NOTES FROM THE DIRECTOR

Transcription

1 CELEBRATING 72 YEARS SPRING 2018 Newsletter March May MISSION STATEMENT Our passion for poetry guides us to encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to participate in the infinite possibilities of the written and spoken word. We conduct workshops, contests, outreach programs, and readings to promote poetry in the community. INSIDE Notes from the Leadership... 1 Events Calendar + Board Members + Spring Benefit... 2 Bullets Into Bells... 3 Nash Contest & Annual Poetry Concert... 4 Observable Readings... 5 second friday notes... 6 Poetry at the Point... 7 Sunday Workshop + Give STL Day... 8 Education Program + Citizens Day... 9 William Gass + Kudos Community + Open Mics SLPC Membership Visit our website stlouispoetrycenter.org THE ST. LOUIS POETRY CENTER NEWSLETTER The newsletter is a quarterly publication of the St. Louis Poetry Center, P.O. Box , St. Louis, MO 63130, , newsletter@stlouispoetrycenter.org Member events, readings and kudos are printed as a benefit of Membership. Join using the back of this newsletter, or using PayPal at stlouispoetrycenter.org/membership NOTES FROM THE DIRECTOR Poetry is a collective noun, in many languages. We use it as a quantity of something like air or light or sky. It is plentiful and necessary, and this spring it is all around us in St. Louis. As the weather warms and the world greens again, one can turn just about anywhere and take in the largeness of poetry. Ongoing series like River Styx at CAM and 100 Boots wrap up incredible seasons. New actors like Poetic Vibez, Bad Jacket, and the new literary arts center FLOW have joined the scene. St. Louis Poetry Slam at UrbArts builds to its next national team. Poets like Layli Long Soldier, Erin Belieu, Donika Kelly, and Natalie Scenters-Zapico will visit our fair city. Open mics abound. Numerous St. Louis poets have new books released this spring. And let s not forget National Poetry Month. A quantity of something, indeed. We are delighted to be part of such vibrance. March, April and May will be exciting months at St. Louis Poetry Center, with many events and educational programs for all. In addition to our regular series, spring is a time when SLPC honors a culmination of talent, with three poetry contests for a range of poets. Our James H. Nash Contest for SLPC Members is currently open for submissions (DEADLINE: March 20, 2018), and winners of all contests are published in our chapbook and celebrated at our Annual Poetry Concert in May. (see p. 4 for details) As you browse through our spring newsletter, I invite you to find programs of interest to you and take advantage of the many opportunities SLPC offers each month. Submit your poem for Sunday Workshop with Pam Garvey or Aaron Coleman. Come out to hear St. Louis Youth Poet Laureate, Zack Lesmeister at second friday notes in April. Experience the abundance of local talent at Poetry at the Point, including Andrea Scarpino and Anna Guzon. Attend one of any spring Observable readings and hear a dynamite collection of voices, including Jenny Johnson, Erika Sánchez, and Sally Ball. And help us keep it all going by attending our annual benefit on April 29: Spring Is Like A Perhaps Hand. From universities to bookstores to art spaces to coffee shops, there is truly something for everyone. We are very fortunate to have such bounty. And amidst all of this poetry we breathe in like air, we continue. I bring this up because I have been thinking a lot about how poetry keeps us going. How, as a collective noun, it contributes to improving both the personal and the public. How, in a world where we also breathe in the largeness of suffering, poetry leaves us changed. In her book Ten Windows, Jane Hirshfield writes: The magnetic action of poetry draws from us what we did not know was there to be drawn. I experienced this recently upon reading the new anthology Bullets Into Bells: Poets & Citizens Respond to Gun Violence. We now live in a time where gun violence and mass shootings are commonplace, where I can be in the middle of reading a book like this and look up to see news from Florida on my television screen. It is a strange and fragile time, even as life continues and blooms. St. Louis Poetry Center is honored and humbled to be part of presenting the Bullets Into Bells anthology reading here in St. Louis. If there is only one event you attend this spring, I encourage you to make it this one. On April 14 at The Stage at KDHX, local poets and community advocates will join anthology co-editor Brian Clements for a poetry reading and panel conversation, with local nonprofit organizations active in gun violence prevention work standing by to engage the public in their good work. (see p. 3 for details) Hirshfield also writes that poetry can act as language that both summons and constitutes action. In that spirit, I leave you with this from Colum McCann s introduction to the anthology: The poetic instinct almost invariably sways toward the just. We have to speak up. Otherwise we are doomed. Silence, as Tahir Djaout say, equates to death. An untold poem would indeed be its own form of suffering. If you speak, you might just live. So, then, speak and live. Erin Quick

2 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Mark your calendar for these upcoming St. Louis Poetry Center events BOARD OF DIRECTORS 3/1 HOPKINS HIGH SCHOOL POETRY CONTEST SUBMISSION DEADLINE 3/5 OBSERVABLE READINGS Heather Tone & Jenny Johnson 3/9 SECOND FRIDAY NOTES Susan Trowbridge Adams & Vincent Casaregola, music by Bob Gleason 3/18 SUNDAY WORKSHOP Pamela Garvey (submissions due 3/11) 3/20 NASH SLPC MEMBERS POETRY CONTEST SUBMISSION DEADLINE 3/27 POETRY AT THE POINT Nancy Pritchard, Kenneth Pruitt & Andrea Scarpino 4/2 OBSERVABLE READINGS Erika L. Sánchez, Ari Banias & Aaron Coleman 4/13 SECOND FRIDAY NOTES Zack Lesmeister & Teresa Dzieglewicz, music by Brad Ellebrecht 4/14 BULLETS INTO BELLS Poets & Citizens Respond to Gun Violence 4/15 SUNDAY WORKSHOP Aaron Coleman (submissions due 4/8) 4/24 POETRY AT THE POINT John Findura, Anna Guzon & Matthew Freeman 4/28 POETRY INSIDE OUT INFO SESSION FOR EDUCATORS 4/29 SPRING IS LIKE A PERHAPS HAND SLPC Benefit & Auction 5/2 GIVE STL DAY 5/7 OBSERVABLE READINGS Camille Guthrie, Lorin Cuoco & Sally Ball 5/11 SECOND FRIDAY NOTES Glenn Boothe & Tamara Blanke, music by Marion Berktold 5/20 ANNUAL POETRY CONCERT 5/22 POETRY AT THE POINT Jessica Reed, Big Base & Cherie McCoy The 2018 James H. Nash Contest JUDGE: Michael Castro SUBMISSIONS DUE March 20, 2018 ENTRY FEE: none WHO CAN SUBMIT: open to current St. Louis Poetry Center members For complete contest guidelines, please visit: stlouispoetrycenter.org/ contests Dwight Bitikofer President Mary Ruth Donnelly Past President Ron Fredman Treasurer Alison C. Rollins Officer At-Large Jennifer Adams Vincent Casaregola Joshua Kryah Ted Mathys Nancy Powers Pritchard Erin Quick* Jason N. Vasser Glendal Wallace Amanda Wells *ex officio, non-voting STAFF Erin Quick Executive Director SAVE THE DATE: SLPC SPRING BENEFIT Our goal this year is to raise $5,000 in support of our artistic and education programs. Help us get there - purchase your Spring Is Like tickets today!

3 Bullets Into Bells: Poets & Citizens Respond to Gun Violence S A T U R D A Y April 14 7pm 2018 The Stage at KDHX 3524 Washington Ave. A POETRY READING AND PANEL CONVERSATION FEATURING POETS Editor Brian Clements is joined by St. Louis poets, community leaders and advocates. DANA LEVIN AARON COLEMAN AND MORE MARY JO BANG WITH COMMUNITY ADVOCATES BRIAN CLEMENTS Focused intensively on the crisis of gun violence in America, Bullets into Bells: Poets & Citizens Respond to Gun Violence brings together the voices of poets and citizens most impacted. The result is a stunning collection of poems and prose that speaks directly to the heart. REP. STACEY NEWMAN DR. LAURIE PUNCH Thursday, April 5 Opening at Maryville University, 5-8pm FOR MORE INFO: STLOUISPOETRYCENTER.ORG/BULLETS-INTO-BELLS THIS EVENT WILL BE HELD IN COORDINATION WITH A GALLERY EXHIBIT, IMAGINE PEACE NOW, I.M.A.G.I.N.E. PEACE NOW April 5 - May 13 FOR MORE INFO: CRAFTALLIANCE.ORG/ EVENTS/IMAGINE-PEACE HAPPENING AT MARYVILLE UNIVERSITY & CRAFT ALLIANCE. THE EXHIBITION Craft Alliance Center of Art + Design will partner with Maryville University to present IMAGINE Peace Now. This traveling exhibition, conceived by metalsmith Boris Bally, features work by some 100 artists who have created sculptures from decommissioned firearms, many from city buy-back programs. Bally states: The Innovative Merger of Art & Guns to Inspire New Expressions, or IMAGINE Peace Now exhibition, is a call to arms, hearts, and hands for contemporary metal artists. Included work responds to, and initiates conversations regarding, the gun violence so prevalent in American culture today. Friday, April 6 Opening at Craft Alliance (U-City), 6-8pm Thursday, April 12 Non-Fiction Reading - Maryville University Matt Donovan, 4pm Saturday, April 14 Bullets Into Bells anthology reading & panel, The Stage at KDHX, 7-9pm

4 The 2018 James H. Nash St. Louis Poetry Center Members-Only Poetry Contest Guidelines: First Prize $100 Second Prize $75 Third Prize $50 1. Submit up to 4 typed poems, any form and length. Previously published or award-winning poems are not eligible. First, second, and third prize and honorable mention winners will be invited to read their poems at the Annual Poetry Concert on May 20, 2018 at The Focal Point Winning poems will be published in a chapbook available at the concert. 2. Poems will be judged anonymously. Do not include author name or pen name on poems. 3. Enclose an 8.5 x 11 typed cover sheet containing the following information: Author s name, Address, Phone number Contest Judge: MICHAEL CASTRO Michael Castro, called a legend in St. Louis poetry by Charles Guenther in the St. Louis Post Dispatch, is a widely published poet and translator. How Things Stack Up is his eighteenth book. Castro is a founder of the literary organization and magazine River Styx, in continuous operation since For twenty years he hosted the legendary River Styx at Duff s Poetry Series. He has spread the word of poetry off the page for decades, organizing readings and hosting three literary radio programs. He has read his poems on three continents, including many collaborative performances with musicians. In 2015, Castro was named the first Poet Laureate of St.Louis. Entry Fee: none Mail entries to: St. Louis Poetry Center Nash Poetry Contest c/o Prof. Vincent Casaregola, Department of English Saint Louis University 127 Adorjan Hall 3800 Lindell Blvd. St. Louis, MO entries to: casarevg@slu.edu Please include the words Nash Contest Submission in the subject line and attach the poetry and the cover sheet as Word documents. ENTRIES MUST BE POSTMARKED (or dated) by March 20, 2018 Who can submit: current members of St. Louis Poetry Center If joining or renewing your membership, include membership form and payment with your poetry submission. You may also join or renew online at *Please include your membership confirmation with your submission For more information visit: www. stlouispoetrycenter.org/contests St. Louis Poetry Center 59th Annual Poetry Concert May 20, :30 4:30 p.m. The Focal Point 2720 Sutton Blvd. Maplewood, MO To encourage and promote poets and poetry, St. Louis Poetry Center sponsors poetry contests that are open to a broad range of poets. One contest focuses on Missouri writers who have published in Missouri literary magazines; another encourages and supports active members of St. Louis Poetry Center; and a third invites high school writers to receive recognition alongside more practiced writers at our Annual Poetry Concert. The concert is the culminating event of these three poetry contests. Prizes are awarded in three categories at the sole discretion of the judges. Kazim Ali Stanley Hanks Contest Judge Michael Castro James H. Nash Contest Judge Suzanne Buffam Beverly Hopkins Memorial High School Contest Judge

5 OBSERVABLE READINGS April 2 Dressel s Public House 2nd floor 419 N. Euclid, Central West End Curators: Jeff Hamilton and Joshua Kryah Donations of $5 welcome Please note: No elevator access March 5 HEATHER TONE Heather Tone received her MFA in poetry from the University of Iowa. She is the author of the chapbook Gestures (The Catenary Press), and was chosen by Nick Flynn as the 2016 APR/Honickman First Book Prize for her manuscript, Likenesses. Her poems have appeared in Colorado Review, Fence and elsewhere. She currently lives in Florida. Photo: Brooke Wyatt With support from the Regional Arts Commission JENNY JOHNSON Jenny Johnson is the author of In Full Velvet (Sarabande Books). She earned an MFA in Poetry from Warren Wilson College, and is a contributing editor at Waxwing Literary Journal. Her poems have appeared in Los Angeles Review of Books Quarterly, New England Review, Troubling the Line: Trans and Genderqueer Poetry and Poetics and elsewhere. She teaches at the University of Pittsburgh and at the Rainier Writing Workshop. ERIKA L. SÁNCHEZ Erika L. Sánchez is a poet, essayist, and fiction writer. Her first collection of poetry, Lessons on Expulsion, was published by Graywolf Press in fall Her young adult novel, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (2017) was a finalist for the National Book Award. She has received a CantoMundo Fellowship, a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargeant Rosenberg Fellowship from Poetry Foundation, and was recently named a Princeton Arts Fellow. She lives in Chicago. May 7 CAMILLE GUTHRIE Camille Guthrie earned an MFA at Brown University. She is the author of The Master Thief (2000), In Captivity (2006) and Articulated Lair: Poems for Louise Bourgeois (2013). Her experimental long poems and inter-textual poetic sequences often engage with the history of ekphrasis. She is the Director of Undergraduate Writing Initiatives at Bennington College. ARI BANIAS Ari Banias holds an MFA in poetry from Hunter College. He is the author of Anybody (W.W. Norton, 2016) and the chapbook What s Personal is Being Here With All of You (2012). His poems appear in American Poetry Review, Boston Review, Guernica, LARB Quarterly, Poetry, The Volta, and as part of the MOTHA exhibition Transgender Hirstory in 99 Objects. He has been awarded a Wallace Stegner Fellowship, among others. He currently lives in Berkeley, CA. LORIN CUOCO Lorin Cuoco, with the late William Gass, founded the International Writers Center at Washington University. They published six books, including The Dual Muse: the Writer As Artist, the Artist As Writer and Literary St. Louis: A Guide. Her writings have appeared in Flood Stage, New Letters, Poetry Quarterly, River Styx, Sou wester and The Review of Contemporary Fiction. She was the 2015 recipient of the Loy Ledbetter Award from St. Louis Poetry Center. AARON COLEMAN Aaron Coleman is the author of St. Trigger (Button Poetry, 2016), winner of the 2015 Button Poetry Prize, and Threat Come Close, forthcoming from Four Way Books in March The recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and a Cave Canem Fellowship, Coleman is currently a Chancellor s Graduate Fellow in Washington University St. Louis Comparative Literature PhD program. SALLY BALL Sally Ball is the author of Wreck Me and Annus Mirabilis. Her poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review, Harvard Review, Ploughshares, Threepenny Review, Yale Review, and elsewhere. She has received fellowships from Bread Loaf Writers Conference and the James Merrill House, among others. An associate professor of English at Arizona State University, Ball is also an associate director of Four Way Books. 5

6 second friday notes March 9 April 13 Susan Trowbridge Adams was born in New York. She has been an award winning poet since the age of 12, and puts her words in the air on microphones all over the country. She and her partner Ted Moniak published a chapbook with an accompanying audio/ music disc called Strength. They have a little golden dog named Mia, who is often out with them. Susan s preferred biographical statement is she really does not stink at this. Vincent Casaregola is a Professor of English and Director of Film Studies at Saint Louis University. He teaches American literature and film, creative writing, rhetorical studies, and composition. He has published poetry in a number of journals, most recently in The Examined Life, Natural Bridge, WLA, Dappled Things, 2River, Work, Lifelines, and Blood and Thunder. He was awarded the 2017 Best in Poetry Award from Blood and Thunder. May 11 Zack Lesmeister is a first generation American, born and raised in Saint Louis. He enjoys long walks on the beach and deconstructing the gender binary. As a mixed queer poet, he focuses his efforts exploring racial and queer identities, and Vietnamese culture in America. Zack is the current Youth Poet Laureate of St. Louis. Teresa Dzieglewicz is an MFA candidate at Southern Illinois University, and former Editorial Assistant at Crab Orchard Review. She is co-director of Mní Wičhóni Nakíčižiŋ Owáyawa (Defenders of the Water School) at Standing Rock. Her work has been honored by New Harmony Writer s Workshop, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center, NY Mills Arts Retreat, and St. Louis Poetry Center. Her poems appear in Sixth Finch, THRUSH, RHINO, South Dakota Review, and Crab Creek Review, and received a 2018 Pushcart Prize. Brad Ellebrecht Bob Gleason plays guitar, harmonica, and clarinet. He has been playing as a single musician around St. Louis and on the road for many years, from Mississippi to British Columbia, Canada. He can fill a room with sound or be a plant in the corner. Restaurants, wineries, bars, happy hours, private parties, senior homes, inside, outside, rain or shine, he has years of experience in just about any situation. His song list is always growing to accommodate most any age group. is a piano performer, composer, educator and songwriter in St. Louis. He graduated from Webster University with a BM in jazz studies-piano performance. He has over 17 years of professional performing experience, playing in a wide variety of musical settings, including pop and rock bands, jazz groups, solo piano gigs, choral ensembles, and church music. studied English Literature at UMSL, where he earned an MFA in Creative Writing. He works in Information Technology, currently as a Systems Operations Analyst. He is also an artist and sculptor, and loves to cook and play video games. At 18 he married, and has been married for 30+ years, has two kids, a cat, a tank of over 3 dozen fish, and a Red Bearded Dragon named Zilly. Tamara Blanke is Marketing & Communications Manager for Rainbow Village. She graduated with a degree in creative writing from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma and likes to spend time exploring where the written word and visual art intersect. She has been a featured reader at St. Louis Poetry Center s Poetry at The Point. Marion Berktold was born in Bavaria and grew up by Hannover in Lower Saxony. She plays guitar and harmonica, and has been in several St. Louis bands, including Pik n Lik n and Übercool. She has been playing solo for two years, with a musical style that includes a song list from Buck Owens to Annie Lennox or Nena (Germany). She lives in Kirkwood. Begins at 7 p.m. - Free Curator: Dwight Bitikofer Dierbergs Market in Des Peres SECOND FRIDAY NOTES IS GENEROUSLY UNDERWRITTEN BY DIERBERGS - THANK YOU! 6 Glenn Boothe Manchester Road at Lindemann, between Lindbergh and I-270 Readings on Mezzanine level Elevator access from covered parking garage below the store

7 Poetry at the Point March 27 April 24 NANCY PRITCHARD May 22 JOHN FINDURA Nancy Powers Pritchard is a life-long St. Louisan and avid traveler. Her poems have appeared in Melic Review, Natural Bridge, Cape Rock, december and others. She has been a Teaching Partner/ Artist for Springboard to Learning since She earned her MFA at UM-St. Louis, and is a two-time first place winner of the Wednesday Club contest. JESSICA REED John Findura is the author of Submerged (2017). He holds an MFA from The New School and a M.Ed. in Professional Counseling. His poetry appears in Verse, Copper Nickel, Pleiades, Forklift, and Rain Taxi. A guest blogger for The Best American Poetry, he is the Writing Center Supervisor at Bergen Community College. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and daughters. ANNA GUZON KENNETH PRUITT Kenneth J. Pruitt is a teacher at heart and a diversity and inclusion professional for a living. A native of Nashville, Tennessee, he lives in Carondelet in South St. Louis City with his wife, Ashley. You can find him in the ether at his blog, Mots Justes, or on Twitter kennethjpruitt. ANDREA SCARPINO Andrea Scarpino is the author of three poetry collections, most recently Once Upon Wing Lake. She received a PhD in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University, and an MFA from The Ohio State University. Her poems have appeared in The Cincinnati Review, Los Angeles Review, and Prairie Schooner, and she served as Poet Laureate of Michigan s Upper Peninsula Anna Ojascastro Guzon co-founded YourWords STL. She holds an MD from UMKC and an MFA from The New School. Her poems have appeared in McSweeney s, the Best American Poetry Blog, and Bone Bouquet, among others, and can be heard on the Who Raised You? podcast. She is the author of two chapbooks, Eating the Net and A Butterfly s Invitation. MATTHEW FREEMAN Matthew Freeman s latest collection is called Trying to Take a Nap, and was written over the course of a week when the poet just couldn t fall asleep. Jessica Reed s forthcoming chapbook World, Composed is a dialogue with the ancient poet Lucretius about atoms. Her work has appeared in Crazyhorse, Conjunctions, North American Review, Colorado Review, Waxwing, Tinderbox Poetry Journal, Spiral Orb, and elsewhere. She has an MFA in poetry and a BS in physics. She lives in Indiana with her husband and chickens. BIG BASE Robert E. Pittman, Jr. is a spoken word artist who has performed as Big Base since the Love Jones era. His signature piece The Shy Queen has seen him invited to grace stages in Chicago, San Antonio, and Phoenix. He is from East St. Louis, IL. CHERIE MCCOY Cherie McCoy is the author of #RANDOM, and owner of Words2Serve LLC, which seeks to create and present literature that will encourage introspection. Cherie was awarded a Chancellor s Certificate in Writing from UMSL School of Professional and Continuing Studies. A devout Christian, Cherie lives in Webster Groves with her husband and their daughters. POETRY AT THE POINT IS GENEROUSLY The Focal Point UNDERWRITTEN BY WEBSTER-KIRKWOOD TIMES AND WEST END WORD - THANK YOU! 2720 Sutton Blvd. St. Louis MO Reading at 7:30 p.m. Curator: Jennifer Adams The fourth Tuesday of every month poetry.point@stlouispoetrycenter.org 7

8 Sunday Workshops NEW LOCATION! Regional Arts Commission Conference Room A 6128 Delmar Blvd St. Louis, MO Curator: Sally Van Doren St. Louis Poetry Center s signature program, Sunday Workshop offers poets professional critique in a friendly and constructive group setting. The guest poet critic will lead the workshop and provide critique on a selection of presubmitted poems. All poems submitted will receive written comments. Criteria: Submit only one poem, one page in length, vertical format and one column of text. Provide name, mailing address, and address. submissions will be acknowledged within 48 hours of receipt. Submissions due by 12 midnight Sunday one week prior to the workshop. Those submitting poems are expected to attend the workshop. To submit poems by mail: Workshop Submission St. Louis Poetry Center P.O. Box St. Louis, MO March 18 (submissions due March 11) To submit poems by sunday.workshop@stlouispoetrycenter.org Workshop Submission in subject line Attachment as Microsoft Word document April 15 (submissions due April 8) 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. PAMELA GARVEY AARON COLEMAN Pamela Garvey is the author of the poetry collection Seven Miles Deep (2017). Her poetry, fiction and book reviews have appeared in Esquire, Missouri Review, Margie, Spoon River Poetry Review, The North American Review, and many other journals. Honors include being a semi-finalist for the Discovery /The Nation prize. She is the author of two poetry chapbooks, Things Impossible to Swallow and Fear. Garvey is professor of English at St. Louis Community College and was co-founder and chair of Words on Purpose, a committee of socially concerned writers who organized a benefit literary reading series. Aaron Coleman is the author of the chapbook St. Trigger, and the full-length collection, Threat Come Close (2018). A Fulbright Scholar and Cave Canem Fellow, Aaron received his MFA from Washington University in St. Louis. From MetroDetroit, Aaron has lived and worked with youth in locations including Chicago, St. Louis, Spain, South Africa, and Kalamazoo. Winner of the Tupelo Quarterly TQ5 Poetry Contest, Aaron s poems have appeared in Boston Review, Fence, New York Times Magazine, and elsewhere. He is currently a Chancellor s Graduate Fellow in Washington University s Comparative Literature PhD program. Join Us on May 2nd for #GiveSTLDay We are excited to be a part of Give STL Day 2018, presented by TD Ameritrade Powered by the St. Louis Community Foundation on May 2! Now celebrating five years, Give STL Day 2018 is a 24-hour, online dayof-giving event designed to ignite the spirit of giving across the region and support causes in the St. Louis area where we live, work and play. This year, with your help we are committed to make Give STL Day even more successful. Please make a donation to support St. Louis Poetry Center on Wednesday, May 2, 2018 (if you re not going to be available on the 2nd, you can pre-schedule a donation, too!). Learn more at Givestlday.org and show how generous St. Louis can be!

9 Education Outreach Spotlight THANK YOU, TRIO & SAIGH! We are thrilled to announce not one, but TWO new grant awards for St. Louis Poetry Center s Education Program! Thanks to The Trio Foundation of St. Louis and The Saigh Foundation, young poets have more opportunities to experience the transformative power of poetry. These funds support SLPC s arts education activities, including teaching artist residencies and classroom visits, the Hopkins High School Poetry Contest and poetry summer camps. Trio Foundation s support of Poetry Inside Out activities and our curriculum partnership with Center for the Art of Translation allows us to expand into new schools and get more students translating great poetry from around the world. Education Partners LEARNING THROUGH THE ARTS Our long-time partnership with COCA / Interchange brings SLPC teaching artists into the classroom, to work alongside teachers and implement arts-integrated curriculum. POETRY INSIDE OUT Our first group of teachers in St. Louis are each using the Poetry Inside Out curriculum in ways that integrate with their classroom needs and goals. For example, a high school practitioner is introducing her entire poetry unit by beginning with Poetry Inside Out. Of her students experience she says: It gets them to look at a poem without fear, bypassing that initial barrier of I don t get it. For their study on immigration, 4th graders at The Soulard School turned their entire classroom into Angel Island. Students were interrogated upon arrival, their belongings confiscated. They then sat in the recreated barracks, read about a immigrant who came through Angel Island, and finished out the project by painting their translated poems on the recreated walls, simulating the immigrants carving their poems on the walls at Angel Island. Interested in getting Poetry Inside Out into your classroom? PIO Information Sessions* April 28 & June 9 9:30-11:30 a.m. For more information, contact Emily Koehn at emily.koehn@stlouispoetrycenter.org *led by Susan Grigsby and Emily Koehn POETRY INSIDE OUT Our curriculum partnership with Center for the Art of Translation brings their Poetry Inside Out program into St. Louis classrooms, bridging cultures through language. POETRY SUMMER CAMPS AT ST. LOUIS PUBLIC LIBRARY SLPC is pleased to be hosting two poetry camps in summer 2018, in partnership with St. Louis Parks & Rec s Playtime Recreation program. Poetry camps are led by SLPC teaching artists. Registration opens April 2, 2018 to students ages More info, visit: stlouis-mo.gov/ government/departments/parks/recreation/ playtime/ WE! THE ARTS! On February 7, St. Louis Poetry Center joined the Regional Arts Commission and Missouri Citizens for the Arts for a day of advocacy to connect with elected representatives at the Missouri State Capitol for their annual Citizens Day. Participants in Citizens Day provide strong support for the arts and ensure the continued attention of the General Assembly. The day included advocacy training, legislative visits, performances, and the Missouri Arts Council s annual Arts Awards ceremony. Top image: Glendal Wallace & Erin Quick in Jeff City Bottom image: Erin Quick & Glendal Wallace visit with Rep. Stacey Newman DID YOU KNOW? St. Louis Poetry Center is a proud member of Missouri Citizens for the Arts. Make your voice heard too - join MCA today! Learn more at 9

10 Remembering William H. Gass Washington University presents a tribute to the life and work of William H. Gass April 6, p.m. Danforth Campus, Holmes Lounge Speakers include: Lorin Cuoco Michael Eastman Matthias Göeritz Garth Hallberg Joy Williams William Gass ( ), the great writer and translator of the poet Rainer Maria Rilke, was featured in five St. Louis Poetry Center benefits, from , produced by his friend and colleague Lorin Cuoco. He read Baudelaire, his friend Mona Van Duyn, Shakespeare, Yeats, and for The Belle of Blueberry Hill: Emily Dickinson at the Duck Room. The William H. Gass Reader will be published June 5, For more information on William H. Gass, visit: Kudos Alice Azure has a poem included in the anthology Thinking Continental: Writing the Planet One Place at a Time, and two poems included in the Aazhoomon Exhibit Catalog at the Miikanan Gallery. Her new collection of poetry Hunger Feast is forthcoming from Albatross Press in Chicago. Walter Bargen has several poems recently published: Killer Butterfly in the anthology Thinking Continental: Writing the Planet One Place at a Time, and Real Rumors in Vox Populi. His new book Too Quick for the Living was recently released by Moon City Press. Vincent Casaregola was awarded the 2017 Best in Poetry Award from University of Oklahoma College of Medicine for his poem Riddle of the Open Heart, published in their journal Blood and Thunder: Musings on the Art of Medicine. Travis Mossotti s collection Narcissus Americana, which won the 2018 Miller Williams Poetry Prize, will be released March 1, 2018 from University of Arkansas Press. Jason N. Vasser s debut collection shrimp will be released in April 2018 by 2Leaf Press. Suzanne Rhodenbaugh s new book The Deepest South I ve Gotten and Other Essays is available at Dunaway Books on S. Grand. She has poetry in I-70 Review and Ekphrasis, and forthcoming in Poetry East and a Glass Lyre Press anthology, Carrying the Branch. FLOW Announces Spring 2018 Writing Experiences Creative Pro Learning Sessions March 10 & 17 Writing Collectives April 7 May 20 Limit: 12 participants per collective All Spring 2018 programs are held at Centene Center for the Arts in Grand Center. Fees range from $16 to $250. Advance registration is required. For descriptions, facilitator information, and to register, visit Group Coaching Limit: 6 participants per group 10

11 Community Readings and Events 100 Boots Poetry Series April 13, 7 p.m. at Pulitzer Arts Foundation, 3716 Washington Blvd. Reading on April 13: Layli Long Soldier and Douglas Kearney. Free. Bad Jacket Issue 7 Release March 28, 7 p.m. at Foam, 3359 S. Jefferson, St. Louis, MO december Magazine benefit concert: Mandy Gonzalez April 16, 7 p.m. at Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington Blvd, St. Louis, MO Regular Tickets $100, Writer & Artist Tickets $35. decembermag.org/experience-mandygonzalez/ Dunaway Books presents An Evening of Wine and Poetry April 15, 7 p.m. at Dunaway Books, 3111 South Grand, St. Louis, MO Left Bank Books presents An Evening with Tongo Eisen-Martin & Eileen G Sell March 3, 6 p.m. at Teatopia, 2606 Cherokee St, St. Louis, MO Left Bank Books presents Women s History Month: Dana Levin & Natalie Scenters-Zapico March 21, 7 p.m. at Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave. Left Bank Books presents An Evening with Walter Bargen & Michael Castro April 23, 7 p.m. at Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave. Natural Bridge Debut Writers Series presents poet Donika Kelly April 18, 7 p.m. Gallery 210 at UMSL, St. Louis, MO Poems, Prose and Pints at Dressel s March 20, April 17, and May 15 at 7:30 p.m. Takes place every third Tuesday of the month. Dressel s Public House, 419 N Euclid Ave., St. Louis, MO Free. Open Mics Every Monday Venice Café, 1903 Pestalozzi. 9 p.m. Every Tuesday Acoustic music and spoken word open mic at The Wolf, Clayton Road, Ballwin. 7 p.m. Quarterly Tuesday St. Louis Writers Guild has a poetry and prose open mic. Next is May 8 at 7 p.m. For location and details, visit stlwritersguild.org. Poetic Vibez at The Book House March 10, April 14, and May 12, at 4 p.m. Poetic Vibez will take place on the second Saturday of each month at The Book House, 7352 Manchester Rd., Maplewood, MO River Styx Reading Series at CAM March 19, and April 16, 7:30 p.m. Contemporary Art Museum, 3750 Washington Blvd., Admission $5. Reading on March 19: Mary Troy & Mary Jo Bang. Reading on April 16: Joe Aguilar & Michael Nye. River Styx Literary Dinner May 11, 7 p.m. SqWires Restaurant & Annex, 1415 S 18th St., St. Louis, MO Online ticket sales and readers coming soon! For more info: St. Louis County Library - Oak Bend Branch, Creative Writing and Poetry Share Group March 15, and April 19 at 7 p.m. at Oak Bend Branch, 842 S Holmes Ave, St. Louis, MO Adults. Registration requested. St. Louis County Library - Prairie Commons Branch, An Evening of Haiku April 18 at 7 p.m. at Prairie Commons Branch, 915 Utz Ln., Hazelwood, MO Teens & adults. Registration required. St. Louis Poetry Slam at UrbArts March 8, April 12, and May 10, 7 p.m. UrbArts, 2600 N. 14th St., St. Louis, MO Poets compete to win $50 and a chance at making the next national slam team. Audience judged. Hosted by MK Stallings. $5 admission. St. Louis Public Library - Divoll Branch, Who I Am! Bio Poetry April 5 at 4:30 p.m. Divoll Branch, 4234 North Grand Ave., St. Louis, MO Children & families. St. Louis Public Library - Machacek Branch, DIY: Black-Out Poetry April 4 at 4 p.m. Machacek Branch, 6424 Scanlan Ave., St. Louis MO A different way to create poetry. Teens. Every Wednesday Stone Spiral Coffee & Curios. Poetry and music in Maplewood at 2500 Sutton Blvd. 8 p.m. Every Friday URB Poetry Open Mic at Legacy Books & Café, 5249 Delmar Blvd. Doors open at 8 p.m. Admission after 9 p.m. $7. Slam competition the last Friday of each month. St. Louis Public Library - Schlafly Branch, Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! March 3 at 10 a.m. Schlafly Branch, 225 North Euclid Ave., St. Louis MO Listen to stories, make a craft, and have your photo taken with The Cat in the Hat. Youth & children. St. Louis Storytelling Festival, 39th Annual May 2-5. Hosted at various locations across St. Louis Metro area. For more info, visit edu/storytelling UMSL Center for the Humanities presents Monday Noon Series March 5, April 9, and April 23, 12:15 p.m. Gallery 210 at UMSL, St. Louis, MO March 5, Identity: Poetry from Around the World. April 9, No Theory: A Reading of Poems by Robert Stewart. April 23, Eileen G Sell, Life After Rugby. UMSL International Studies & Programs presents Irish American Writers & Artists Salon March 2, 7 p.m. Webster Groves Public Library, 301 E. Lockwood Ave., St. Louis, MO An evening of Irish poetry, prose, art and traditional Irish music: Bridget McDonald, Drucilla Wall, Andrew O Brien, Eimear Arkins, and more. Free. Washington University MFA Program presents Erin Belieu March 1, 8 p.m. at Washington University, Hurst Lounge, Dunker Hall 201. Visiting Hurst Professor Erin Belieu will lecture on the craft of poetry. Washington University MFA Program presents Lisa Russ Spaar March 29, 8 p.m. at Washington University, Hurst Lounge, Dunker Hall 201. Every Last Sunday Poetic Justice at Blank Space, 2847 Cherokee. Hosted by Corey Black, sounds by Black Spade. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. $20. 11

12 St. Louis Poetry Center P.O. Box St. Louis, MO Sign up for updates at JOIN ST. LOUIS POETRY CENTER SLPC Membership benefits include: Submission privilege to the James Nash Annual Members Contest Online and newsletter professional event promotions Reduced registration rates for fee workshops Other benefits vary depending on membership level Student $15 (available to full-time students) Young Friend $30 (available to ages 18-35) Individual/Senior $50/$45 Professional Poet $75 Benefactor $100 - $499 Laureate $500 - $999 President s Society $ $2,499 Loy Ledbetter Society $2,500+ I would like to provide additional support to this historic organization. Please receive my tax-deductible contribution of $. Please receive my tax-deductible donation of $ in (memory of / honor of) * See new monthly giving options at stlouispoetrycenter.org/membership 12. Joining SLPC helps fund our various readings, workshops and outreach programs. Help us grow by mailing this form and a check payable to the SLPC to: St. Louis Poetry Center, P.O. Box , St. Louis, MO 63130, or visit and use your credit card or PayPal account. Your donations are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. We hope you will consider making a recurring donation through our Monthly Giving Program. Monthly giving is an easy way to show your support while providing SLPC with sustaining funding throughout the year. Make your contribution today! Please print: Name Phone Address City State Monthly Giving Program $ Zip /month*