Ha(nay)ku Reading

Over the winter, five teams of poets embarked on another form poetry project conceived by M.J. Iuppa, this time writing chains of ha(nay)ku. The form is simple: six words in any combination over three lines. Some teams, as decided by their captains, saw all of their team members' poems before writing their own in response. Since it worked so well last year with the Adelaide Crapsey project, I decided not to allow my team to see any poems other than that of the immediately preceding person's.

While there won't be a chapbook like Cinquainicity last year, there will be a reading Tuesday, April 27 at St. John Fisher College. The reading will begin at 7:30pm in the Hughes rotunda. For more information on the location visit http://www.sjfc.edu/.

My team members include Dave Tilley, Elaine Thayer Olsson, Ron Bailey, Ann C. Putnam, and Suzanne Slack.

AWP 2010 Thoughts

Denver did a great job hosting AWP.

Best readings: Mary Biddinger, G.C. Waldrep, Oliver de la Paz, and Major Jackson. Kudos to Diode Poetry and FishHouse.

Hot topic: Delivery system of the literary magazine. Print, online, Kindle, or IPad? Would you like an app with that?

Controversial trend: Submission fees for lit mags.

Grayest area: Copyrights. Think multimedia. Electronic rights. Then there's Kindle and IPad again. What about YouTube? Read your contract before you sign.

More Q's than A's.

It was a pleasure to meet and chat with Margo Stever (Frozen Spring) and Diane Wakoski (The Diamond Dog).

Best meal: Dinner at Laguna's with Jules.

March Update

Spring has arrived early in western New York. Crocuses bloom through melting snow just as many literary journals have ended their winter reading and many Poetic Effect clients will soon be seeing their responses in the mail/email. Currently, more than 250 print journals are considering poetry submissions. Many of these will close to submissions when the tulips and lilacs are in full color here in May. Full-length book manuscript contests are at their peak with 35+ reading right now. More than 20 chapbook contests are running as well. If you would like to get into the Poetic Effect spring queue, get in touch soon info@poeticeffect.com.

Congratulations to Poetic Effect clients who have recently had work accepted by Southern Indiana Review, Pearl, Inkwell, Chaffin Journal, Roanoke Review, Worcester Review, Blueline, River Oak Review, Soundings Review, Eureka Literary Review, Avocet, South Dakota Review, Clackamas, Yalobusha Review, Red Wheelbarrow, Coe Review, and others.

AWP, the largest conference for writers and writing programs, will be held in Denver next month. I will be blogging about various panels and other writing-related news. I hope to see some of you there.

The Just Poets Reading Series and Open Mic will be featuring James Cook (tonight), Sue Ann Wells (April), Suzanne Slack (May), and contributors to Le Mot Juste 2010 (June). The reading series is held at 7:00 pm the second Thursday of every month (except December) at Barnes & Noble, Pittsford.

Leah Zazulyer Reading

Poet and translator Leah Zazulyer will be reading from her work Friday, March 5 at Greenwood Books, 123 East Ave., Rochester, NY. The reading, which begins at 7:00 pm, is one of many events held as part of the city's ongoing First Fridays.

Reading at Yesterday's Muse

Kathy Van Schaick will be the featured reader at Yesterday's Muse in the village of Webster, NY, Friday, March 5 at 7:00 pm. Bring your own work for the open mike that follows her reading.

Kathy is a board member of Just Poets in Rochester, NY and serves as the Managing Editor of Le Mot Juste, the annual Just Poets anthology. She also volunteers at a local hospice as well as public radio.

Publication in Euphony

My poem "Preservation" appears in the just-released Winter 2010 issue of Euphony http://euphonyjournal.com/current/. Enjoy!

Congratulations to Donna Marbach

Congratulations to Donna Marbach for her recent publication in Redactions Poetry & Poetics. Check out issue 12, guest edited by Rob Carney, which also includes work by Christopher Kennedy and James Grabill.

Publication in 2009 Chaffin Journal

I just received my contributor's copy of the 2009 Chaffin Journal where my poem "Hide" appears. I am pleased to have my work published along side that of fellow Bennington grads David Scronce and especially my classmate Susan Howard Case who passed away earlier this year.

What do those puppies own?

Recently spotted in the village: Puppy's for sale. I'm wondering just what those puppies own that they are selling...

Genesee Reading Series

I will be reading tomorrow with Leah Ruekberg for the Genesee Reading Series at Writers & Books, 740 University Ave., Rochester, NY. The reading begins at 7:30 pm. If you're in the area, I'd love to see you there!

Duane Esposito to Read at FLCC

On Wednesday, October 14, poet Duane Esposito will be reading in Canandaigua at the FLCC Honors House at 7:00 pm as part of the FLCC Diversity Series. Esposito is also a literature and creative writing professor at Nassau Community College.

Cynthia Iannaccone to Read for Just Poets

Cynthia Iannaccone will be the featured reader Thursday, October 8 for the monthly Just Poets reading series and open mic. Just Poets members in good standing may sign up in advance by emailing claudiastanek@gmail.com.

Just Poets Retreat

I will be leading a workshop on How Does a Poem Mean at the Just Poets Retreat at the Gell Center of the Finger Lakes tomorrow. Thirty Just Poets members are attending this first ever event. Additional workshops will be led by Ron Bailey, Karla Linn Merrifield, and Dwain Wilder.

Sarah Freligh Reading

Sarah Freligh will be the featured reader Thursday, September 10 for the monthly Just Poets Reading Series and Open Mic. Join us at 7:00pm in the Community Room at Barnes & Noble, Pittsford. An open mic will follow. Just Poets members in good standing may sign up in advance by emailing claudiastanek@gmail.com.

August Just Poets Reading

Dee Hogan will be the featured reader Thursday, August 13 for the Just Poets Reading Series and Open Mic. The reading begins at 7:00 pm in the Community Room. Just Poets members in good standing may sign up in advance by emailing claudiastanek@gmail.com.

Colleen Powderly to Read for Just Poets

Colleen Powderly will be the featured reader Thursday, July 9 for the monthly Just Poets Reading Series and Open Mic. The reading begins at 7:00pm in the Community Room at Barnes & Noble, Pittsford. An open mic will follow. Just Poets members in good standing may sign up in advance by emailing claudiastanek@gmail.com.

Language Abuse

Every writer has a list of particular annoyances when it comes to spelling and grammar mistakes. Below are two seen and heard in the Rochester, NY area this past week.

The first was offered by a female anchor during a live newscast: "has spreaded."

The second was seen on a sign along the road at a driving range/miniature golf course: "birthday partys."

Feel free to send me some that you've seen and/or heard.

Le Mot Juste Reading

The premier reading of Le Mot Juste 2009 is Thursday, June 11 at Barnes & Noble, Pittsford, 7:00pm in the Community Room. Le Mot Juste is the annual anthology of Just Poets which celebrates its fifth anniversary this year. An open mic will follow. For information on Just Poets visit www.justpoets.org.

Donna M. Marbach to Read Thursday

Poet and editor Donna M. Marbach will be reading from her work Thursday, June 4 at Writers & Books, 7:00pm. Marbach, who will be reading with chapbook contest winner Kathryn Howd Machan, is the owner and manager of Palettes & Quills (http://www.palettesnquills.com/), a small press based in Rochester, NY.

Marbach is a founding member and past president of Just Poets (http://www.justpoets.org/) and is the current editor of the organization's newsletter, Poet Talk. When not writing, editing or publishing, she paints and markets textbooks.

Iris Miller to Read for Just Poets

Iris Miller will be the featured reader Thursday, May 14 at the monthly Just Poets Reading Series at Barnes & Noble Pittsford. Join us at 7:00pm in the Community Room and bring your own work to read at the open mic which follows.

Iris Miller believes strongly in the power of the image to teach and to heal. After retiring from teaching art in the Rochester City School District, she became a certified art therapist, a trained shamanic practitioner, and a writer of poetry. Her poems have appeared in literary journals such as Nimrod, The South Carolina Review, and The Sow’s Ear Poetry Review, as well as various anthologies. Her chapbook, Angels Flying Backwards, will be available in 2010.