:30 – 8 p.m., at the Greenburgh Public Library.  Learning to See is the late Brenda Connor Bey’s legacy project, and this party will in part commemorate Brenda (left).  Participants in former Learning to See Workshops may bring a poem or two and read them—e-mail bracey0114@aol.com if you’d like to do that prior to the event.

Meg Lindsay Poetry and Paintings
Poet and artist Meg Lindsay will exhibit both her poetry and paintings at the Gregory James Gallery, 93 Park Lane Road, New Milford, CT, from June 22-July 21.  The opening reception will take place Saturday, June 22, from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m.  Congratulations, Meg!

Sarah Lawrence 48-Hour Donation Blitz
I just saw my best friend from my undergraduate days at Sarah Lawrence last weekend.  What a fantastic education we enjoyed—one-on-one studies with our professors, small classes, incredibly mind-stretching conversations—truly like a graduate-level experience.  If you believe in progressive education and/or liberal arts, make a donation by tomorrow, Thursday, June 6.  If 41 more people donate, a trustee will donate $75,000!   Give here.  You can track the results on Facebook.

'Round the Net

Thanks to the following for sending great links and/or books:

· Novelist Terry Dugan for this article on Good Writing vs. Talented Writing

· Lakota Advocate Cindy Dunne for letting me know that Lakota Children’s Enrichment is reaching young Pine Ridge writers.

· Poet Eric Greinke for Listen to the Landscape (Erdmans, 2006), haiku by Linda Nemec Foster and images by Dianne Carroll Burdick--the kind of book that made me slow down and appreciate the superb marriage of poetry and art.

· Linda Nemec Foster for her recent interview about her new CD on Michigan Public Radio

· Eric again for his upcoming volume of new and selected works, For the Living Dead (Presa Press, 2013), which I love for its French influences found deep in the Michigan woods.

· Iyengar yoga teacher Nancy Kardon for this interview with Thich Nhat Hanh.

· Poet Amy King for a call for 1-3 ecopoems from Poets for Living Waters.

· Screenwriters John McCray and John Lehr for this hilarious trailer for their Hulu comedy series.

· Oxford American for this visit to Tiny Town.

· Poet Kevin Pilkington for letting me know about his new and informative website.

· Poets & Writers for this timely and moving 2005 graduation speech and video of same by David Foster Wallace.

· The Shelter Reform Action Committee for this petition to reform New York City’s notoriously deadly animal shelters.

· Arts lecturer Jay Shulman for recommending Too Bright to Hear, Too Loud to See by Julian Garey (Soho, 2013) and recalling the WMCA Radio Good Guys.

· Memoirist Lou Spirito and his pit-bull mix Tanner on their book Gimme Shelter hitting no. 2 on The Malibu Times nonfiction best-seller list.

· Sarah Bracey White for advance notice that her memoir, Primary Lessons (CavanKerry, 2013) is now available for pre-order from Amazon.

· Pultizer Remixer Neal Whitman for sending me his new chapbook, Poems Found In March, a collection of his poems based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning March (Penguin, 2006) by Geraldine Brooks.

Have a wonderful summer!

Ann

your april annogram

How exciting to be in the Pulitzer Remix sponsored by the Found Poetry Review! The Pulitzer Remix features 85 poets from seven countries who are posting a poem a day in April for National Poetry Month. Each “found” poem comes from a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel assigned to the poet. Mine is Now in November, by Josephine Winslow Johnson, which won the 1935 Pulitzer. Look up your favorites on the site to see great poetry emerge from great prose! If you visit, be sure to leave a comment.

More good news

Thanks to Cindy Hochman for publishing “Bumblebee” in the latest First Literary Review East. Ave Maria Press will also publish “St. Agnes, Pink Slipped” in The Lives We Seek: The Lives We Seek: Contemporary Poems Inspired By the Saints, which includes work by Mary Karr, James Tate and Franz Wright. “Velocity” will appear in Rabbit Ears: TV Poems (Poets Wear Prada), which editor Joel Allegretti talks about in this interview in We Who Are About To Die. And don’t forget my two poems in Journey to Crone, now available from Chuffed Buff Books.

Grand Central: 100 Years Grand

If you’ve read my poem, “Express,” you know I love Grand Central. To celebrate its 100th anniversary, on April 10 at 7 p.m., Billy Collins, Aracelis Girmay, Bob Holman, Marie Howe and Jeffrey Yang will read, with performances by Music Under New York. On April 11 at 12 noon, 3:30 p.m. and 6 p.m., experts will discuss its history. And May 10-12, the Grand Centennial Parade of Trains will feature the 20th Century Limited and historic displays. All events are free and the first two will take place in Vanderbilt Hall.

More more poetry

You can get on the poetry bandwagon this month by participating in NaPoWriMo, or National Poetry Writing Month. The site provides daily prompts and a way post your poem a day, if not on your own website or blog. Thanks to Mary Ladd McCray (left) for making me aware of this fabulous online project—you can read Mary’s poems throughout April.

Tugboat Warrior

Congratulations to Ruth Handel (left) on the publication of Tugboat Warrior (Dos Madres Press, 2013). Ruth will read from her new poetry book on April 24, 7:30 p.m., at the Scarsdale Public Library. Read Ruth’s letter to the New York Times to learn the inspiration for book title, and for more, this review.

Kenya’s Song

Award-winning children’s author Linda Trice (right) will discuss and sign her new book, Kenya’s Song, at the Parkchester North Condo Board Room, 1576 Unionport Road (rear basement), in the Bronx, Friday, April 26, 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Kenya’s Song, a picture book for children 3-9 years old, celebrates music and diversity. This free event, sponsored by the Parkchester Enhancement Program for Seniors, includes refreshments. Space limited; call 718-409-1619 to reserve a seat.

More National Poetry Month

The Poetry Society of America will host its Annual Awards Friday, April 5, at 7 p.m., at the National Arts Club, with readings by Lizza Rodriguez, Ted Mathys, Elyse Fenton, Carol Light, Nick Twemlow, Naomi Replansky, Martín Espada, and Robert Bly. On Thursday, April 11, at 7 p.m, PSA will sponsor John Ashbery in conversation with Deborah Landau at the NYU Global Center, in the Level C Auditorium. Both events are free.



‘Round the Net

Thanks to the following who sent me these links:

• Poet John Amen, when not bathing in the Ganges during Kumbh Mela, is back home reading throughout North Carolina—see his website for April dates

• Romance novelist Diane Gaston for a sneak peek of A Reputation for Notoriety

• Poet Amy King for this article on the VIDA list of publications that fail to fairly publish women writers

• Musician Larry Schwartzman for research into the origins of the Harlem Shake

• Poet Linda Simone for the important reminder that digital can’t always trump paper

• And Linda again for this poem created out of the Periodic Table

Wishing you an inspired April!

Until next time,

Ann

your february annogram

Pulitzer Remix

I am excited to be one of 75 poets selected for the Pulitzer Remix.   Each Pulitzer Remix poet will create 30 poems from his or her assigned Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.  We will post our poems each day in April as a celebration of National Poetry Month.

New York Times on Cancer Poetry Project

Congratulations to Karin Miller, whose Cancer Poetry Project was the topic of a recent New York Times article.  The upcoming volume includes my poem, “Landfall”, which won a Cancer Poetry Project Honorable Mention as well as “Breast Imaging.” The book will debut in April during National Poetry Month but you can preorder copies now.  You can also contribute to this worthy project by visiting Kickstarter.

 
Anthology updates

Journey to Crone (Chuffed Buff Books), an anthology out of London which features two of my poems, will make its debut on International Women’s Day, March 8.  I am equally thrilled to be in Rabbit Ears: TV Poems (Poets Wear Prada), which includes poets such as Edward Field, Annie Finch, Tony Hoagland and Dorianne Laux.  And The Lives We Seek, an anthology that takes a contemporary look at saints, has identified a publisher—I won’t jinx the deal by saying which one.

African American History Month

This February, the Town of Greenburgh asked Executive Director of Arts and Culture Sarah Bracey White to interview Dr. Olivia J. Hooker.  Hooker, 98, a civil rights activist, veteran and retired Fordham University professor, is a last survivor of the 1921 Tulsa race riot where more than 300,000 died—a bigger toll than Watts, Detroit, Washington and LA riots combined.  She has spent her life educating people about this event.  She and other survivors have sought restitution in a federal lawsuit—the subject of the documentary “Before They Die.”

Gerda Lerner and Women’s History

Gerda Lerner would have appreciated Dr. Hooker.  A founder of the National Organization for Women, she was the creator of the first Women’s Studies Graduate Program at Sarah Lawrence.  Her books allowed me, for the first time, to explore American history from the viewpoint of women—whether abolitionist, colonist or slave.  From there, it was easy to imagine women quietly recording their experience over the centuries in texts undiscovered or unrecoverable.   Lerner passed away last month, and women writers honor her by putting our voices out there—maybe for discovery in a distant galaxy!

Inaugural Poet Richard Blanco

What a pleasure to discover Richard Blanco through the excellent choice of President Obama!  In an interview with Anderson Cooper, Blanco said that it came to him that who we are as a country is as yet unfinished — and yet everyone one of us is vital in defining it.  Blanco’s expansive, Whitmanesque vision nailed the inaugural poem, don’t you think?

Frost Medal to Robert Bly

Congratulations to Robert Bly on receiving the 2013 Frost Medal, the highest honor from the Poetry Society of America.  One time at a Dodge Festival panel on translation, I had asked him when he knows a translated poem is finished. He said he works with a linguist who indicates when more work is needed—news he greets with a few expletives. The poet, in turn, asked me what language I was working on. “French,” I said. “Oh, impossible!” he erupted — a confirmation of the work I knew I had to do.

Katonah Poetry Series

Come hear poets Michael Dickman on Sunday, March 4, at 4 p.m., and Katha Pollitt on Sunday, April 28, at 4 p.m., at the Katonah Village Library.  The $10 admission fee includes an informal reception and conversation with the poet after the reading.  For more on the poets, visit the Katonah Poetry Series.

Matters of the HeART
See the 9th Annual Matters of the HeART Art Exhibit at Greenburgh Town Hall, 177 Hillside Avenue, Greenburgh, March 8 through May 2.  Sponsored by the Helen Andrus Benedict Foundation and the Greenburgh Arts & Culture Committee, Matters of the HeART supports creative aging through the arts.  An opening reception will take place Sunday, March 17, from 2-4 p.m., with doors open at 1 p.m. for people with disabilities.

Literary Translation in Paris

Columbia University’s Art of Literary Translation in Paris, a month-long summer course, will feature weekly writing workshops, a lecture and guest speaker series, and additional cultural activities.  To get ready, you might want to read Speech Begins After Death (University of Minnesota Press, 2013), a conversation between philosopher Michel Foucault and Claude Bonnefoy translated by Roberto Bononno; or celebrate the 100^th anniversary of Marcel Duchamp’s Nude Descending A Staircase by visiting in Francis Naumann Fine Art's exhibit on this important painting, through March 29.

 

‘Round the Net

Thanks to these people for sending me these great links:

·  The Atlantic on the novel you write every year in the number of e-mails you create

·  Activist Cindy Dunne for the Lakota Kids Supply Drive underway through March 15

·  Red Glass publisher Janet Kaplan for Cornelius Eady’s new jazz CD

·  Editor Eliot Katz for news of a new book by Andy Clausen, Home of the Blues: More Selected Poems

·  Poets Pamela Laskin and Ruth Handel for respective new books from Dos Madres Press

·  Actor Tony LoBianco for NYC dates for his Little Flower reprise as Mayor LaGuardia

·  The New York Observer for this interview with John Ashbery

·  Thomas Pinney for discovering new poems by Rudyard Kipling

·  The New York Times on Whitman in Washington

·  Artist Gilda Oliver for her photos of her mosaic mural in upstate New York

·  Poet Linda Simone for Writing Haiku at the Office

·  Memoirist Lou Spirito for his new book, Gimme Shelter, a story of how one pit bull changed his life—and to novelist Terry Dugan for this history of pit bulls before the media turned against them

·  Memoirist Cheryl Strayed for her tribute to Adrienne Rich

·  Memoirist Sarah Bracey White for this Journal News profile and video

Until next time,

Ann