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THE BELLE OF AMHERST, a one-woman play

BelleOfAmherst

“PHOSPHORESCENCE. Now there’s a word to lift your hat to… to find that phosphorescence, that light within, that’s the genius behind poetry.” Emily Dickinson

If you are a lover of poetry and theatre and looking for some budget-wise charm this weekend, order some Chinese food, set out the candles and wine, and stream William Luce‘s one-woman bio-play on Emily Dickinson, The Belle of Amherst, with Julie Harris. I don’t see it on iTunes, but it is on Amazon Instant Video.

Based on the life of poet Emily Dickinson from 1830 to 1886, the play is set in the family home in Amherst, Massachusetts. It incorporates her work, diaries, and letters in a reenactment of her life with family, close friends, and acquaintances. Enchanting and often funny.

After one preview, the original Broadway production, directed by Charles Nelson Reilly and starring Julie Harris, opened on April 28, 1976 at the Longacre Theatre. It ran for 116 performances. A Wall Street Journal reviewer wrote

With her technical ability and her emotional range, Miss Harris can convey profound inner turmoil at the same time that she displays irrepressible gaiety of spirit.”

In The Belle of Amherst Harris portrays fifteen characters and won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, earned a Drama Desk Award nomination for Unique Theatrical Experience, and won a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Recording. She appeared in a televised PBS production and toured the country with the play for a number of years [sources: Wikipedia and NY Times]

Luce and Harris collaborated on other wonderful plays including Bronté.  A broadway playwright, Luce also wrote Barrymore, which with family I was fortunate enough to see on stage starring Christopher Plummer many years ago. That was a bit of heaven.  Luce wrote Lucifer’s Child based on the writing of Karen Blixen (Isak Dinesen), Lillian about Lillian Hellman and Zelda, which became The Last Flapper, about Zelda Fitzgerald. If script writing is one of your interests, you could probably do worse than reading a few of  Luce’s plays.

Cover art © publisher and/or playwrighter 

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

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JOBS/PAID & VOLUNTEER

Opportunity Knocks

REVIEWS EDITOR: Poetry London seeks a freelance Reviews Editor to join its editorial team. Applications are open now. Deadline: 30th of August.  Details HERE.

VOLUNTEER: PEN Center USA is accepting volunteer applications! “Volunteering at the Center is a great way to get involved with your local literary community. Rewarding opportunities to assist in PEN Center USA programming and events are available year-round. In some cases, training may be required.” Details HERE.

ARTISTS-AT-RISK PROJECT DIRECTOR: PEN America seeks a creative, visionary, and highly organized Project Director for a critical role in launching a new support system for artists at risk worldwide. This innovative initiative, conceived in consultation with a global network of partners and implemented with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is aimed at strengthening and expanding the web of services available to assist members of the creative community who face threats in retaliation for the exercise of cultural expression. MORE

ARTISTS-AT-RISK PROJECT MANAGER/COORDINATOR: PEN America seeks a talented, energetic, and highly organized Project Manager/Coordinator for a critical role in launching a new support system for artists at risk. This innovative initiative, conceived in consultation with a global network of partners and implemented with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, is aimed at strengthening and expanding the web of services available to assist members of the creative community who face threats in retaliation for the exercise of cultural expression. MORE

CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Opportunity Knocks

BLUELINE “seeks poems, stories and essays about the Adirondacks and regions similar in geography and spirit, focusing on nature’s shaping influence. We also welcome creative nonfiction that interprets the literature or culture of the region, including northern New York, New England and Eastern Canada.

“Blueline always publishes both new and established writers. You’ll catch our attention if your writing is vigorous, interesting and polished. We’re not interested in effusive descriptions of scenery. We are looking for realistic approaches to the environment: the literature we publish expresses imagination, reflection, and insight about the natural world.

“The submission period is July through November. Decision are made mid-February. Payment is made in copies. Simultaneous submissions accepted if identified as such: notify the editors immediately if a simultaneous submission is placed elsewhere. No previously published works.” Details HERE.

URBAN FARMHOUSE is “looking for book-length manuscripts meeting the following general guidelines: Crossroads Poetry Series: minimum 50-60 pages of poetry,single spaced, and one poem per page. Fiction: minimum 150 pages of prose, 12 pt font, double-spaced. Novellas: 60-145 pages of prose, 12 pt font, double-spaced.  Cities of the Straits Chapbook Series: 20-40 pages of poetry or fiction. 12 pt font, double-spaced. Submissions open from April to August annually. All manuscripts chosen for publication will receive a book contract and 8% royalties on all print copies sold.” Details HERE.

SEDIMENTS LITERARY-ARTS JOURNAL “accepts poetry, short stories, and art. Accepted work for the quarterly issue will be published to the homepage every Sunday at 11AM.  Now – August 31: Submit to Themed Issue “Happy Holidays!” Upcoming Dates: September: Issue Eight Release October 1 – 31: Submit to Issue Nine December: Themed Issue “Happy Holidays!” Release.  Details HERE.

ARTEMISpoetry (Demographic restrictions.) Issue 17, November 2016 (& Issue 18, May 2017) Editors for Issue 17 are: General & Artwork – Dilys Wood and June Hall; Poetry – Wendy French. Readers’ Letters are invited. Comments on the journal’s content or anything you would like to see discussed in relation to women’s writing. (max 100 words). All submissions: submit paper copy initially to Dilys Wood, 3 Springfield Close, East Preston, West Sussex, BN16 2SZ. Please write “ARTEMISpoetry” on your envelope. (Enquiries only: e-mail Administrator editor@poetrypf.co.uk) Poems: Issue 17 deadline – 31st August 2016. Poems by women of any age.

Poems should be typed, or if written, then very neatly. Each poem should commence on a new page, headed “Submission for ARTEMISpoetry“. Please SEND TWO COPIES. Do include your name with each poem and include your name and full contact details in your submission. Long poems are considered. Submit up to 4 poems to a maximum of 200 lines in all. Contributors whose poetry is accepted will be notified by 31st October 2016. Further details HERE.

Note: If you feel intimidated by submittable or other electronic submissions managers used by publishers, ARTEMISpoetry accepts neat handwritten material and is one of an ever decreasing number of publications that will accept snail-mail submissions. For some people, this removes a barrier to entry. If you are one such and female, take adavantage. Nothing ever happens if you don’t try.

THE BeZINE is accepting email submissions (bardogroup@gmail.com) for the August issue through August 10.  The theme is: Hope: Great Expections and Quiet Desires.  We seek poetry, essay, flash fiction, videos, and photography. Also consider are editorials (500 – 740 words) on current issues or trends for our new BeAttitude section.  Submission guidelines HERE. ‘

EVENTS

HEADS-UP TALLAHASSEE: Poetry Reading with Michael Rothenberg, Terri Carrion, El Habib Louai, Geoff Bouvier and friends. Thursday, July 28 at The Black Dog on the Square at 567 Industrial Dr, Tallahassee, Florida, 32301 starting at 7:00pm. It’s going to be great!

TRANSATLANTIC POETRY on Air (Google Hangouts), an iniiative by poet Robert Peake, next poetry reading is  August 14th at 8 pm BST/3pm EDT/12 pm PDT with Vahni Capildeo and Tyehimba Jess. Read on … a link to the site and more detail is under Kudos.

KUDOS

ROBERT PEAK‘s fabulous Transatlantic Poetry Series is now in its third year.  Peake is an British-American poet living near London. His latest collection The Knowledge is available from Nine Arches Press. Transatlantic Poetry is “a platform that openly encourages participation from individuals and organisations with a strong commitment to the support of poetry globally.”  You can hear poets reading their work and discussing poetry at Google Hangouts on pre-scheduled dates. You are able to ask questions. Link HERE for more information.  Be there or be square – really! An archive of all past event videos is available. Bravo, Robert!

ARTEMISpoetry editor for the November issue: Wendy French recently completed a Poet Residency at the University College Hospital Macmillan Cancer Centre. Her resulting book, Thinks Itself a Hawk, is published by Hippocrates Poetry Press (2016). French also ran creative word groups for patients and carers. She is one of six poets included in a showcase anthology from Avalanche Books.

MICHAEL ROTHENBERG announced this week that the hard copy proof of his new book of poems, Drawing The Shade, arrived today from Dos Madres Press. “We’re almost there.”

MYRA SCHNEIDER‘s thirteenth collection, Persephone in Finsbury Park (Second Light Press, 2016), is available at poet Anne Stewart’s p f poetry site.

TIDBIT

Literature & Medicine

If you are viewing The Sunday Poesy from email, you’ll likely have to link through to view this video.

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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BETWEEN SCYLLA & CHARYBDIS: why I can’t spell … and yes! You can be a writer even if you’re dyslexic

Some days I get caught between my inability to spell a word and the artistic desire to use just the right one. There’s a temptation to take the lazy way out, to substitute the easy word for the perfect one. My spelling is so bad that I got Ds and Fs on tests in elementary school. I was always the first one to get booted out of the spelling bee.

Later in life, when my son got home from school, I would hand him a manuscript and pay him a quarter for every misspelling he found. Now I just text him. Generally I can’t come close enough to the right spelling … if I could the spell-check might work for me  … so I just make like a crossword puzzle:

“Son, Homer between a rock and hard place … ?”

“Mom, Scylla and Charybdis.”

“Son, it begins with an ‘a’ and is foolish.”

“Mom, absurd…!!!!”

Even though I’m a slow reader and a poor speller, it never occurred to me that I couldn’t write for a living, probably because I wasn’t diagnosed with dyslexia until I was almost fifty. (Story for another day.) I had no name to give this puzzling situation. In retrospect, that might be a good thing.

For years I thought my problem was my Brooklynese, my pronunciation. On and off over time I read books and listened to tapes on elocution, which did seem to help a bit. Then Laurel D. sent us this Funny or Die video, The Bensonhurst Spelling Bee. It’s a chuckle-and-a-half and has nothing to do with dyslexia, but in an odd way it sort-of validates my hypothesis. Pronunciation may not be the root of the challenge, but it probably does help to complicate things.


If you’re reading in email, you’ll likely have to click through to this site to view the video. (If you’re also from Brooklyn, it’s a must see.)

Humor aside, dyslexia shouldn’t stop anyone from being a writer. It’s not a reason to give up on writing or to encourage your children to do so. HERE is a list of twenty-five well-known writers who are or were dyslexic. The late Stephen Cannell was famously dyslexic. He was open about it in an effort to help and encourage others. The Learning Center section of his website provides some background and tips.

  • It is estimated that 15-17% of the population is dyslexic.

RESOURCES:

© Jamie Dedes; Illustration is in the public domain.

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

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CALLS FOR SUBMISSION

Opportunity Knocks

POETRY FOUNDATION accepts submissions year round for its Poetry Magazine. Details HERE.

PARIS REVIEW accepts submissions – including unsolicited submissions – year round.  Details HERE.

THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS, an anthology of Wishing Up Press, invites submissions of poetry, fiction, memoir, creative non-fiction exploring – you got it! – “the kindness of strangers.” The submission deadline is September 1, 2016. Details HERE.

POLYCHROME INK celebrates diversity in literature and is interested in submissions from underrepresented voices writing poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Deadline for the next issue is July 1, 2016, however, the publication does have a “rolling submission policy” … in other words, you may submit year-round. Details are HERE.

MOREL SOUTH&WEST is a regional publication of Ontario currently accepting poetry, fiction, essays and articles on Southwestern Ontario. Poetry submissions are welcome through June 19 for publication in July 2016. Details HERE.

FISSURE is open year-round and offers opportunities to young LGBTQ+ and allies. Submission guidelines are HERE.

JSTOR (pronounced Jay-stor) has been around a long time.  JSTOR Daily – “where news meets scholarly match” is relatively new. It is a paying venue, “an online magazine that offers a fresh way for people to understand and contextualize their world. It features topical essays that draw connections between current affairs, historical scholarship, and other content that’s housed on JSTOR, a digital library of scholarly journals, books, and primary sources. In addition to weekly feature articles, the magazine publishes daily blog posts that provide the backstory to complex issues of the day in a variety of subject areas, interviews with and profiles of scholars and their work, and much more. The magazine makes the content on JSTOR, which most people access via university libraries or other institutions, freely available to the general reader by highlighting timely or otherwise compelling content, and providing free links to that content.” Further details and submission guidelines are HERE.

MSLEXIA (Newcastle) sponsors annual contests and the Children’s Novel Competition is open for submissions though September 19, 2016. Details HERE.

JOURNAL OF NEW JERSEY POETS is accepting poetry submissions from New Jersey poets through October 1, 2016. Details HERE.

THE BeZINE theme for July 2016 is “Faith: In Things Seen and Unseen.” Poems, essays, short-stories (up to 1,200 words), flash fiction, feature articles (up t0 1,200 words), photography, art or video – as long as it can be loaded into a post – are acceptable for consideration. Deadline is July 10.  Details HERE.

SEVEN BY TWENTY,  a journal of twitter literature, reports that its submission que is empty and invites submissions. Details HERE.

CONTESTS/COMPETITIONS

Opportunity Knocks

BATTERED MOONS POETRY COMPETITON is open to U.K. residents and is part of the Poetry Swindon Festival. Deadline is 30 June 2016. Details HERE.

BLACK BOX POETRY PRIZE for poetry collections is accepting submission through the 30th of this month. It is sponsored by Rescue Press. Details HERE.

BARROW STREET PRESS book contest deadline for a previously unpublished book of poetry in English is June 30. Details HERE.

EVENTS/FESTIVALS

Tuesday, September 15, 7:00 PM
U.S. POET LAUREATE INAUGURAL READING, Washington, D.C. 21st Poet Laureate Consultant Juan Felipe Herrera will kick off Hispanic Heritage Month with his inaugural reading. This event is free and open to the public. Co-sponsored by the Library of Congress Hispanic Division.Location: Coolidge Auditorium, Thomas Jefferson Building (ground floor) Contact: (202) 707-5394

Monday, June 13, 8:30 AM–5:00 PM
FROM THE BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT TO CAVE CANEM, Washington, D.C. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Black Arts Movement and the 20th anniversary of Cave Canem, a day-long symposium featuring two panels and a Master Class in children’s literature. This event is co-sponsored by the Folger Shakespeare Library’s O.B. Hardison Poetry Series, PEN/Faulkner Foundation,
Contact: (202) 707-5394

GRASSINGTON FESTIVAL, 15 Days of Music and Arts in the Yorkshire Dales (looks like there are about three or four poetry events) from 17th June – 2nd July. Details HERE.

100,000 POETS FOR CHANGE events will take place around the world on Saturday, September 24, 2016. To find an event in your area or to sign-up to organize an event in your area visit 100tpc. On this global day of unity and consciousness raising, literary and other artists and friends around the world will come together in cities, hometowns and even private homes to encourage peace, sustainability and social justice.

The BeZine will host a virtual 100TPC event that day offering you the opportunity to participate electronically no matter where in the world you live and even if you are homebound. Our Contributing Editor, American-Isreali poet Michael Dickel (Fragments of Michael Dickel), is master of ceremonies.

TIDBITS

INDIE AUTHOR NEWS – a go-to place for those of you who self-publish.

THE LAST GOOD COUNTRY  “tells the ambiguous origins of Ernest Hemingway and his transformation into one of the greatest writers/icons the world has ever known. After returning from WWI in Milan, shaken by injury, and shut out by the woman he loved, Hemingway travels to the Upper Peninsula to discover what kind of man he is meant to be. These events would eventually become the inspiration for his Nick Adams tales.”

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.