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THE SUNDAY POESY: Opportunities, Events and Other Information and News

PBD - blogroll

RESOURCES

THE POET & THE POEM: Webcasts and Podcasts from the Poetry and Literature Center at the Library of Congress HERE.

SOUTH CAROLINA POETS offer healing through poetry on the anniversary of the church shooting. On PBS website HERE.

CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Opportunity Knocks

SUPERSTITION [REVIEW], an online literary publication of Arizona State University, welcomes “submissions of art, fiction, nonfiction, and poetry during our two reading periods in fall (September and October) and spring (January and February).” Details HERE.

BALTIMORE REVIEW, Space for expression publishes online and imprint including creative nonfiction, fiction, poetry and video. Submission periods are August 1 through November 30 and February 1 through May 31. The video category is reportedly open all year. Details HERE.

MINOLA, A JOURNAL OF WOMEN’S LETTERS is a fledgling publication with three issues published to date that include poetry and prose. “Minola is now accepting poetry, fiction, essays, reviews, and visual art exclusively from those who identify as women. To be clear this includes non-binary and femme identifying. Minola publishes a select number of only the boldest, most simultaneously raw and refined material.” Details HERE.

THE BeZINE is now accepting submissions of poetry, essays, art and video for its July issue. The theme is Faith: In Things Seen and Unseen, which does not have to be addressed from a religious or spiritual perspective. There is also a “More Light” section in most issues for worthy material that is not on theme.   Deadline for this issue is July 10th. Please read several issues, the mission statement and submission guidelines before sending work to bardogroup@gmail.com. Details HERE. The May issue of The BeZine just came out.

BLACK HEART MAGAZINE, We Heart Art will begin reviewing submissions in August for its anti-gun anthology. “In the wake of only our latest most-deadly shooting here in the U.S. – the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting that left 50 dead and more wounded – we feel it’s time to take action. No more “thoughts and prayers.” No more fuzzy sentiments. No more excuses. No more bullshit. We’re looking for stories to include in an Anti-Gun anthology, which will wholly benefit the Gun Control Lobby. (See Everytown for Gun Safety for more info on our proposed beneficiary.)” Black Heart Magazine publishes poems, short stories, essays and narative nonfiction  Deadline for the next issue is July 31.  Details for the magazine and the anthology are HERE.

SLICE magazine publishes fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Details HERE. It’s current reading period for issue #20 closes on August 1.

EVENTS

MAKE MUSIC CHICAGO: Janice Misurell-Mitchell a free event offering poetry and music is sponsored by The Poetry Foundation. June 21 @ 12:30 p.m. Details HERE.

THE EPICENTER: Natashia Deón in Conversation (Fiction),  7:00 PM – 8:30 PM at the Alamo Drafthouse at the New Mission, 2550 Mission St. San Francisco, CA 94110

CULTURE RAPIDE PROGRAMME (ongoing through the end of June) (France) Juin 2016, 103 rue Julien Lacroix 75020 Paris, M°Belleville / Pyrénées, 01 46 36 08 04 Details HERE.

POETRY ON THE LAKE (Italy) Isola San Giulio, 28016 Orta (NO) Italy, Information: Gabriel Griffin, tel: +39 0322 911938, e-mail: poetryonthelake@yahoo.co.uk

TIDBITS

“Like a sculptor, if necessary,
carve a friend out of stone.
Realize that your inner sight is blind
and try to see a treasure in everyone.”
Rumi

THE POET BY DAY SUNDAY POESY

Submit your event, book launch and other announcements at least fourteen days in advance to thepoetbyday@gmail.com. Publication is subject to editorial discretion.

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Happy Father’s Day with Mexican-American Poet and former California Poet Laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera … the immigrant experience

Juan Felipe Herrara (b. 1948), American poet and writer, photo by SlowKing
Juan Felipe Herrera (b. 1948), Mexican-American poet and writer, photo by SlowKing under GNUFDL

I posted this a few years ago here and just included it in this month’s issue of The BeZine.  I’m re-posting it now because it highlights the quality and character of immigrants to the United States of America, which seems a good thing to do at this time. I’ll post this Sunday’s Poesy later today. 

Juan Felipe Herrera is a Mexican-American poet and performance artist, a writer and cartoonist, a teacher and an activist.

“Many poets since the 1960s have dreamed of a new hybrid art, part oral, part written, part English, part something else: an art grounded in ethnic identity, fueled by collective pride, yet irreducibly individual too. Many poets have tried to create such an art: Herrera is one of the first to succeed.”  Punk Half Panther by Stephen Burt in the New York Times

Herrara incorporates into his writing his experience of family and the life of the compesinos, migrant farm-workers.

“Into the tilted factories, the smeared taxis,
the stunted universities, into the parlor of bank notes,
in the cramped cookhouse where the dark-skinned
humans still stoop and pitch the daily lettuce bags …”

He sometimes tells stories that arise from what is for him a pivotal moment: the early school experience of trying to fit in though he had no English-language skills. He also writes stories that illustrate the problems of immigration, which often separates families.

In 2012, California Governor, Jerry Brown, named Herrera California Poet Laureate, the first Chicano poet to be so honored.

Many of us – like Juan Felipe Herrara – had fathers or grandfathers who came to the United States to make a better life for themselves and eventually for their children and future generations and who went on to make substantive contributions to this country. Sometimes we like to remember and acknowledge them for their vision, courage and hard work. Today seems like a good day to do so. The video below is charming children’s story, A Tale for Father’s Day, about Herrera’s immigrant father. Enjoy! …

Happy Fathers’ Day to all the dads and to all the moms who, for one reason or other, are both dad and mom.