The “Protest by Postcard” Ides of Trump Campaign …

Unitarian Universalist Chruch of San Mateo Caliornia
UUSM

The Ides of Trump Campaign was initiated by a resident of Berkeley, California who wanted to create a simple, affordable and easy way for people to show-up and be heard. To join in all you need is a postcard and a stamp. The idea is that you express your concerns with brevity on a postcard. The hope is that postcards will flood the White House on March 15, the Ides of March.

You will remember that in Shakespear’s play Julius Caesar didn’t heed the warning to beware the Ides (about mid-month) of March and was assasinated on that day. The idea here is NOT to threaten any kind of violence or other immoral behavior but to draw attention to issues of concern in a peaceful manner.

The beauty of this effort is that wherever you are in the world you too can easily have your say by sending a postcard for the Ides of Trump to:

Mr. President
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500


In my neighborhood we unequivocally DO NOT endorse or encourage violence but there are issues of concern that residents want to bring to the fore. Hence, the Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo began implementation of Justice Action Mondays: Flash Advocacy as part of its “Resist” efforts.

Rev. Ben Meyers and the Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo (UUSM) invited San Mateo residents to join in an open, drop-in community space where people come together in a supportive environment to make their voices heard. Justice Action Mondays, every week, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m., UUSM Beck Hall, 300 E. Santa Inez Avenue, San Mateo

This Week’s Flash Advocacy Theme: The “Protest by Postcard” Ides of Trump Campaign. Participants will write a postcard (or more) with a personal message letting the President know their concerns and/or position on the issues that are paramount to them. All postcards will be mailed. Cards, stamps, message ideas, snacks and the company of good people like youself are provided. A distribution list is updated weekly on Wednesdays and the theme for the following Monday is emailed to all.

 

SUNDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS: Calls for Submissions, Contests, Events and Other Information and News

img_3688 CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Opportunity Knocks

AMETHYST ARSENIC is open submissions of poetry. Payment: $10. Featured poet receives $50. Deadline: March 31, 2017. Details HERE.

COLD CREEK REVIEW, a literary journal is a fledgling quarterly that accepts poetry, fiction, nonfiction and art.  “… we are partial to submissions that demonstrate examples of troubled emotions…We want your submission to leave us paralyzed and distressed. We challenge you to alarm us.”  This publication also plans to produce a special biannual – The Shallows – which does not share the same theme as the review. For details on both publications. link HERE.

ODYSSA MAGAZINE “accepts submissions for every monthly issue in the section “Story,” “Go,” “Family,” and “Think.” …. The look for fiction up to 700-1,000 words and buy first electronic and online rights exclusive for three months.  Each issue has a theme.  More detail HERE.

MUNSTER LITERATURE CENTRE publishes a biannual journal, Southword, which features poetry, fiction and reviews. Details HERE.

THE JOURNAL OF COMPRESSED LITERARY ARTS  seeks “compressed creative arts” including fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, mixed media and visual arts that are “compressed in some way. ” Publications are weekly. Details HERE.

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE SOUL seeks submissions of poetry and story for numberous publications.  Christmas and Holiday Collection – 2018, deadline October 31, 2017. Miracles and More , deadline August 31, 2017.  My Crazy Family! – June 30, 2017. My Kind (of) America – March 31, 2017. Positively Happy! – May 31, 2017.  Stories of Redemption – August 31, 2017. Details HERE.

PURITAN MAGAZINE seeks submissions of fiction, poetry, essays, interviews and reviews all year round and from anywhere in the world. Details HERE.

MUGWUMP, a literary revolution – Arocentric Anthology: Afrofuturism – publishes fiction stories in diverse settings, featuring diverse people. Payment: 1 cent/word. Deadline: March 31, 2017. Details HERE.

THE BeZINE, a publication of The Bardo Group Beguines, a virtual arts collective, is a digital publication that is published on the fifteenth of each month. The deadline is always  on the tenth. Submit via email to bardogroup@gmail.com.  Each issue is themed and the themes for each month are included in Submission Guidelines.  Please read the guidelines, one or two issues AND the Mission Statement before submitting. Special issues are April for interNational Poetry Month and September when we host a virtual 100,000 Poets for Change (100TPC) event for reader participation. This year 100TPC will be on September 30 and the September issue will post on the fifteenth as usual. The site was established in 2011 and the Zine is in publication now for three years. The theme for March 2017 is Science in Culture, Politics and Religion with a deadline upcoming on March 10. Submissions of poetry, essay, fiction and creative nonfiction, music videos, photography and art are welcome.


COMPETITIONS

Opportunity Knocks

THE POETRY SOCIETY (UK) “awards £16,000 in prizes each year. Poets at all stages of their careers are celebrated, and prizes also include ways to support writers’ development: courses, books, membership and publication. The competitions and prizes are a central part of The Poetry Society’s work.” Details HERE.


Award Winning British Poet, Myra Schneider (b. 1936), Writer, Writing Coach, Consultant to Second Light Nework of Women Poets
Award Winning British Poet, Myra Schneider (b. 1936), Writer, Writing Coach, Consultant to Second Light Network of Women Poets

SECOND LIGHT POETRY COMPETITION FOR LONG AND SHORT POEMS BY WOMEN 2017Deadline Tues, 15 August.
JUDGE MYRA SCHNEIDER will read all entries. Myra Schneider’s latest and recent books are Persephone in Finsbury Park (SLP), The Door to Colour (Enitharmon); What Women Want (SLP); and the writing resource, Writing Your Self (with John Killick). Myra is a Poetry School and Second Light regular tutor. More at Myra Schneider website. £300 First Prize for each of Long (no upper limit) and Short (max 50 lines) poems. £150 Second Prize (1 poem from either category). £75 Third Prize (1 poem from either category) Winning & Commended Poets published (in full or extract) in ARTEMISpoetry. Winners offered a London reading.
Entry: £6 each per long poem. Short poems: £4 each or £9 for 3, £14 for 8. Enter by post (2 copies) or online.
**Members are entitled to one free entry into the competition. Join now to be eligible.** (See About Second Light/Joining. Recommended ladies. I’m a member.) more: Rules & Entry direct link to payment at [Anne Stewart’s] poetry p f online shop, The results of the competitions will be posted on the website by 30th September. Once winning poems (or extracts) are published in ARTEMISpoetry. Second Light Network was founded and is managed by Dilys Wood.


EVENTS

c3p2uemwaaamgxb-jpg-large

THE THIRD DUBLIN WRITERS CONFERENCE sponsored by The Society of Authors is scheduled to be held at The Gresham Hotel, O’Connell Street, Dublin 1 from the 23rd-25th of June 2017. Seventeen speakers are scheduled.  Details on conference, programme and to purchase tickets are HERE.  The Society is offering a lower early-bird registration rate.

HALI POETRY WORKSHOP WITH RUSS GREEN hosted by Long Island Poetry on March 8, 150 Brightside Aven, Central Islp, New York 11722. Russ Green is a guest poet with The BeZine.

SECOND SATURDAYS AT CYRUS with Terri Muuss and Patricia Spears Jones, hosted by the featured poets and Matt Pasca.March 11, Cyrus: Chai & Coffee Company, 1 Railroad Plz., Bay Shore, New York 11706.

NATIONAL POETRY MONTH is celebrated on April in the United States. Look for announcements of events and celebrations on this site throughout the rest of this month.

interNATIONAL POETRY MONTH at The BeZine is April. We will feature a special issue and submissions are encouraged. Deadline is April 10.


NEWS


ABOUT THE POET BY DAY


51kdxwtdml-_sx331_bo1204203200_The recommended read for this week is Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast by Pulitzer Prize winning Megan Marshall who studied with Bishop at Harvard. This biography is richly spun,  energetic, engaging and even inspirational despite the breathtaking depth of Bishop’s losses, her sense of marginalization and her head-long push into alcoholism. Indeed, some of the inspiration comes because with all her loses, Bishop managed to hold poetry tight. Her poems were for her a charm “against the loneliness they often expressed.” The book covers Bishop’s relationships with other poets and her romantic interests, the last was for me the singular wearisome downside, much overrided though by the book’s pleasures and values. It is laced with Marshall’s own stories and together the lives of these two bare witness to the power of words to give shape, sense and meaning to life. We come away with a strong sense of Elizabeth Bishop, one of America’s most extraordinary poets. A page-turner. A must read or everyone who loves and writes poetry.

By shopping at Amazon through The Word Play Shop and using the book links embedded in posts, you help to support the maintenance of this site. Thank you! (Some book links will just lead to info about the book or poet/author and not to Amazon.)

The WordPlay Shop offers books and other tools especially selected for poets and writers.

THE WORDPLAY SHOP: books, tools and supplies for poets, writers and readers

LITERATURE AND FICTION oo Editor’s Picks oo Award Winners oo NY Times Best Sellers