SAVE THE DATE!
Poetry Picnic
July 18th
See Newsletter for Details
CLick Here
Prominent Poets Appearing in Second Annual Poetry Festival
Riverwood Poetry Series, following the success of their first annual festival in 2008, is proud to present their festival for 2009, which will include an impressive array of well-known published poets. For “The Main Event” at the Harriet Beecher Stowe House, host Colin Haskins will present Ernie Blue, Bessie Reyna, Kate Rushin, Ameen Storm and Sue Ellen Thompson, reading their award winning poetry.
Additional exciting events will be held at other venues including Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford, Wood Memorial Library in South Windsor, Faxon Branch Library in West Hartford, and City Steam Brewery in Hartford, including a gathering of poets and friends and fishing enthusiasts, at the Moose Meadow Camping Resort, Willington, CT, hosted by poet, publisher, Victoria Rivas. We have reserved seven campsites, called the River Sites, with wonderful facilities. Join us, read your poetry and perform acoustic music around the campfires. Even if you're not a camper, come enjoy the company and go back to your comfortable bed.
The festival takes place from June 24 through June 28. For a complete list of poets, venues, and the times of scheduled events, please visit www.riverwoodpoetry.org and click on “Schedule”.
WESLEYAN WRITERS CONFERENCE
OFFERS “2009 CELEBRATION OF THE NEW”
contact: Anne Greene, Director of Writing Programs, Wesleyan University 860-685-3604
agreene@wesleyan.edu
Wednesday, June 17,
Julia Paul
reading at Silas Bronson Library.
Saturday, June 20, Rose Garden at Elizabeth park, Hartford, Friends and Enemies of Wallace Stevens annual poetry reading.
Wednesday June 24-Sunday June 28,
Connecticut Poetry Festival,
sponsored by Riverwood Poetry Series, at various locations. including Harriet Beecher Stowe House. Featured poets include Ginny Connors, Bessy Reyna, Eileen Albrizio, Susan Kinsolving, and Kate Rushin. For information, see www.riverwoodpoetry.org.
Saturday, June 27,
Tony Fusco
will read from and sign his new book Droplines at the yale Bookstore, 77 Broadway, New Haven, CT 1 pm.
Courtney Davis
New Book Available in August
contact her at courtneydav@yahoo.com
Women's Artistic Network Poetry Contest-Deadline 9/30/2009:
WAN of Simi Valley hosts the Carol Doering Poetry Contest. Awards are $100, $75 and $50. Original, unpublished work. 50 lines max. Free-verse or traditional. Entry fee $5 per poem or 3/$10. Contest deadline 9/30/2009. Go to www.womensartisticnetwork.org for complete instructions or send SASE to WAN, P.O. Box 1485, Simi Valley, CA 93062-1485
Freshwater Coffee House's
Spring 2009 SCHEDULE
click here for schedule
The Coffee House in Cafeteria II
Asnuntuck Community College
170 Elm Street
Enfield, Connecticut
Poetry Contest
Special
national contest of the Twelfth Annual San Antonio
Poetry Fair
cash awards for this contest
total $400,
and winners will be published in the anthology Voices Along the
River.
Entries can be published or unpublished,
Log on to www.sanantoniopoetryfair.com for
complete details
2009 Cave Canem Retreat
June 21 - June 28, 2009
Deadline March 5th http://www.cavecanempoets.org/pages/programs.php
UCONN Readings
click here
If you have Links or Events of use or interest concerning Poetry please forward them to connpoetry@comcast.net by clicking here
Bessy Reyna is an award-winning Latina poet. Her latest book, The Battlefield of Your Body, a bilingual poetry collection, was released in June, 2005 by the Hill-Stead Museum . Her first poetry collection in English is She Remembers, published in 1997 by Andrew Mountain Press. Ms. Reyna’s Spanish language writing, published in Latin America , includes a poetry chapbook, Terrarium, and a collection of short stories, Ab Ovo. Reyna's poems and stories are found in U.S. and Latin American literary magazines including the award-winning "Connecticut Review" and online in the Global Media Journal. She has also been published in numerous anthologies including El Coro: A Chorus of Latino and Latina Poetry, In Other Words: Literature by Latinas of the United States , The Arc of Love: Lesbian Poems, and The Wild Good.
In March of this year Ms. Reyna received the Outstanding Latin in Literature and Publications award from the American Association of Hispanics for Higher Education at its annual conference. Among her other awards are: First Prize in the Joseph E. Brodine Poetry Competition and artist award grants from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and the Greater Hartford Arts Council. In 2001 she was named Latina Citizen of the Year by the State of Connecticut Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission. In 2006 she
received the Pioneer Award at the Inaugural Diversity Awards presented by the Vice Provost for Multicultural and International Affairs at the University of
Connecticut and a Living Legend Award from Saint Joseph College Department of Social Work. In 2007 she received the One Woman Makes A Difference Award from the Connecticut Women's Education and Legal Fund.
She is a monthly opinion columnist for The Hartford Courant and contributed to "Northeast," the Sunday Magazine of The Hartford Courant. She also writes an arts and culture page for the Hispanic newspaper Identidad Latina.
For three summers she conducted radio interviews with the poets appearing at the nationally renowned Sunken Garden Poetry Festival in Farmington , CT. A frequent lecturer and guest artist at colleges, libraries and museums, Reyna is also a Master Teaching artist for the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and an artist in the Partners' Program in Education conducting writing workshops in Hartford-area Schools sponsored by the Bushnell Auditorium. She has judged the national poetry competition sponsored by the Astraea Foundation and the poetry section of the annual Connecticut Book Award.
Ms. Reyna has performed in solo and group poetry readings and has presented writing workshops in high schools, colleges, libraries, arts organizations and at
conferences throughout New England .
Born in Cuba and raised in Panama , Reyna is a graduate of Mt Holyoke College and earned her Master's and Law degrees from the University of Connecticut .
.
Ms. Reyna will have her books with her for purchase and will be available for signing.
Click on the on the calendar event, and then "more information"
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Started in spring 2005, the Ordinary Evening reading series features both emerging and established writers in a monthly reading at the Anchor Bar Mermaid Room, downstairs. Borrowing its name from the poem "An Ordinary Evening in New Haven" by Wallace Stevens, the series aims to bring writers and audiences together in a no-fuss, informal environment to enjoy a little storytelling on a work-night. Readings are always on a Tuesday at 7pm, free of charge, both drinkers and teetotalers welcome.
http://ordinaryevening.blogspot.com/.
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The Yale-Readings Listserv is sponsored by the Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. To post announcements about poetry and fiction readings, send the full text of the announcement, including contact information, to nancy.kuhl at yale.edu. Messages sent directly to the Yale-Readings list may not be posted.
For more information about Poetry at the Beinecke Library, visit: https://beineckepoetry.wordpress.com
Readings of My Favorite Poems
at The Yale Bookstore
Saturday, April 25, 1:00 - 3:00 pm Thursday, April 30, 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky has always believed that poetry has a vital but little-acknowledged place in the hearts and minds of Americans. Through his Favorite Poem Project, Pinsky set about to document and celebrate that love of poetry. During a one-year open call for submissions, 18,000 Americans, from ages 5 to 97, from every state, of diverse occupations, kinds of education and backgrounds wrote to Pinsky sharing their favorite poems and personal stories of why those poems were so meaningful in their lives. Pinsky culled those poems and stories into three anthologies and created 50 short video documentaries of Americans reading and speaking personally about poems they love. Additionally, over the past ten years, based on Robert Pinsky's belief that poetry is a vocal art, thousands of communities across the nation have come together to share favorite poems in public readings as part of the Favorite Poem Project. As Pinsky said, "Poetry connects us with our deep roots," and the Favorite Poem Project is a much-loved model for inspiring people from all walks of life to rediscover poetry and strengthen their communities through the art of sharing poetry. The International Festival of Arts & Ideas, with the Connecticut Library Consortium, will present a statewide Favorite Poem Project in Connecticut leading up to and as part of the Festival, Junae 13-27, 2009. The project will be supported by strong community partnerships developed during the 2007 and 2008 Big Reads. The Yale Bookstore is one of the participating partners. The Festival will invite citizens from across Connecticut to submit their favorite poems and stories. This material will be used as the basis of an anthology and videos celebrating Connecticut's residents and their best loved poems. In April, during National Poetry Month, Pinsky will return to Connecticut to launch the Favorite Poem Project. Poetry will permeate New Haven throughout April and also throughout the Festival. The project will culminate at the Festival with presentations by world-class poets and a Favorite Poem Community Reading hosted by Robert Pinsky and featuring local residents. Special emphasis will be given to bringing people together to celebrate poetry across differences, bridging geographic, racial, lingual, religious, generational and economic divides. The Yale Bookstore will host two Favorite Poem readings during April, National Poetry Month. These readings will allow diverse members of the greater New Haven community to come together for an afternoon or evening to share unique, personal treasures: the poems they love. The Yale Bookstore will solicit readers of all ages from the community but is particularly interested in providing opportunities for school children (ages 5 to 19) to read their poems. There are several ways to take part. Prospective readers may contact The Yale Bookstore's Community Relations Coordinator (203-777-8440 x165) to sign up in advance. Each event should allow time for at least 15 readers. If fewer than that number have signed up in advance, there will be an "open mic" for which people may sign up at the time of the readings.
Rules for the Favorite Poem Readings
Poems recited may NOT be poems the readers or their friends or relatives have written, but ones they have read and to which they feel a personal attachment. Poems, for example, from the great history of poetry, perhaps by Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, or Robert Frost. A reader might also choose Robert Browning or William Shakespeare--or a poem written in another language, along with an English translation. The readers should be personal, not general, in answering the question, "Why have I chosen this poem from among my favorites?" Readers are limited to five (5) minutes each to recite the poem and explain their connection to it. If a poem takes longer than five minutes to read, an excerpt will do.Absolutely nothing in writing is allowed, except for the poem. There is to be no reading of prose; participants who speak informally, from the heart, will be far more effective. In addition to the two Favorite Poem events described above, The Yale Bookstore will host three other poetry events during April: Saturday, April 4 at 1 pmEditor Tony Fusco and contributors to Caduceus 6, the 6th annual anthology of poetry sponsored by Art Space of the Yale Medical Group, will read their poems. Saturday, April 11 from 1 to 3 pmPoetry Open Mic for poets to share their original poems. Saturday, April 25 at 10 amChildren's Story Hour will be devoted to poetry, including a reading of Sidney the Silly Who Only Eats 6 by poet and educator M. W. Penn and the opportunity for the children to write original poems. For further information about the My Favorite Poem readings and other poetry events at The Yale Bookstore, please contact:Richard Carlson, Community Relations Coordinator, The Yale Bookstore, 77 Broadway, New Haven, CT 06511
(203) 777-8440 ext 165 or crc-events@snet.net.
The Connecticut Poetry Society presents
America’sFavorite Poem Project
held at the Wilson Branch Library from 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. You are invited to come and read aloud your favorite poem. You will be given the opportunity to discuss your poem selection and its meaning to you. Children and adults are invited.
Please register in advance for this program by calling (860) 247-8960.
FESTIVAL
DAYS
MEMOIR WRITING WORKSHOP
Sponsored by the Farmington River Literary Arts Center
40 Mill Lane, Farmington , Ct. 06032
www.frlac.org
Double treat your muse. Workshop to create! Listen for inspiration!
TELL ME A SECRET—WRITING THE MEMOIR
A 3-session workshop led by BESSY REYNA
DATES: June 10th, June 24th and July 8nd
Coinciding with Hillstead’s Sunken Garden Poetry Festival
TIME: 3:30—5:30 P.M.
INSTRUCTOR: Bessy Reyna is an award-winning published Latina poet. She has taught writing workshops at many cultural centers, schools and conferences. She was selected as Outstanding Latina by the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education for her publications and opinion columns.
(www.bessyreyna.com) For festival schedule and other information please email poetry@hillstead.org or call 860.677.4787 ext 121.
REGISTRATION: $150.00--- due with application:
Make checks payable to
FRLAC 40 Mill Lane, Farmington, Ct. 06032
For more information,
call Jan Owens 860-677-9662
SPACE IS LIMITED TO 10 PARTICIPANTS
Bessy Reyna
www.bessyreyna.com
P.O. Box 9341
Bolton, CT 06043-9341
WORD OF MOUTH POETRY SERIES
Featuring Janice Tatter Chapbook Release Party
and
Richard Tietjen Memorial Reading
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Doors Open at 6:30. Open mike at 7:00.
Please arrive a few minutes early to sign up for open mike.
The Institute Library
847 Chapel Street
New Haven, CT
Doris Henderson will be the featured reader at Richter Association for the Arts, 100 Aunt Hack Road, Danbury, (adjacent to Richter Golf Club) on Saturday, May 16th. The reading will begin with signup for open mic at 2:45 PM. The event is sponsored by Richter Association of the Arts in concert with the Land Trust of Danbury, There will also be an art exhibit begining at 1:00 PM. Other featured readers on Saturday will be poets Alan Holder and Jane and Herbert Herschlag. The following day poets Leslie Lambton, Barbara Stout, and Ira Joe Fisher will read. We will be signing and selling books both days.
Virtual JFK
An important and well-received documentary called Virtual JFK will be showing at Real Art Ways as a matinee on May 18 ONLY at 1:30 p.m.
Combining rare footage from numerous Kennedy press conferences, in-depth interviews and a close reading of the documentary record, the film argues that critical decisions about the use of restraint and coercive diplomacy often require greater acts of courage than the use of force. Produced by fellows of the Watson Institute for International Studies, the film applies what Harvard historian Niall Ferguson calls "virtual history" to consider what President John F. Kennedy might have done in Vietnam if he had not been assassinated in 1963 and was instead re-elected in 1964. More information about the film appears below and at
www.virtualjfk.com. Please note that Director Koji Masutani will be available for discussion following the screening - please verify this date and time with the theater in case of changes, however.
The Riverwood Poetry Series
presents
the second annual
Riverwood Poetry Festival
Schedule click here
Wednesday, June 24 - Sunday, June 28
POETS! POETS! POETS
Eileen Abrizio Christine Beck Sherri Bedingfield
Ernie Blue Ginny Lowe Connors Steve Foley Tere Foley Jen Gates Pat Hale Priscilla Anne Tennant Herrington Bob Jacob John Jeffrey Marilyn E. Johnston Jim Kelleher Nancy Kerrigan Susan Kinsolving Suzy Lamson Mary Elizabeth Lang Suzanne Niedzielska Paula Panzarella Norah Pollard Bessy Reyna Tad Richards Victoria Rivas Dana Sonnenschein Ameen Storm Sue Ellen Thompson Linda Claire Yuhas Elaine Zimmerman
