Truth, Beauty, and Beer

March-April-May Spring 2016 Sign up for email updates at eblast@stlouispoetrycenter.org 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. TABLE OF CONTENTS: SLPC Benefit p. 1 Sunday Workshops p. 2 Observable p. 3 Fee Workshop + Poetry Concert p. 4 Poetry at the Point p. 5 second friday notes + In the News p. 6 Kudos+Community p. 7 Membership p. 8 second friday notes resumes May 13 More info pg. 6 New Website for the St. Louis Poetry Center coming in March! THE SLPC NEWSLETTER Editor and Layout: Mazaré Rogers The newsletter is a quarterly publication of the St. Louis Poetry Center, 567 North and South, #8, St. Louis, Mo 63130-3938, 314-973-0616, info@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. Truth, Beauty, and Beer Come celebrate the cause of good poetry in St. Louis! What: A benefit to fund the St. Louis Poetry Center services and activities for the year. When: Sunday April 24, 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. Where: The Crown Room at Schlafly Bottleworks 7260 Southwest Avenue St. Louis, MO 63143 Features: Classical jazz music from Mt Theolonius, who describe themselves as chamber folk. Trio pictured right. Esteemed local poets will be standing by to craft poems upon your request for a small fee. Auction items available Light buffet served Cost: Reservations made by April 15 are $55 per person. after April 15 and at the door are $60 each. Reservations: To make reser vations, 1. Visit www.stlouispoetrycenter.org and click on Spring Benefit. 2. Send a check to the St. Louis Poetry Center 567 North and South #8, St. Louis, MO 63130-3938

SUNDAY POETRY WORKSHOPS: Poetry workshops are held the second Sunday of each month, September through April, except for December, at 1:30 p.m. in the Auditorium of the University City Library, 6701 Delmar. The guest poet/critic will lead the workshop and provide critique on a selection of pre-submitted poems. All poems submitted will receive written comments. You may submit poems via US Mail or email to be received by 12 midnight Sunday one week prior to the Workshop. If submitting by Mail, send one copy of the poem to Workshop Submission, St. Louis Poetry Center, 567 North & South, #8, St. Louis, MO 63130. If submitting by email send as an attachment in Microsoft Word document to workshop @stlouispoetrycenter.org and put Workshop Submission in the subject line. Criteria: Submit only one poem, one page in length, vertical format and one column of text. Provide real name and mailing address. Email submissions will be acknowledged within 48 hours of receipt. Call 314-725-0641 if an acknowledgement is not received. Those submitting poems are expected to attend the workshop. 1:30-3:30 p.m. March 13, 2016 Susan Swartwout Susan Swartwout is professor of English at Southeast Missouri State University where she also serves as publisher of the University Press and edits two literary journals, Big Muddy: Journal of the Mississippi River Valley and The Cape Rock: Poetry. She s the author of the poetry collections Freaks and Uncommon Ground, editor of Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors, and co-editor of three books. She has published more than 100 poems in literary journals and anthologies. Among her writing awards are the St. Louis Poetry Center's Stanley Hanks Award, New York's Rona Jaffe Foundation Poetry Award, the Davenport Award for Fiction, a Ragdale Foundation Fellowship, and Seattle's Hedgebrook Writers Fellowship. 1:30-3:30 p.m. April 10, 2016 Steven Schreiner Steven Schreiner is the author of the collections Belly and Too Soon to Leave, along with the chapbook Imposing Presence. He co-authored In Short, a Memory of the Other on a Good Day with Allison Cundiff. His poems have appeared in many magazines, including Poetry, Image, Colorado Review, River Styx and December, and numerous anthologies. He is the recipient of fellowships from the VCCA, Tall Rock Retreat, and The National Writer s Voice of the YMCA. He teaches in the MFA Program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis and is the founding editor of Natural Bridge, a journal of contemporary literature.

OBSERVABLE READINGS Observable begins its tenth year providing live poetry performances! Location: Dressel s Public House 2nd floor, 419 N. Euclid, 63108. The Central West End. Curator: Jeff Hamilton. Donations of $5 welcome. Please note: no elevator access. March 7, 2016 Drucilla Wall s book of poetr y, The Geese at the Gates, was published by Salmon Poetry in 2011. Awards for her widely featured works include the Mari Sandoz Prairie Schooner Short Story award and the Western Literature Association Willa Pilla Prize for Humor. Dr. Wall enjoys teaching Native American Literature, Poetry and Essay Writing, and American Literature at UMSL. Eamonn Wall, a native of Co. Wexfor d, Ir eland, is the author of seven collections of poetry, most recently, Junction City: New and Selected Poems 1990-2015. He also authored a collection of essays, From the Sin-e Café to the Black Hills. His essays, articles, and reviews of Irish, IrishAmerican, and American writers have appeared in journals in the U.S. and Ireland. Chad Parmenter's poems have appear ed in Best Am erican Poetry, AGNI, Kenyon Review, Harvard Review, and Black Warrior Review. His chapbook, W eston's Unsent Letters to Modotti, won Tupelo's Snowbound Chapbook Contest and was published in 2015. April 4, 2016 Jenny Mueller is the author of Bonneville and the for thcoming State Park, both fr om Elixir Pr ess, as well as two chapbooks. Her poems have been published in journals including Colorado Review, A merican Literary Review, Crazyhorse, Interim, New American Writing and Hinchas de Poesia. Gracie Leavitt, was bor n in Massachusetts in 1985, gr ew up in Maine in a log cabin her par ents built, and has lived in Brooklyn. She holds a B.A. in human rights from Brad College and an MFA from Brooklyn College. Her first book of poetry is Monkeys, Minor Planet, A verage Star. May 2, 2016 Jenna Le is a second-generation Vietnamese American born and raised in Minnesota. She is the author of two full-length poetry collections, Six Rivers and A History of the Cetacean American Diaspora. Her poetry, fiction, essays, criticism, and translations appear or are forthcoming in A GNI Online, Bellevue Literary Review, The Best of the Raintown Review, Massachusetts Review, The Village Voice, and elsewhere. Nathaniel Farrell, a Pennsylvania native, is the author of Newcomer, a long poem set in a nineteenth-century American warscape. He has also published poems in 6x6, Greetings Magazine, VLAK, The Brooklyn Rail and The Recluse. He is currently at work on a new manuscript. Graham Foust, a native of Knoxville Tennessee, ser ves as Associate Pr ofessor of English at the University of Denver. Foust has written five full collections of poetry: A s in Every Deafness, Leave the Room to Itself, Necessary Stranger, A Mouth in California, and To Anacreon In Heaven. He most recently published a collection of translations from German, in collaboration with Samuel Frederick, of Ernst Meister's later poems titled In Time's Rift [Im Zeitspalt].

Fee Workshop Workshop Leader: Shane Seely Date: Saturday, April 9. Time: 10:00 a.m. 3:00 p.m. Location: At a private residence to be determined. Cost: $60 for general public. $50 for current SLPC members. Includes lunch. Pre-registration required. Participants: 10 max. Contact: Jeff Hamilton. jbhamilt@wustl.edu 57th Annual Poetry Concert Date: Sunday, May 15. Time: 1:30 p.m.- 3:30 p.m. Place: Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Avenue, Maplewood, MO 63143. Purpose: To celebrate this year s contest winners! Contests: Beverly Hopkins Memorial Poetry Contest for High School Students. James Nash SLPC Members Only Contest Stanley Hanks Memorial Contest. Featuring new judge: Kevin Higgins. Reception will follow poets reading their work.

March 22, 2016 Elbert Williams III is a St. Louis native and former member of the Eugene B. Redmond Writers Club. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Missouri- Columbia. He has been a featured poet at Break Word with the World and 100 Thousand Poets for Change. Victoria Walls, or iginally fr om Nashville, Tennessee, will complete her MFA in Creative Writing at UMSL in December 2016. As the university s current Poet Laureate, her poetry, fiction, and non-fiction are often concerned with the interconnections of race and sex, via the experience of the bisexual and biracial woman. Eamonn Wall, a native of Co. Wexford, Ireland, is the author of seven collections of poetry, most recently, Junction City: New and Selected Poems 1990-2015. He also authored a collection of essays, From the Sin-e Café to the Black Hills. His essays, articles, and reviews of Irish, Irish-American, and American writers have appeared in journals in the U.S. and Ireland. April 26, 2016 Poetry at the Point The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton, 63143. Doors 7 p.m., reading at 7:30 p.m. Curated by Drucilla Wall. Assisted by Jennifer Goldring PoetryPoint@stlouispoetrycenter.org Paul Acker is Professor of English at Saint Louis University, where he teaches poetry, film, and medieval literature. He earned an M.A. in Creative Writing from Brown University and has published in Boulevard, Scandinavian Review and Puerto del Sol. Dawn Dupler won first place for poetry in the 2013 Columbia Chapter of the Missouri Writers' Guild and Honorable Mention in the 2011 James H. Nash Poetry Contest. Her poetry and fiction appear in Natural Bridge, Paper Nautilus, Chiron Review, Blue Earth Review, and others. In 2014, she published her nonfiction book St. Louis in the Civil War. And, she has work forthcoming in Thinking Continental: Exploring, Surveying, and Inhabiting Macrospace. Stacey Walker writes poetry on the themes of connection, relationship, and identity. She draws inspiration from exploring the world with her husband and son. Walker has taught at the college level for 16 years and currently works as a lecturer for UMSL. Walker is completing her first manuscript of poems and looks forward to being accepted for publication soon. Jeanne Allison, a St. Louis native, is Coordinator for the Writing Certificate Program at UMSL. She s grateful to have one of her haiku poems included in the Haiku Walk in the Holmes County Open Air Museum in Ohio and another in the December issue of the online journal, Under the Basho. She is working toward completion of her first book manuscript. May 24, 2016 William Trowbridge s graphic chapbook, Oldguy: Superhero was published in March 2015. His new full collection, Tilt-A-Whirl, is forthcoming in 2017. His other collections are Put This On, Please: New and Selected Poems, Ship of Fool, The Complete Book of Kong, O Paradise, and Enter Dark Stranger. He is currently Poet Laureate of Missouri. Myrta Vida was born and raised in Puerto Rico, is a U.S. Army Veteran, and currently works as a tutor and translator. She is a student in UMSL s MFA for Creative Writing Program, Prose. Her prose and poetry, in both English and Spanish, have been published in several literary journals under various pseudonyms. Rob White, a Staten Island, New York native, is a hip hop lyricist and spoken word poet. His style turns away from profanity without sacrificing intensity of thought. You can hear his song "Compliments of My Pride" on YouTube under his stage name, "What's Real." Maria Ramza-Gay has been an aspiring writer since the age of seven when she wrote her first poem about God. A St. Louis native, she has been working for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services for the past five years. Ramza-Gay enjoys how the rhythmic words of poetry know just how to do their own thang!

second friday notes Dierbergs Market in Des Peres. Manchester Road at Lindemann, between Lindbergh and I-270. Readings on Mezzanine level. Elevator access from covered parking garage below the store. Begins at 7 p.m. Free.! May 13, 2016 Sidney Rehg is a performance poet in St. Louis. 2015 marks the release of Citrine Dreams, Rehg's first publication of poetry. He currently serves as a nationally traveling member of the UrbILL Dialects Slam Team. Jennifer Goldring is a writer, photographer, and editor in St. Louis. When she isn t writing or taking photos, she is Managing Editor for december magazine. Jennifer s poetry can be found in Tar River Poetry, Architrave Press, and the anthology Poetry with a Dash of Salt. Musician: Craig Jacobson was born at 30,000 feet, in the emergency exit aisle. In the post-womb chaos, he reached out his hand and plucked a string on a fellow traveler's guitar. Jacobson has since played every instrument he could get his fingers on. He plays the wind chimes, the singing bowl, the nose flute, and a 7-foot rain stick. The Ken Brown Memorial Fund When Ken Brown's family designated the SLPC as a recipient of donations in memory of Ken, we decided that the donations should go to serve a specific need rather than into the general fund. We asked Matthew Freeman to prepare a series of workshops. Below is Matt's account of the projects: Matthew Freeman I was honored that the SLPC chose to reward my teaching with money from the Ken Brown Memorial Fund, said Matthew Freeman. Ken was a good friend of mine and a spectacular poet. I hope that he might be smiling down thinking that such an august organization funded an old beatnik like me. I was lucky to hold workshops all around the city with a focus on folks who suffer from mental illness. Last summer I taught at the Metropolitan Psychiatric Center. Last fall I taught at the Independence Center. And, I finished by teaching classes to elderly folks in the building where I live. Everyone was enthusiastic, and I was glad to have reached an audience that might otherwise have been overlooked. I thank the SLPC and all of Ken's loved ones! In the NEWS: SLPC Scores High in 2015 Top Ten Books written by three recent SLPC workshop leaders were among the top 10 poetry books of 2015, according to David Orr s picks in the The New Y ork Times. Mary Jo Bang, The Last Two Seconds.....Devin Johnston, Far-Fetched Troy Jollimore, Syllabus of Errors... Bang and Johnston are previous Sunday Workshop leaders. These SLPC workshops are free and open to the public. Jollimore is a previous fee workshop leader for the SLPC. Buzzfeed s 16 Best Poetry Books of 2015, selected by Jarry Lee, included: Carl Phillips, Reconnaissance... Phillips has led Sunday Workshops for the SLPC, and he was also a featured reader at the opening Observable Reading in November 2015..Rickey Laurentiis, Boy with Thorn Laurentiis is the recipient of a Ruth Lilly Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation and fellowships from the Civitella Ranieri Foundation in Italy and the National Endowment for the Arts. His first book, Boy with Thorn, was selected by Terrence Hayes for the Cave Canem Poetry Prize. Laurentiis is a former co-curator of Observable. Sally Van Doren, the curator of the Sunday Workshops, is also nationally recognized. Her first book Sex at Noon Taxes received the Walt Whitman Award from The Academy of America Poets (2007). Those who say this is a fertile and exciting time for poetry in St. Louis are supported by 2015 s top book picks. And the SLPC helps keep you in touch with much of what this vibrant scene offers through the generosity of these noted poets. SLPC President Mary Ruth Donnelly

KUDOS: Jenny Mueller s poetry book manuscript State Park won the 16th Annual Poetry Award from Elixir Press and will be published later this year. Jen Tappenden is the winner of the Wells College Press 2016 Chapbook Contest for Independent City. Catherine Rankovic published poems in M idwest Gothic, December Magazine, Section 8, and River Styx. Community Readings, Events and Contests: First Bloom - Women s History Month Series. Every Monday in March, 6:00 p.m. $5.00 cover. 50% of profits go to participating artists. Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand Boulevard, St. Louis, MO. Produced by Susan Spit-Fire Lively. 314-289-1500 www.kranzbergartscenter.org March 7: Poet, Author, and Educator Layla Azmi Goushey and Musician, Songwriter, and Violinist Bell Darris March 14: Musician, Vocalist, and Songwriter Ginnifer Brown (Just Like the Country) & Poet, Author, and Editor Jennifer Fandel March 21: Poet, Writer, and Spoken Word Artist Myki Thomas and Vocalist, Songwriter, and Poet Loren D. March 28: Musician, Vocalist, and Songwriter Aysia Berlynn & Poet, Author, and Educator Maxine Beach Submit poetry: The St. Louis Poetry Anthology published by Vagabond Press is looking for poems related to social issues. Unpublished work is preferred. No more than 5 poems. Send to michael.castro@usa.net. Deadline: March 15. I Rise: Women s History Month Tribute. Featuring: Darlene Roy, Treasure Shields Redmond, Pacia Elaine, Zaire Imani, Sahara Sista SOLS, Shirley Leflore, and music by David A.N. Jackson. Hosted by DuEwa Frazier. Location: Missouri History Museum. March 15, 6:30 p.m. Free! The Ferguson Writers Group is sponsoring a free Meet the Author/Book Signing event for writers to sign and sell their books and converse with aspiring authors. March 19, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Corner Coffee House, 100 N. Florissant Rd, in downtown Ferguson. Contact: Carolyn at herkcmw@att.net; 314-867-4755. River Styx Reading Series. March 21: Eduardo C. Corral, T.J. Jarrett. April 18: Shane McCrae, Kathryn Davis. May 13: Allison Joseph. 7:30 p.m. Tavern of Fine Arts at 313 Belt Ave. Admission: $5 for general public; and $4 for River Styx members, seniors, students. Chance Operations. Mondays, March 28 and April 25, Chance Operations at Tavern of the Fine Arts, 313 Belt Ave. Open mic follows scheduled poets. 7:30 p.m. Special show in April of many past performers. Series goes dark for the summer. South Grand Lost Poets Reading Series. Featuring: Kiarra Lynn Smith, Jason Vasser, Nathaniel Farrell, Jason Kei, Kelsey Ronan, Aaron Coleman, and Francine J. Harris. Five open mic slots. First come, first served! April 11. 7:30 p.m. Meskerem Ethiopian Restaurant, 3210 S. Grand Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63118. $3 admission. The Missouri Writers Guild annual conference. April 29-May 1 at the Kansas City Airport Hilton. Workshops for fiction/nonfiction/poetry/inspirational/fantasy, plus a special track for children's literature. www.missouriwritersguild.org Spiritual Jazz Meets PoJazz, Saturday, May 7, 7:30 p.m. at Stone Spiral Coffee & Curios. 2500 Sutton Ave., Maplewood. Horns, flutes and drums of Raven Wolf C. Felton Jennings II with poet Dwight Bitikofer, Jen Fandel, and a surprise poet. YourWords STL, a non-profit tutoring organization that teaches youth to amplify one s voice through writing, is in need of tutors and workshop leaders for underserved teens of Marygrove Children s Home in Florissant, MO. Sessions: every Monday 4:15-5:30 p.m. Contact: Anna Ojascastro Guzon. anna@yourwordsstl.com Washington University Summer Writers Institute. 2-week program featuring workshops in advanced personal narrative, fiction, literary journalism, micro prose, modern humor, personal narrative, poetry. July 8-July 22. Register early http://summerschool.wustl.edu/swi. OPEN MICS: Every Monday Venice Café, 1903 Pestalozzi. 9 p.m. Every Tuesday-- Acoustic music and spoken word open mic at The Wolf, 15480 Clayton Road, Ballwin. 7:00 p.m. Every 2 nd Tuesday-- St. Louis Writers Guild has a poetry and prose open mic at Kirkwood train station, Argonne Drive and Kirkwood Road. 7 p.m. Every Wednesday-- STONE SPIRAL COFFEE & CU- RIOS. Poetry and music in Maplewood at 2500 Sutton (two blocks north of Manchester - on Sutton). 8:00 p.m. Every Wednesday Shameless Grounds, 1901 Withnell Ave. 63118 in Benton Park. 7-10 p.m. Every Thursday Sizzler open mic, Kalana Hotep hosting. Café Ventana, 3919 West Pine. 6-8 p.m. Every Friday URB Poetry Open Mic at Legacy Books & Café, 5249 Delmar. Doors open at 8 p.m. Admission after 9 p.m. $7. Slam competition the last Friday of each month.

The St. Louis Poetry Center 567 North and South, #8 St. Louis, MO 63130-3938 www.stlouispoetrycenter.org SLPC membership: JOIN/RENEW + Priority registration for special quarterly fee workshops + Online/newsletter announcements, kudos, releases, etc. + Annual Nash Members Only Contest with cash prizes + Special Members Only events. www.stlouispoetrycenter.org/membership or mail to 567 North and South, #8, St. Louis, MO 63130 5 Join the St. Louis Poetry Center The St. Louis Poetry Center offers, free of charge, to members and non-members admission to our second Sunday Workshops. The SLPC Newsletter is sent by e-blast and is available at SLPC events. Members may submit to the James Nash Annual Members Contest and its Annual Concert, and receive early registration rates for some workshops. Joining the 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, 567 North and South, #8, St. Louis, MO 63130-3938, or visit www.stlouispoetrycenter.org/membership and use your credit card or paypal account. Your donations are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law. Thank you. Member $45 All the above, plus priority registration for SLPC special fee workshops, online /newsletter professional event promotions, and eligibility to enter the annual Members Poetry Contest with cash prizes. Special Member rate for students, $15 Available to full-time students Patron $100 + Benefactor $250 + Laureate $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). Please print: Name Phone Email