an extra kick in the pants toward the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival
Nov. 4th, 2009 | 05:20 pm
Dates when anti-miscegenation laws were repealed, according to Wikipedia: Pennsylvania - 1780. Massachusetts - 1843. Iowa - 1851. Kansas - 1859. New Mexico - 1866. Washington - 1868. Illinois - 1874. Rhode Island - 1881. Maine - 1883. Michigan - 1883. Ohio - 1887. California - 1948. Oregon - 1951. Montana - 1953. North Dakota - 1955. Colorado - 1957. South Dakota - 1957. Idaho - 1959. Nevada - 1959. Arizona - 1962. Nebraska - 1963. Utah - 1963. Indiana - 1965. Wyoming - 1965. Maryland - 1967. Alabama - June 12, 1967. Arkansas - June 12, 1967. Delaware - June 12, 1967. Florida - June 12, 1967. Georgia - June 12, 1967. Kentucky - June 12, 1967. Louisiana - June 12, 1967. Mississippi - June 12, 1967. Missouri - June 12, 1967. North Carolina - June 12, 1967. Oklahoma - June 12, 1967. South Carolina - June 12, 1967. Tennessee - June 12, 1967. Texas - June 12, 1967. Virginia - June 12, 1967. West Virginia - June 12, 1967.
Which is to say: what happened June 12, 1967? The Loving Decision.
Why we let people vote on fundamental civil rights is beyond my comprehension.
If you get to decide who I get to marry, I get to decide whether or not you get to eat pork rinds. How about that.
Which is to say: what happened June 12, 1967? The Loving Decision.
Why we let people vote on fundamental civil rights is beyond my comprehension.
If you get to decide who I get to marry, I get to decide whether or not you get to eat pork rinds. How about that.
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Coming to the ATL
Nov. 1st, 2009 | 01:04 pm
Next weekend, I'm traveling to Georgia for the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival. Better be warm! :)
Here are the details on the Friday night feature and the Saturday workshops and showcase...
Art Amok poetry slam
featuring Marty McConnell
Friday, November 6
7 p.m.
Atlanta, GA
$6
Workshop with Marty McConnell
Here are the details on the Friday night feature and the Saturday workshops and showcase...
Art Amok poetry slam
featuring Marty McConnell
Friday, November 6
7 p.m.
Urban Grind Coffee House (www.urbangrindatl.com)
926 Marietta Street NWAtlanta, GA
$6
Workshop with Marty McConnell
Saturday, November 7
Decatur Library, 215 Sycamore St. -- meeting room
2 p.m.
Reading with Marty McConnell, Karen G, Jessica Hand, Lakara Foster
Saturday, November 7
Decatur Library, 215 Sycamore St. -- auditorium
1 p.m.
Performance Showcase
Saturday, November 7
Featuring Marty McConnell, Theresa Davis, Ami Mattison, Regie Cabico, James Caroline, JT Bullock, Kit Yan, and Joanna Hoffman.
7 p.m.
205 East Ponce De Leon Ave
Decatur, GA
Free
Decatur Library, 215 Sycamore St. -- meeting room
2 p.m.
Reading with Marty McConnell, Karen G, Jessica Hand, Lakara Foster
Saturday, November 7
Decatur Library, 215 Sycamore St. -- auditorium
1 p.m.
Performance Showcase
Saturday, November 7
Featuring Marty McConnell, Theresa Davis, Ami Mattison, Regie Cabico, James Caroline, JT Bullock, Kit Yan, and Joanna Hoffman.
7 p.m.
205 East Ponce De Leon Ave
Decatur, GA
Free
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Jack Wiler
Oct. 21st, 2009 | 02:40 pm
Does anyone know if it's true, as Facebook (of all things) seems to indicate -- that Jack Wiler passed away this week?
Loss and loss and loss and loss...
Love Poem at the Beginning of Summer
Jack Wiler
This is a love poem about empty places.
About blank walls.
About light in the night and noises on the street.
This is a love poem where no one is there.
This is a love poem for you.
This is your house.
This is the light you make.
The soft light of a summer night.
The noises from the bar down the block.
The girls screaming at their lovers.
Your clothes spread across the bed.
You spread across the bed.
The sun in the afternoon. Too hot sometimes to bear.
The smell of your skin.
You mixed carrots and soda for tanning cream.
That taste is this poem.
This is a poem without you in it.
Like every love poem should be.
A poem with an empty heart.
A poem with a smell you can’t quite name.
I say, you smell almost like cotton candy.
You show me your perfume and it’s cotton candy.
I say you smell like my life.
You show me getting up and going to work and coming home tired.
I say, I love you and you say ,I love you
and we could say that over and over and over.
But what I know is the spray of tanning oil on the deck.
The spilled corona.
The taste of your breath, thick with beer and tobacco.
This is a poem with no one in the house but me and two dogs.
This is a poem with the deep sighs of my dogs.
The breeze from a summer night.
The wail of a siren.
The music from my neighbors radio.
Cumbia.
Soft mountain music.
Music about places and islands I’ve never seen.
Your hair is scattered on the sink.
Clothes are tossed on the bed.
The dogs are snoring.
The girls and boys from the bar are yelling.
It’s a loud poem.
It’s a poem that won’t let me forget.
So I wander out and look at the pale Hudson County sky.
I can’t see a single star.
The moon is hazy with neglect.
The dryer is turning and turning.
The dogs are tossing.
Everything in the world is asking about you.
Loss and loss and loss and loss...
Love Poem at the Beginning of Summer
Jack Wiler
This is a love poem about empty places.
About blank walls.
About light in the night and noises on the street.
This is a love poem where no one is there.
This is a love poem for you.
This is your house.
This is the light you make.
The soft light of a summer night.
The noises from the bar down the block.
The girls screaming at their lovers.
Your clothes spread across the bed.
You spread across the bed.
The sun in the afternoon. Too hot sometimes to bear.
The smell of your skin.
You mixed carrots and soda for tanning cream.
That taste is this poem.
This is a poem without you in it.
Like every love poem should be.
A poem with an empty heart.
A poem with a smell you can’t quite name.
I say, you smell almost like cotton candy.
You show me your perfume and it’s cotton candy.
I say you smell like my life.
You show me getting up and going to work and coming home tired.
I say, I love you and you say ,I love you
and we could say that over and over and over.
But what I know is the spray of tanning oil on the deck.
The spilled corona.
The taste of your breath, thick with beer and tobacco.
This is a poem with no one in the house but me and two dogs.
This is a poem with the deep sighs of my dogs.
The breeze from a summer night.
The wail of a siren.
The music from my neighbors radio.
Cumbia.
Soft mountain music.
Music about places and islands I’ve never seen.
Your hair is scattered on the sink.
Clothes are tossed on the bed.
The dogs are snoring.
The girls and boys from the bar are yelling.
It’s a loud poem.
It’s a poem that won’t let me forget.
So I wander out and look at the pale Hudson County sky.
I can’t see a single star.
The moon is hazy with neglect.
The dryer is turning and turning.
The dogs are tossing.
Everything in the world is asking about you.
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sigh.
Oct. 21st, 2009 | 10:00 am
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
for an interview with Josh go to: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/
Searching for a Minyan:
Israel, McCarthyism, & the Struggle for Real Dialogue
Israel, McCarthyism, & the Struggle for Real Dialogue
by Kevin Coval and Josh Healey
This weekend, J Street, a new Jewish “Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace” PAC and Washington-based organization is holding its first national conference. The two of us, along with another artist, were to perform and read poems at several sessions during the conference. Specifically, we were invited to lead a workshop on how culture and spoken word create democratic spaces that sift through difficult issues and ensure a multiplicity of voices are heard: and how that can be used to open up the Israel/Palestine debate. Instead, we have been censored and pushed out of that very debate.
This week, some right-wing blogs and pseudo-news organizations latched on to various lines of poems Josh wrote and churned the alarmist rumor mill saying that hateful anti-Israeli poets are keynote speakers at the J Street conference. This is not surprising. The radical right-wing, including the growing Jewish right-wing of this country and abroad, hates complex discourse, especially when it brings to light truths they seek to systematically deny. The Weekly Standard, Commentary, and their AIPAC-influenced brethren have been attacking J Street for weeks, scared that the conference will bring together the majority of American Jews who do favor a more rigorous peace process. When they found Josh’s poems and took lines out of context, they had the perfect straw man: the Van Jones to J Street’s Obama. Again, this is not surprising.
What is disappointing, and troubling, is J Street’s response in caving to this sort of McCarthyism. The executive director of J Street called us to say “I know what I’m doing is wrong...but there are some battles we choose not to fight,” before canceling our program, and disinviting us from the conference. This accommodates their red-baiting and is the wrong response. Rather than give in, which only emboldens the right and legitimizes their attacks, we need to stand up for our principles and engage on that front. Van Jones is another perfect example: after the Fox News venom became too much and he resigned last month, the radical Right hasn’t stopped attacking Obama, or more accurately, the alternative, progressive voice they fear he represents. The Right stands by its politics, and practices solidarity with their allies. Too often the Left doesn’t. And that’s why we often lose – on health care, on global warming, and on Israel/Palestine.
For the second time in two months Kevin, who is Jewish, has been told not to come to a Jewish conference because of what he will say about Palestine and Israel. This past August, the evening before the International Hillel Conference, conference planners said if he were to read poems about Palestine, they’d rather not have him. Today, Josh, who is Jewish, has had his name thrown into a mudslide of blogs and hate emails. All this because we are practicing the Jewish maxim of the refusal to be silent in the face of oppression, anyone’s oppression.
One of the key teachings of Judaism is the insistence on wrestling with and debating ideas. There are a thousand years of codified arguing, recorded in the Talmud and Midrash, over the meaning of the stories in the five books of Torah. Jews debate everything. There is the old adage, “when you have two Jews in the room, you have three opinions”. Our families cannot come to agreement about what constitutes a deli as opposed to a diner. (A deli must have pickles on the table with poppy seed rolls, etc....)
But when you try to talk about Palestine there is silence. When you talk about the role the United States plays in supporting Israel and its military coffers, there is no room for discourse. If you bring up Palestinians’ right to return to land they were forced out of, or mention that this past January over 1400 Palestinians, mostly civilian, were killed in Gaza, there is no room to speak in Jewish-centric spaces in this country.
There are many reasons why this trend of censorship is disturbing. We believe in democracy, in the right to speak and be heard and in the right be disagreed with. We are disheartened and outraged by the lack of democratic discourse in the American Jewish community and within the country as a whole.
Why are we scared of what will come from an honest conversation? What do we have to lose, or discover, or admit to if we question the policies of Israel or America’s support of its government and military? It can be unsettling for one’s worldview to unravel, the intricate web of white lies and half-truths pulled apart. This can be disconcerting for generations of Jews who have accepted the propaganda of a chosen people and the acting out of geostrategic nightmares via military might.
Kevin works at a Hillel for Hashem’s sake! He is charged with the task of addressing why so many young Jews are distancing themselves from the religious and cultural practice of Judaism. This is one of those reasons! American Jews are told at shul to repent for our sins, but silenced if we bring up the sins of the country that acts in our name. We need authentic, honest discourse in the American Jewish community. It must start today and it must be about Palestine and Israel.
So, we are searching for a minyan—a crew of progressives and progressive Jews to build and connect with. We want to have a conversation. Not wait for the conversation to be dictated and have borders and walls built around acceptable topics, but to have a conversation determined by us, Jews That Are Left, that are on the Left. A conversation that is honest and open and genuinely reclaims and considers our progressive past as well as forges the future world. A conversation engaged in the work of tikkun olam for real, the work of repair and healing and wholeness.
Progressive American Jews where you at? Holla at us! For real: jewsthatareleft (at) gmail (dot) com. Let’s reshape the conversation. Let’s build a minyan, a coalition of progressive Jews and gentiles who want what is just and right for ALL people and all people in Israel and Palestine.
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Dos Plugs and a Q&A
Oct. 6th, 2009 | 04:48 pm
It's a travel-tastic week for me.
I'm in SUNY Oneonta tomorrow night (big thanks to![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
miriamjoyce for the lift from Albany) -- 8 p.m. at the Hunt Student Union.
And Friday night, October 9, I'm performing with some rockin' youth poets in Madison, at 7 p.m. as part of the Passing the Mic event at the Wisconsin Historical Society Auditorium, 816 State Street.
A local reporter did this Q&A with me in advance of the Madison show -- felt kind of like an LJ meme!
</span>http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/articl
I'm in SUNY Oneonta tomorrow night (big thanks to
miriamjoyce for the lift from Albany) -- 8 p.m. at the Hunt Student Union.And Friday night, October 9, I'm performing with some rockin' youth poets in Madison, at 7 p.m. as part of the Passing the Mic event at the Wisconsin Historical Society Auditorium, 816 State Street.
A local reporter did this Q&A with me in advance of the Madison show -- felt kind of like an LJ meme!
</span>http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/articl
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Albany. Oneonta. Anybody? Arg.
Oct. 1st, 2009 | 01:11 pm
I am currently engaged in a ridiculous travel debacle involving Albany/Oneonta for next week... anyone with insight, opinions, ideas, or other assistance, let me know!!! Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.
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louderARTS Auction 2009!
Sep. 25th, 2009 | 02:07 pm
Hello all! As you may know, the annual louderARTS Poets Auction is this Monday!!! Which means, if you're in NYC, you totally want to go bid, drink, bid some more, hear some amazing poems, drink, and bid a little bit more.
If you're NOT in NYC, you can still play along at home -- through the louderARTS web site, you can bid online! (www.louderARTS.com)
Items you know you know you know you want include (minimum opening bids in parentheses):
5-poem critique by PATRICIA SMITH ($75)
3-poem critique by PATRICK ROSAL ($40)
3-poem critique by MAHOGANY BROWNE ($30)
3 MONTHS of weekly personalized writing exercise emails from Marty McConnell ($25)
Professional POSTER or FLYER DESIGN by David Allyon ($25)
Basic WEB SITE DESIGN or REFURBISHMENT by Emily Kagan Trenchard ($100)
AUTOGRAPHED JEFFREY MCDANIEL FUN PACK: The Endarkment, The Forgiveness Parade, Alibi School ($30)
MARKETING CONSULTATION/MAKEOVER with Guy leCharles Gonzalez ($50)
Original poem by ROGER BONAIR-AGARD – written just for you ($10)
Exclusive poetry exercise journal made by Marty McConnell ($10)
Creative Writing Curriculum Development guidance by ADAM FALKNER ($20)
and much more -- go to www.louderARTS.com today to check out the full menu...
DETAILS for Monday:
Friends and supporters… Prepare to get loud for a good cause on Monday, September 28th.
The louderAUCTION supports all of the good work of the louderARTS Project. Proceeds from the event will help our nationally acclaimed team go to the 2010 National Poetry Slam and support all of the good work we do year-round, offsetting the cost of providing workshops, our renowned reading series, and free literary salons.
Featured auction items include a 5 poem critique by Patricia Smith, yoga studio membership, autographed books, a night at the club with bottle service, headshots, website design, Strange Famous Records autographed merch, professional development, original art and more.
Bid online at www.louderARTS.com, and join us Monday!
Monday, September 28
13 Bar/Lounge
35 E. 13th Street
Union Square, NYC
7 p.m.
$6 ($5 for students)
2-for-1 drinks all night!
If you're NOT in NYC, you can still play along at home -- through the louderARTS web site, you can bid online! (www.louderARTS.com)
Items you know you know you know you want include (minimum opening bids in parentheses):
5-poem critique by PATRICIA SMITH ($75)
3-poem critique by PATRICK ROSAL ($40)
3-poem critique by MAHOGANY BROWNE ($30)
3 MONTHS of weekly personalized writing exercise emails from Marty McConnell ($25)
Professional POSTER or FLYER DESIGN by David Allyon ($25)
Basic WEB SITE DESIGN or REFURBISHMENT by Emily Kagan Trenchard ($100)
AUTOGRAPHED JEFFREY MCDANIEL FUN PACK: The Endarkment, The Forgiveness Parade, Alibi School ($30)
MARKETING CONSULTATION/MAKEOVER with Guy leCharles Gonzalez ($50)
Original poem by ROGER BONAIR-AGARD – written just for you ($10)
Exclusive poetry exercise journal made by Marty McConnell ($10)
Creative Writing Curriculum Development guidance by ADAM FALKNER ($20)
and much more -- go to www.louderARTS.com today to check out the full menu...
DETAILS for Monday:
Friends and supporters… Prepare to get loud for a good cause on Monday, September 28th.
The louderAUCTION supports all of the good work of the louderARTS Project. Proceeds from the event will help our nationally acclaimed team go to the 2010 National Poetry Slam and support all of the good work we do year-round, offsetting the cost of providing workshops, our renowned reading series, and free literary salons.
Featured auction items include a 5 poem critique by Patricia Smith, yoga studio membership, autographed books, a night at the club with bottle service, headshots, website design, Strange Famous Records autographed merch, professional development, original art and more.
Bid online at www.louderARTS.com, and join us Monday!
Monday, September 28
13 Bar/Lounge
35 E. 13th Street
Union Square, NYC
7 p.m.
$6 ($5 for students)
2-for-1 drinks all night!
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Gabrielle
Sep. 8th, 2009 | 05:23 pm
Most of you know this already, but:
http://www.caringbridge.or
Newer slam family folks may primarily know Gabrielle as the host of the Erotica Showcase, and/or as the redhead with the constant video camera. She's also old school slammer, all heart and guts, one of the most generous and tenacious poet-organizer-humans you will meet from Seattle to Buffalo to Austin and back again.
Log in to the web site above for the long story, and to send G. your love. Short version: cancer. Rare and advanced. Big fight ahead and even the doctors say at this point, a lot of it comes down to a battle of will, though they'll do what they can with the medicines.
Light a candle, utter a prayer, cast your spells, whatever it is you to do incant, invoke, or otherwise assist. Lists of materials needs/wants are forthcoming. Stay tuned.
all my love,
Marty.
http://www.caringbridge.or
Newer slam family folks may primarily know Gabrielle as the host of the Erotica Showcase, and/or as the redhead with the constant video camera. She's also old school slammer, all heart and guts, one of the most generous and tenacious poet-organizer-humans you will meet from Seattle to Buffalo to Austin and back again.
Log in to the web site above for the long story, and to send G. your love. Short version: cancer. Rare and advanced. Big fight ahead and even the doctors say at this point, a lot of it comes down to a battle of will, though they'll do what they can with the medicines.
Light a candle, utter a prayer, cast your spells, whatever it is you to do incant, invoke, or otherwise assist. Lists of materials needs/wants are forthcoming. Stay tuned.
all my love,
Marty.
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I am looking for...
Aug. 27th, 2009 | 03:16 pm
shows in or near Oneonta, NY around October 6
shows in or near Atlanta, GA around November 7
Not desperate, just interested. Would be great to pack in some regional stuff around already-booked shows.
Any ideas are appreciated! And yes, I've contacted the Atlanta slam folks.
shows in or near Atlanta, GA around November 7
Not desperate, just interested. Would be great to pack in some regional stuff around already-booked shows.
Any ideas are appreciated! And yes, I've contacted the Atlanta slam folks.
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call for submissions
Aug. 26th, 2009 | 04:14 pm
An International CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
A multi-cultural, multi-national, and multi-community anthology of literary criticism, critical essays, poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, creative writings, and visual art on HIV and AIDS.
Edited by Kelly Norman Ellis and M L Hunter
A project of the
Published by
Scheduled to be released World AIDS Day 2009.
Deadline for submissions: EXTENDED to September 25, 2009
There have been great strides implemented in the research, treatment, care, and social awareness (both nationally and internationally) of HIV and AIDS. However, the critical dialogue needed to eradicate this disease seems to have dissipated. This anthology seeks to push this life-threatening issue into the consciousness of not only
The editors are seeking creative writing in the genres of poetry, fiction, literary nonfiction, memoir writing and journaling as well as visual art that explore the intersection of the human condition with HIV and AIDS. The editors are also seeking artwork in the mediums of photography, fine and graphic arts. We are particularly interested in a vast array of literary criticism that provides social commentary and theoretical and pedagogical models that assist in understanding HIV and AIDS past and present. We also are interested in interviews with survivors and non-survivors of HIV and AIDS.
· Poetry submissions are limited to five poems maximum. We will accept re-prints of some poems. Please note if poems have been published elsewhere in cover letter.
· Artwork submissions are open to all mediums, but pieces must be submitted electronically. Winning pieces are selected based on composition and originality.
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calling Chicago...
Aug. 14th, 2009 | 04:27 pm
I'm featuring at the Green Mill this Sunday! With surprise guests on multi-voice. Yay!!!!!!!!
at the Green Mill
featuring Marty McConnell
4802 N. Broadway, Chicago
$6
7 p.m.
Open mic + open slamLink | Leave a comment | Add to Memories | Tell a Friend
in which I am glad no one was here to see it, but am compelled to inform you all
Jul. 22nd, 2009 | 12:25 pm
I like to look at LJ while I eat lunch.
I often have a bunch of tabs going in my browser -- email, work research, LJ, etc.
Just now I was reading friends' entries when BOOM the browser wouldn't go anywhere but the bottom of the page.
Switch tabs, email is going wonky, other pages are bouncing and I think crapity crap crap is this what it looks like if you have a virus? if your computer is hacked? if you have broken a technological whatchamathingadingding by looking at personal stuff at work, even if it's during your ostensible lunchtime? Close browser! Close browser!
OR
is it what happens when you scoot your plate back to click on something and it rests on the spacebar?
Yeah. That one.
I often have a bunch of tabs going in my browser -- email, work research, LJ, etc.
Just now I was reading friends' entries when BOOM the browser wouldn't go anywhere but the bottom of the page.
Switch tabs, email is going wonky, other pages are bouncing and I think crapity crap crap is this what it looks like if you have a virus? if your computer is hacked? if you have broken a technological whatchamathingadingding by looking at personal stuff at work, even if it's during your ostensible lunchtime? Close browser! Close browser!
OR
is it what happens when you scoot your plate back to click on something and it rests on the spacebar?
Yeah. That one.
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FYI, or several thoughts of approximately equal length.
Jul. 14th, 2009 | 04:02 pm
Three weeks is too long for me to be on the road AND trying to work at a brand-new job.
My mother was bitten by a bat on the 4th and is undergoing the anti-rabies shot series.
Just because the pad see ew is good does not mean the pad thai will be. No metaphor.
Apartment-hunting in Chicago is differently tiring from apartment-hunting in NYC. Sigh.
I do not always look forward to the truth. This week is no exception. And yet, listening.
Corners of whatever new home waits need to be dedicated to what I love and forget.
Everything new is a trial. Every day a test. This also should be joyful. Remember.
I need more caffeine. Should drink water. Need more caffeine. Water. Water. Water.
My mother was bitten by a bat on the 4th and is undergoing the anti-rabies shot series.
Just because the pad see ew is good does not mean the pad thai will be. No metaphor.
Apartment-hunting in Chicago is differently tiring from apartment-hunting in NYC. Sigh.
I do not always look forward to the truth. This week is no exception. And yet, listening.
Corners of whatever new home waits need to be dedicated to what I love and forget.
Everything new is a trial. Every day a test. This also should be joyful. Remember.
I need more caffeine. Should drink water. Need more caffeine. Water. Water. Water.
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californicationery
Jun. 29th, 2009 | 11:52 pm
We are heading into the last leg of this Wandering Uterus Tour, and plan to go out with a bang here in LALA land. Hope to see folks around!!!
* June 30: Da Poetry Lounge, Los Angeles
GreenWay Court Theater, 544 N. Fairfax Blvd, Los Angeles
9 p.m., $5
* July 1: The Ugly Mug, Orange, CA
Two Idiots Peddling Poetry
The Ugly Mug Café, 261 North Glassell, Orange, CA
7:30 p.m., $2 cover
* July 2: Noisy Voyeur: poetry, photo exhibition, live erotic photoshoot, music, and more!
at the 2nd City Arts Council Gallery
435 Alamitos Avenue, Long Beach, CA
8-11 p.m.
$10 at the door, $5 if you come erotically costumed... bust out those boas! lace up those corsets! buckle up those boots! Hosted by the fantabulous Mindy Nettifee!
Featuring poetry by the Wandering Uterus Tour, plus photography by Alexandra Gibson (http://alexandragibsonphot
* July 3: Hollywood CA
Hollywood Institute of Poetics
8-10 p.m.
at Stories Bookstore, 1716 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles
* June 30: Da Poetry Lounge, Los Angeles
GreenWay Court Theater, 544 N. Fairfax Blvd, Los Angeles
9 p.m., $5
* July 1: The Ugly Mug, Orange, CA
Two Idiots Peddling Poetry
The Ugly Mug Café, 261 North Glassell, Orange, CA
7:30 p.m., $2 cover
* July 2: Noisy Voyeur: poetry, photo exhibition, live erotic photoshoot, music, and more!
at the 2nd City Arts Council Gallery
435 Alamitos Avenue, Long Beach, CA
8-11 p.m.
$10 at the door, $5 if you come erotically costumed... bust out those boas! lace up those corsets! buckle up those boots! Hosted by the fantabulous Mindy Nettifee!
Featuring poetry by the Wandering Uterus Tour, plus photography by Alexandra Gibson (http://alexandragibsonphot
* July 3: Hollywood CA
Hollywood Institute of Poetics
8-10 p.m.
at Stories Bookstore, 1716 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles
Marty and Tristan, with Corrie Greathouse
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Wandering Uterus update and Bay Area invitation
Jun. 18th, 2009 | 12:29 pm
hello my LJ darlings.
So as most of you know, I'm coming to San Francisco with the Wandering Uterus Tour next week!!! The California shows will feature me, Emily Kagan Trenchard (touchyourbrain ), and special guest appearances by Tristan Silverman (tristan_dotdot ).
touchyourbrain ), and special guest appearances by Tristan Silverman (tristan_dotdot ).Tristan's great-aunt has graciously invited us to do a small workshop and house concert at her home in Berkeley evening of Thursday, June 25. We can't invite the world, but we can invite some fabulous people, yourselves included. It's $5-$10 sliding scale, we'll have a little wine and a little cheese and some poetry and it'll be lovely all around. Let me know if you want to come, since we need to limit the guest list to the first 15-20 people who respond.
Tuesday the 23rd we're in Sacramento, Wednesday the 24th at the Berkeley slam! Hope to see you all somewhere...
The workshop will be on The Death of Nice, and will run efficiently from 6:30 to 7:30. Then we'll take a little break and come back for poetry from 7:30-8:30. You can attend for both or either... again, just let me know so we can get a bit of a head count.
Tuesday the 23rd we're in Sacramento, Wednesday the 24th at the Berkeley slam! Hope to see you all somewhere...
big poem love,
Marty.
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Chicago poetry competition
Jun. 14th, 2009 | 02:30 pm
Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Awards
The Guild Complex is pleased to announce the 16th anniversary of the Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Awards (GBOMA) for poetry. Twenty semi-finalists will be selected from open submissions. These 20 poets will perform their work in front of an audience on Tuesday, July 14. Poets must be 18 years of age or older by the date of the reading and a legal resident of Illinois to enter.
The winner will receive a $500 cash prize.
Submission guidelines:
• Work must be previously unpublished.
• Only one submission per poet – no exceptions please. (If you can’t decide which poem to submit, ask a friend to help you decide, but not the Guild Complex.)
• Submissions must be typed in a legible font, no less than 12-pt. type size.
• Submitted poems must be performed by the poet in 4 minutes or less. You will be timed. For the pleasure of the audience and that your work may be heard and enjoyed, please edit your poem to fit comfortably within the time limit. Poets who read work that is too long or read very fast to fit the time limit historically have not done well in the competition. (The audience is the judge, and they will judge on their listening experience.)Those poets who go beyond the 4 minute limit will not be eligible to advance in the competition. No props or musical accompaniment are allowed.
• The poet who wrote the work must be the poet who performs the work.
• The poet absolutely must be available to read on Tuesday, July 14. If you are not going to be in town, please do not submit. This is a performance competition.
Please send submissions to:
Guild Complex
P.O. Box 478880
Chicago, IL 60647-9998
Attn: GBOMA
or electronically to ellenw@guildcomplex.org with the subject line GBOMA.
A $5 entry fee should accompany each submission. (Because of the tight economic times, we have cut the entry fee in half this year. The submission fee helps to assuage our costs for the venue and the cash prize.) Electronic payment is available through paypal on the Guild Complex website: www.guildcomplex.org
Please DO NOT send submissions c/o the Chopin Theatre at their address. The Chopin is our venue, not our organization. Any poems delivered there WILL NOT be included for consideration. Also, hand delivery is not possible.
Please note: the Guild Complex is a small shop, so following the instructions carefully raises your chances of having your work arrive successfully. E-mails can get lost – especially if the subject line is not marked as directed above. An acknowledgment e-mail will be sent for all submissions that are received by the deadline and have paid their submission fee.
Poets should include their contact information -- name, address, telephone number, email address and the title of the poem – on a separate sheet. (If you’re sending an e-mail, please attach your contact information separately from the poem.) Please DO NOT put your name on the poem. Submissions must be post-marked by Monday, June 29, if sent through the postal service. Electronic submissions must be time stamped by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 1.Notification of semi-finalists will be sent on Monday, July 6. Remember, the competition is Tuesday, July 14.
Again those key dates are:
• Monday, June 29: last chance to send your poem through the mail.
• Wednesday, July 1: last chance to send your poem by e-mail.
• Monday, July 6: Notification of semi-finalists.
• Tuesday, July 14: Competition.
Reading location:
Chopin Theatre
1534 W. Division (intersection of Division, Ashland and Milwaukee), Chicago, IL
Reading begins promptly at 7:30 p.m.
We wish good luck to everyone. Please spread the word. You may contact us with questions @ ellenw@guildcomplex.org or 877.394.5061. (E-mail will get the most prompt response.)
For those who wish to attend the performance – which are always amazing – we will request an admission fee of $5 for adults, $3 for students, children under 12 are free. (Please note that many of the poems have adult content.) The Guild Complex presents 95% of our readings free of charge. A few times a year, we ask for admission to help us underwrite additional costs for that particular reading. We know these are tough economic times. No one will be turned away.
Thanks,
The Guild Complex
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 - 7:30pm
The Guild Complex is pleased to announce the 16th anniversary of the Gwendolyn Brooks Open Mic Awards (GBOMA) for poetry. Twenty semi-finalists will be selected from open submissions. These 20 poets will perform their work in front of an audience on Tuesday, July 14. Poets must be 18 years of age or older by the date of the reading and a legal resident of Illinois to enter.
The winner will receive a $500 cash prize.
Submission guidelines:
• Work must be previously unpublished.
• Only one submission per poet – no exceptions please. (If you can’t decide which poem to submit, ask a friend to help you decide, but not the Guild Complex.)
• Submissions must be typed in a legible font, no less than 12-pt. type size.
• Submitted poems must be performed by the poet in 4 minutes or less. You will be timed. For the pleasure of the audience and that your work may be heard and enjoyed, please edit your poem to fit comfortably within the time limit. Poets who read work that is too long or read very fast to fit the time limit historically have not done well in the competition. (The audience is the judge, and they will judge on their listening experience.)Those poets who go beyond the 4 minute limit will not be eligible to advance in the competition. No props or musical accompaniment are allowed.
• The poet who wrote the work must be the poet who performs the work.
• The poet absolutely must be available to read on Tuesday, July 14. If you are not going to be in town, please do not submit. This is a performance competition.
Please send submissions to:
Guild Complex
P.O. Box 478880
Chicago, IL 60647-9998
Attn: GBOMA
or electronically to ellenw@guildcomplex.org with the subject line GBOMA.
A $5 entry fee should accompany each submission. (Because of the tight economic times, we have cut the entry fee in half this year. The submission fee helps to assuage our costs for the venue and the cash prize.) Electronic payment is available through paypal on the Guild Complex website: www.guildcomplex.org
Please DO NOT send submissions c/o the Chopin Theatre at their address. The Chopin is our venue, not our organization. Any poems delivered there WILL NOT be included for consideration. Also, hand delivery is not possible.
Please note: the Guild Complex is a small shop, so following the instructions carefully raises your chances of having your work arrive successfully. E-mails can get lost – especially if the subject line is not marked as directed above. An acknowledgment e-mail will be sent for all submissions that are received by the deadline and have paid their submission fee.
Poets should include their contact information -- name, address, telephone number, email address and the title of the poem – on a separate sheet. (If you’re sending an e-mail, please attach your contact information separately from the poem.) Please DO NOT put your name on the poem. Submissions must be post-marked by Monday, June 29, if sent through the postal service. Electronic submissions must be time stamped by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, July 1.Notification of semi-finalists will be sent on Monday, July 6. Remember, the competition is Tuesday, July 14.
Again those key dates are:
• Monday, June 29: last chance to send your poem through the mail.
• Wednesday, July 1: last chance to send your poem by e-mail.
• Monday, July 6: Notification of semi-finalists.
• Tuesday, July 14: Competition.
Reading location:
Chopin Theatre
1534 W. Division (intersection of Division, Ashland and Milwaukee), Chicago, IL
Reading begins promptly at 7:30 p.m.
We wish good luck to everyone. Please spread the word. You may contact us with questions @ ellenw@guildcomplex.org or 877.394.5061. (E-mail will get the most prompt response.)
For those who wish to attend the performance – which are always amazing – we will request an admission fee of $5 for adults, $3 for students, children under 12 are free. (Please note that many of the poems have adult content.) The Guild Complex presents 95% of our readings free of charge. A few times a year, we ask for admission to help us underwrite additional costs for that particular reading. We know these are tough economic times. No one will be turned away.
Thanks,
The Guild Complex
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stuffalupagous
Jun. 13th, 2009 | 10:39 pm
During the first Wandering Uterus Tour, we kept a group online journal of the goings-on... that being 1999, it was unusual and garnered quite a following. This time around, a full ten years later, it's far less unusual and also, far less likely to be full of bizarre mishaps and ramblings. But here I am, in Seattle at the start of another tour -- a working vacation with shows? a vacation with working and shows? a touring vacation with work? -- anyway, a series of performances over the course of three weeks away from home.
Things haven't gone exactly according to plan with putting this together, as I underestimated the upheaval that would be moving and looking for work and getting started at a new job, and Andi couldn't have foreseen the family and business issues that would keep her from being able to hit the road... but the uterus wanders on, regardless.
So I'm posted up here in Daemond and Inti's gorgeous home, with a stove and tea and wireless and enough allergy medicine to keep the cats out of my lungs. Their home is organized, ergonomic, and ecologically sound -- very Seattle, in other words.
I will need to go out and have more adventures, so as to have things to write about here.
I went for a walk today, and tried to find a yard sale for which there were many, many signs that seemed only to take me in circles. With me on this walk I took: keys to the house, and $10. Also, I wrote the address of the house on my stomach, because if I got really sweaty I figured it would smudge off my hand.
Um, I have a new haircut. Thanks to my brilliant stylist-slash-girlfriend. And a hairstylist at Milio's in Chicago, who stripped and dyed my hair just before the LAST Wandering Uterus Tour, and to whom I was randomly assigned by the receptionist when we called for appointments. Insert Twilight Zone music here.
Tomorrow night is the show in Bellingham, a town whose name I can never remember and therefore always want to refer to as Birmingham, or Binghamton.
Also, the kind gentleman who hosts it calls himself The Podfather of Soul. I think he's interviewing us tomorrow. I'll give you the link then. Don't hurt yourself with the waiting.
Things haven't gone exactly according to plan with putting this together, as I underestimated the upheaval that would be moving and looking for work and getting started at a new job, and Andi couldn't have foreseen the family and business issues that would keep her from being able to hit the road... but the uterus wanders on, regardless.
So I'm posted up here in Daemond and Inti's gorgeous home, with a stove and tea and wireless and enough allergy medicine to keep the cats out of my lungs. Their home is organized, ergonomic, and ecologically sound -- very Seattle, in other words.
I will need to go out and have more adventures, so as to have things to write about here.
I went for a walk today, and tried to find a yard sale for which there were many, many signs that seemed only to take me in circles. With me on this walk I took: keys to the house, and $10. Also, I wrote the address of the house on my stomach, because if I got really sweaty I figured it would smudge off my hand.
Um, I have a new haircut. Thanks to my brilliant stylist-slash-girlfriend. And a hairstylist at Milio's in Chicago, who stripped and dyed my hair just before the LAST Wandering Uterus Tour, and to whom I was randomly assigned by the receptionist when we called for appointments. Insert Twilight Zone music here.
Tomorrow night is the show in Bellingham, a town whose name I can never remember and therefore always want to refer to as Birmingham, or Binghamton.
Also, the kind gentleman who hosts it calls himself The Podfather of Soul. I think he's interviewing us tomorrow. I'll give you the link then. Don't hurt yourself with the waiting.
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holy. cows.
Jun. 8th, 2009 | 10:19 am
I leave town on Saturday to begin the Wandering Uterus 2009 Tour. Yesterday I bought sundresses. Aside from that, I'm pretty much wildly unprepared to go on the road for three weeks. Still probably readier than I was ten years ago when we did this for the first time, and for two and a half months.
I will be in Seattle, Portland (no show in Portland, just family, unless somebody wants to hook a girl up last-minute), the Bay, and LA. If you are there, I'd love to see you! Details below.
In sad news, Andi Strickland won't be able to hit the road with me because of family and business stuff. But Tristan Silverman will be sitting in as a special guest for the Cali shows. So that rocks. And I'm psyched to finally do shows with Karen Finneyfrock and be on the road with Emily Kagan Trenchard.
I will be in Seattle, Portland (no show in Portland, just family, unless somebody wants to hook a girl up last-minute), the Bay, and LA. If you are there, I'd love to see you! Details below.
In sad news, Andi Strickland won't be able to hit the road with me because of family and business stuff. But Tristan Silverman will be sitting in as a special guest for the Cali shows. So that rocks. And I'm psyched to finally do shows with Karen Finneyfrock and be on the road with Emily Kagan Trenchard.
Tour Schedule, as of now...
June 15-20: with Karen Finneyfrock.
June 23-July 3: with Emily Kagan-Trenchard and special guest appearances by Tristan Silverman
June 15: Bellingham, Washington
"Poetry Night" -- open mic and feature. 8 p.m. all ages
The Darkroom, 310 W. Champion Street
June 16: Seattle, Washington
Richard Hugo House with special Seattle guests
7:30pm, $5, all ages.
June 17: Seattle, Washington Poetry Slam
Spitfire, 2219 4th Ave., Seattle
7 p.m., $5 cover, 21 and over, ID required
June 23: Sacramento Poetry Slam
Mahogany Urban Poetry Series
Queen Sheba Restaurant, 1704 Broadway, Sacramento CA
8pm, $5 cover. All ages.
June 24: Berkeley Poetry Slam
The Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Ave, Berkeley, CA
7:30 p.m.
June 25: possible house concert -- details TBD
June 28: possible workshop -- details TBD
June 30: Da Poetry Lounge, Los Angeles
GreenWay Court Theater, 544 N. Fairfax Blvd, Los Angeles
9 p.m., $5
July 1: The Ugly Mug, Orange, CA
Two Idiots Peddling Poetry
The Ugly Mug Café, 261 North Glassell, Orange, CA
7:30 p.m., $2 cover
July 3: Hollywood CA
Hollywood Institute of Poetics
at Stories Bookstore, 1716 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles
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you must submit Saturday...
May. 23rd, 2009 | 11:57 am
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you must submit!
May. 16th, 2009 | 12:19 pm
One of my many "move resolutions" was to be more aggressive in attempting to get published. I figure LJ is as good a way as any to share the calls for submissions I run into...
•••CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BEST NEW POETS, AN ANTHOLOGY OF 50 EMERGING WRITERS, ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS FOR ITS OPEN COMPETITION
Deadline: June 1, 2009.
Entering poets cannot have published a book-length poetry collection by November 2009 (chapbooks do not affect your eligibility). Entry fee: $3.50. Each entry can contain two poems. Selected poets receive five copies of the print anthology. This year's guest editor is Kim Addonizio. In 2009, we're taking entries through ManuscriptHub. To create your submission, go to www.bestnewpoets.org for details.
•••CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ANTHOLOGY SEEKING POETRY BY MEN ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MAN TODAY
Deadline: June 30
Interested in poems that explore the complex psychosocial issue of male identity. Please avoid poems that project an overripe machismo. Submit to John Smelcer, P.O. Box 234, Binghamton, NY 13905.
•••CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR BELLEVUE LITERARY REVIEW’S ANNUAL PRIZES
Deadline: August 1, 2009
$1,000 Poetry Prize (Judge: Tony Hoagland)
$1,000 Fiction Prize (Judge: Gail Godwin)
$1,000 Nonfiction Prize (Judge: Phillip Lopate).
Looking for exceptional writing about health, healing, illness, the body, and the mind. Entry fee: $15 ($20 includes subscription). Submit online: www.blreview.org.
•••CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: THE TEACHER'S VOICE, A LITERARY MAGAZINE FOR POETS AND WRITERS IN EDUCATION.
A free online magazine and teacher resource, they seek poems, short stories, creative nonfiction, and essays about the promise and hard truths of teaching in our schools and colleges. Chapbook and poetry contests too. Send to: The Teacher’s Voice, P.O. Box 150384, Kew Gardens, NY 11415. Query: editor@the-teachers-voice.
•••CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: AESTHETICA MAGAZINE, A UK-BASED INTERNATIONAL ARTS PUBLICATION, ANNOUNCES COMPETITION
Deadline: August 31, 2009
Three recipients to receive £500 (approx $750) each in three categories:
Poetry, fiction, artwork & photography
The 2008 Aesthetica Creative Works Competition provided a huge boost for the winners and finalists involved. Since the publication of the Creative Works Annual, some of the winners and finalists have enjoyed further publications and commissions, as well as exhibitions around the globe from London to New York.
For complete details: http://www.aestheticamagaz
Pauline Bache
pauline@aestheticamagazine
www.aestheticamagazine.com
•••FELLOWSHIP: MENDOCINO COAST WRITERS CONFERENCE AND POETRY CONTEST IN CELEBRATION OF ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY July 30-August 2, 2009.
Deadline: June 9, 2009
The Mendocino Coast Writers Conference is an intimate conference limited to 100 participants where you will be encouraged to find and express your own voice by excellent writers who are outstanding teachers. You will explore how your writing can shape the world. Whether fiction, nonfiction,or poetry, words are a powerful instrument for change. Faculty includes: Ellen Bass, Charlotte Gullick, Gennifer Choldenko, Robert McDowell and many others. A generous donor has offered to fund a full fellowship to the poet who wins the conference poetry contest.
For details on the poetry contest, other fellowship opportunities, and the conference program, see info@mcwc.org or 707-962-2600, ext. 2167.
***
•••CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: BEST NEW POETS, AN ANTHOLOGY OF 50 EMERGING WRITERS, ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS FOR ITS OPEN COMPETITION
Deadline: June 1, 2009.
Entering poets cannot have published a book-length poetry collection by November 2009 (chapbooks do not affect your eligibility). Entry fee: $3.50. Each entry can contain two poems. Selected poets receive five copies of the print anthology. This year's guest editor is Kim Addonizio. In 2009, we're taking entries through ManuscriptHub. To create your submission, go to www.bestnewpoets.org for details.
•••CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: ANTHOLOGY SEEKING POETRY BY MEN ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A MAN TODAY
Deadline: June 30
Interested in poems that explore the complex psychosocial issue of male identity. Please avoid poems that project an overripe machismo. Submit to John Smelcer, P.O. Box 234, Binghamton, NY 13905.
•••CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS FOR BELLEVUE LITERARY REVIEW’S ANNUAL PRIZES
Deadline: August 1, 2009
$1,000 Poetry Prize (Judge: Tony Hoagland)
$1,000 Fiction Prize (Judge: Gail Godwin)
$1,000 Nonfiction Prize (Judge: Phillip Lopate).
Looking for exceptional writing about health, healing, illness, the body, and the mind. Entry fee: $15 ($20 includes subscription). Submit online: www.blreview.org.
•••CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: THE TEACHER'S VOICE, A LITERARY MAGAZINE FOR POETS AND WRITERS IN EDUCATION.
A free online magazine and teacher resource, they seek poems, short stories, creative nonfiction, and essays about the promise and hard truths of teaching in our schools and colleges. Chapbook and poetry contests too. Send to: The Teacher’s Voice, P.O. Box 150384, Kew Gardens, NY 11415. Query: editor@the-teachers-voice.
•••CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: AESTHETICA MAGAZINE, A UK-BASED INTERNATIONAL ARTS PUBLICATION, ANNOUNCES COMPETITION
Deadline: August 31, 2009
Three recipients to receive £500 (approx $750) each in three categories:
Poetry, fiction, artwork & photography
The 2008 Aesthetica Creative Works Competition provided a huge boost for the winners and finalists involved. Since the publication of the Creative Works Annual, some of the winners and finalists have enjoyed further publications and commissions, as well as exhibitions around the globe from London to New York.
For complete details: http://www.aestheticamagaz
Pauline Bache
pauline@aestheticamagazine
www.aestheticamagazine.com
•••FELLOWSHIP: MENDOCINO COAST WRITERS CONFERENCE AND POETRY CONTEST IN CELEBRATION OF ITS 20TH ANNIVERSARY July 30-August 2, 2009.
Deadline: June 9, 2009
The Mendocino Coast Writers Conference is an intimate conference limited to 100 participants where you will be encouraged to find and express your own voice by excellent writers who are outstanding teachers. You will explore how your writing can shape the world. Whether fiction, nonfiction,or poetry, words are a powerful instrument for change. Faculty includes: Ellen Bass, Charlotte Gullick, Gennifer Choldenko, Robert McDowell and many others. A generous donor has offered to fund a full fellowship to the poet who wins the conference poetry contest.
For details on the poetry contest, other fellowship opportunities, and the conference program, see info@mcwc.org or 707-962-2600, ext. 2167.
***
The Ruskin Art Club Poetry Award is for an unpublished poem. This year’s judge is Kate Gale. Award is $1,000 and publication of the awarded poem in The Los Angeles Review published by Red Hen Press. Submit up to three poems of no more than 120 lines and a $20 entry fee. Include name and title of each poem entered on cover sheet only, and send a SASE for notification. Entries must be postmarked by September 30, 2009.
The Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award is for a previously unpublished original collection of poetry. This year’s judge is Nick Flynn. Award is $3,000 and publication of the awarded collection by Red Hen Press. Entry fee is $25, and there is a 48 page minimum. Name on cover sheet only, and send a SASE for notification. Entries must be postmarked by August 31, 2009.
www.redhen.org