an extra kick in the pants toward the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival
Nov. 4th, 2009 | 05:20 pm
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
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
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
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
Israel, McCarthyism, & the Struggle for Real Dialogue
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Dos Plugs and a Q&A
Oct. 6th, 2009 | 04:48 pm
I'm in SUNY Oneonta tomorrow night (big thanks to
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
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
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 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
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
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 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
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
* 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
Tuesday the 23rd we're in Sacramento, Wednesday the 24th at the Berkeley slam! Hope to see you all somewhere...
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Chicago poetry competition
Jun. 14th, 2009 | 02:30 pm
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
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 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
•••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