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THE SUNDAY POESY: Opportunities, Events and Other News

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CELEBRATING:

Mohammed Al Ajami, photo courtesy of PEN International
Mohammed Al Ajami, photo courtesy of PEN America

“Mohammed al-Ajami Pardoned by Qatari Emir. It seems that the Government of Qatar has finally listened to the concerns of the United Nations and international community,” says ADHRB’s Executive Director, Husain Abdulla, “The Emir’s decision to pardon Mohammed al-Ajami is not only a victory for free expression over the forces of censorship and repression in Qatar, it is also a testament to the power of public, international pressure to improve human rights everywhere.” Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain

Distinguished English Poet, Myra Schneider, celebrates her 80th birthday this June. In honor of the upcoming occasion, The Poet by Day featured an interview with Myra that includes suggestions for novice poets: A Life Immersed  in Poetry: Myra Schneider Celebrating over 50 years as Poet and Writer.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS:

SELF-PUBLISHED WRITERS AND POETS:

  • You can register your book with Publishers Weekly and submit it for review via its BookLife platform HERE.
  •  Writer’s Digest Deadline for WD Self-Published Book Awards: April 1, 2016 … “here’s your chance to enter the premier self-published competition exclusively for self-published books. Writer’s Digest hosts the 24th annual self-published competition–the Annual Self-Published Book Awards. This self-published competition, co-sponsored by Book Marketing Works, LLC spotlights today’s self-published works and honors self-published authors.” Details HERE
  • Information on other self-published book awards is offer by The Book Designer HERE.

EVENTS:

unnamed-1April 16, 7-9 pm.

LITERARY PUB OR PERISH

Stickyz Rock N’ Roll Chicken Shack
107 River Market Avenue
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201

Join Sharon Frye, Ayara Stein, Silva Zanoyan Merjanian, RJ Looney, Donnie Lamon, MH Clay and Justin Booth. You’ll find the bios of presenters HERE.

APRIL 14-17, The above event is part of the Little Rock, Arkansas Annual Literary Festival.

MARCH 21, 6-7pm in HumSS G27, University of Reading Whiteknights Campus. Poet, playwright, director, producer and teacher Mojisola Adebayo will give a talk on and reading from her work,  Mojisola Adebayo: Plays One (Oberon Books, 2012), on Monday 21 March, Mojisola will discuss her work with the Department’s expert on black British theatre, Nicola Abram. No charge and no reservation needed.

734866_1188351144510894_2329117433083661482_nMojisola Adebayo: Plays One includes the plays Moj of the Antarctic, Desert Boy, Matt Henson: North Star and Muhammad Ali and Me

Moj of the Antarctic is inspired by the true story of an African American woman who cross-dresses as a white man to escape slavery; taken on a fantastical odyssey to Antarctica.

Desert Boy, a time-travelling a capella musical, offers a sharp twist on the subject of knife crime, black youth and absent fathers.

Matt Henson, North Star is a biographical tale of Arctic betrayal, mixed with Greenlandic folk tales; all about love, climate and change.

Muhammad Ali and Me is a lyrical coming of age story, following the parallel struggles of a gay girl child growing up in foster care and the black Muslim boxing hero’s fight against racism and the Vietnam war.

APRIL 15: Special Poetry Issue of The BeZine. April, National Poetry Month in the United States, is celebrated as an international event at The BeZine. This year Contributing Editor Michael Dickel hosts and The Woven Tale Press is a partner. Poets featured include: Michael Rothenberg, Myra Schneider, Carolyn O’Connell, Terri Muuss, Dilys Wood, Liliana Negoi, Michael Dickel, Jamie Dedes, Imen Benyoub, Natasha Head and Aprilia Zank.

Notes: The Woven Tale Press offers a copy of their first Press Selected Works for free; and National Poetry Month is sponsored by the American Academy of Poets. Link HERE for activities in which you may join and to send for a free poster.

APRIL 21: Litquake Celebrates National Poetry Month at Gardenias: A Poets Supper; 1963 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA 94115; featured poets include Kimberly Grey, D.A. Powell, and Solmaz Sharif. Details HERE.

JULY 3 – 18:  W/rites and Rhapsodies: Israel Writing Tour
Write! Tour! Perform! Listen! Learn! Feast! With tour leaders Adeena Karasick and Michael Dickel. Registration deadline: 15 April 2016 Link HERE Itinerary. Cost: $3,080, which does not include air fare, more details HERE. Register HERE.

SEPTEMBER 24:  is the next Global Event Day for 100,000 Poets for Change (peace, sustainability, social justice). Check out 100TPC.org for details on this initiative, to find events in your area and/or to register an event you’re organizing. Poets Michael Rothenberg and Terri Carrion are founders and hosts.

In honor of 100TPC, The BeZine is focusing on Environment and Environmental Justice this year. Message G Jamie Dedes on Facebook if you want to join our ongoing Facebook discussion group. Our September 15 issue of The BeZine is dedicated to Environmental subjects and hosted by Associate Editor, Priscilla Galasso. On the global event day, September 24, the Zine will sponsor a virtual event with reader participation. Michael Dickel hosts.

OCTOBER 17: Under the leadership of Terri Stewart, Beguine Again founder and managing editor, will host a 100,000 Beguines for Peace event. This interfaith effort will focus on spiritual topics. Details to come from Terri in months ahead. Beguine Again and The BeZine are sister sites and The Bardo Group Beguines support and often contribute to both sites. Terri Stewart is a Methodist Minister. Her popular Daily Practice posts on Beguine Again feature poetry, art and music to address timely topics in a conscious and prayerful manner.

OCTOBER 20-23: The 30th Annual Dodge Poetry Festival, the largest poetry festival in the United States will be held in Newark, New Jersey. Details HERE. Readings from past festivals are archived on YouTube HERE.

12523073_1671505789771540_1144084924930641637_nSAN FRANCISCO JAPAN TOWN 2016, 110th Anniversary: This is one of the only three remaining Japan towns in the United States. Events are scheduled throughout the year to celebrate culture and history. Of special interest are photographic displays, a book launch, a concert and performing arts nights. Details HERE.

THE POET BY DAY

TESTIMONY:  

“Here be inspiration. There are blogs and there are blogs. There is writing; there is poetry; there is art; there is human endeavour and there is ‘The Poet by Day’. Rarely, if ever, have I come across a web log like this, of such towering integrity. Seldom have I encountered such a willingness to subjugate self for the benefit not only of the art of the written word, but also for the benefit of poets and writers everywhere. Here be a deep well of inspiration.” Poet, essayist and musician: John Anstie (My Poetry Library)

MISSION STATEMENT:

  • to honor the place of poetry in our lives;
  • to acknowledge good poets, both established and emerging;
  • to encourage poetry for social and environmental justice;
  • to shine a light on women and minority poets and poets just finding their voices in maturity;
  • to encourage you in your writing and provide helpful information and resources;
  • to have fun, to laugh, to feel good … and to cry when that’s needed.

Disclosure

 

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In Conversation: Poet/Musician Graffiti Bleu & Michael Rothenberg, cofounder of the global peace initiative, 100,000 Poets for Change

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You can listen to the two-hour podcast HERE. Recommended! This post is meant as an alert and also to share my two cents.

As I write, it’s just a few hours after listening to Just My Thoughts with Graffiti Bleu on BlogTalk Radio. The show started with an exploration of What does the revolution look like? with Graffiti Blue, Michael Rothenberg, and the show’s panel and callers comprised of poets involved in 100,000 Poets for Change (100TPC).

Harkening back to Gil Scott-Heron and his poem, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,  part of the discussion was on technology and social networking and their roles in fostering peace, social justice and sustainability. When Heron wrote his poem in 1971, the means to formulate and distribute information and opinion were dominated by mainstream media and corporate interest, which were not in sympathy with the revolution Heron envisioned. Those interests are still dominant and still lack sympathy, but there’s something of a balance occurring – however imperfect – now that we plain folk have access to the tools of technology and social networking. Without social networking, we wouldn’t have 100TPC, which can happily be said to have gone viral since Michael Rothenberg put out a call on Facebook for poets to join in a global peace effort back in 2010. While each of us in the “100,000” has a relatively small “audience” together we touch many, many minds and hearts. We do have an agenda, but it doesn’t foment strife. We’re not in anyone’s pocket. That’s clean power. It’s power to …

On a personal level, one benefit of technology is that people who are homebound – as I sometimes am – can take part in change-making initiatives more actively than simply writing letters-to-the-editor or to our legislators, which is not to say we should give that up. I started a virtual 100TPC via The BeZine and with The Bardo Group Beguines so that disabled people and people who do not live near a 100TPC event would have the opportunity to have their say, to lend their support. Our 2015 commemorative page is HERE.

We need to do more than “talk.”  Agreed. And I think that one of things 100TPC gives us is hope … huge hope from seeing that there are people in every nook-and-cranny of the world who share our values and priorities. This helps us to keep on keeping on with our local grassroots initiatives as well as our broader advocacy. This serves to sustain our faith and commitment.

Ultimately for me, 100TPC is about breaking down barriers, crossing boarders. It leads the way in our evolutionary journey toward a sustainable peace. In the documentary film Ten Questions for the Dalai Lama, the Dalai Lama says “we need more festivals.”  In other words, if we get to know people, if we break bread with them or share a bowl of rice, we are less likely to think of them as “other.”  It will be more difficult to turn around the next day and do harm.  100TPC is our festival. Once we’ve shared hearts, souls and stories through poetry, how can we marginalize anyone? How can we abandon or abuse?

Can the revolution be bloodless? The question is really “will it be?” I don’t think so. I don’t think revolutions are by their very nature “bloodless.” The psychopaths will always be with us and until we stop marginalizing people and leaving them desperate and vulnerable to tyrants, we’ll never have bloodless reform. We’ll never achieve a sustainable peace. Peace is a state that takes awareness and awareness takes growth, which is an evolutionary process.  That doesn’t mean we should give up. It means that as poets we should continue to bear witness, to touch hearts, to raise consciousness and to nurture the process of growth. As poet Michael Dickel said in an interview on this site HERE: “. . . it may not be ours to see the work completed, but that does not free us from the responsibility to do the work.”

© 2016, words, Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved; photograph courtesy of Graffiti Bleu and Michael Rothenberg.

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In any government …

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I feel certain I don’t have to say who and what inspired me to create this for our Group discussion page on Facebook. Feel free to share it around. Thanks!

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A Potpourri for Poets and Writers

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Recommended Reading

Ta-Nehisi Coast won the National Book Award for nonfiction for Between the World and Me, an exploration of his experience of being a black man in America.  Well done.  Must read.

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“The classroom was a jail of other people’s interests. The library was open, unending, free.”

“You must resist the common urge toward the comforting narrative of divine law, toward fairy tales that imply some irrepressible justice. The enslaved were not bricks in your road, and their lives were not chapters in your redemptive history. They were people turned to fuel for the American machine. Enslavement was not destined to end, and it is wrong to claim our present circumstance—no matter how improved—as the redemption for the lives of people who never asked for the posthumous, untouchable glory of dying for their children. Our triumphs can never compensate for this.”

Poetry Reading

FullSizeRender-2On December 5, at 5:30 p.m. Michael Rothenberg is reading along with San Luis Obispo Poet Laureate, Dian Sousa at Laurel Bookstore, 1423 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612.  Details HERE.

Michael is an American poet, songwriter, editor and environmentalist. In 1989 Michael started a fine print literary press, Big Bridge, with artist Nancy Davis. Big Bridge has published work by Jim Harrison, Joanne Kryger, Allen Ginsberg, Philip Whalen among other.  Michael also edits Big Bridge, a poetry webzine and Jack magazine.He is the co-founder (with Terri Carrion) of 100,000 Poets for Change (100TPC).  Bay Area residents will be familiar with Shelldance Orchid Gardens (Pacifica), an orchid and bromeliad nursery, co-owned by Michael.

Transatlantic Poetry

“TRANSATLANTIC Poetry is global poetry movement bringing some of the most exciting poets from the US, UK, Europe and beyond together for live online readings and conversations. With the help of notable partners, we are transforming the way people experience poetry in the twenty-first century.”

Transatlantic Poetry was founded by an American poet living in England, Robert Peake, the “Transatlantic Poet.”  Peake’s most recent collection of poetry is The Knowledge (Nine Arches Press, 2015).  He writes about poetry and culture. His essays may be found on Huffington Post HERE. Robert Peake also hosts Poetry Writing Prompts.

A Poem a Day

The Academy of American Poets publishes a poem a day online.  You might want to take your morning break with them.

“Poem-a-Day is the original and only daily digital poetry series featuring over 200 new, previously unpublished poems by today’s talented poets each year. On weekdays, poems are accompanied by exclusive commentary by the poets. The series highlights classic poems on weekends. Launched in 2006, Poem-a-Day is now distributed via email, web, and social media to 350,000+ readers free of charge….”

The BeZine

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Our fourteenth issue will publish on December 15.  Submissions should be sent to bardogroup@gmail.com for consideration. Guidelines are HERE. Deadline is December 10.

The theme for the December 2015 issue is The Hero’s Journey.

100TPC Group Discussion Page

The BeZine is hosting an ongoing discussion page on Facebook where we share information related to peace, sustainability and social justice.  Our focus for 2016 is environment/environmental justice.  If you would like to join the Group and you are on Facebook, leave me a message in comments.

From Second Light Network of Women Poets (SLN)

ARTEMISpoetry submission deadline for Issue 16: FEBRUARY 29th.

If you live in the area (Worcestershire, England) or expect to be there, you might be interested in

  • AUGUST 2016: Mon 1st to Fri 5th, Holland House Residential, Worcestershire; and/or
  • JULY/AUGUST 2017: Mon 31st July to Fri 4th August, Holland House Residential, Worcestershire

Copyright (United States)

Creative Commons

Thanks to Corina Ravenscraft (Dragon’s Dreams) for these:

Copyright Laws + Licensing Digital Content Resources

U.S. Copyright Fair Use Index

Resources for Photographs &

llustrations

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First off, I’ve found two sources of public domain* photos, which might serve you well as either inspiration or as illustrations to go with your poem or story.  The first is Public Domain Review.

“Founded in 2011, The Public Domain Review is an online journal and not-for-profit project dedicated to the exploration and sharing of curious and compelling works from the history of literature, art and ideas. In particular, the focus is on showcasing digital copies of public domain works – all drawn from a wide range of various online archives – with a mission to facilitate the appreciation, use and growth of a digital cultural commons which is open for everyone. With a focus on the surprising, the strange, and the beautiful, the site provides an ever-growing cabinet of curiosities for the digital age, a kind of hyperlinked Wunderkammer – an archive of materials which truly celebrates the breadth and variety of our shared cultural commons and the minds that have made it.”

The other is Emilian Robert Vicol Public Domain Photos.

It’s always nice to credit the source even when it’s public domain.

These both come from Flickr, where there are lots of other photos available.  Some are “all rights reserved” but some are available under a Creative Commons license and you should comply with the rules and link the photo back to its source.

Two sites I’ve used for years are: PublicDomainPictures.net and morgueFile. Directions for use are on the sites. You don’t have to sign in to use these and they offer quick and easy downloads.

Wikipedia is another resource.  It’s not enough to just put Wikipedia as the source. You’ll note if you click on the photographs in Wikipedia, the name of the “author” is on the left under the photograph and on the right you’ll see the licensing.  It’s usually either public domain or it’s one of the Creative Commons licenses.

* public domain: belonging to the public and not subject to copyright

©Photograph by Chilli Head under CC A-2.0 Generic license and public domain illustration courtesy of Slashme via Wikipedia. Michael Rothenberg’s photograph and the rose illustration are mine.