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Womawords Literary eZine Establishes Poet Hall of Fame; Ramingo! moves to digital format and calls for submissions

Raised-relief image of Minerva, goddess of wisdom and arts, on a Roman gilt silver bowl, first century BC / Public Domain

“Poems are like dreams: in them you put what you don’t know you know.” Adrienne Rich, Arts of the Possible: Essays and Conversations

Womawords, an international eZine based in Africa, is the creative child of multi-award winning Zimbabwean poet in exile, Mbizo Chirasha.  It was established to support women and girls through the publication of activist poetry by women.  Current projects are Womawords companion publication, Liberating Voices Journal, and the newly founded Womawords Hall of Fame.

The Womawords Hall of Fame seeks to amplify women’s voices through literary and other arts and comprises representatives from around the globe: writers, poets, editors, and mentors among others.

The recently published first 2020 issue of Liberating Voices Journal features profiles of and poems by the women in Womawords Hall of Fame.

1.Doleres Meden, Northern Europe Associate, Sweden
2. Ambily Omanakuttan, India Associate , India
3.Nancy Ndeke, African Continent Associate, Kenya
4.Awadifo Olga Kili, Young Writers Representative, Uganda
5.Anjum Dar Wasim, Contributing Writer, Pakistan
6. Melissa Begley, #DaughtersoftheEarth Project, Southern United States
7. Jamie Dedes, Wombawords 2020 Poet Laureate
8.Tracy Yvonne Breazile, Guest Mentor in Residence
9.Samuella Conteh, Contributing Writer, West Africa
10.Beulah Kleinveldt, Contributing Writer, South Africa
11.Hokis, Guest Brand and Arts Writer
12.Beatrice Othieno- Ahere, Contributing Writer, Kenya
13.Omwa Ombara , Africa in Diaspora Associate
14.Catherine Magodo-Mutukwa, Contributing Writer in Zimbabwe
15.Kari Krenn, South America Associate , Argentina
16.Munia Khan, Contributing Writer , Bangladesh
17.Miroslava Panayotova, Eastern Europe Associate

You can read the profiles and sample poetry HERE.

The Ramingo’s Porch Staff (Mendes Biondo is the poetry editor) announce:

It’s time to submit again! But there are a few things that are changed here. You used to know The Ramingo’s Porch as a quarterly printed magazine. Due to high shipping costs, we decided to change it into an e-magazine, publishing selected submissions continuously.

Now let’s see how to submit your writings to us.

1) The email is always the same: ramingoblog@gmail.com. Send your submissions with your first name and surname in the object of the mail along with the kind of submission you’re sending. For example:

Mendes Biondo – Poetry

2) Put all your writings (up to five) into one file. We are able to read doc., docx., rtf. and pdf. too. If you prefer, feel free to copy and paste your submission in the body of the mail.

3) We like to read new stuff so please send us only previously unpublished works.

4) Send us also a short bio (max 150 words) and a picture of you.

5) We try to reply as fast as we can but if you do not receive any answer after a month, please write us a mail. We are humans after all.

6) We may edit, with your consent, the writings you sent in case of necessity.

7) There are no themes and no restrictions to a simple kind of writing style. We enjoy poems, short stories, short essays, haiku, short plays and everything you can do with words. Except for shopping list. We hate shopping lists…

8) Unfortunately we are not able to pay. But one day, maybe…

9) What are you waiting for? Stop waiting for Godot and send us your very best!

Jamie Dedes:

Your donation HERE helps to fund the ongoing mission of The Poet by Day in support of poets and writers, freedom of artistic expression, and human rights.

Poetry rocks the world!

FEEL THE BERN

For Peace, Sustainability, Social Justice

The Poet by Day officially endorses Bernie Sanders for President.

The New New Deal

Link HERE for Bernie’s schedule of events around the country.

“Democracy is not a spectator sport.” Bernie Sanders

“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.”  Lucille Clifton

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Smithsonian Women’s History Museum Proposed: American Women’s History Initiative – “Because of Her Story”

Audre Lorde (left) with writers Meridel Le Sueur (middle) and Adrienne Rich (right) at a writing workshop in Austin, Texas, 1980 courtesy of K. Kendall under CC BY 2.0

“Women are powerful and dangerous.” Audre Lorde

Earlier this month, February 11th, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to pass H.R. 1980. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), calls for the creation of a Smithsonian Women’s History Museum and includes cost-sharing language that is consistent with that used for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture—a 50/50 split of federal and private funds for the development and construction of a new museum. The bill must now pass through the Senate and then be signed by the President.

“With full support from Congress, the Smithsonian has proven adept at creating museums that paint a more comprehensive picture of the American experience,” said Lonnie Bunch, Secretary of the Smithsonian. “We remain committed to that goal, and we look forward to working with Congress and supporters nationwide to illuminate the profound impact women have had on the American story.”

The Smithsonian is committed to recognizing and celebrating the stories of all Americans. If the legislation is enacted into law, the Smithsonian will use its resources and expertise to create a world-class museum dedicated to telling the stories of women’s contributions throughout American history

“A strong woman is a woman determined to do something others are determined not be done.” – Marge Piercy

Amy Lowell circa 1916

“Poets are always the advance guard of literature, the advance guard of life. It is for this reason that their recognition comes so slowly.” Amy Lowell

American Women’s History Initiative:

“BECAUSE OF HER STORY”

.In the meantime, the Smithsonian has used funds appropriated by Congress ($4 million) and privately raised funds to begin a robust program of exhibitions, public programs and research focusing on women’s contributions to American history. In 2018, the Smithsonian officially launched the American Women’s History Initiative—“Because of Her Story”—to document, research, collect and exhibit the stories of women who have helped shape America.

“The initiative strives to be the nation’s most comprehensive undertaking to document, research, collect, display and share the rich, complete and compelling story of women in America. It will greatly increase the Smithsonian’s research and programming related to women in the U.S., past and present.”

To date the initiative has:

  • Raised nearly $10 million toward the development of exhibitions, programs, educational material and digital content across the Smithsonian
  • Hired four curators dedicated to women’s history, with five more curatorial positions pending
  • Mentored 13 paid interns through the Because of Her Story Internship Program
  • Published Smithsonian American Women, a book that offers a unique, panoramic look at women’s history through objects from the Smithsonian’s collections

This post is complied courtesy of the Smithsonian, The U.S. Library of Congress, Amazon, and my bookshelf. 

Jamie Dedes:

Your donation HERE helps to fund the ongoing mission of The Poet by Day in support of poets and writers, freedom of artistic expression, and human rights.

Poetry rocks the world!

FEEL THE BERN

For Peace, Sustainability, Social Justice

The Poet by Day officially endorses Bernie Sanders for President.

The New New Deal

Link HERE for Bernie’s schedule of events around the country.

“Democracy is not a spectator sport.” Bernie Sanders

“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.”  Lucille Clifton

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Timed for Election Season, PEN America Launches Free Speech 2020

 

George Orwell statue at the headquarters of the BBC courtesy of Matt Brown under CC BY 2.0

“If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear”, words from George Orwell’s proposed preface to Animal Farm (1945)

PEN America launches Free Speech 2020, a yearlong initiative to mobilize writers and readers to elevate free speech issues and defend free expression throughout this election season. Deploying on social media and at PEN.org, the initiative will feature Q&As with presidential candidates, authors, and activists about the value of free speech; research profiling the major threats to free expression in the U.S.; and resources to guide PEN America Members and partners to defend against those threats. Free Speech 2020 will also mobilize PEN America Members and supporters across the country with a series of events, trainings, and conversations about the importance of protecting our right to speak.

With this ” . .  . the American people start making their voices heard [with the kick-off of] an election season that promises to be a pivotal moment for free expression in this country. That’s why we feel it’s the perfect time to unify our commitment to defending free speech under this organization-wide initiative,” said Summer Lopez, senior director of Free Expression Programs at PEN America. “We’ll be building on our existing work and expanding our national footprint to fight for free expression across the country.”

Free Speech 2020 will continue through November, highlighting four major themes:

  • Defending press freedom. PEN America will build on its landmark report on the local news crisis; continue fighting in the courts to defend press freedom; conduct trainings and assemble resources for reporters to know their rights; and lead nationwide media literacy trainings.
  • Combatting disinformation. PEN America will partner with tech companies, government entities, and parties and candidates from across the political spectrum to push back against misleading information. The organization will also lead media literacy trainings, build on its pathbreaking disinformation report, and call on the digital platforms to step up their efforts to battle false information.
  • Fighting online harassment. PEN America will fan out across the country to engage with writers, journalists, and newsroom leaders in the best practices to strike back against online abuse, which imperils free speech and free dialogue. The organization will build on its Online Harassment Field Manual and additional resources.
  • Upholding protest rights. PEN America will speak out against violations of the constitutional right to demonstrate throughout the election cycle, fightingrestrictions such as the DC Mall Protest Tax, and will also publish research on legislative trends that threaten the right to protest.

“We’re at a key inflection point in the U.S., and this election season is already bringing new and unique threats to free speech,” said Nora Benavidez, director of U.S. Free Expression Programs at PEN America. “Across the country and across our digital platforms, we’re mobilizing to stand up for the public’s right to speak out and the public’s right to know. As writers, readers, and defenders of the written word, that’s our driving mission this election year.”

Through February, PEN America will be featuring Q&As with presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and Andrew Yang (PEN America has contacted all major-party candidates for interviews). Also this month, PEN America will include video, audio, and web interviews with authors about their perspectives on free speech in 2020, which kicked off with an interview from author Mira Jacob.

For more information, visit pen.org/free-speech-2020.

***

PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect open expression in the United States and worldwide. It champions the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Its mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible.

Jamie Dedes:

Your donation HERE helps to fund the ongoing mission of The Poet by Day in support of poets and writers, freedom of artistic expression, and human rights.

Poetry rocks the world!

FEEL THE BERN

For Peace, Sustainability, Social Justice

The Poet by Day officially endorses Bernie Sanders for President.

The New New Deal

Link HERE for Bernie’s schedule of events around the country.

“Democracy is not a spectator sport.” Bernie Sanders

“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.”  Lucille Clifton

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For Projects U.S. and Elsewhere: The U.S. Library of Congress 2020 Literacy Awards, open through March 6th

Courtesy of the U.S. Library of Congress

“More than the divides of race, class, or gender, more than rural or urban, believer or nonbeliever, red state or blue state, our culture has been carved up into radically distinct, unbridgeable, and antagonistic entities that no longer speak the same language and cannot communicate. This is the divide between a literate, marginalized minority and those who have been consumed by an illiterate mass culture.” Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle

Applications are being accepted for the 2020 Library of Congress Literacy Awards through March 6th. The awards are made possible through the generosity of philanthropist David M. Rubenstein.

The Literacy Awards, which were created by the Library of Congress and Rubenstein, were first conferred in 2013 to honor and support organizations working to promote literacy both in the United States and abroad. The awards encourage the continuing development of innovative methods for promoting literacy and the wide dissemination of the most effective practices.

The awards are intended to draw public attention to the importance of literacy and the need to promote literacy and encourage reading.

Three prizes will be awarded in 2020:

  • The David M. Rubenstein Prize ($150,000) is awarded for an outstanding and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels. The prize is awarded to an organization based either inside or outside the United States that has demonstrated exceptional and sustained depth in its commitment to the advancement of literacy.
  • The American Prize ($50,000) is awarded for a significant and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels or the national awareness of the importance of literacy. The prize is awarded to an organization that is based in the United States.
  • The International Prize ($50,000) is awarded for a significant and measurable contribution to increasing literacy levels in a country other than the United States. The prize is awarded to an organization that is based either inside or outside the United States.

Other organizations will be honored for their best practices in various areas of literacy promotion.

The Librarian of Congress will make the final selection of the prize winners with recommendations from an advisory board of literacy experts.

The application rules and a downloadable application form may be accessed at read.gov/literacyawards. Applications must be received no later than midnight Eastern Time on March 6, 2020.

The Library of Congress Literacy Awards Program is administered by the Learning and Innovation Office, a unit of the Center for Learning, Literacy and Engagement at the Library of Congress.

Library of Congress flag / public domain

The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.

Jamie Dedes. About /Testimonials / Disclosure / Facebook / Medium / Ko-fi

Your donation HERE helps to fund the ongoing mission of The Poet by Day in support of poets and writers, freedom of artistic expression, and human rights.

Poetry rocks the world!

FEEL THE BERN

For Peace, Sustainability, Social Justice

The Poet by Day officially endorses Bernie Sanders for President.

The New New Deal

Link HERE for Bernie’s schedule of events around the country.

“Democracy is not a spectator sport.” Bernie Sanders

“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.”  Lucille Clifton