Happy mid-summer, everyone! The air is fragrant and moist and trees laden with green. Cygnus flies overhead so take a look at her beautiful wings at night. This eclectic annogram combines everything from Robert Frost to ZZ Top, so let’s get started:
Cleve Gray at Neuberger
What an honor it was to read with top Westchester poets such as Suzanne Cleary, Brenda Connor-Bey, Ann Lauinger, Linda Simone and Meredith Trede at “Inspired by Nature,” a literary tribute to Cleve Gray (1918-2004) at the Neuberger Museum of Art. Gray’s arresting artwork combines vivid color fields under Zen-like calligraphic strokes. His masterpiece, “Threnody,” a meditation on the Vietnam War, which includes 28 larger-than-life red and black panels, produces a chapel-like reflection on the costs of war. This amazing exhibit closes the first week of September.
http://www.neuberger.org/exhibitions.php?view=141
Hence this cradle reviewed in Pedestal
Thanks to editor John Amen for arranging a review of my translation, Hence this cradle (Seismicity Editions) by noted poet-translator Eric Greinke:
http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/Secure/Content/cb.asp?cbid=5144
Salute to Jackie Sheeler
As the metro area’s poetry impresario for the past decade, Jackie hosted the Pink Pony West Poetry Series at the Cornelia Street Café in the Village, and created a local poetry calendar, http://www.poetz.com/, that linked to others from Vermont to Texas. As Poet Laureate of Riker’s Island, she received a wonderful write-up about her work there in the New York Times. Jackie, author of The Memory Factory (Buttonwood Press, 2002) and to[o] long (Three Rooms Press, 2007), is leaving her website and reading series to focus on her poetry, music and spoken-word recordings. Jackie, thanks for blessing many poets far and wide with encouragement, venues and opportunities!
http://www.shoutedword.com/
Sugaring recommended reading
Thanks to Valparaiso Poetry Review for listing Sugaring (Dancing Girl Press, 2007) as “recommended reading”! I am still looking for reviewers. Anyone interested in reviewing my chapbook, please contact me.
http://www.valpo.edu/english/vpr/recentbooks.html
Robert Frost Stone House
In early 2000, a group of business people got together and raised funds to buy Robert Frost’s home in South Shaftsbury, Vermont. There, Frost had lived in the 1920s and written “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” While the house affords access to a bare first floor, the rooms are filled with a fascinating collage of family photos, literary criticism, and poems. I always thought of Frost as a cantankerous loner—but, in reality, he lived with his adult children and their children in this small house. I loved discovering his phrase, “the pleasures of ulteriority,” that is—saying one thing and meaning another. His grave is not far away, at the Old First Church, on a shaded hill.
http://www.frostfriends.org/stonehouse.html
Lucy’s Eggs big winner
Congratulations to Rick Henry, editor of Blueline: His book, Lucy’s Eggs (Syracuse University Press, 2006), won the Adirondack Center for Writing's Best Fiction Award for books published in 2006. The Adirondack Center for Writing, a non-profit, supports literary arts throughout the Adirondacks.
http://syracuseuniversitypress.syr.edu/spring-2006/lucy-eggs.html
Setzer, Hynde and ZZ sizzle
I hope Frost does not turn over in his grave if I jump to a fabulous rock concert held last night at the Jones Beach Theater. Brian Setzer returned to his native Long Island for the first time in 15 years—bursting on stage like a firecracker in a red-fringe shirt and matching red guitar. His wild Stray Cat cohorts, Slim Jim Phantom on drums and Lee Rocker on stand-up bass, flailed like wind-mills as Setzer wrung each awesome note out of his guitar. They seemed unaffected by a theater two-thirds full—but, as the Bible says, a prophet is never respected in his hometown. In this case, that means Massapequa.
How long have I adored Chrissie Hynde’s soulful rock intonations? Probably since her band, the Pretenders, emerged on MTV in the mid-80s. Wearing her classic shag haircut, knee-high white boots, jeans with a silver-chain belt and sleeveless hot pink shirt, Hynde is the quintessential rock diva. Strutting across the stage, she sang and played her Fender Telecaster to hits such as “Back on the Chain Gang”, “Middle of the Road", and “Don’t Get Me Wrong.” Hynde, who had left her Ohio home in 1973 to go to London, endured five years of false starts before forming the Pretenders. Today, she is the only remaining band member thanks to the original band’s drug-related deaths—but this crew translates their magic perfectly.
I saw ZZ Top more than 15 years ago at the Garden—and they haven’t aged a bit! Okay, that’s a joke: ZZ Top’s two guitarists, Texans Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill, wear foot-long beards, sunglasses and hats that the FBI might use for witness protection. All the absent tailgaters filled the theater to hear ZZ standards such as “Pearl Necklace", “Sharp-Dressed Man,” and “Gimme All Your Lovin.” I had no idea that Gibbons, Hill and drummer Frank Beard—ironically, no beard—got together in 1969 and also opened for Hendrix in Texas. After admitting that Hendrix taught him “stuff,” Gibbons and co. did an outrageous interpretation of “Foxy Lady.” ZZ performed a generous hour, accompanied by digital light show, smoke and their famous fuzzy guitars: More proof of southern hospitality.
Book reviews
Collins, Martha. Blue Front: Poems (Graywolf, 2006) recalls a lynching that the poet’s father witnessed in Cairo, Illinois. Collins spent years researching the actual event and pulls news clippings, photos and journal entries in a documentary-like free verse. Both Collins and Trethewey—reviewed below—use these resources to create poems like collage. They incorporate materials without losing the driving narrative or emotional voice. Collins often repeats phrases, lending an eerie urgency to the re-telling of this horrid tale; and examines common words used to describe it:
hang
as a mirror on a wall, or the fall
of a dress. a dress, a shirt on a line
to fasten to dry. on the rack, or back
in the closet again, a sweet curse
on it all, sliver of nail, delayed
attack. shamed creature, a curse
on itself, so the act of doing it
changes the verb, tense with not
quite right. with rope, like a swing
from a tree. from a pole, like a flag,
or holidays, from an arch lit bright
with lights. in the night, in the air
like a shirt. without, or with only
a shirt. without, like an empty sleeve.
Blue Front is important—not only for its creative and visual lyricism, but for its truer reckoning of American history.
Taylor, Mervyn. Gone Away (Junction Press, 2006) is a collection of poems that focuses on the cultural tension of islanders who leave their birthplace to come live in the United States. Taylor, whose first home was Trinidad, produces affectionate portraits of friends and family members, and the choices they face. Like Collins and Trethewey, he also examines broader race issues, such as Amadou Diallo in “A Well-Bred Woman,” or Iraq war in “Entering the City.” In “Hard of Hearing”, his heart is back home:
They tell me it’s raining hard
in the island now. This is good,
you would think, after such a dry spell,
people would stand and drink.
But they complain it’s too much,
umbrellas are useless, shoes are soaked,
and there’s not enough camphor
to still the wheezing.
And when the sun comes out
so hot it scorches the skin it
plays a crazy song
on the galvanize.
Fowls swoon, and the blood
feels like it’s turning to steam.
They are waiting for Sunday, when
the light grows softer, the radio
plays hymns all day, and converts
tilt bravely backward into the font,
risking deafness, like Audrey ever since
going “Eh? Eh?” And still no answer.
Thanks to Meredith Trede for lending me this engaging book.
Trethewey, Natasha. Native Guard (Houghton Mifflin, 2007) won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for poetry. This book looks at race relations—starting with the Civil War and continuing with the poet’s experience growing up in Mississippi as the daughter of a biracial couple. Trethewey uses form easily—and perhaps needs it to recall memories such as a cross burning on her front yard. She taps into photographs, Civil War journals and related histories to shape her multi-layered topic. The effect is one of a fascinating collage. Also that her mother was a domestic violence victim--Trethewey's step-father murdered her--amplifies the ulteriority of her poems. In “Providence,” she recalls the devastation after Hurricane Camille:
The next day, our house—
on its cinderblocks—seemed to float
in the flooded yard: no foundation
beneath us, nothing I could see
tying us to the land.
In the water, our reflection
trembled,
disappeared
when I bent to touch it.
This wonderfully brave and well-crafted book deserves the Pulitzer.
That’s all for now. I leave you with my admiration for the rockers I saw last night and their long journey to recognition. Their experience tells me that if you love your art, the journey is your destination.
Til next time,
Ann
anncefola.com
annogram.blogspot.com
Monday, July 30, 2007
Sunday, June 10, 2007
your june annogram
God, it’s spring—beautiful out. At night I smell invisible honeysuckle floating out of dark trees and nameless bushes. It’s time to write poetry or dive into your chosen art. Hope you are as intoxicated as I am.
Call for submissions
Big City Lit is calling for themed submissions for Fall 2007: epigrams, moving/motion, dust, corridors, insects, cemeteries, smoking, infanticide, surrealism, timepieces, kites, suicide, ‘lovesick,’ hands and gloves, wells, windmills and small town wherewithal. Kinda a poem in itself! You can read my poem, “Anthem", in the spring issue at
http://www.bigcitylit.com/bigcitylit.php?inc=spring07/poetry/cefola
Translation into French
In a kind gesture celebrating our work together, poet Hélène Sanguinetti and linguist Claire Barre have translated my poem, “Amphibious” into French. Thanks to Cipher Journal’s editor Lucas Klein, you can read the original and translation, as well as a translation from Hélène’s De la main gauche, exploratrice (Flammarion, 1999) at
http://www.cipherjournal.com/html/cefola.html
http://www.cipherjournal.com/html/sanguinetti.html
Reviewers needed
If you’d like a byline in a literary journal, consider reviewing my chapbook, Sugaring (Dancing Girl Press, 2007). I have a couple of journals willing to publish a review if someone will submit one. Contact me if you’re interested.
annogram@aol.com
Hence this cradle available online
My translation of Hélène Sanguinetti’s D’ici, de ce berceau (Flammarion, 2005), is now available at Small Press Distributors for $12.95. Blending the fairytale world of childhood with the sensual world of the adult, this sequence of poetic fragments fuse the innocent and the intimate in a single lyric voice.
http://www.spdbooks.org/SearchResults.asp?Title=hence+this+cradle&Author=&Subtitle=&submit=Search
Poets celebrate Cleve Gray
I will be joining some of the area’s best poets this Wednesday, June 13, at the Neuberger Museum for a reading celebrating artist Cleve Gray (1918-2004). A tour of his works starts at 6:15 pm, followed by the reading featuring poets from Manhattanville’s Inkwell and the Hudson Valley Writers Center, at 7:00pm. Harpist Sherry Robinson will also perform. Admission $6; $3 for Museum and Hudson Valley Writers’ Center members; free to Purchase and Manhattanville College faculty, staff and students. For directions, see
http://www.neuberger.org/plan_a_visit.php.
www.clevegray.com
‘Ode to Coal’ inspires symphony
Sherry Fairchok’s “Ode to Coal,” from Palace of Ashes (Cavankerry, 2002) inspired a commissioned orchestral piece celebrating the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic’s 25th anniversary. Composer N. Lincoln Hanks says the poem brought up “the images I wanted to convey.” “Reverie: through a mountain of buried night,” made its orchestral debut April 24. Congratulations to Sherry on this wonderful honor!
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18251407&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=450444&rfi=6
Publishers read their poetry
Some well-known publishers will be reading locally in the next few weeks: Toadlily editor Meredith Trede will join the June 13 Cleve Gray (above). Camber Press editor Ron Egatz will be reading Sunday evening, June 24, to launch the Sarah Lawrence Summer Seminar for Writers; and John Amen, founder and editor-in-chief of The Pedestal Magazine, will be at Cornelia Street Café in New York City on June 22, 6:00pm, $6 admission.
Camber Press Poetry Competition
Stephen Dobyns will judge the third annual Camber Press Poetry Competition. The winner will receive $1,000 and have his or her manuscript published by Camber Press, Inc. Typed manuscripts of up to 24-pages must include a cover page listing author’s name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and manuscript title. A title page with no biographical information and table of contents should follow. Simultaneous submissions okay. A $15 entry fee payable to Camber Press must accompany submissions postmarked no later than July 15, 2007. For more info, see
www.camberpress.com
Book review
Bolano, Robert. The Savage Detectives (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007), translated by Natasha Wimmer.
Dickinson may recognize poetry when the top of her head blows off—when I read amazing fiction, I feel like I’ve entered an electrical field. The Savage Detectives, roman-à-clef about the late Robert Bolano’s life as a young poet in Mexico City, is such a book. It opens with the diary of 17-year-old Juan Garcia Madero, who has joined a poetry gang called the Visceral Realists. Then it shifts into first-person recollections of encounters with Visceral Realism’s founders as they alternately bless or damage everyone they meet on three continents. Bolano’s over-the-top passion for poetry, hilarious and riveting, is a must-read for poets: There’s never been anything like it that celebrates what we do—and how some of us live.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9852989
“Today I didn't go to class. I spent the whole day in my room writing poems.” [Juan Garcia Madero in The Savage Detectives]
Wishing you similar rebellion,
Ann
anncefola.com
annogram.blogspot.com
Call for submissions
Big City Lit is calling for themed submissions for Fall 2007: epigrams, moving/motion, dust, corridors, insects, cemeteries, smoking, infanticide, surrealism, timepieces, kites, suicide, ‘lovesick,’ hands and gloves, wells, windmills and small town wherewithal. Kinda a poem in itself! You can read my poem, “Anthem", in the spring issue at
http://www.bigcitylit.com/bigcitylit.php?inc=spring07/poetry/cefola
Translation into French
In a kind gesture celebrating our work together, poet Hélène Sanguinetti and linguist Claire Barre have translated my poem, “Amphibious” into French. Thanks to Cipher Journal’s editor Lucas Klein, you can read the original and translation, as well as a translation from Hélène’s De la main gauche, exploratrice (Flammarion, 1999) at
http://www.cipherjournal.com/html/cefola.html
http://www.cipherjournal.com/html/sanguinetti.html
Reviewers needed
If you’d like a byline in a literary journal, consider reviewing my chapbook, Sugaring (Dancing Girl Press, 2007). I have a couple of journals willing to publish a review if someone will submit one. Contact me if you’re interested.
annogram@aol.com
Hence this cradle available online
My translation of Hélène Sanguinetti’s D’ici, de ce berceau (Flammarion, 2005), is now available at Small Press Distributors for $12.95. Blending the fairytale world of childhood with the sensual world of the adult, this sequence of poetic fragments fuse the innocent and the intimate in a single lyric voice.
http://www.spdbooks.org/SearchResults.asp?Title=hence+this+cradle&Author=&Subtitle=&submit=Search
Poets celebrate Cleve Gray
I will be joining some of the area’s best poets this Wednesday, June 13, at the Neuberger Museum for a reading celebrating artist Cleve Gray (1918-2004). A tour of his works starts at 6:15 pm, followed by the reading featuring poets from Manhattanville’s Inkwell and the Hudson Valley Writers Center, at 7:00pm. Harpist Sherry Robinson will also perform. Admission $6; $3 for Museum and Hudson Valley Writers’ Center members; free to Purchase and Manhattanville College faculty, staff and students. For directions, see
http://www.neuberger.org/plan_a_visit.php.
www.clevegray.com
‘Ode to Coal’ inspires symphony
Sherry Fairchok’s “Ode to Coal,” from Palace of Ashes (Cavankerry, 2002) inspired a commissioned orchestral piece celebrating the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic’s 25th anniversary. Composer N. Lincoln Hanks says the poem brought up “the images I wanted to convey.” “Reverie: through a mountain of buried night,” made its orchestral debut April 24. Congratulations to Sherry on this wonderful honor!
http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18251407&BRD=2185&PAG=461&dept_id=450444&rfi=6
Publishers read their poetry
Some well-known publishers will be reading locally in the next few weeks: Toadlily editor Meredith Trede will join the June 13 Cleve Gray (above). Camber Press editor Ron Egatz will be reading Sunday evening, June 24, to launch the Sarah Lawrence Summer Seminar for Writers; and John Amen, founder and editor-in-chief of The Pedestal Magazine, will be at Cornelia Street Café in New York City on June 22, 6:00pm, $6 admission.
Camber Press Poetry Competition
Stephen Dobyns will judge the third annual Camber Press Poetry Competition. The winner will receive $1,000 and have his or her manuscript published by Camber Press, Inc. Typed manuscripts of up to 24-pages must include a cover page listing author’s name, address, phone number, e-mail address, and manuscript title. A title page with no biographical information and table of contents should follow. Simultaneous submissions okay. A $15 entry fee payable to Camber Press must accompany submissions postmarked no later than July 15, 2007. For more info, see
www.camberpress.com
Book review
Bolano, Robert. The Savage Detectives (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007), translated by Natasha Wimmer.
Dickinson may recognize poetry when the top of her head blows off—when I read amazing fiction, I feel like I’ve entered an electrical field. The Savage Detectives, roman-à-clef about the late Robert Bolano’s life as a young poet in Mexico City, is such a book. It opens with the diary of 17-year-old Juan Garcia Madero, who has joined a poetry gang called the Visceral Realists. Then it shifts into first-person recollections of encounters with Visceral Realism’s founders as they alternately bless or damage everyone they meet on three continents. Bolano’s over-the-top passion for poetry, hilarious and riveting, is a must-read for poets: There’s never been anything like it that celebrates what we do—and how some of us live.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9852989
“Today I didn't go to class. I spent the whole day in my room writing poems.” [Juan Garcia Madero in The Savage Detectives]
Wishing you similar rebellion,
Ann
anncefola.com
annogram.blogspot.com
Monday, May 14, 2007
your may annogram
Yes, I am back from my big trip to LA: The readings at USC and Otis College of Art and Design were wonderful. Thanks to our hosts, poet/professor David Lloyd and biographer/lecturer Béatrice Mousli-Bennett, and of course my publisher, Guy Bennett, for making this journey possible. What a gift to see Hélène Sanguinetti, the French poet I’ve been translating, as well as her friend Claire Barre, again. Ah mes amies, quelle joie!
Your Annogram – Hollywood Edition
My husband Michael and I made a point to stay in Hollywood, and you can read about our adventures below this blog entry.
Poetry this month
I am thrilled to have two favorite poems, “Boys of Iona Prep” and “St. Agnes, Pink-Slipped” appearing in Relief Journal, a Christian literary magazine.
http://www.reliefjournal.com/
Connor-Bey and Hightower at Center for Book Arts
Brenda Connor-Bey, Greenburgh’s poet laureate and author of Thoughts of An Everyday Woman/An Unfinished Urban Folktale (Blind Beggar Press, 1995), and Scott Hightower, author of Part of the Bargain (Copper Canyon Press, 2005), will read Friday, May 11, at 6:30 pm, introduced by Patricia Spears Jones. Suggested donation: $5 for CBA members and $10 non-members; first 40 entrants receive one free letterpress printed broadside. CBA is located at 28 W. 27th St. 3rd floor, New York, NY 10001, (212) 481-0295.
http://www.centerforbookarts.org/
NYT columnist to read this week
New York Times columnist, author and Westchester mom Lisa Belkin will read in the Meeting of the Minds series, this Thursday, May 10, at 7:30pm. Reading and conversation, followed by refreshments. Free admission. Chappaqua Friends House, 420 Quaker Road, Chappaqua, (914) 238-3170.
Gigi and Lend-Me-A-Hand at Bronx Zoo
Wondering what to do this weekend? Come to the Bronx Zoo to hear the Gigi on vocals, her mom, Granny Franny, on keyboards; spouse Larry on bass guitar, and Larry’s best friend—my husband Michael—on lead guitar. Guy Elluzzi and Paul Rokowski round out the sound on drums and sax respectively. Shows Saturday and Sunday at noon, 2pm and 4pm in the Dancing Crane Pavillion.
http://bronxzoo.com/426208/bz_mothersday07?o28290075=
Manhattanville Summer Writers Week
Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to study with and hear leading writers share their experience, knowledge and insights. Manhattanville offers a nurturing community of teachers and students perfect for new writers or those motivated to go to the next level. The Summer Writers Week takes place June 25-29 this year. For info and to register, see
http://manhattanville.edu/AcademicsandResearch/DowdOGormanWritingCenter/SummerWritersWeek/Default.aspx
New England Writers Literary Contests
I won this poetry contest years ago, so give it a shot. Enter as often as you like in all categories: Robert Penn Warren Poetry Awards: $300, $200, $100; Marjory Bartlett Sanger Fiction Award: $300; Frank Anthony Creative Nonfiction Award: $200. Send three 10-30 line poems; 1,000 words fiction or nonfiction; $5 entry fee; 3x5 card with name, address and titles of work; manuscript w/o contact info and mail by June 15, 2007 to New England Writers Contests, P.O. Box 5, Windsor, VT 05089.
http://www.newenglandwriters.org/
New England Writers Conference
This well-organized and attended writers conference includes a writers panel, award ceremony, open readings, book sales, and refreshments. This year’s conference will be held Saturday, July 21, 2007 at Old South Church in Windsor, Vermont, which is easily accessible up I-91 from the tri-state area. Featured guests will be posted on web:
http://www.newenglandwriters.org/
Toadlily sings
Our friends at Toadlily Press have just added audio to their book offerings—so now you can sample some poems before you purchase the books:
http://toadlilypress.com/sampler.htm
Laura Morelli, your guide to beautiful things
If you’d like to learn more about shopping for authentic handmade crafts around the world, sign up for Laura Morelli’s The Real Deal. The e-newsletter highlights the world’s best artisans and most time-honored traditions—from Murano glass to Navajo rugs, Baccarat crystal, Neopolitan cameos, Limoges porcelain, and more. See a sample here:
http://www.lauramorelli.com/newsletter.htm.
Brush with greatness
About 20 years ago, Michael and I were walking through mid-town. We passed a man on the steps of his townhouse, enjoying an evening smoke—hair all over the place, clothes casually professorish. “Is that…?” Michael asked. “Yes, it is,” I said, knowing he meant Kurt Vonnegut. That week, I would read that his apartment was being renovated—hence a good reason to be outside. Annogram salutes Vonnegut’s lifelong achievement in literature, and the critical thinking he engaged in the last decades that issued from a great love of our country: Well done, good and faithful servant.
http://www.vonnegut.com/
Until next time,
Ann
AnnCefola.com
Your Annogram – Hollywood Edition
My husband Michael and I made a point to stay in Hollywood, and you can read about our adventures below this blog entry.
Poetry this month
I am thrilled to have two favorite poems, “Boys of Iona Prep” and “St. Agnes, Pink-Slipped” appearing in Relief Journal, a Christian literary magazine.
http://www.reliefjournal.com/
Connor-Bey and Hightower at Center for Book Arts
Brenda Connor-Bey, Greenburgh’s poet laureate and author of Thoughts of An Everyday Woman/An Unfinished Urban Folktale (Blind Beggar Press, 1995), and Scott Hightower, author of Part of the Bargain (Copper Canyon Press, 2005), will read Friday, May 11, at 6:30 pm, introduced by Patricia Spears Jones. Suggested donation: $5 for CBA members and $10 non-members; first 40 entrants receive one free letterpress printed broadside. CBA is located at 28 W. 27th St. 3rd floor, New York, NY 10001, (212) 481-0295.
http://www.centerforbookarts.org/
NYT columnist to read this week
New York Times columnist, author and Westchester mom Lisa Belkin will read in the Meeting of the Minds series, this Thursday, May 10, at 7:30pm. Reading and conversation, followed by refreshments. Free admission. Chappaqua Friends House, 420 Quaker Road, Chappaqua, (914) 238-3170.
Gigi and Lend-Me-A-Hand at Bronx Zoo
Wondering what to do this weekend? Come to the Bronx Zoo to hear the Gigi on vocals, her mom, Granny Franny, on keyboards; spouse Larry on bass guitar, and Larry’s best friend—my husband Michael—on lead guitar. Guy Elluzzi and Paul Rokowski round out the sound on drums and sax respectively. Shows Saturday and Sunday at noon, 2pm and 4pm in the Dancing Crane Pavillion.
http://bronxzoo.com/426208/bz_mothersday07?o28290075=
Manhattanville Summer Writers Week
Don’t miss this amazing opportunity to study with and hear leading writers share their experience, knowledge and insights. Manhattanville offers a nurturing community of teachers and students perfect for new writers or those motivated to go to the next level. The Summer Writers Week takes place June 25-29 this year. For info and to register, see
http://manhattanville.edu/AcademicsandResearch/DowdOGormanWritingCenter/SummerWritersWeek/Default.aspx
New England Writers Literary Contests
I won this poetry contest years ago, so give it a shot. Enter as often as you like in all categories: Robert Penn Warren Poetry Awards: $300, $200, $100; Marjory Bartlett Sanger Fiction Award: $300; Frank Anthony Creative Nonfiction Award: $200. Send three 10-30 line poems; 1,000 words fiction or nonfiction; $5 entry fee; 3x5 card with name, address and titles of work; manuscript w/o contact info and mail by June 15, 2007 to New England Writers Contests, P.O. Box 5, Windsor, VT 05089.
http://www.newenglandwriters.org/
New England Writers Conference
This well-organized and attended writers conference includes a writers panel, award ceremony, open readings, book sales, and refreshments. This year’s conference will be held Saturday, July 21, 2007 at Old South Church in Windsor, Vermont, which is easily accessible up I-91 from the tri-state area. Featured guests will be posted on web:
http://www.newenglandwriters.org/
Toadlily sings
Our friends at Toadlily Press have just added audio to their book offerings—so now you can sample some poems before you purchase the books:
http://toadlilypress.com/sampler.htm
Laura Morelli, your guide to beautiful things
If you’d like to learn more about shopping for authentic handmade crafts around the world, sign up for Laura Morelli’s The Real Deal. The e-newsletter highlights the world’s best artisans and most time-honored traditions—from Murano glass to Navajo rugs, Baccarat crystal, Neopolitan cameos, Limoges porcelain, and more. See a sample here:
http://www.lauramorelli.com/newsletter.htm.
Brush with greatness
About 20 years ago, Michael and I were walking through mid-town. We passed a man on the steps of his townhouse, enjoying an evening smoke—hair all over the place, clothes casually professorish. “Is that…?” Michael asked. “Yes, it is,” I said, knowing he meant Kurt Vonnegut. That week, I would read that his apartment was being renovated—hence a good reason to be outside. Annogram salutes Vonnegut’s lifelong achievement in literature, and the critical thinking he engaged in the last decades that issued from a great love of our country: Well done, good and faithful servant.
http://www.vonnegut.com/
Until next time,
Ann
AnnCefola.com
Monday, May 07, 2007
your annogram - hollywood edition
Michael and I woke our first day in California hearing a woman screaming into her cell phone “I’m in Hollywood! I’m in Hollywood!” And who could blame her? This corner of Los Angeles represents decades of American dreams—a mythology about stardom and possibility that is part of our cultural identity.
At the Best Western Hollywood Hills, we shared our room with the Rat Pack and gangsters such as George Raft and Robert DeNiro: Framed photos and engraved signatures adorned our room. A tribute to the “I Love Lucy Show” sat, appropriately, above our TV while Gable looked loving at Lombard in another.
Populated by rockers, tourists and “Let’s Make a Deal” contestants, the motel’s 101 Coffee Shop offered savory diner fare such as malteds and burgers as well as sophisticated veggie meals. There was nothing like eating breakfast at 7:30 a.m. to “Rebel Yell” blaring over the loudspeaker and being served by Ashlee Simpson look-a-likes.
Around us, people in hushed tones promoted deals from recordings and auditions to screenplays and potential TV programs. And that was the creative energy of LA—this belief that you can make something happen, possibly something big happen—maybe something as looming as the Hollywood sign.
We took off up Beachwood Drive for our own pilgrimage to view it. Small apartment buildings gave way to more impressive cottages in every architectural style tucked close to one another on the winding upward path. The big white letters loomed larger and larger until we took a turn and found ourselves at a dead end. Something about the closer you get to Hollywood, the more it disappears.
A friend says he knows a big producer whose terrace overlooks the “O”.
On Hollywood Boulevard, small tanning, massage and other tired storefronts dot the street with huge movie theaters now boarded over.
Nevertheless, crowds cluster at Grauman’s Chinese Theater with its squares of celebrity signatures, hand- and foot-prints.
The Walk of Fame features familiar and not-so-familiar names in the sidewalk up and down the Boulevard. We just missed seeing Forest Whitaker receive his star....
At the Capitol Records building, built to look like a stack of 45s, we couldn’t enter the lobby but peered through the glass windows at walls of solid gold and platinum records.
The doorman recommended lunch at Joseph’s Café, a middle-eastern restaurant at Yucca and Ivar Streets, “where all the industry people go,” and we did see the singer Brandy there.
With Capitol the Beatles’ first label, John Lennon’s star is outside the building.
We drove the Sunset Strip, noting Whiskey-a-Go-Go, the Cat Club and the Viper Room, where River Phoenix overdosed—and Chateau Marmont where Belushi met his end. Given the murals and paintings of dead stars under bridges and on walls—paintings always slightly inexact—Hollywood has a bit of a mortuary feel to it.
At Venice Beach, we found there really is a “Muscle Beach” where people work out beside the shore on large weight machines. And friends introduced us to the Venice Canals, an idealized community of tiny homes edging beautiful canals. I noticed no one seemed to be home—and that’s probably because everyone was out driving the freeways which always seemed to be crowded—even on Sundays.
In LA, people are always seeing celebrities and talking about those experiences. Joseph Campbell once said that movie stars are like gods—they assume huge proportions on the screen, and then when we see them in real life, it’s as if we see Venus shopping at a local market, or Zeus going into a bistro. Such divine visitation in this city is an everyday occurrence, this magic that fuels creative ambition—in hushed tones—at the 101 and seemingly everywhere.
photos: michael cefola
Monday, April 09, 2007
Dear Mr. Eliot: April is not the cruellest month. National Poetry Month this year marks the arrival of my first two books. Furthermore, I look forward to seeing Hélène Sanguinetti again, the French poet I have translated for years, in LA next week for two readings. Beyond these magnificent events, there are plenty of wonderful local readings to enjoy.
Woo-hoo! My book is out
Dancing Girl Press has released my chapbook, Sugaring. The link below will show you the cover which I drew and editor Kristy Bowen expertly formatted as well as a sample poem. The poetry was inspired by time spent in Vermont, and exposure to amateur astronomy through my star-gazing husband, Michael. I am thrilled with the collection and hope you enjoy it too.
http://www.dancinggirlpress.com/sugaring.html
Hélène and Ann to read together in LA
My first translation debuts too this month, Hence this cradle (Seismicity Editions), Hélène Sanguinetti’s second book. Hélène and I will read at USC on April 17, and the next evening at 7:30pm in the Otis College of Art and Design Visiting Writer Series. Our editor, Guy Bennett, will also lead us in a discussion around the translation process.
http://penusa.org/go/events/comments/helene-sanguinetti-ann-cefola-spring-2007-visiting-writers-series/
Greenburgh’s Poet Laureate reads
Brenda Connor-Bey, Greenburgh Poet Laureate, and poet Jay Albrecht, will read their work prior to an open mike, Monday, April 16, 7:00p.m. in the Dobbs Ferry Library Community Room. If you’re a poet, come early to sign up for a five-minute open mike reading. The library is located at 55 Main Street, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522; telephone (914) 693-6614.
http://www.eventwebcasting.com/brendaconnorbey/
Toadlily at Cornelia Street
One of the coolest places in the world to read or hear poetry is the Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, in New York. It's the kind of place where you want to wear a black beret and snap your fingers. On April 19, you’ll have the pleasure of hearing Toadlily Press poets Myrna Goodman, Pam Hart, Maxine Silverman and Meredith Trede who will read at Po'Jazz night. The $15 cover includes one house drink.
http://www.corneliastreetcafe.com/ or call (212) 989-9319
Poetry Daily poet wins award
Lee Slonimsky, the March 3lst Poetry Daily featured poet, is the 1st place adult winner in the Town of Greenburgh's 2006 poetry contest. The town’s Arts and Culture Committee will celebrate all the contest winners at a book signing, reading and reception on Sunday, April 29th from 2-4 pm at Greenburgh Town Hall, 177 Hillside Avenue, Greenburgh.
http://www.poems.com/buriaslo.htm
Chappaqua Library’s memoir writers to read
Come hear memoirists, such as Sarah Bracey White whose work is featured in Dreaming in Color Living in Black and White (Simon Pulse, 2000), read personal stories at the Chappaqua Library Auditorium, 4-6pm, on Saturday, April 28. We forgive them for not being poets this month, and chances are their prose has enough lyricism to evoke poetry. For more information, contact the Chappaqua Library at (914) 238-4777.
Reminder: Manhattanville Events
Poet Marie Ponsot who will give a free poetry reading at 3 p.m. in Reid Castle on April 15; on April 21st poet Alicia Ostriker will conduct an all-day master’s poetry class, and on April 28th nonfiction writer Suzannah Lessard will offer a craft seminar on Memoir in the Dowd/O'Gorman Writing Center, 2-5 p.m., for $50. Call (914) 353-5300 to register.
http://calendar.mville.edu/cgibin/calweb/calweb.exe?cal=Graduate_and_Prof__Studies&vt=12&cmd=0&act=0&nu=2007;3;26;12;0&lastcmd=0&dd=2007;4;26
Go forth and write poetry—and if you’ve never done it, here are some prompts passed along by poet Linda Simone—although I have no clue who created them.
Until next time,
Ann
AnnCefola.com
Annogram.blogspot.com
NATIONAL POETRY MONTH: WRITE EVERY DAY!
1. Write a really ugly poem.
2. Quickly pick out 12 words from the titles of books on a nearby bookshelf. Use them in a poem.
3. Write a poem with an invented biography for yourself.
4. Take a 1-2 page poem from a book and re-type it backwards,from the very
last word in the poem all the way to the very first, keeping the lines the same
lengths as they are in the book. Use this as the starting point of a poem, picking out the
word formations that are particularly interesting to you.
5. Write from the number six.
6. Write to your pain: "Dear Pad of My Thumb, Will you kindly stop hurting?
It is very hard for me to stir a pot or write a poem when you hurt like this..."
7. Let your pain write back to you: "Dear Liesl, if you would lay off the
text messaging and playing minesweeper it would help me a lot, then you can write your
poem or stir pot...".
8. Write to your hurting country, city or community, as a variation on the
theme. Take the dialogue as far as it goes, then distill the essence. See if you
can arrive at a fresh insight about what ails you and yours.
9. Wow! You've been at this over a week straight! Let your hand draw an
abstract shape. Write about it.
10. Speaking as a fortune teller, tell a fortune. The first line is: You will take a strange
journey ...... Finish the prediction/forecast by describing the journey and giving
instructions or advice or even warnings for the journey.
11. Write a poem of at least 40 lines that is a single sentence.
12. Take fairy tale and rewrite it from the viewpoint of another character.
For example, use the wolf to tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood.
13. Write about a family secret.
14. Write an apostrophe to some abstraction (e.g., "To the End of the
World" or "To My Birth").
15. Write about someone waiting for something.
16. Write about a color without naming the color or its kin, e.g., no fair
using "crimson" "scarlet" or "ruddy" instead of red.
17. Take any object out of your bag or pocket or purse. Speaking in first
person AS THE OBJECT, answer the following questions (in any order): What is your
favorite thing? What are you scared of? What is your secret? What is your wish for
the future?
18. Take someone else's poem and select one word per line, writing them out
in a list. Then write your own poem using these words in the same sequence, one
per line.
19. Write 100 words (any kind of words) about your kitchen table.
20. Write a poem in which the form contradicts the content.
21. Write a piece at least 50-words long using only one-syllable words.
22. Take a common object, such as a flowerpot, boot or paperclip, and write
about it as if you've never seen such a thing before (e.g., you're from the future
and have just excavated it, or are from another planet).
23. Take the name of a favorite poet and anagram it. Use this to begin a
poem.
24. Pick a word from today's headlines and write a definition poem for it.
25. Write the poem you cannot write.
26. What Work is For You: Write about a job you have had, whether you
loathed it or loved it. Write from your own experience but go beyond the literal!
Keep the poem in the present tense, and BE SURE THERE IS A PHYSICAL ACTION INVOLVED such as scrubbing floors, dissecting chickens, helping someone use
the toilet. Keep your poem in couplets, tercets, quatrains, or sestets--your choice.
27. Write a poem in a received form in such a way that the form is
concealed.
28. Imagine a drink or food dish that would bring you fully alive. Write
the recipe.
29. Begin with, "This is not the last poem I will write."
30. Elide (strike out) the Junk: Take a piece of junk mail and black out
most of the words so that what remains is a poem.
Woo-hoo! My book is out
Dancing Girl Press has released my chapbook, Sugaring. The link below will show you the cover which I drew and editor Kristy Bowen expertly formatted as well as a sample poem. The poetry was inspired by time spent in Vermont, and exposure to amateur astronomy through my star-gazing husband, Michael. I am thrilled with the collection and hope you enjoy it too.
http://www.dancinggirlpress.com/sugaring.html
Hélène and Ann to read together in LA
My first translation debuts too this month, Hence this cradle (Seismicity Editions), Hélène Sanguinetti’s second book. Hélène and I will read at USC on April 17, and the next evening at 7:30pm in the Otis College of Art and Design Visiting Writer Series. Our editor, Guy Bennett, will also lead us in a discussion around the translation process.
http://penusa.org/go/events/comments/helene-sanguinetti-ann-cefola-spring-2007-visiting-writers-series/
Greenburgh’s Poet Laureate reads
Brenda Connor-Bey, Greenburgh Poet Laureate, and poet Jay Albrecht, will read their work prior to an open mike, Monday, April 16, 7:00p.m. in the Dobbs Ferry Library Community Room. If you’re a poet, come early to sign up for a five-minute open mike reading. The library is located at 55 Main Street, Dobbs Ferry, NY 10522; telephone (914) 693-6614.
http://www.eventwebcasting.com/brendaconnorbey/
Toadlily at Cornelia Street
One of the coolest places in the world to read or hear poetry is the Cornelia Street Café, 29 Cornelia Street, in New York. It's the kind of place where you want to wear a black beret and snap your fingers. On April 19, you’ll have the pleasure of hearing Toadlily Press poets Myrna Goodman, Pam Hart, Maxine Silverman and Meredith Trede who will read at Po'Jazz night. The $15 cover includes one house drink.
http://www.corneliastreetcafe.com/ or call (212) 989-9319
Poetry Daily poet wins award
Lee Slonimsky, the March 3lst Poetry Daily featured poet, is the 1st place adult winner in the Town of Greenburgh's 2006 poetry contest. The town’s Arts and Culture Committee will celebrate all the contest winners at a book signing, reading and reception on Sunday, April 29th from 2-4 pm at Greenburgh Town Hall, 177 Hillside Avenue, Greenburgh.
http://www.poems.com/buriaslo.htm
Chappaqua Library’s memoir writers to read
Come hear memoirists, such as Sarah Bracey White whose work is featured in Dreaming in Color Living in Black and White (Simon Pulse, 2000), read personal stories at the Chappaqua Library Auditorium, 4-6pm, on Saturday, April 28. We forgive them for not being poets this month, and chances are their prose has enough lyricism to evoke poetry. For more information, contact the Chappaqua Library at (914) 238-4777.
Reminder: Manhattanville Events
Poet Marie Ponsot who will give a free poetry reading at 3 p.m. in Reid Castle on April 15; on April 21st poet Alicia Ostriker will conduct an all-day master’s poetry class, and on April 28th nonfiction writer Suzannah Lessard will offer a craft seminar on Memoir in the Dowd/O'Gorman Writing Center, 2-5 p.m., for $50. Call (914) 353-5300 to register.
http://calendar.mville.edu/cgibin/calweb/calweb.exe?cal=Graduate_and_Prof__Studies&vt=12&cmd=0&act=0&nu=2007;3;26;12;0&lastcmd=0&dd=2007;4;26
Go forth and write poetry—and if you’ve never done it, here are some prompts passed along by poet Linda Simone—although I have no clue who created them.
Until next time,
Ann
AnnCefola.com
Annogram.blogspot.com
NATIONAL POETRY MONTH: WRITE EVERY DAY!
1. Write a really ugly poem.
2. Quickly pick out 12 words from the titles of books on a nearby bookshelf. Use them in a poem.
3. Write a poem with an invented biography for yourself.
4. Take a 1-2 page poem from a book and re-type it backwards,from the very
last word in the poem all the way to the very first, keeping the lines the same
lengths as they are in the book. Use this as the starting point of a poem, picking out the
word formations that are particularly interesting to you.
5. Write from the number six.
6. Write to your pain: "Dear Pad of My Thumb, Will you kindly stop hurting?
It is very hard for me to stir a pot or write a poem when you hurt like this..."
7. Let your pain write back to you: "Dear Liesl, if you would lay off the
text messaging and playing minesweeper it would help me a lot, then you can write your
poem or stir pot...".
8. Write to your hurting country, city or community, as a variation on the
theme. Take the dialogue as far as it goes, then distill the essence. See if you
can arrive at a fresh insight about what ails you and yours.
9. Wow! You've been at this over a week straight! Let your hand draw an
abstract shape. Write about it.
10. Speaking as a fortune teller, tell a fortune. The first line is: You will take a strange
journey ...... Finish the prediction/forecast by describing the journey and giving
instructions or advice or even warnings for the journey.
11. Write a poem of at least 40 lines that is a single sentence.
12. Take fairy tale and rewrite it from the viewpoint of another character.
For example, use the wolf to tell the story of Little Red Riding Hood.
13. Write about a family secret.
14. Write an apostrophe to some abstraction (e.g., "To the End of the
World" or "To My Birth").
15. Write about someone waiting for something.
16. Write about a color without naming the color or its kin, e.g., no fair
using "crimson" "scarlet" or "ruddy" instead of red.
17. Take any object out of your bag or pocket or purse. Speaking in first
person AS THE OBJECT, answer the following questions (in any order): What is your
favorite thing? What are you scared of? What is your secret? What is your wish for
the future?
18. Take someone else's poem and select one word per line, writing them out
in a list. Then write your own poem using these words in the same sequence, one
per line.
19. Write 100 words (any kind of words) about your kitchen table.
20. Write a poem in which the form contradicts the content.
21. Write a piece at least 50-words long using only one-syllable words.
22. Take a common object, such as a flowerpot, boot or paperclip, and write
about it as if you've never seen such a thing before (e.g., you're from the future
and have just excavated it, or are from another planet).
23. Take the name of a favorite poet and anagram it. Use this to begin a
poem.
24. Pick a word from today's headlines and write a definition poem for it.
25. Write the poem you cannot write.
26. What Work is For You: Write about a job you have had, whether you
loathed it or loved it. Write from your own experience but go beyond the literal!
Keep the poem in the present tense, and BE SURE THERE IS A PHYSICAL ACTION INVOLVED such as scrubbing floors, dissecting chickens, helping someone use
the toilet. Keep your poem in couplets, tercets, quatrains, or sestets--your choice.
27. Write a poem in a received form in such a way that the form is
concealed.
28. Imagine a drink or food dish that would bring you fully alive. Write
the recipe.
29. Begin with, "This is not the last poem I will write."
30. Elide (strike out) the Junk: Take a piece of junk mail and black out
most of the words so that what remains is a poem.
Monday, March 26, 2007
your march annogram
March Madness
Wow, did you see Georgetown win yesterday in overtime? That was magical. The Georgetown mascot is a bulldog named Jack, so we say, “Go Jack!” If anyone has seen Jack on TV or elsewhere in recent years, please let me know. This month’s short newsletter is—like March—a little mad too.
http://traditions.georgetown.edu/jack/
Winning Writers
The web site http://www.winningwriters.com/ is a useful tool for poets and writers interested in pursuing contests. The monthly newsletter provides latest grant and contest opportunities, and acknowledges those writers who win. In the February newsletter, editor Adam Cohen published “At the Library,” from my chapbook Sugaring (Dancing Girl Press). Scroll down to “Featured Poems from Our Subscribers.”
http://www.winningwriters.com/newsletter/public/2007/nl_public_0703sup.htm?PHPSESSID=c97f21b0090ecc1db7db032e07556934
Bronxville reading launches
On March 5, Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville hosted poet Linda Simone, who read from her best-selling chapbook, Cow Tippers (Shadowbox Press, 2006); Lisa Pierce, Greenwillow Press editor who shared her poems; and Cynthia Beglin, who read from novel-in-progress. Delicious appetizers and a guitar interval by Madora Kibbe made for a wonderful evening. Immaculee Ilibagiza, Rwanda survivor and author of Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust (Hay House, 2005) closed the night with a harrowing passage about hiding in her pastor’s house to escape the killing squads.
Meetings of the Mind Reading Series in Chappaqua
William Zinsser, author of the classic On Writing Well (Collins, 2006), will talk about “Where I Write” and read work-in-progress at the Chappaqua Friends Meeting, 420 Quaker Road, on March 29 at 7:30 p.m. Zinsser will explore where writers write and the importance—and impact—of “place.” The series continues April 26, when Nahid Rachlin will speak about her memoir, Persian Girls, and on May 10, when New York Times columnist Lisa Belkin will discuss Mother’s Day.
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-30th-Anniversary-Nonfiction/dp/0060891548/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-3930418-3656909?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174931841&sr=8-1
Manhattanville Writers Events
The Manhattanville Graduate Writing Program is sponsoring poet Marie Ponsot who will give a free poetry reading and talk at 3 p.m. in Reid Castle on April 15; on April 21st poet Alicia Ostriker will conduct an all-day master’s class in poetry, and on April 28th nonfiction writer Suzannah Lessard will offer a craft seminar on Memoir in the Dowd/O'Gorman Writing Center, 2-5 p.m., for $50. Call 914-353-5300 to register.
http://calendar.mville.edu/cgibin/calweb/calweb.exe?cal=Graduate_and_Prof__Studies&vt=12&cmd=0&act=0&nu=2007;3;26;12;0&lastcmd=0&dd=2007;4;26
DVD reviews
“Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2006), the poignant story of a dysfunctional family, copped Alan Arkin a well-deserved Best Supporting Actor Oscar this year and Michael Arndt Best Original Screenplay. When Ardnt accepted his award, he said one of his best childhood memories was his family’s cross-country ride in a beat-up Volkswagen van—ever proving that when we write from our own experience, we too might generate an award-winning screenplay. Also noteworthy: the performance by Oscar-nominated Abigail Breslin—and critical look at the “Little Miss” contest circuit.
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/littlemisssunshine/
“Real Women Have Curves” (HBO Films, 2002), winner of the Dramatic Audience Award at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, tells the story of 18-year-old Ana, a first-generation Mexican-American from East Los Angeles, who struggles to balance her mainstream ambitions and more traditional cultural heritage. Ana may look familiar as she is America Ferrera on the popular ABC sitcom “Ugly Betty.” This film is a fascinating commentary on contemporary expectations of women’s appearance—in any culture.
http://www.hbo.com/films/realwomen/
“What the Bleep Do We Know?!” (20th Century Fox, 2005) is Amazon’s No. 1 Surprise DVD Hit of 2005. Originally released in 2004, it explores quantum physics which, in essence, propose thoughts can create reality and matter is not as we perceive it. An engaging storyline features Marlee Maitlin, an uptight photographer recently betrayed by her fiancée, who is confronted with the possibility of expanded consciousness. I enjoyed this film and its commentary by accomplished researchers and professors.
http://www.whatthebleep.com/
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that our peculiar life experience could be of interest to others—and sometimes we write about it and wonderful things happen. Take a leap of faith. Write from your experience.
Til next time,
Ann
anncefola.com
annogram.blogspot.com
Wow, did you see Georgetown win yesterday in overtime? That was magical. The Georgetown mascot is a bulldog named Jack, so we say, “Go Jack!” If anyone has seen Jack on TV or elsewhere in recent years, please let me know. This month’s short newsletter is—like March—a little mad too.
http://traditions.georgetown.edu/jack/
Winning Writers
The web site http://www.winningwriters.com/ is a useful tool for poets and writers interested in pursuing contests. The monthly newsletter provides latest grant and contest opportunities, and acknowledges those writers who win. In the February newsletter, editor Adam Cohen published “At the Library,” from my chapbook Sugaring (Dancing Girl Press). Scroll down to “Featured Poems from Our Subscribers.”
http://www.winningwriters.com/newsletter/public/2007/nl_public_0703sup.htm?PHPSESSID=c97f21b0090ecc1db7db032e07556934
Bronxville reading launches
On March 5, Siwanoy Country Club in Bronxville hosted poet Linda Simone, who read from her best-selling chapbook, Cow Tippers (Shadowbox Press, 2006); Lisa Pierce, Greenwillow Press editor who shared her poems; and Cynthia Beglin, who read from novel-in-progress. Delicious appetizers and a guitar interval by Madora Kibbe made for a wonderful evening. Immaculee Ilibagiza, Rwanda survivor and author of Left To Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust (Hay House, 2005) closed the night with a harrowing passage about hiding in her pastor’s house to escape the killing squads.
Meetings of the Mind Reading Series in Chappaqua
William Zinsser, author of the classic On Writing Well (Collins, 2006), will talk about “Where I Write” and read work-in-progress at the Chappaqua Friends Meeting, 420 Quaker Road, on March 29 at 7:30 p.m. Zinsser will explore where writers write and the importance—and impact—of “place.” The series continues April 26, when Nahid Rachlin will speak about her memoir, Persian Girls, and on May 10, when New York Times columnist Lisa Belkin will discuss Mother’s Day.
http://www.amazon.com/Writing-Well-30th-Anniversary-Nonfiction/dp/0060891548/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-3930418-3656909?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174931841&sr=8-1
Manhattanville Writers Events
The Manhattanville Graduate Writing Program is sponsoring poet Marie Ponsot who will give a free poetry reading and talk at 3 p.m. in Reid Castle on April 15; on April 21st poet Alicia Ostriker will conduct an all-day master’s class in poetry, and on April 28th nonfiction writer Suzannah Lessard will offer a craft seminar on Memoir in the Dowd/O'Gorman Writing Center, 2-5 p.m., for $50. Call 914-353-5300 to register.
http://calendar.mville.edu/cgibin/calweb/calweb.exe?cal=Graduate_and_Prof__Studies&vt=12&cmd=0&act=0&nu=2007;3;26;12;0&lastcmd=0&dd=2007;4;26
DVD reviews
“Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2006), the poignant story of a dysfunctional family, copped Alan Arkin a well-deserved Best Supporting Actor Oscar this year and Michael Arndt Best Original Screenplay. When Ardnt accepted his award, he said one of his best childhood memories was his family’s cross-country ride in a beat-up Volkswagen van—ever proving that when we write from our own experience, we too might generate an award-winning screenplay. Also noteworthy: the performance by Oscar-nominated Abigail Breslin—and critical look at the “Little Miss” contest circuit.
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/littlemisssunshine/
“Real Women Have Curves” (HBO Films, 2002), winner of the Dramatic Audience Award at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, tells the story of 18-year-old Ana, a first-generation Mexican-American from East Los Angeles, who struggles to balance her mainstream ambitions and more traditional cultural heritage. Ana may look familiar as she is America Ferrera on the popular ABC sitcom “Ugly Betty.” This film is a fascinating commentary on contemporary expectations of women’s appearance—in any culture.
http://www.hbo.com/films/realwomen/
“What the Bleep Do We Know?!” (20th Century Fox, 2005) is Amazon’s No. 1 Surprise DVD Hit of 2005. Originally released in 2004, it explores quantum physics which, in essence, propose thoughts can create reality and matter is not as we perceive it. An engaging storyline features Marlee Maitlin, an uptight photographer recently betrayed by her fiancée, who is confronted with the possibility of expanded consciousness. I enjoyed this film and its commentary by accomplished researchers and professors.
http://www.whatthebleep.com/
Sometimes it’s hard to believe that our peculiar life experience could be of interest to others—and sometimes we write about it and wonderful things happen. Take a leap of faith. Write from your experience.
Til next time,
Ann
anncefola.com
annogram.blogspot.com
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
your february annogram
It’s a joy to celebrate African-American History Month: This February, I stumbled onto some great programs on PBS that deepened my understanding of African American contributions to world culture. I also want to review two poetry books recommended to me by poet Marti Palar. So let’s get going!
‘Forgotten Genius’ on PBS
In my endless channel surfing that usually produces nothing but disgust, I was thrilled to find "Forgotten Genius" on Channel 13, our New York public television station. The NOVA episode followed the astonishing career of Dr. Julian Percy (1899-1975), an African American chemist who pioneered the development of steroids. In a long career at Glidden, he developed ways to produce steroids from yams and soy. Then founding his own lab, he discovered new ways to make cortisone affordable—even sacrificing profits in the process. He fought racism at every turn to make this huge scientific contribution and could have done much more had not the culture worked against him. So, the next time your doctor prescribes cortisone, breathe a word of thanks to Dr. Percy.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/julian/civil.html
Ella Fitzgerald too
Did you know that Ella Fitzgerald, aka "the First Lady of Song," grew up in Yonkers? You may be thinking about her as she’s currently on a US postage stamp celebrating Black History Month. In another channel-surfing miracle, I discovered her singing her standards from shows in 1957 and 1963. Stunning in a satin and jeweled gown, she exhibited her awesome scat abilities and, in an amazing moment, imitated Louis Armstrong to perfection. Quincy Jones calls her, along with Louis and Count Basie, "the Bachs and Beethovens of our generation." I heard a lot of Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Williams in my house growing up, and feel like these giants raised me as much as my parents.
http://www.jazzicons.com/ji_fitzgerald.html
Tracy K. Smith, The Body’s Question (Graywolf, 2006)
People say there are two themes in poetry: love and loss. Tracy Smith deals with both expertly in poems nostalgic for her mother, and thoughts of lovers past and present. Poetry, Ferlinghetti says, is like "the shook foil of the imagination," that should "shine out and half blind you." Smith achieves this dazzle in lines from poems such as "Mangoes":
She considers her hands, at restLike pale fruits in her lap. Should she
Gather them in her skirt and hurry
Down the tree in reverse, greedy
For a vivid mouthful of something
Sweet?
Smith weaves strong narratives in expert lyricism that are really a pleasure to read.
http://www.cavecanempoets.org/pages/store/books_smith.htm
Terrance Hayes, Wind in a Box (Penguin, 2006)
Terrance Hayes tackles issues of race unflinchingly in this wonderful book. He has an outrageousness: Imagine four poems with the same title, or whole lines crossed out but left in the poem. Usually such effects cover weak work—but Hayes’s craft is strong. He also inserts a graphic, reflecting the title, on opposing pages throughout the book. Furthermore, he writes about contemporary cultural figures such as Melvin Van Peebles and David Bowie. Here are some sample lines from "Root":
My parents would have had me believe
there was no such thing as race
there in the wild backyard, our knees black
with store-bought grass and dirt,
black as the soil of pastures or of orchards
grown above the graves.
All I can say is "Wow!"
http://www.poems.com/windihay.htm
Introducing the book
Thanks to award-winning poet Janet Kaplan for sharing this hilarious video with me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRjVeRbhtRU
SmArt History
Deemed one of the 12 most important podcasts by Fast Company, SmArt History
is a new way to enjoy art history:
http://www.smarthistory.org/blog
Wishing everyone imagination that shines like shook foil.
Until next time,
Ann
Anncefola.com
‘Forgotten Genius’ on PBS
In my endless channel surfing that usually produces nothing but disgust, I was thrilled to find "Forgotten Genius" on Channel 13, our New York public television station. The NOVA episode followed the astonishing career of Dr. Julian Percy (1899-1975), an African American chemist who pioneered the development of steroids. In a long career at Glidden, he developed ways to produce steroids from yams and soy. Then founding his own lab, he discovered new ways to make cortisone affordable—even sacrificing profits in the process. He fought racism at every turn to make this huge scientific contribution and could have done much more had not the culture worked against him. So, the next time your doctor prescribes cortisone, breathe a word of thanks to Dr. Percy.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/julian/civil.html
Ella Fitzgerald too
Did you know that Ella Fitzgerald, aka "the First Lady of Song," grew up in Yonkers? You may be thinking about her as she’s currently on a US postage stamp celebrating Black History Month. In another channel-surfing miracle, I discovered her singing her standards from shows in 1957 and 1963. Stunning in a satin and jeweled gown, she exhibited her awesome scat abilities and, in an amazing moment, imitated Louis Armstrong to perfection. Quincy Jones calls her, along with Louis and Count Basie, "the Bachs and Beethovens of our generation." I heard a lot of Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Williams in my house growing up, and feel like these giants raised me as much as my parents.
http://www.jazzicons.com/ji_fitzgerald.html
Tracy K. Smith, The Body’s Question (Graywolf, 2006)
People say there are two themes in poetry: love and loss. Tracy Smith deals with both expertly in poems nostalgic for her mother, and thoughts of lovers past and present. Poetry, Ferlinghetti says, is like "the shook foil of the imagination," that should "shine out and half blind you." Smith achieves this dazzle in lines from poems such as "Mangoes":
She considers her hands, at restLike pale fruits in her lap. Should she
Gather them in her skirt and hurry
Down the tree in reverse, greedy
For a vivid mouthful of something
Sweet?
Smith weaves strong narratives in expert lyricism that are really a pleasure to read.
http://www.cavecanempoets.org/pages/store/books_smith.htm
Terrance Hayes, Wind in a Box (Penguin, 2006)
Terrance Hayes tackles issues of race unflinchingly in this wonderful book. He has an outrageousness: Imagine four poems with the same title, or whole lines crossed out but left in the poem. Usually such effects cover weak work—but Hayes’s craft is strong. He also inserts a graphic, reflecting the title, on opposing pages throughout the book. Furthermore, he writes about contemporary cultural figures such as Melvin Van Peebles and David Bowie. Here are some sample lines from "Root":
My parents would have had me believe
there was no such thing as race
there in the wild backyard, our knees black
with store-bought grass and dirt,
black as the soil of pastures or of orchards
grown above the graves.
All I can say is "Wow!"
http://www.poems.com/windihay.htm
Introducing the book
Thanks to award-winning poet Janet Kaplan for sharing this hilarious video with me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRjVeRbhtRU
SmArt History
Deemed one of the 12 most important podcasts by Fast Company, SmArt History
is a new way to enjoy art history:
http://www.smarthistory.org/blog
Wishing everyone imagination that shines like shook foil.
Until next time,
Ann
Anncefola.com
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Is it too late to say Happy New Year? I am going to do it anyway: Best wishes for a creative, productive and fun year ahead. Mine has started out wonderfully:
Witter Bynner Poetry Translation Residency
I am honored to receive a 2007 Witter Bynner Poetry Translation Residency from the Santa Fe Arts Institute (SFAI). The award will let me travel to Santa Fe in the fall to translate Hélène Sanguinetti’s latest work, Le Héros (Flammarion, 2008). SFAI brings together emerging writers with artists such as John Baldessari, Elizabeth Murray and Laurie Anderson to create engaging residencies and community outreach. Everyone seems to call Santa Fe "magical." If you have any must-dos or must-sees, please let me know!
www.sfai.org
Homophonic Translation
Poet and teacher Kevin Pilkington often gives students a poem in another language and asks them to "translate" it based on its sounds. This is the idea behind Circumference’s Homophonic Feature. In Circumference 5, you can read my take on a Polish poem. The exercise is a freeing one and even I was surprised with what emerged.
http://www.circumferencemag.com/about.html
Meg Lindsay at Sarah Lawrence Library
Abstract painter and poet Meg Lindsay’s paintings—a menagerie of sheep, owls, dragonflies and dogs—take images we recognize and make them electric with color. The more she cuts loose with big brushstrokes, the more extraordinary her work: You can see the vivid influence of her teacher, colorist Wolf Kahn. My favorites: "Progression of Three Owls in Orange", "Mystic Triangles" and "The Hudson Seen Through Slender Tree Trunks." Through March 3lst.
http://www.slc.edu/library/exhibits.htm
Toadlily Press Reading at HVWC
The Hudson Valley Writers Center is hosting a Toadlily Press reading on Friday, February 9, at 7:30pm. Toadlily poets such as Myrna Goodman will read, followed by a reception. You might also catch a beautiful nighttime view of the Hudson. The Hudson Valley Writers Center is located in the restored Phillips Manor RR Station, 300 Riverside Drive, Sleepy Hollow, NY. (914) 332-5953.
http://www.writerscenter.org/
Greenburgh’s Poet Laureate on airwaves tomorrow
Brenda Connor-Bey will be on WVOX, 1460 AM, on Monday morning, 11 a.m. or on the live web stream at
http://www.wvox.com/
More great stuff from Poetz
Kudos also to Jackie Sheeler, the Poet Laureate of Riker’s Island, for her informative and generous e-newsletter which is chockfull of opportunities, readings and contests for poets. Sign up at
poetz-suscribe@yahoogroups.com.
How to create a poetry book
Thanks to Linda Simone—and congratulations on winning Special Recognition in the 2006 Helen Schaible Shakespearean/Petrarchan Sonnet Contest—for giving me Ordering the Storm: How to Put Together a Book of Poems (Cleveland State University, 2006), edited by Susan Grimm. This essay collection illuminates the murky science of book-making—such as Wanda Coleman’s revelation that Sci-Fi anthologies serve as her blueprint. I am enjoying many asides on the poet’s path: What we artists want to do more than anything else, says Liz Rosenberg, is to "become most perfectly ourselves".
http://www.amazon.com/Ordering-Storm-Together-Poems-Imagination/dp/1880834707
Book reviews
Cole, Henri. Middle Earth (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003). Cole explores familial memories by balancing delicate lyricism and concrete image. In "Swans," he recalls scattering his father’s ashes which, "we flung hard/into the green water slapping against the pier" and later remembers "being a sunburned boy napping between hairy legs." The flash of memory intrudes on the poem much like it does in thinking. I like his family remembrances best and sometimes feel the monotonal voice of other poems strays dangerously close to Jack Handey.
http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/authors/cole/poetsonpoetry.html
Glück, Louise. Averno (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006). A critic described this book as a masterpiece and I agree: Glück ties together the Persephone myth, her own familial mythology and philosophical inquiry—all in her famous casual tone. As you may recall, Persephone was abducted by the god of death from a field. In "Persephone the Wanderer," Glück dares to ask, "What will you do/when it is your turn in the field with the god?" She also turns the myth upside down by suggesting Persephone’s true prison was not Hades—but her relationship with her mother.
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/gluck/about.htm
Kalytiak-Davis, Olena. And Her Soul Out of Nothing (University of Wisconsin Press, 1997). Many recommended this book, and I was not disappointed: Kalytiak-Davis juxtaposes original metaphors with calculated space in between: The pleasure is in the delightful turns of thought. In "The Scaffolding Inside You", she writes "Your thoughts have hung themselves from nails/like work shirts." Toward the back, most likely earlier work doesn’t achieve the magic of the front poems: Even this is instructive in terms of understanding a poet’s evolution.
http://poetryfoundation.org/dispatches/journals/01.30.06.html
Skloot, Floyd. The End of Dreams (Louisiana State Press, 2006). If you’re like me, you may get fed up with all the lyric narrative out there. I want to shout, even about my own poems, "Enough already!" Skloot gets dispensation: Here is someone who handles it well. I love when he writes about artistic giants such as Bach and Cézanne. A poem to cherish is "Whitman Pinch Hits, 1861" about the poet watching, then joining, a baseball game played by a group of young men:
[…] and he came toward them like a bather moving through
thigh-high breakers, time stopping and then
turning back
letting him loose at last amid the spirits that greeted him
as the boys pounded his back, as they turned him around
and shoved him toward the field [….]
http://www.floydskloot.com/
I leave you with this lovely image of the great poet. As Whitman did, may you become—through your art—"most perfectly yourself."
Ann
anncefola.com
annogram.blogspot.com
Witter Bynner Poetry Translation Residency
I am honored to receive a 2007 Witter Bynner Poetry Translation Residency from the Santa Fe Arts Institute (SFAI). The award will let me travel to Santa Fe in the fall to translate Hélène Sanguinetti’s latest work, Le Héros (Flammarion, 2008). SFAI brings together emerging writers with artists such as John Baldessari, Elizabeth Murray and Laurie Anderson to create engaging residencies and community outreach. Everyone seems to call Santa Fe "magical." If you have any must-dos or must-sees, please let me know!
www.sfai.org
Homophonic Translation
Poet and teacher Kevin Pilkington often gives students a poem in another language and asks them to "translate" it based on its sounds. This is the idea behind Circumference’s Homophonic Feature. In Circumference 5, you can read my take on a Polish poem. The exercise is a freeing one and even I was surprised with what emerged.
http://www.circumferencemag.com/about.html
Meg Lindsay at Sarah Lawrence Library
Abstract painter and poet Meg Lindsay’s paintings—a menagerie of sheep, owls, dragonflies and dogs—take images we recognize and make them electric with color. The more she cuts loose with big brushstrokes, the more extraordinary her work: You can see the vivid influence of her teacher, colorist Wolf Kahn. My favorites: "Progression of Three Owls in Orange", "Mystic Triangles" and "The Hudson Seen Through Slender Tree Trunks." Through March 3lst.
http://www.slc.edu/library/exhibits.htm
Toadlily Press Reading at HVWC
The Hudson Valley Writers Center is hosting a Toadlily Press reading on Friday, February 9, at 7:30pm. Toadlily poets such as Myrna Goodman will read, followed by a reception. You might also catch a beautiful nighttime view of the Hudson. The Hudson Valley Writers Center is located in the restored Phillips Manor RR Station, 300 Riverside Drive, Sleepy Hollow, NY. (914) 332-5953.
http://www.writerscenter.org/
Greenburgh’s Poet Laureate on airwaves tomorrow
Brenda Connor-Bey will be on WVOX, 1460 AM, on Monday morning, 11 a.m. or on the live web stream at
http://www.wvox.com/
More great stuff from Poetz
Kudos also to Jackie Sheeler, the Poet Laureate of Riker’s Island, for her informative and generous e-newsletter which is chockfull of opportunities, readings and contests for poets. Sign up at
poetz-suscribe@yahoogroups.com.
How to create a poetry book
Thanks to Linda Simone—and congratulations on winning Special Recognition in the 2006 Helen Schaible Shakespearean/Petrarchan Sonnet Contest—for giving me Ordering the Storm: How to Put Together a Book of Poems (Cleveland State University, 2006), edited by Susan Grimm. This essay collection illuminates the murky science of book-making—such as Wanda Coleman’s revelation that Sci-Fi anthologies serve as her blueprint. I am enjoying many asides on the poet’s path: What we artists want to do more than anything else, says Liz Rosenberg, is to "become most perfectly ourselves".
http://www.amazon.com/Ordering-Storm-Together-Poems-Imagination/dp/1880834707
Book reviews
Cole, Henri. Middle Earth (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003). Cole explores familial memories by balancing delicate lyricism and concrete image. In "Swans," he recalls scattering his father’s ashes which, "we flung hard/into the green water slapping against the pier" and later remembers "being a sunburned boy napping between hairy legs." The flash of memory intrudes on the poem much like it does in thinking. I like his family remembrances best and sometimes feel the monotonal voice of other poems strays dangerously close to Jack Handey.
http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/authors/cole/poetsonpoetry.html
Glück, Louise. Averno (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2006). A critic described this book as a masterpiece and I agree: Glück ties together the Persephone myth, her own familial mythology and philosophical inquiry—all in her famous casual tone. As you may recall, Persephone was abducted by the god of death from a field. In "Persephone the Wanderer," Glück dares to ask, "What will you do/when it is your turn in the field with the god?" She also turns the myth upside down by suggesting Persephone’s true prison was not Hades—but her relationship with her mother.
http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/g_l/gluck/about.htm
Kalytiak-Davis, Olena. And Her Soul Out of Nothing (University of Wisconsin Press, 1997). Many recommended this book, and I was not disappointed: Kalytiak-Davis juxtaposes original metaphors with calculated space in between: The pleasure is in the delightful turns of thought. In "The Scaffolding Inside You", she writes "Your thoughts have hung themselves from nails/like work shirts." Toward the back, most likely earlier work doesn’t achieve the magic of the front poems: Even this is instructive in terms of understanding a poet’s evolution.
http://poetryfoundation.org/dispatches/journals/01.30.06.html
Skloot, Floyd. The End of Dreams (Louisiana State Press, 2006). If you’re like me, you may get fed up with all the lyric narrative out there. I want to shout, even about my own poems, "Enough already!" Skloot gets dispensation: Here is someone who handles it well. I love when he writes about artistic giants such as Bach and Cézanne. A poem to cherish is "Whitman Pinch Hits, 1861" about the poet watching, then joining, a baseball game played by a group of young men:
[…] and he came toward them like a bather moving through
thigh-high breakers, time stopping and then
turning back
letting him loose at last amid the spirits that greeted him
as the boys pounded his back, as they turned him around
and shoved him toward the field [….]
http://www.floydskloot.com/
I leave you with this lovely image of the great poet. As Whitman did, may you become—through your art—"most perfectly yourself."
Ann
anncefola.com
annogram.blogspot.com
Thursday, December 28, 2006
december annogram
Hi everyone, hope you are having a wonderful Hanukkah, Christmas or Kwanzaa season. I am celebrating two poems in http://www.poemeleon.org/, a special issue that focuses happily on artists. Take a look and let me know what you think.
http://www.poemeleon.org/ann-cefola/
Poetry at the Hudson River Museum
While at the monthly Westchester Amateur Astronomers meeting, I stumbled into a November 10 reading by poet Kathleen Ossip. Kathleen won the 2002 American Poetry Review/Honickman First Book Award for The Search Engine (The American Poetry Review, 2002). Kathleen models many poems after work by greats such as Eliot and Bishop. I particularly enjoyed her local color (“Geese on the Median of the Saw Mill Parkway”) and in lines such as “Let us go to Tuckahoe. Let us meet at the duck pond…” (“The Pleasure of Your Company”). A tough critic, I found myself engaged by Kathleen’s unusual wordplay and strong metaphors.
http://www.aprweb.org/bookprize/ossip.shtml
Discovering the new Hudson River Museum
Walking around the museum gave me a chance to appreciate its improved appearance—the dramatic rectangular entrance and improved interior lighting gives it a more comfortable feel. I enjoyed photographs by Yonkers native and professional photographer Guy Gillette—classic pictures of Audrey Hepburn and others dating back to the 1940s. I also welcomed paintings and prints of the stark Maine landscape by late artist Neil Welliver. With both exhibits up until January 7, you can shake your winter doldrums by taking them in.
http://www.hrm.org/
French poet at Sarah Lawrence
Thanks to Meredith Trede for dragging me out of my winter stupor to attend a reading by French poet Marie Borel at Sarah Lawrence College. Marie, accompanied by translators Sarah Riggs and Omar Berrada, read from her book Trompe-Loup and its translation, Wolftrot (Fence Books, 2006). Like a performance, all three wove an intriguing narrative in English and French. Reappearing characters and themes connect the poems. Congratulations to Marie, Sarah and Omar on their joint translation project!
http://www.amazon.com/Wolftrot-Marie-Borel/dp/1934200034/sr=8-1/qid=1167341779/ref=sr_1_1/102-6310798-7406543?ie=UTF8&s=books
Hip bone’s connected to….
Bodies: The Exhibit at South Street Seaport features human bodies preserved in acrylic and then sliced to expose bones, muscles, blood vessels, nerves and organs. Although it sounds grizzly, the exhibit is an extraordinary experience for lay people—and there were lots of EMS workers and physical therapists on hand to relish the opportunity. I developed a new appreciation for our delicate innards—and the impact upon them of what we consume and breathe. While grateful for the experience, I felt sad for the bodies—rumored to be prisoners in Asia—that they ended up this way.
www.bodiestheexhibition.com/
French Film Festival
My Francophile-neighbor Susan lent me three French DVDs recently: “The Child” (Sony Pictures Classics, 2005), by Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne, follows two adolescent lovers who give birth to an infant. While the young mother takes to her new role, her petty-thief partner promptly sells their baby. The plot spirals from there—and I wondered who is the real “child”? The baby, unsuspecting mother or misguided father?
“A Very Long Engagement” (Warner Independent Pictures, 2003) takes place in World War I France. Audrey Tatou (“Amelie”) sets out to find her soldier lover, supposedly executed for his attempt to desert. This film vividly portrays the horrors of war and tenacity of one woman who believes against all odds that her soul mate is alive. “A Very Long Engagement” achieves the feel of a detective story as Tatou inches closer to answers.
The best was “Ridicule” (Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 1996), a film by Patric LeConte set in the pre-revolutionary court of Louis XVI. An aristocrat farmer heads to Paris to beg the king to drain the swamps that are causing pestilence and death in his region. To get the king’s attention, he must play into the hands of the court and often violate his own values. While a fascinating story, the film also affords what feels like an accurate glimpse into that era’s unmerciful court culture.
Toadlily Press open reading
Toadlily is considering manuscripts for its yearly book during January. Each book incorporates chapbooks for four different poets. The books are beautifully designed and thoughtfully marketed by Toadlily editors who are themselves poets passionate about their craft. See the web site for more details.
http://www.toadlilypress.com/sub.htm
The Westchester Review
This new literary journal includes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry by 45 Westchester writers. Buy the journal for $8 at Bronxville Books/Womrath Bookshop in Bronxville, Elaine S. Feiden Rare Books in Mamaronneck, Reading Writing & Wrapping in Scarsdale, and The Village Bookstore in Pleasantville. To order a copy send your check to: Stanley Sokol, 10 Stewart Place, 6GW, White Plains, NY 10603.
The greats, one morsel at a time
Poet Linda Simone alerts us to DailyLit, a free daily e-mail service that delivers under-five-minute bites of classics from Aristotle and Austen to Shakespeare and Sinclair.
http://www.dailylit.com/
UN redux
So many people were intrigued by my reading at the United Nations. Here is a good summary:
http://www.lightmillennium.org/undpingo_59_poetry/amessuti_ngo_59th_poetry.html
CD Wright on publishing
Poet Myrna Goodman sent me this wonderful commentary, by one of my favorite poets, on publishing—often an angst-ridden path for us poets:
It depends upon how you count books. There are chapbooks, book books, and then there are just early, if not premature, books of a dubious class, that need to be released so that the other book, the one you intended to write, can be written.
Poet Frank Stanford read my poems and accepted them on behalf of Irving Broughton, his own publisher at the time. I was a third-year graduate student. The press, Mill Mountain, was based in Seattle at the time and is now defunct. It was a perfect-bound chapbook on ivory, laid paper, titled Alla Breve Loving. The title (and the paper, Warren Olde Style) had to be its strongest features. The next two chapbooks, Room Rented by a Single Woman and Terrorism came out from Lost Roads Publishers which was initially Frank Stanford’s press. I shared the purchase of equipment with him, but he was the sole editor. The reason he provided for starting the press was that he knew a lot of talented poets who had no ready access to publication. At least in my case he could have added ‘no wherewithal with respect to publication.’ After Stanford’s death I was the sole editor for a time.
My first full-length collection came out from SUNY Albany. It was chosen by Paul Zweig and C.K. Williams. Paul Zweig died before the book came out, and I don’t think C.K. continued the editorship after his friend’s death. The managing editor Nancy Sharlett (now also deceased) shepherded the book through the process, and though she was in charge of the administrative details and I was living in Mexico, she stayed in close contact with me, and I felt I had made bona fide contact with the somewhat larger publishing world. It was beautifully produced. The title itself remains one of my favorites, Translations of the Gospel Back into Tongues. And I had by that time learned a couple of things about writing I hadn’t learned before. I would come to include about half of the poems from Translations in Steal Away, my selected poems.
It’s an ongoing challenge and chore—the reading, writing, editing, and publishing process. The beginning doesn’t need to be perfect. I started locally and would not have known how to do otherwise. My standards grew more demanding regarding my own work over time, as I began to apprehend what I could and could not make happen with twenty- six letters and a limited skill set. I’ve never stopped seeing my first job as the one that requires my own development as a writer without respect to a promising publishing outcome. This view has not spared me some intense disappointments, but it has been my only reliable barometer. With respect to publishing in magazines, I aim for company I want to keep. With respect to publishing with presses, I put a premium on mutual respect, high production values, a various and ever-evolving list, and a serious endeavor toward distribution— would that I had managed all of the same for the poets who published with Lost Roads.
I know things have changed. I know the proliferation of writing programs and contests have rewarded some and embittered others. I know my experience holds only a partial example up to today’s conditions. One aspect of that example is to start where you are. That’s the geographical part. The internet’s addendum to that option is, start on-line. And in tandem with both options, start the publishing mechanism yourself—a journal, a book press, a reading series, a book club, a web-mag, a blog. The beginning will not likely be perfect. Not only do I see these as legitimate starting points, but I see the core action and much of the most astonishing and enduring writing through the history of the whole literary project as having come out of such initiatives. So there.
Wishing us all imperfect and legitimate starting points!
Ann
Anncefola.com
Annogram.blogspot.com
http://www.poemeleon.org/ann-cefola/
Poetry at the Hudson River Museum
While at the monthly Westchester Amateur Astronomers meeting, I stumbled into a November 10 reading by poet Kathleen Ossip. Kathleen won the 2002 American Poetry Review/Honickman First Book Award for The Search Engine (The American Poetry Review, 2002). Kathleen models many poems after work by greats such as Eliot and Bishop. I particularly enjoyed her local color (“Geese on the Median of the Saw Mill Parkway”) and in lines such as “Let us go to Tuckahoe. Let us meet at the duck pond…” (“The Pleasure of Your Company”). A tough critic, I found myself engaged by Kathleen’s unusual wordplay and strong metaphors.
http://www.aprweb.org/bookprize/ossip.shtml
Discovering the new Hudson River Museum
Walking around the museum gave me a chance to appreciate its improved appearance—the dramatic rectangular entrance and improved interior lighting gives it a more comfortable feel. I enjoyed photographs by Yonkers native and professional photographer Guy Gillette—classic pictures of Audrey Hepburn and others dating back to the 1940s. I also welcomed paintings and prints of the stark Maine landscape by late artist Neil Welliver. With both exhibits up until January 7, you can shake your winter doldrums by taking them in.
http://www.hrm.org/
French poet at Sarah Lawrence
Thanks to Meredith Trede for dragging me out of my winter stupor to attend a reading by French poet Marie Borel at Sarah Lawrence College. Marie, accompanied by translators Sarah Riggs and Omar Berrada, read from her book Trompe-Loup and its translation, Wolftrot (Fence Books, 2006). Like a performance, all three wove an intriguing narrative in English and French. Reappearing characters and themes connect the poems. Congratulations to Marie, Sarah and Omar on their joint translation project!
http://www.amazon.com/Wolftrot-Marie-Borel/dp/1934200034/sr=8-1/qid=1167341779/ref=sr_1_1/102-6310798-7406543?ie=UTF8&s=books
Hip bone’s connected to….
Bodies: The Exhibit at South Street Seaport features human bodies preserved in acrylic and then sliced to expose bones, muscles, blood vessels, nerves and organs. Although it sounds grizzly, the exhibit is an extraordinary experience for lay people—and there were lots of EMS workers and physical therapists on hand to relish the opportunity. I developed a new appreciation for our delicate innards—and the impact upon them of what we consume and breathe. While grateful for the experience, I felt sad for the bodies—rumored to be prisoners in Asia—that they ended up this way.
www.bodiestheexhibition.com/
French Film Festival
My Francophile-neighbor Susan lent me three French DVDs recently: “The Child” (Sony Pictures Classics, 2005), by Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne, follows two adolescent lovers who give birth to an infant. While the young mother takes to her new role, her petty-thief partner promptly sells their baby. The plot spirals from there—and I wondered who is the real “child”? The baby, unsuspecting mother or misguided father?
“A Very Long Engagement” (Warner Independent Pictures, 2003) takes place in World War I France. Audrey Tatou (“Amelie”) sets out to find her soldier lover, supposedly executed for his attempt to desert. This film vividly portrays the horrors of war and tenacity of one woman who believes against all odds that her soul mate is alive. “A Very Long Engagement” achieves the feel of a detective story as Tatou inches closer to answers.
The best was “Ridicule” (Buena Vista Home Entertainment, 1996), a film by Patric LeConte set in the pre-revolutionary court of Louis XVI. An aristocrat farmer heads to Paris to beg the king to drain the swamps that are causing pestilence and death in his region. To get the king’s attention, he must play into the hands of the court and often violate his own values. While a fascinating story, the film also affords what feels like an accurate glimpse into that era’s unmerciful court culture.
Toadlily Press open reading
Toadlily is considering manuscripts for its yearly book during January. Each book incorporates chapbooks for four different poets. The books are beautifully designed and thoughtfully marketed by Toadlily editors who are themselves poets passionate about their craft. See the web site for more details.
http://www.toadlilypress.com/sub.htm
The Westchester Review
This new literary journal includes fiction, non-fiction, and poetry by 45 Westchester writers. Buy the journal for $8 at Bronxville Books/Womrath Bookshop in Bronxville, Elaine S. Feiden Rare Books in Mamaronneck, Reading Writing & Wrapping in Scarsdale, and The Village Bookstore in Pleasantville. To order a copy send your check to: Stanley Sokol, 10 Stewart Place, 6GW, White Plains, NY 10603.
The greats, one morsel at a time
Poet Linda Simone alerts us to DailyLit, a free daily e-mail service that delivers under-five-minute bites of classics from Aristotle and Austen to Shakespeare and Sinclair.
http://www.dailylit.com/
UN redux
So many people were intrigued by my reading at the United Nations. Here is a good summary:
http://www.lightmillennium.org/undpingo_59_poetry/amessuti_ngo_59th_poetry.html
CD Wright on publishing
Poet Myrna Goodman sent me this wonderful commentary, by one of my favorite poets, on publishing—often an angst-ridden path for us poets:
It depends upon how you count books. There are chapbooks, book books, and then there are just early, if not premature, books of a dubious class, that need to be released so that the other book, the one you intended to write, can be written.
Poet Frank Stanford read my poems and accepted them on behalf of Irving Broughton, his own publisher at the time. I was a third-year graduate student. The press, Mill Mountain, was based in Seattle at the time and is now defunct. It was a perfect-bound chapbook on ivory, laid paper, titled Alla Breve Loving. The title (and the paper, Warren Olde Style) had to be its strongest features. The next two chapbooks, Room Rented by a Single Woman and Terrorism came out from Lost Roads Publishers which was initially Frank Stanford’s press. I shared the purchase of equipment with him, but he was the sole editor. The reason he provided for starting the press was that he knew a lot of talented poets who had no ready access to publication. At least in my case he could have added ‘no wherewithal with respect to publication.’ After Stanford’s death I was the sole editor for a time.
My first full-length collection came out from SUNY Albany. It was chosen by Paul Zweig and C.K. Williams. Paul Zweig died before the book came out, and I don’t think C.K. continued the editorship after his friend’s death. The managing editor Nancy Sharlett (now also deceased) shepherded the book through the process, and though she was in charge of the administrative details and I was living in Mexico, she stayed in close contact with me, and I felt I had made bona fide contact with the somewhat larger publishing world. It was beautifully produced. The title itself remains one of my favorites, Translations of the Gospel Back into Tongues. And I had by that time learned a couple of things about writing I hadn’t learned before. I would come to include about half of the poems from Translations in Steal Away, my selected poems.
It’s an ongoing challenge and chore—the reading, writing, editing, and publishing process. The beginning doesn’t need to be perfect. I started locally and would not have known how to do otherwise. My standards grew more demanding regarding my own work over time, as I began to apprehend what I could and could not make happen with twenty- six letters and a limited skill set. I’ve never stopped seeing my first job as the one that requires my own development as a writer without respect to a promising publishing outcome. This view has not spared me some intense disappointments, but it has been my only reliable barometer. With respect to publishing in magazines, I aim for company I want to keep. With respect to publishing with presses, I put a premium on mutual respect, high production values, a various and ever-evolving list, and a serious endeavor toward distribution— would that I had managed all of the same for the poets who published with Lost Roads.
I know things have changed. I know the proliferation of writing programs and contests have rewarded some and embittered others. I know my experience holds only a partial example up to today’s conditions. One aspect of that example is to start where you are. That’s the geographical part. The internet’s addendum to that option is, start on-line. And in tandem with both options, start the publishing mechanism yourself—a journal, a book press, a reading series, a book club, a web-mag, a blog. The beginning will not likely be perfect. Not only do I see these as legitimate starting points, but I see the core action and much of the most astonishing and enduring writing through the history of the whole literary project as having come out of such initiatives. So there.
Wishing us all imperfect and legitimate starting points!
Ann
Anncefola.com
Annogram.blogspot.com
Friday, November 03, 2006
your fall annogram
Welcome to your fall annogram! Yes, I did let September and October slip by—so this will be full of my activities during that time. Hope you are enjoying this glorious and crisp weather.
Reading at the United Nations
What a thrill it was to read at the United Nations in early September! The event, part of an annual NGO conference, was co-sponsored by The Light Millennium, a Turkish organization; and Respectful Interfaces, a UN group. We had a wonderful cross-cultural experience—with people such as Muzaffer Baca, vice president of the International Blue Crescent, reading beloved Turkish poets Nazim Hikmet Ran (1902-1963) and Orhan Veli Kanik (1914-1950), and musical interludes from Persian Amir Vahab and his Soroosh Ensemble (see URL to sample his music). Award-winning poets Terry Dugan, Timothy Liu, Kevin Pilkington, Linda Simone and I added our Western voices.
www.lightmillennium.org
www.tanbour.org
Sea Stories
My poem, “Landfall,” is in the autumn issue of Sea Stories. The journal is a project of the interdisciplinary Blue Ocean Institute, founded by a MacArthur fellow to encourage ocean conservation. Whether you want to learn what seafood to eat, or what research the Institute is doing, this web site is full of ocean-loving facts. http://www.seastories.org/autumnal_content/cefola_landfall.html
ActionYes
Online quarterly online ActionYes features my translation of the opening to Helene Sanguinetti’s first book, Left-hand Exploring (Flammarion, 1999). What’s cool is that you can mouse-over the translation to see the original French and the page includes a drawing by Helene’s brother Alain. I am looking for a publisher for this translated manuscript and welcome any suggestions or direction.
http://www.actionyes.org/issue3/sanguinetti/sanguinetti1.html
New translation focus
A sample of Helene’s second book is on the home page of my web site and a new manifesto on translation. Let me know what you think!
www.Anncefola.com
www.anncefola.com/translation.htm
Metamorphoses
What a pleasure to see the Weston Playhouse production of Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses. Zimmerman selected myths from Ovid (43 BCE – 17 AD) and updated them with an American sensibility. The result is a contemporary re-telling of common and not-so-common tales. I enjoyed hearing director Steve Stettler discuss the production prior to the play. According to Stettler, Ovid (pronounced Ah-vid) was a “New York Times Bestseller” of his day—conveying 250 Greco-Roman myths in his 15-volume work, Metamorphoses (8 AD)—to a sophisticated Roman audience. He added that the play, which deals with classic human emotions, opened in New York days after 9/11 and provided a cathartic experience for most attendees. I laughed and cried too.
www.westonplayhouse.org
Editors and Agents Panel at Manhattanville
A free editors and agents panel, on November 7 at 7 p.m. in the Dowd-O’Gorman Writing Center at Manhattanville College, offers a rare opportunity to hear publishing professionals discuss their requirements. It will feature Abby Zidle, senior editor, Harlequin Books; Eric Levy, senior acquisitions editor, Wesleyan University Press; Mitchell Waters, an agent at Curtis Brown; and Martha Hoffman with Judith Erlich Literary Management. http://calendar.mville.edu/cgi-bin/calweb/calweb.exe?cal=Graduate_and_Prof__Studies&vt=12&cmd=5&act=273&dd=2006;11;7;12;0&lastcmd=0&rt=2006;11;7;19;0;0;
Inside scoop on small presses
What’s it like to be a small press publisher? Find out at Toadlily Press Poets and Publishers Tell All: A free panel discussion on the Small Press “scene” on November 5 at 2 p.m. at the North Castle Public Library, 19 Whippoorwill Road East, Armonk, NY (914-273-3887). Refreshments follow panel and reading. Can’t make that event? Hear Toadlily poets Pam Hart and Victoria Givotovsky read at Bernard's Inn, 20 West Lane/Route 35, Ridgefield, CT (203-438-8282). Luncheon ($25) follows the free reading.
http://www.northcastlelibrary.org/http://www.bernardsridgefield.com/
Richard Ford on the writing process
I heard a fascinating interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Ford on WNYC’s Leonard Lopate Show and recommend it to all my fiction-loving, narrative-writing friends (you know who you are).
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2006/11/02
Eating through Vermont
I am taking a detour from the arts to tell you about Fat Frank’s in Bellows Falls, Vermont. My husband and I were intrigued to sample the food at “the wurst place in Bellows Falls.” While Michael enjoyed the franks, I had a savory veggie burger that Frank makes himself out of—vegetables (doh!). To quote Frank, he feels a veggie burger should taste like “vegetables.” http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaszeta/268503138/
I leave you with Mary Zimmerman's quote on the message of myth: “Don’t lose sight of the fact that there is still beauty in the world, and there is still love in the world, and these simple pleasures in the world, which are indelible.”
http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_zimmerman.html
Ann
anncefola.com
Reading at the United Nations
What a thrill it was to read at the United Nations in early September! The event, part of an annual NGO conference, was co-sponsored by The Light Millennium, a Turkish organization; and Respectful Interfaces, a UN group. We had a wonderful cross-cultural experience—with people such as Muzaffer Baca, vice president of the International Blue Crescent, reading beloved Turkish poets Nazim Hikmet Ran (1902-1963) and Orhan Veli Kanik (1914-1950), and musical interludes from Persian Amir Vahab and his Soroosh Ensemble (see URL to sample his music). Award-winning poets Terry Dugan, Timothy Liu, Kevin Pilkington, Linda Simone and I added our Western voices.
www.lightmillennium.org
www.tanbour.org
Sea Stories
My poem, “Landfall,” is in the autumn issue of Sea Stories. The journal is a project of the interdisciplinary Blue Ocean Institute, founded by a MacArthur fellow to encourage ocean conservation. Whether you want to learn what seafood to eat, or what research the Institute is doing, this web site is full of ocean-loving facts. http://www.seastories.org/autumnal_content/cefola_landfall.html
ActionYes
Online quarterly online ActionYes features my translation of the opening to Helene Sanguinetti’s first book, Left-hand Exploring (Flammarion, 1999). What’s cool is that you can mouse-over the translation to see the original French and the page includes a drawing by Helene’s brother Alain. I am looking for a publisher for this translated manuscript and welcome any suggestions or direction.
http://www.actionyes.org/issue3/sanguinetti/sanguinetti1.html
New translation focus
A sample of Helene’s second book is on the home page of my web site and a new manifesto on translation. Let me know what you think!
www.Anncefola.com
www.anncefola.com/translation.htm
Metamorphoses
What a pleasure to see the Weston Playhouse production of Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses. Zimmerman selected myths from Ovid (43 BCE – 17 AD) and updated them with an American sensibility. The result is a contemporary re-telling of common and not-so-common tales. I enjoyed hearing director Steve Stettler discuss the production prior to the play. According to Stettler, Ovid (pronounced Ah-vid) was a “New York Times Bestseller” of his day—conveying 250 Greco-Roman myths in his 15-volume work, Metamorphoses (8 AD)—to a sophisticated Roman audience. He added that the play, which deals with classic human emotions, opened in New York days after 9/11 and provided a cathartic experience for most attendees. I laughed and cried too.
www.westonplayhouse.org
Editors and Agents Panel at Manhattanville
A free editors and agents panel, on November 7 at 7 p.m. in the Dowd-O’Gorman Writing Center at Manhattanville College, offers a rare opportunity to hear publishing professionals discuss their requirements. It will feature Abby Zidle, senior editor, Harlequin Books; Eric Levy, senior acquisitions editor, Wesleyan University Press; Mitchell Waters, an agent at Curtis Brown; and Martha Hoffman with Judith Erlich Literary Management. http://calendar.mville.edu/cgi-bin/calweb/calweb.exe?cal=Graduate_and_Prof__Studies&vt=12&cmd=5&act=273&dd=2006;11;7;12;0&lastcmd=0&rt=2006;11;7;19;0;0;
Inside scoop on small presses
What’s it like to be a small press publisher? Find out at Toadlily Press Poets and Publishers Tell All: A free panel discussion on the Small Press “scene” on November 5 at 2 p.m. at the North Castle Public Library, 19 Whippoorwill Road East, Armonk, NY (914-273-3887). Refreshments follow panel and reading. Can’t make that event? Hear Toadlily poets Pam Hart and Victoria Givotovsky read at Bernard's Inn, 20 West Lane/Route 35, Ridgefield, CT (203-438-8282). Luncheon ($25) follows the free reading.
http://www.northcastlelibrary.org/http://www.bernardsridgefield.com/
Richard Ford on the writing process
I heard a fascinating interview with Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Ford on WNYC’s Leonard Lopate Show and recommend it to all my fiction-loving, narrative-writing friends (you know who you are).
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2006/11/02
Eating through Vermont
I am taking a detour from the arts to tell you about Fat Frank’s in Bellows Falls, Vermont. My husband and I were intrigued to sample the food at “the wurst place in Bellows Falls.” While Michael enjoyed the franks, I had a savory veggie burger that Frank makes himself out of—vegetables (doh!). To quote Frank, he feels a veggie burger should taste like “vegetables.” http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaszeta/268503138/
I leave you with Mary Zimmerman's quote on the message of myth: “Don’t lose sight of the fact that there is still beauty in the world, and there is still love in the world, and these simple pleasures in the world, which are indelible.”
http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript_zimmerman.html
Ann
anncefola.com
Monday, August 28, 2006
your august annogram
Reading at the United Nations
I’m thrilled to be reading September 7 at the U.N. Vision and Millennium Development Goals Speak Through The Arts program. With award-winning poets Terry Dugan, Kevin Pilkington and Linda Simone, the reading will celebrate themes of global partnership and respect.
http://www.lightmillennium.org/events/unngo_59_conference_poetry.html
Poetz.com
Thanks to the Poet Laureate of Rikers Island, a.k.a. Jackie Sheeler, for publishing my poem, “Girls Night Out,” on her website. If you haven’t read the great New York Times article on Jackie’s poet laureate role, here it is: http://poetz.com/press/New%20York%20Times.htm. Scroll down poetz.com to find my poem.
http://poetz.com
New translation section
See the new translation section on my website and a translation of one of my favorite passages from Helene Sanguinetti’s second book, Hence, this cradle (Flammarion, 2003).
www.anncefola.com
More Helene in Mantis
Mantis 5, a journal out of Stanford, has published a selection from my translation of Helene’s first book, Left-hand Exploring (Flammarion, 1999). I like this journal “of poetry, criticism and translation”—especially the interview with poet Alfred Arteaga. I have to agree when he says
The sad fact is that I dislike almost all poetry that I read. Let me put it this way: I think that the vast majority of poetry I read is basically good, but it doesn’t really excite me. So as a result I end up not wanting to read the stuff, because I get disappointed.
www.mantisjournal.stanford.edu
Brattleboro Museum and Art Center
This museum knows how to do things right: Last month, it hosted a Community Day outdoor event replete with live jazz, BBQ, Thai food and homemade ice cream. The community could stroll inside to see the new exhibits for free. Artist Angela Virsinger and I took advantage of the celebration to see some amazing art (below).
www.brattleboromuseum.org
Wolf Kahn Retrospective
Wolf Kahn creates landscapes in vivid, unexpected pastels that simply arrest the viewer. “Landscape of Light, 1953-2006” touches each decade of his career—which began in the 50s in New York and then migrated north to Vermont vistas. I was astonished to turn a corner and discover a vibrant portrait of Frank O’Hara—all multicolor brushstrokes that communicate the poet’s nervous energy. That’s when I realized Wolf Kahn had been part of the New York School phenomena. Angela and I met Mr. Kahn who, with a head of white hair, now has a distinguished Robert Frost quality.
http://wolfkahnpastels.com/
Faith Ringgold Stories in Quilts and Colors
The author of children’s books such as Tar Beach, My Dream of Martin Luther King, and The Story of Rosa Parks that alone put Faith Ringgold in the American literary canon. She also silk-screens awesome quilts such as “The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles,” where Vincent Van Gogh approaches famous African-American women such as Sojourner Truth, Fanny Lou Hamer and Rosa Parks. Now that’s cross-cultural creativity! You have to love this woman for capturing African American history with such whimsy.
www.faithringgold.com
Secrets by Gloria Garfinkel
Don’t you hate “Don’t touch” signs in a museum? Gloria Garfinkel encourages viewers to open doors on her mixed media canvases—and discover two- and three-dimensional trinkets, sayings and bric-a-brac. The 10 canvases, whose secrets range from “Beauty” and “Religion” to “Vice,” invite reflection on disturbing events such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the AIDS crisis in China. “The political and social content of her work does not overwhelm its poetry,” say curator Mara Williams.
http://www.paulsharpegallery.com/cgi/PSCAe.pl?exhi=2003Mar_review
Vermont photographer
While we’re focusing on Vermont, visit the website of Sue Mardirosian: Sue has an incredible range—from Ansel Adams-like forests to inventive manipulations of light.
www.wanderingemini.blogspot.com.
Book review
The Fifth Voice (Toadlily Press, 2006). The Toadlily editors once again have created a fabulous quartet of poetry chapbooks, with a gorgeous cover photo of autumn leaves floating in water. Out of the four poets, I loved Hart’s work—especially “Obon” and “I Go For A Walk with Frank O’Hara”. I also enjoyed the work of Ohio postman Allen Strous who explores his roots with “dark clarity.” That’s the beauty of a volume like this—you get to pick and choose your favorites.
www.toadlilypress.com
That’s all for now. Take advantage of these last summer weeks to take in some art or get some pleasure reading in.
Ann
www.anncefola.com
I’m thrilled to be reading September 7 at the U.N. Vision and Millennium Development Goals Speak Through The Arts program. With award-winning poets Terry Dugan, Kevin Pilkington and Linda Simone, the reading will celebrate themes of global partnership and respect.
http://www.lightmillennium.org/events/unngo_59_conference_poetry.html
Poetz.com
Thanks to the Poet Laureate of Rikers Island, a.k.a. Jackie Sheeler, for publishing my poem, “Girls Night Out,” on her website. If you haven’t read the great New York Times article on Jackie’s poet laureate role, here it is: http://poetz.com/press/New%20York%20Times.htm. Scroll down poetz.com to find my poem.
http://poetz.com
New translation section
See the new translation section on my website and a translation of one of my favorite passages from Helene Sanguinetti’s second book, Hence, this cradle (Flammarion, 2003).
www.anncefola.com
More Helene in Mantis
Mantis 5, a journal out of Stanford, has published a selection from my translation of Helene’s first book, Left-hand Exploring (Flammarion, 1999). I like this journal “of poetry, criticism and translation”—especially the interview with poet Alfred Arteaga. I have to agree when he says
The sad fact is that I dislike almost all poetry that I read. Let me put it this way: I think that the vast majority of poetry I read is basically good, but it doesn’t really excite me. So as a result I end up not wanting to read the stuff, because I get disappointed.
www.mantisjournal.stanford.edu
Brattleboro Museum and Art Center
This museum knows how to do things right: Last month, it hosted a Community Day outdoor event replete with live jazz, BBQ, Thai food and homemade ice cream. The community could stroll inside to see the new exhibits for free. Artist Angela Virsinger and I took advantage of the celebration to see some amazing art (below).
www.brattleboromuseum.org
Wolf Kahn Retrospective
Wolf Kahn creates landscapes in vivid, unexpected pastels that simply arrest the viewer. “Landscape of Light, 1953-2006” touches each decade of his career—which began in the 50s in New York and then migrated north to Vermont vistas. I was astonished to turn a corner and discover a vibrant portrait of Frank O’Hara—all multicolor brushstrokes that communicate the poet’s nervous energy. That’s when I realized Wolf Kahn had been part of the New York School phenomena. Angela and I met Mr. Kahn who, with a head of white hair, now has a distinguished Robert Frost quality.
http://wolfkahnpastels.com/
Faith Ringgold Stories in Quilts and Colors
The author of children’s books such as Tar Beach, My Dream of Martin Luther King, and The Story of Rosa Parks that alone put Faith Ringgold in the American literary canon. She also silk-screens awesome quilts such as “The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles,” where Vincent Van Gogh approaches famous African-American women such as Sojourner Truth, Fanny Lou Hamer and Rosa Parks. Now that’s cross-cultural creativity! You have to love this woman for capturing African American history with such whimsy.
www.faithringgold.com
Secrets by Gloria Garfinkel
Don’t you hate “Don’t touch” signs in a museum? Gloria Garfinkel encourages viewers to open doors on her mixed media canvases—and discover two- and three-dimensional trinkets, sayings and bric-a-brac. The 10 canvases, whose secrets range from “Beauty” and “Religion” to “Vice,” invite reflection on disturbing events such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the AIDS crisis in China. “The political and social content of her work does not overwhelm its poetry,” say curator Mara Williams.
http://www.paulsharpegallery.com/cgi/PSCAe.pl?exhi=2003Mar_review
Vermont photographer
While we’re focusing on Vermont, visit the website of Sue Mardirosian: Sue has an incredible range—from Ansel Adams-like forests to inventive manipulations of light.
www.wanderingemini.blogspot.com.
Book review
The Fifth Voice (Toadlily Press, 2006). The Toadlily editors once again have created a fabulous quartet of poetry chapbooks, with a gorgeous cover photo of autumn leaves floating in water. Out of the four poets, I loved Hart’s work—especially “Obon” and “I Go For A Walk with Frank O’Hara”. I also enjoyed the work of Ohio postman Allen Strous who explores his roots with “dark clarity.” That’s the beauty of a volume like this—you get to pick and choose your favorites.
www.toadlilypress.com
That’s all for now. Take advantage of these last summer weeks to take in some art or get some pleasure reading in.
Ann
www.anncefola.com
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
your july annogram
Hello and welcome to annogram, my monthly poetry + arts e-newsletter. We have some new readers this month so I want to say a special welcome to you. If you or anyone else would like to stop receiving this newsletter, simply send me a note with the subject line, “No thanks Ann.”
Woo-hoo! Ann’s a Dancing Girl
Big news this month: Dancing Girl Press has accepted my chapbook manuscript, Sugaring, for publication this March. A chapbook is a small book of 20-30 poems. Many poets start their book publication this way. I am thrilled and thank everyone who has encouraged me on my poetry path.
www.dancinggirlpress.com
Hélène Sanguinetti in Octavo
Thanks to Octavo retiring editor Andrew Boobier for publishing a selection from Hélène Sanguinetti’s Left-hand Exploring. What makes Hélène’s work so special is the way she mixes genres, from poetry and dialogue to narrative and journaling. Octavo brings together all the journal entries. If you’d like a taste of her genius, check out Octavo.
http://www.alsopreview.com/octavo/
New Poet Laureate of Greenburgh
Greenburgh has one of the oldest and most esteemed poetry contests in our area—so it makes sense that the town should have a Poet Laureate. I am thrilled to announce that Brenda Connor-Bey will fill this role. Brenda, a much-loved poetry teacher, is the author of Thoughts of an Everyday Woman/An Unfinished Urban Folktale (Blind Beggar Press).
http://blindbeggarpress.org/PublicationListing.html
Deborah Coulter Works on Paper
Deborah Coulter’s charcoal drawings at the Bendheim Performing Arts Center in Scarsdale attain a wild three-dimensional, brush-like quality. They pull the eye in—almost suggesting something concrete and yet never truly yielding to any one idea. Deborah says she likes to “play with space” and that’s what these drawings do in a novel way. Take a look at the Lesley Heller Gallery and see what you think:
http://lesleyheller.com/drawings_dcoulter.html
The Drowsy Chaperone
This five-time Tony winner is a delightful send-up of the American musical—replete with sequined costumes, big sets, funny songs and tap-dancing. The Drowsy Chaperone combines humorous 21st century savvy with an affectionate look back when theater seemed bigger than life. My husband, Michael, and I also enjoyed meeting Kecia Lewis-Evans who plays Trixie the Aviatrix—a stellar singer with an amazing resume of theater credits.
http://drowsychaperone.com
The Al Gore Film
While cruising Central Ave for a movie, my friends and I pulled into the Scarsdale Fine Arts to see “An Inconvenient Truth.” We had no idea it was the Al Gore film. The newspaper ad featured penguins, and the movie poster left us clueless. Standing on line, we figured out what it was. I have to recommend everyone see this film. Our former president elect is thoughtful, passionate and convincing on the topic of global warming. The movie mixes his worldwide lectures with reflections on his personal life.
http://climatecrisis.net
Book reviews
Mikhail, Dunya. The War Works Hard (New Directions, 2005). What is it like to be an average citizen living in Iraq? The thought is almost too much to bear. Dunya Mikhail, an Iraqi poet who has sought asylum in the U.S., shares her experience of life under Sadaam and in her war-torn home in forceful and original poems. Her title poem comments:
The war continues working, day and night.
It inspires tyrantsto deliver long speeches,
awards medals to generals
and themes to poets.
Dealing with the theme of separated lovers, she writes in “Non-Military Statements”:
I dream of a magic wand
that changes my kisses to stars.
At night you can gaze at them
and know they are innumerable.
If you care to learn what war does to people, then you need to read this book.
Toomer, Jean. Cane (WW Norton, 1988). Thanks to Brenda Connor-Bey for giving me this book. Jean Toomer (1894-1967), an extraordinary writer, combines poetry and hymns in wrenching short stories about African Americans struggling to find dignity and community in the early 20th century. His lyrical language and concern for the outcast reminds me of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee (1909-1959). Toomer achieves what great literature can often do—let the contemporary reader experience the human heart in another time.
Weinberger, Eliot, ed. The World Beat (New Directions, 2006). Translator Eliot Weinberger has assembled the best of New Directions’ world poets in this volume—poets ranging from Anne Carson to Bei Dao. What struck me the most was the first poem by Octavio Paz, “Response and Reconciliation”, never published until now. The poem echoes Eliot’s Four Quartets in its meditative focus on “time maker of roses and plutonium.”
Wishing you thoughtful and fulfilling summer reading,
Ann
www.anncefola.com
Woo-hoo! Ann’s a Dancing Girl
Big news this month: Dancing Girl Press has accepted my chapbook manuscript, Sugaring, for publication this March. A chapbook is a small book of 20-30 poems. Many poets start their book publication this way. I am thrilled and thank everyone who has encouraged me on my poetry path.
www.dancinggirlpress.com
Hélène Sanguinetti in Octavo
Thanks to Octavo retiring editor Andrew Boobier for publishing a selection from Hélène Sanguinetti’s Left-hand Exploring. What makes Hélène’s work so special is the way she mixes genres, from poetry and dialogue to narrative and journaling. Octavo brings together all the journal entries. If you’d like a taste of her genius, check out Octavo.
http://www.alsopreview.com/octavo/
New Poet Laureate of Greenburgh
Greenburgh has one of the oldest and most esteemed poetry contests in our area—so it makes sense that the town should have a Poet Laureate. I am thrilled to announce that Brenda Connor-Bey will fill this role. Brenda, a much-loved poetry teacher, is the author of Thoughts of an Everyday Woman/An Unfinished Urban Folktale (Blind Beggar Press).
http://blindbeggarpress.org/PublicationListing.html
Deborah Coulter Works on Paper
Deborah Coulter’s charcoal drawings at the Bendheim Performing Arts Center in Scarsdale attain a wild three-dimensional, brush-like quality. They pull the eye in—almost suggesting something concrete and yet never truly yielding to any one idea. Deborah says she likes to “play with space” and that’s what these drawings do in a novel way. Take a look at the Lesley Heller Gallery and see what you think:
http://lesleyheller.com/drawings_dcoulter.html
The Drowsy Chaperone
This five-time Tony winner is a delightful send-up of the American musical—replete with sequined costumes, big sets, funny songs and tap-dancing. The Drowsy Chaperone combines humorous 21st century savvy with an affectionate look back when theater seemed bigger than life. My husband, Michael, and I also enjoyed meeting Kecia Lewis-Evans who plays Trixie the Aviatrix—a stellar singer with an amazing resume of theater credits.
http://drowsychaperone.com
The Al Gore Film
While cruising Central Ave for a movie, my friends and I pulled into the Scarsdale Fine Arts to see “An Inconvenient Truth.” We had no idea it was the Al Gore film. The newspaper ad featured penguins, and the movie poster left us clueless. Standing on line, we figured out what it was. I have to recommend everyone see this film. Our former president elect is thoughtful, passionate and convincing on the topic of global warming. The movie mixes his worldwide lectures with reflections on his personal life.
http://climatecrisis.net
Book reviews
Mikhail, Dunya. The War Works Hard (New Directions, 2005). What is it like to be an average citizen living in Iraq? The thought is almost too much to bear. Dunya Mikhail, an Iraqi poet who has sought asylum in the U.S., shares her experience of life under Sadaam and in her war-torn home in forceful and original poems. Her title poem comments:
The war continues working, day and night.
It inspires tyrantsto deliver long speeches,
awards medals to generals
and themes to poets.
Dealing with the theme of separated lovers, she writes in “Non-Military Statements”:
I dream of a magic wand
that changes my kisses to stars.
At night you can gaze at them
and know they are innumerable.
If you care to learn what war does to people, then you need to read this book.
Toomer, Jean. Cane (WW Norton, 1988). Thanks to Brenda Connor-Bey for giving me this book. Jean Toomer (1894-1967), an extraordinary writer, combines poetry and hymns in wrenching short stories about African Americans struggling to find dignity and community in the early 20th century. His lyrical language and concern for the outcast reminds me of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee (1909-1959). Toomer achieves what great literature can often do—let the contemporary reader experience the human heart in another time.
Weinberger, Eliot, ed. The World Beat (New Directions, 2006). Translator Eliot Weinberger has assembled the best of New Directions’ world poets in this volume—poets ranging from Anne Carson to Bei Dao. What struck me the most was the first poem by Octavio Paz, “Response and Reconciliation”, never published until now. The poem echoes Eliot’s Four Quartets in its meditative focus on “time maker of roses and plutonium.”
Wishing you thoughtful and fulfilling summer reading,
Ann
www.anncefola.com
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