WEALTH OF IDEAS

My debut July 14 hosting event at Sacramento Poetry Center will feature Ali Salaam, poet, motivational speaker, actor who recently moved to the area. He will read with David Iribarne, a Poetry Now regular, who just finished a book of poetry on cancer. He will be reading from this collection. The reading is at 7:30pm. On August 11 Sacramento poet Brad Buchanan and Texas poet Wendy Taylor Carlisle will read from their latest publications. Brad Buchanan 's new collection, Swimming the Mirror , was described by Jilia Connor, Sacramento Poet Laureate, as a way to "map the advent of the miraculous". The poems, dealing with the arrival of Brad's daughter, "will charm you." I read his first collection, Miracle Shirker , in one sitting, in a parking lot outside Barnes & Noble Bookstore, and, if asked, I would describe that collection as a "thief of time" because I never completed the trip to the bookstore. Wendy Carlisle comes to Sacramento from Texas ...

BWP Press, Los Angeles, CA : Filmmaker Bob Bryan recently unveiled the seventh powerful installment in his (multi) award-winning Documentary Series entitled GV7 RANDOM URBAN STATIC: The Iridescent Equations of SPOKEN WORD . It comes in two versions: An Unofficially Rated G Version for General Audiences, Schools and Libraries and the Original Unedited Version for those who do not mind some “raw street vernacular.” Both versions have a Running time of 2 hours. Released under his BRYAN WORLD PRODUCTIONS (BWP) Indie Label, GV7 returns to the enigmatic world of poetry. This time around, Bryan retrieves the perspectives of fifteen (15) uniquely talented poets involved in the world of SPOKEN WORD. From Grand Slam Champions to Open-Mic Veterans, GV7 crosses all philosophical, racial, and social lines, becoming the quintinessial SPOKEN WORD documentary. Bob Bryans’ last documentary GV6: THE ODYSSEY explored the points of view of 31 contemporary literary page poets and became Americas' Num...

&&&&&&&&&&&&& I just bought Yusef Komunyakaa's Neon Vernacular: New and Selected Poems , to get a lot of this Pulitzer winner's poetry in a large quantity at once. Komunyakaa's range of talent commands respect and invites careful reading. Not too long ago I watched his UC Berkeley lecture, thanks to Youtube, and I was entranced. The same hypnotizing power is present in Neon Vernacular , which I am reading alongside Derek Walcott and Al Young, to discover the different techniques these poets use. One outstanding feature of Komunyakaa's collection so far, which to some might appear pedantic, is the use of the ampersand to replace 'and'. Supposed to make the conjunction invisible, it is achieving the opposite effect: the ampersand is visible and it forces me to linger near the phrases or clauses it joins to feel something. I call it the inviting, if not enticing or provocative, ampersand: &&&&&...

String Theory by Alice L. Teeter, winner of the 2008 Charles B. Dickson Memorial Chapbook Award , judged by Lewis Turco. Published by Georgia Poetry Society (2008). Reviewed by Emmanuel Sigauke Drawn by the title, I looked for the poems referring to strings first, and I found two, the title poem and another entitled "Heart String Theory." The title poem is about our interconnectedness, our existence as part of the universal continuum, the network of galaxies that individuate yet connect us, this life with its amazing and dazzling hereness. The poem addresses each one of us to contribute a line of verse, to celebrate what there is of life because when we were born, "the universe began", and when we die, "time will end." We are unique, yet in our uniqueness we are connected by strings (perhaps the essence of our humanity) in these "fields of play": And we are always alone encompassing everything Always tied with strings, always connected ...String...

The Sacramento Poetry Center (established 1979) presents The Cathy Washington Prize , its annual poetry book contest. —Submit a manuscript of 48-70 numbered pages of original poetry in any style in English. The manuscript must not have been published previously in book form, although individual poems appearing in print or on the web are permitted. Simultaneous submissions OK, but please let us know ASAP if your manuscript has been placed with another publisher. —Entries will be judged blind. Submitted manuscript must contain 2 title pages: Name and contact information (including email address,if possible) should appear on first title page only. Name should not appear anywhere else in the manuscript. —Manuscript should be typed, single-spaced, paginated, and bound with a clip. —The Sacramento Poetry Center will also consider publishing additional manuscripts from this competition. —Check for $20.00 US per entry (multiple entries OK) should be made out to The Sacramento Poetry Center. P...

The Sacramento Poetry Center has announced the results of the 2008 Poetry Contest. The winners are listed below. 1st Susan Wolbarst: "Diagnosis" 2nd Sally Wood: "Thyme Leaves" 3rd Mary Herrema Giudice: "In the Dark Corridors of Northern California" Honorable Mentions Sally Wood: "Violin Practice" H. Allen Blair: "Imprint" Merle Martin: "Life: A Ballet" Cynthia Linville: "Great-Grandfather" Marilyn Wallner: "Free Fall" Nancy Wahl: "What Things There Are I Cannot See" Joyce Odam: "Silence As Its Own Desire" Red Sliderr: "Spirit of the Ground" Renee Marie: "Cry Baby" Susan Wolbarst: ...

Albert Garcia, dean of Languages & Literature, Sacramento City College. His poetry deals with the beauty of rural life, singing about rivers, pumpkins, trees... F.D. Reeve, who travelled to Russia as Robert Frost's translator. We didn't get much time to talk about his experience working with Frost, but Reeve said, "He meant every single word of what he says in his poetry!" The night was great for me, as I sat there listening to poetry about rivers and fishing, about fathers and sons, and verse about love. There was no pretence--just deliberate and intentional lines about life's simple details. Good reading event, hosted by Tim Kahl.

The new issue of Munyori Poetry Journal will be posted on June 15. It will feature this great mix of authors: Nhamo A. Mhiripiri, Louie Crew,Thamsanqa Ncube, Siendou Konate, Felino Soriano, Jabulani Mzinyathi, Robert Hastings, Aditya Shankar, Ernest Williamson, Shilla Mutamba, Christopher Mulrooney, Gerald Bosacker, Shaleen Singh, Bridget Tapuwa (of Britavoice ), and Gary Beck. Send your submissions.

The summer issue of SNReview features my short story "Mopane Whips". Below is an extract: My brother. He was the most accomplished village fighter, one of the few able-bodied men remaining in the village. Most had left for the war, but brother said he had been lucky because when village men his age started joining the liberation struggle, he was in South Africa . Now it was much harder for anyone to force him to join the war since he said he knew how to argue. He once told me that one did not have to join the comrades to be part of the struggle. He was already fighting a great war raising a young boy and also keeping healthy livestock, which the comrades demanded for food each time they held a base in our village. Since brother was not at war, Mai, his mother, whom I also called mother since my birth mother had died immediately after I was born, always said that he was bored being one of the few men remaining in the village, so then he entertained himself with fights. But I ...

Canada's Globe and Mail reports: "Octogenarian poets triumphed at a ceremony bestowing the eighth annual Griffin Prize for poetry last night in Toronto. New York's John Ashbery, 81, was the winner of the international section of the prestigious award for his book Notes from the Air: Selected Later Poems. Robin Blaser, 83, took the Canadian honour for his 500-page epic The Holy Forest: Collected Poems. The prize, founded by Toronto businessman Scott Griffin in 2001, honours original English-language poetry, either as written or in translation, and splits $100,000 evenly between a Canadian writer and an international poet." Read more.

Located in downtown Sacramento, the Bookcollector is a writer's dream place. It hosts readings and book launches and is a major outlet for publications by regional small presses.Great used and new books; indeed, a place full of collectible books.

Sacramento Poetry Center Presents F. D. Reeve and Al Garcia Monday, June 9 2008 at 7:30 PM HQ for the Arts at 1719 25th Street Host: Tim Kahl F. D. Reeve is a poet, critic, and novelist. Franklin Reeve has had a varied career, for a while driving a combine in the Midwest wheat fields, later acting in summer theater, and working as a longshoreman on the Hudson River docks. He learned Russian and spent a year in Moscow and Leningrad as an exchange professor between the ACLS and the Soviet Academy of Sciences. He also served as translator for Robert Frost during his historic visit to Russia to meet with Nikita Kruschev in 1962. His books of poetry include: The Toy Soldier. Bayeux Arts Press, 2006, The Return of the Blue Cat. New York: Other Press, 2005, "The Secret Orchard" published online by Verse Daily, 2003, The Urban Stampede and Other Poems. Michigan State University Press, 2002, A World You Haven’t Seen: Selected Early Poems. (downloadable pdf) New York: Rattapallax Pre...

Below is an advance extract from a short story that's struggling to be born: We crept into the shack were a woman was breastfeeding a baby. There was nowhere to sit in the shack, no chair, nothing. "Find somewhere you can fit and sit," the woman said, voice relaxed, eyes looking at the baby. "Ya, ya, sit. Sit," Mukoma said, as he crouched in front of the woman, who sat with her legs stretched in front of her. I found a clear space on the cement floor. I sat. Jakove, crouched near me. We waited for Mukoma, and he noticed we did. The woman looked at us, torched me with her eyes. Eyes that danced with the light of hope. I averted my eyes first to the baby, then they found their way to the full length of those stretched legs, all the way to the bare feet. "This is the surprise, Mupfana," Mukoma said, addressing me, his fingers pointing at the baby. "Oh," I said. "The surprise." "Yes; he wanted to surprise yo...

A conference devoted to the literary and cultural legacy of the Beat Generation: "The Beat Generation Symposium," sponosored by the Beat Studies Association, Columbia College Chicago, and Illinois State University. Friday, October 10, and Saturday, October 11, 2008. Location: Columbia College Chicago, Film Row Theater (1104 South Wabash Avenue, 8th floor). This is an academic Beat Studies conference to be held in conjunction with the Columbia College's Center for the Book and Paper Arts's Fall 2008 display of the Jack Kerouac ON THE ROAD manuscript scroll. The Beat Generation Symposium features panel discussions each day, with poetry readings by Joanne Kyger (October 10) and Diane di Prima (October 11). Conference fee for those who pre-register before August 1: $50 ($25 for Graduate Students, Independent Scholars, and Retired Faculty). After August 1, the fees are $100 and $50. Checks should be made payable to Columbia College Chicago, and should be sent to: Colum...