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| The following notices and press releases have been submitted to The Fairfield Review for posting to our readers. We provide them "as is" without review or comment. Please contact the designated contact person noted in each article. Also note the CT Poet Online Calendar page for Connecticut area poetry events. --egh _________________________________________________________________ CURRENT NOTICES & PRESS RELEASES Week ending January 26, 2008 _________________________________________________________________ MILFORD FINE ARTS COUNCIL 40 RAILROAD AVENUE SOUTH, MILFORD, CT 06460 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Milford, Connecticut – January 22, 2008 LETTERS MEETING What’s Love Got to do with it? The Letters Committee of the Milford Fine Arts Council, writers of fiction and poetry, will meet on Wednesday, February 13th, 2007 at 7:30 PM at the Milford Center for the Arts, 40 Railroad Ave. South, Milford. Bring your work in progress or completed manuscripts. Since it will be the eve of St. Valentine's Day, what better subject to write about than of love? Or perhaps lust is more your cup of tea? Either way, let's spice things up tonight with a poem (s) or a bit (s) of prose. Now, if you've read something especially good feel free to share this as well. For further information call 203-878-6647, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday - 9 AM to 5 PM. Contact: Bill Meddick, 203-878-6647, milfordfac@optonline.net _________________________________________________________________Wintonbury Branch Poetry Series Third Thursdays, January – April 2008, 7:00 P.M. POETRY into Spring… Hello dear friends, Here is our schedule for the winter to spring season. Hope you had good holidays. May you be well. Hope you can join us for some evenings of poetry. Peace, Marilyn Kathryn Kelly Shaw kicks off our spring season on January 17. She will read her poems and lead us to an open mike celebrating life’s teachers. Ms. Kelly Shaw is a long-time member of the Random Meeting House Poets and popular reader in such venues as Bethel’s Wednesday Poetry Series and the Wood Memorial Library. Her poems have been published in many journals, including The Helix and NCTE. She teaches language arts in the Portland public schools. Kathryn cites many poetry guides in her life, including Geri Radasci, Brendan Galvin, Sue Ellen Thompson, and was immersed in a life of poetry with her partner of 10 years, Hugh Ogden. (We dedicate this evening of poetry to the memory of Professor Hugh Ogden, beloved poet, teacher, mentor, and activist who died tragically in a drowning accident, December 31, 2006.) Open mike theme: “Life Teachers and Spirit Guides.” On February 21, David Cappella joins us. He has co-authored two books on the teaching of poetry, Teaching the Art of Poetry: the Moves (Erlbaum Associates, 2000) and A Surge of Language (Heinemann, 2004). His poems have appeared in such journals as The Connecticut Review and Bryant Literary Review. He travels through the country giving workshops to teachers and students. He teaches at Central Connecticut State University. Open mike theme: “Perspectives on the Real.” On March 20, Daniel Donaghy, Professor of English at Eastern Connecticut State University, reads from his new book, Streetfighting (Curbstone Press, 2005). He has published widely, with poems forthcoming in Southern Review and Prairie Schooner. Mr. Donaghy says that the title of his book may be taken two ways, “either as a literal term, as something I did, because I did get into street fights (in the Kensington section of Philadelphia)…and also as a metaphor for trying to find a way out of the city.” Open mike theme: “Contrast/Conflict.” On April 17, come to an area book launch! Cheryl Della Pelle, a master gardener and visiting poet in Litchfield public schools, will read from her first book of poems, Down to the Waters (Antrim House Books, 2008.) In 1995, she founded Common thread, a poetry performance group which performs several times a year. Her poems have been published in Arkenstone and The Connecticut Review. Open mike theme: “Landscapes of the Heart.” Open mike for the public follows featured reader at each event. Themes are optional. Wintonbury Branch Library 1015 Blue Hills Ave. Bloomfield CT 06002 242-0041 Hill-Stead Museum, 35 Mountain Road, Farmington, CT 06032 / 860.677.4787 www.hillstead.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: December 20, 2007 ROBERT PINSKY OPENS SEASON 16 of the SUNKEN GARDEN POETRY & MUSIC FESTIVAL Music by Merge, a Groundbreaking Combination of Spoken Word and Jazz FARMINGTON, CT— Robert Pinsky will kick off the 16th season of Hill-Stead Museum’s summer-long Sunken Garden Poetry Festival on June 11, 2008. Author of numerous volumes of poetry (including The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems 1966-1996, a Pulitzer Prize nominee), books about poetry (including Poetry and The World. nominated for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award), and translations of poetry (including the Los Angeles Times Book Award and Howard Morton Landon Prize winner The Inferno of Dante), Robert Pinsky has earned praise for his dynamism, imagination and range. Appointed United States Poet Laureate in 1997, Pinsky served an unprecedented three terms – his first two years generated such enthusiasm that the Library of Congress appointed him to a third. In 1999, Pinsky was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Other achievements include The PEN/Voelcker Award, the William Carlos Williams Prize, the Lenore Marshall, and the National Foundation for Jewish Culture’s 2006 Jewish Cultural Achievement Award in Literary Arts. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, The Threepenny Review, American Poetry Review, and The Best American Poetry anthologies. He is the poetry editor for the online magazine Slate, writes the weekly “Poet’s Choice” column for the Washington Post, and teaches in the graduate writing program at Boston University. Merge, described by acclaimed composer and musician David Amram as “exciting and highly creative… another step forward in celebrating the marriage of poetry and music,” unites the verse of Cassandra Cleghorn with the music of saxophonist/flutist/composer Erik Lawrence and his band Hipmotism. The gates open at 5:30 pm. Performances begin at 6:30 pm. Boxed suppers will be available for purchase, or participants can bring their own food; al fresco dining will be allowed on the West Lawn and in select locations in the Sunken Garden. Admission is free; on-site parking is $10 per car. Audience members are asked to bring blankets or lawn chairs for seating in and around the garden. For more information browse www.hillstead.org or call 860.677.4787 ext 111. PRESS RELEASE October 22, 2007 Hartford - Annual Open Studio Weekend Hartford- The 18th Annual Open Studio Weekend in Hartford will take place the first weekend in November at locations throughout the Greater Hartford Region. This year’s event has grown to include over 100 artists, 14 locations, and 23 performers. Each year thousands of attendees flock to Hartford to visit artists’ studios, meet visiting artists, touch their works and purchase art. The event is a celebration of the arts and incorporates a wide range of artists including painters, poets, jewelers, dancers, sculptors, spoken word. “This is a wonderful art event that is suitable for everyone at all ages” said Tom Nieman, Chair of Artists in Real Time, the organization that oversees the event. “Come join us in meeting these artists and seeing the work that is created right here in our community, on Saturday and Sunday November 3rd and 4th!” Open Studio Weekend has two parts of the event. The first is a kick-off reception and gala award ceremony held on November 1st from 6-8:00 pm at ArtSpace Gallery at 555 Asylum Street in Hartford . The gallery will house one piece from each artist and location that will be open during the weekend. The pieces will show attendees what they will expect to see when they visit those studios. This year Honorable Mayor Eddie A. Perez will present the event with a proclamation, declaring November 1st to be Hartford ’s Open Studio Weekend Day! There will be live jazz music from “the Noise From The Box”, a modern dance performance by the Fuller Movement Studio, and West Hartford artist Rick Bach will perform spoken word. The reception is sponsored by Hot Tomato’s and Belly Laughs catering, along with wait staff in black and white outfits. The gallery show is themed “Word Play” and each piece will depict this theme. The second portion of the event is Open Studio Weekend, which takes place Saturday and Sunday November 3 & 4 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the following locations in Hartford: ArtSpace Hartford, 555 Asylum Ave; Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Ave; 130 Washington Street; 8 Fern Street; Gallery 11, 11 Whitney Gallery; 84 Barker Street; 69 Myrtle ST C2; Ellen Traut Collection, 635 Farmington Ave; Institute for Community Research,12 Hartford Square West; 30 Arbor Street; and 56 Arbor Street. There are also three locations in West Hartford that will be open: Rick Bach Art, 17 Oakwood Ave. ; Stone Fish Gallery, 74-A LaSalle Road ; and Just Looking Gallery, 16 Lasalle Road . Live musicians and dancers will perform throughout the weekend at ArtSpace Gallery. The first floor of ArtSpace will showcase artwork from Hartford public school children. For more information on Open Studio Weekend in Hartford visit www.open-studio.com or call the event coordinator, Chi LaBossiere at 860-295-0433. This event is produced by Artists in Real Time, Inc. (www.artistsinrealtime.org,) and coordinated by Chi Consulting LLC. It is made possible from major grants and sponsorships from groups including the Greater Hartford Arts Council, Hartford Advocate, and Jerry’s Artarama. Reception sponsors include Belly Laugh’s catering, Hot Tomato’s, Hosmer Mountain Soda, St. Paul Travelers, and individuals like Janis Simon. Contact: cyrlm@sbcglobal.net Lorna Morris Cyr Hartford Annual Open Studio Weekend FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 17, 2007 Event: Hill-Stead Museum Announces Return of Sunken Garden Poetry Festival Place: Hill-Stead Museum, 35 Mountain Road, Farmington, CT 06032 Contact: Cynthia Cagenello, Communications Coordinator, Hill-Stead Museum, 860-677-4787 ext. 111; cagenelloc@hillstead.org or poetry@hillstead.org Sunken Garden Poetry Festival Returns to Hill-Stead Museum in Summer 2008 Hill-Stead Museum names Jeffrey Levine the Festival’s new Artistic Director Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT, announces that its annual summer-long Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, the museum’s largest public program, will return this summer following a one-year hiatus. Jeffrey Levine, poet, publisher, and teacher, has assumed the role of Artistic Director for the 16th season of the Festival, which will include some of the most talented poets and musicians in the country. Levine will be responsible for organizing the Festival and for spearheading a fundraising campaign to ensure that the Festival thrives. Jeffrey Levine is the founder of Tupelo Press, an independent literary press located in Dorset, VT, one of the most important publishers of poetry and literary fiction in the country. An award-winning poet, Levine has an MFA in poetry and teaches English at Kingswood-Oxford School in West Hartford, CT. He resides with his family in West Hartford. “I fervently believe this Festival is one of the most important and enduring cultural mainstays of the Hartford region, and is fundamental to our artistic well-being,” Levine said. “I look forward to helping produce a summer filled with delight and inspiration for our many current fans and to enchant those who have yet to discover this venue that Galway Kinnell has called ‘a little paradise for poetry’.” Historically, the Festival has charmed an audience of more than 5,000 each summer, and has engaged a listening audience of 1,250,000 via National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Saturday, and five Connecticut public radio stations. WINTONBURY LIBRARY POETRY SERIES Evenings of Poetry… Selected Thursdays, 7 pm October 18, November 15, December 6, 2007 Dear Friends: Please join us for great poetry readings this fall. Notice what's new: "Theme Nights" for the open mike portion of our evenings. In the open mike following each featured poet, you're invited to read poems applicable to the evening's theme-- or read whatever poem you'd like to share! A warm and revitalizing evening! Peace, Marilyn Johnston Here's the list of featured poets coming up: "I love a son/ who loves the Marines/ and the sounds of men/ smashing each other/ on hard cold fields..." These are the words of Elizabeth Kincaid-Ehlers who will open our poetry reading series on October 18. Dr. Kincaid-Ehlers will be reading from her new book of poetry, Leaping and Looming (Meganser Press). Ms. Kincaid-Ehlers has been a teacher and psychotherapist and has received many awards and prizes for her strong, wise, and poignant poems, including the North Country Poetry Prize and a nomination from Nimrod for a Pushcart Prize. Dr. Kincaid-Ehlers was featured in the first year of the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival. Open mike theme: "Hidden Selves" November 15 we will host Steve Foley who is author of a second volume of poetry, A Place at the Table (Antrim House). He currently chairs the English Department of the High and Middle Schools of South Windsor and has been published in many journals, such as Northeast magazine and the Portland Review. Open mike theme: "All About Family " Patricia Ryiz, former student of Brendan Galvin, joins us December 6. Many of Ms. Ryiz's poems explore the joys and pain of romantic love and loss. A long-time member of the popular group, the Wood Thrush Poets, she is a veteran public reader, featured in many Connecticut venues including, the Buttonwood Tree Bookstore and the Wood Memorial Library. Open mike theme: "Love, As You See It..." Wintonbury Branch Library 1015 Blue Hills Ave Bloomfield, CT 06002 860-242-0041 _________________________________________________________________ PRESS RELEASE IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 14, 2007 West Hartford- Local popular published poet, Sheryll (Sherri) Bedingfield a valued member of the The Connecticut Poetry Society will be a guest reader at the Oil Drum Art Aesthetic & Environmental Exhibition at Hartford’s ArtSpace Gallery, 555 Asylum Ave., Hartford, CT. Hartford CT. from 12-3 pm on Saturday, September 30, 2007 at the “Closing Reception” for a successful exhibition which began on Sept. 6, 2007. Sheryll [Sherri] Bedingfield works as a psychotherapist and a marriage and family therapist. Her poetry appears in Proposing on the Brooklyn Bridge, Poems about Marriage, Grayson Books, and The Breath of Parted Lips, Voices from the Robert Frost Place, Vol. 2, CavanKerry Press, An Intergenerational Anthology of Writing, West Hartford Remembered, 2004, and Connecticut River Review 2006. Sherri’s poem Love Struck was performed in “Plays with Poetry” by The East Haddam Stage Company in November 2004. Sherri also enjoys visual arts and dance. She has studied art at Silvermine Art Guild, from other artists on Monhegan Island, in New England, and in the United Kingdom. She is intrigued with the details of life, the physical and psychological movements and dynamics of people and animals. Presented with Aesthetic and Environmental themes Connecticut artist have transformed the common 55-gallon oil drum into artworks that create important statements about our ecology and the condition of our society. Entertainment and refreshments will be featured. This even is free and opened to public. Bring your imagination! For more information on this event contact: 203-729-0800 or go towww.oildrumart.org. The Connecticut Poetry Society ct-poetry-society.org _________________________________________________________________ Notice Painting the Air with Words August 17. 2007 FREE Poetry readings at the Florence Griswold Museum featuring ten award-winning poets from Soul Mountain Retreat in East Haddam, CT Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts Saturday, September 8th Five Native American Writers 4:30pm A light reception to follow readings o Sherwin Bitsui o Travis Hedge Coke o Jennifer Foerster o DG Nanouk Okpik o Orlando White Saturday, October 13th Five African American Poets 4:30pm A light reception to follow readings o Kwame Dawes o Dante Micheaux o Lenard Moore o Marilyn Nelson o Bakar Wilson Come early and enjoy the Museum’s Current exhibitions: Picturing Health: Norman Rockwell and the Art of Illustration and The Way We Work: David Macaulay’s Human Body. Please note that Museum admission applies for exhibitions: $8 for adults, $7 for seniors/students, and $4 for children 6 to 12. Florence Griswold Museum 96 Lyme Street Old Lyme, CT (Exit 70 Off I-95) (860) 434-5542 For more information on the Museum: http://www.FlorenceGriswoldMuseum.org _________________________________________________________________ PRESS RELEASE IMMEDIATE RELEASE RE: OIL DRUM ART IN HARTFORD TO BE PROCLAIMED BY MAYOR’S OFFICE. HARTFORD - From The Office of Mayor Eddie A. Perez, Thursday September 6, 2007, will be proclaimed: “Oil Drum Art Day.” Majority Leader, rJo Winch will be present at the Opening Reception to make it official. Come to the Oil Drum Art Aesthetic & Environmental Exhibition at Hartford’s ArtSpace Gallery, 555 Asylum Ave., Hartford, CT from September 6 through Sept. 30, 2007. Enjoy an artistic experience that will excite you! In honor of “Oil Drum Art Day” and in celebration of Hartford’s “First Thursday” join the artists for an Opening Evening Reception at ArtSpace Gallery on September 6, from 5-8 pm. Presented with Aesthetic and Environmental themes Connecticut artist have transformed the common 55-gallon oil drum into artworks that create important statements about our ecology and the condition of our society. Music and poetry will combine to make the opening and closing receptions all encompassing artistic events. Prominent guest speakers will be present and awards presented. Closing Reception held on Sunday, September 30, 12-3 pm. will feature guests from The Connecticut Poetry Society. Entertainment and refreshments will be featured at both receptions. The events are free and opened to public. Bring your imagination! To quote Oil Drum Art founder Jack Lardis: “ The Oil Drum Art project is an invitation to bring art into direct contact with our civilization so as to inform it, perhaps for posterity.” For more information on this event contact: 203-729-0800 or go to www.oildrumart.org. _________________________________________________________________ NOTICE 2007 Marks Hill-Stead's 16th Year of Poetry Programming! Plan on joining us for an exciting poetry and music weekend, September 14, 15 & 16, 2007. Galway Kinnell will be among the poets reading on the museum's grounds. A day-by-day schedule will be posted on www.hillstead.org by May, 2007. Hill-Stead's Poet-in-Residence programs continue in partnership with A.I. Prince Technical High School and the Hartford Classical Magnet High School. Please see below. No summer series will be held in 2007 due to planning and adjustments. Fundraising and program development are underway! Winter-Spring 2007 Schools Poet-in-Residence Cindy Cormier, Director of Education and Curatorial Services. Pit Pinegar, Director of Poetry School Program. Minority poets deliver seven classroom experiences per school; students write their own verse and develop their style and voice. Pending additional bus funding, the students will visit Hill-Stead for an on-site lesson and outdoor experience. These school programs are funded in part by Aetna Foundation. Hill-Stead Director Linda Steigleder and Cindy Cormier are consulting with Alison Meyers, Rennie McQuilken, Vivian Shipley and others on reshaping the museum's poetry programs. If you want to help, please make a charitable donation. Attention: Poetry Programs, Hill-Stead Museum, 35 Mountain Road, Farmington, CT 06032. Thank you! Hill-Stead Museum 35 Mountain Road Farmington, CT 06032 Tel: 860.677.4787 Fax: 860.677.0174 Cynthia Cagenello Ext 111, cagenelloc@hillstead.org _________________________________________________________________ NOTICE Monday February 26, 2007 7:00 PM POETRY READING---MARTHA COLLINS Author Martha Collins will read from several of her books: one chapbook focuses on her mother's last years and her fifth book of poetry, Blue Front, which tells of a lynching her father witnessed at age 5 in Cairo, Illinois in 1909. Martha Collins teaches at Oberlin College. Prosser Public Library 1 Tunxis Avenue Bloomfield, CT 06002 243-9721 www.prosserlibrary.info Union by Separation Contact: Marilyn Johnston, mailto:marilynjohnston2003@yahoo.com _________________________________________________________________ NOTICE Wintonbury Branch Poetry Series, celebrating ten years featuring Jampa Napthali Williams Thursday February 15, 2007 7:00 p.m. (Open mike follows featured poet) Jampa Napthali Williams Ms. Williams holds degrees from Wellesley College and John Hopkins Writing Program. Her poems have appeared both online and in print, including Artis magazine (Hartford). She is founder and editor of a discerning online literary journal, www.jampasong.com. Issues of domestic violence and the pandemic violence of war fuel her passion to write. Hers is a quiet, reflective voice of tenderness and power that is one of a kind. It deserves to be heard by all who love poetry and peace. Ms. Williams says, “If we do not sing the rage, the sorrow, and the injustice, how will they lift away from us and let us be in the world as we truly are?” Formerly, a resident of Alaska, Ms. Williams now makes her home with her young son in West Hartford, CT. Wintonbury Branch Library 1015 Blue HIlls Ave Bloomfield, cT 06002 860-242-0041 _________________________________________________________________ PRESS RELEASE IMMEDIATE RELEASE RE: Call to Artists - Oil Drum Art - Hartford ArtSpace Gallery HARTFORD- CALL TO ARTISTS - Attention Artists of all mediums! Come be part of a new art form, Oil Drum Art and have your work shown at the Hartford ArtSpace Gallery. Artists are called upon to transform the common 55-gallon oil drum into meaningful aesthetic and environmental artworks for a major art exhibition. Preliminary Design Submission of drawing, photography, text or computer renderings must be postmarked by April 7, 2007. Entry fee: $10 and $5. for each additional entry. Designs with an environmental theme will be favored. Selected artists will be given free drums to create your artwork. There will be a $25 installation fee for selected Oil Drum Art at the gallery, that may be waived in exchange for specific volunteer duties. Mail Preliminary Design Submission to: Oil Drum Art Exhibition II, 7 Old Sawmill Drive, Beacon Falls, CT 06403. Entry fee Checks payable to: Oil Drum Art Exhibition II. $750 in cash prizes will be awarded at the opening reception of the Oil Drum Art Exhibition to be held from Thursday, September 6 to Sunday, September 30, 2007 at Hartford ArtSpace Gallery, 555 Asylum Ave. Hartford. For detail information, contact: Jack Lardis at 203-729-0800. Visit the Oil Drum Art web page to learn more about this exciting new art form at www.oildrumart.org and download an official Oil Drum Art Concept Entry form. Contact: Lorna Morris Cyr Publicist, Oil Drum Art 205 Country Ln. Bristol, CT. cyrlm@sbcglobal.net _________________________________________________________________ PRESS RELEASE IMMEDIATE RELEASE RE: CONNECTICUT POETRY SOCIETY BRISTOL- The Bristol Chapter of The Connecticut Poetry Society, Poetry and Prose will have its first gathering of the fall season at the newly renovated Bristol Public Library, 5 High St., Bristol, CT. on Saturday, September 16, 2006 from 2-4pm. Our guest will be Bristol poet resident, Mrs. Sandra Maineri who will be presenting a brief history on the life and poetry of Anna Granniss, a Plainville poet from the early 1900’s whose publication chapbook of the day, “Skipped Stitches” netted her $6,000, a tidy sum for a book of poetry even by today’s standards. “Skipped Stitches” refers to the author’s days spent in the early fabric mills supporting family members. An open mic will follow after refreshments. Please keep in mind that children will be present. Free and open to the public. Come, enjoy, listen, bring poetry to share. Contact: Poet and sponsor of the event, Lorna Morris Cyr, President Bristol Chapter, 860-584-2857 or e-mail cyrlm@sbcglobal.net _________________________________________________________________ NOTICE August 18, 2006 Event: The Litchfield Review Writers’ Conference at Chase Collegiate School Saturday, October 14, 2006 from 9:00 to 3:00 Chase Collegiate School 565 Chase Parkway Waterbury, CT 06708 Featuring Keynote Speaker: Tom Santopietro, author of The Importance of Being Barbra Workshops by Marie L. Clark, Writing Instructor, Wesleyan University, Personal Memoir Edwina Trentham, author of Stumbling Into the Light, Poetry Tom Hunt author of Cliffs of Despair: a Journey to the Edge, Creative Nonfiction Patricia Klindienst, author of The Earth Knows My Name, Creative Nonfiction Tom Cerasulo, recipient of a Zoetrope All-Story award, Short Story David Cappella, author of Gobbo: A Solitaire's Opera, Short Story Followed by Author readings, signing and book sales. Meet the Editors of The Litchfield Review To register online, see www.thelitchfieldreview.com. Please indicate two workshop choices. For more information, contact Theresa C. Vara Editor The Litchfield Review tvdannen@earthlink.net. _________________________________________________________________ NOTICE August 4, 2005 Event: Sunken Garden Poetry and more... Thursday, August 17 6:30 - 8:30 pm Celebrate the successful culmination of Hill-Stead Museum's 15th season of the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival. Bluesman Guy Davis performs at 6:30 pm, celebrated poet Norah Pollard reads at 7:30 pm. Bring a lawn chair for seating in and around the garden. A book signing follows. 9 - 10:30 pm Gather in the Makeshift Theater to bid farewell to Alison Meyers. After seven seasons as Artistic Director of the Festival and over six years as Hill-Stead's Director of Marketing and Communication, Alison leaves to assume the position of Executive Director of Cave Canem in New York City. Please come wish her well! BYOB. Alison Meyers, right, with Kate Rushin and Grace Paley. On-site parking fee is $5 per vehicle. Admission to the Festival is $3 museum members; complimentary for students, children and members at Sponsor level and up; $5 others. Rain venue: Hacker Theater, Miss Porter's School. For further information, visit www.hillstead.org/activities/poetry.html or contact Denise Bowen, 860.677.4787 ext 112, bowend@hillstead.org _________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Hill-Stead MUSEUM 35 Mountain Road Farmington, CT 06032 860.677.4787 www.hillstead.org Date: June 26, 2006 Event: Winners of Hill-Stead Museum’s National Adult Poetry Competition read at the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival July 6, 2006 ADULT POETRY COMPETITION WINNERS to READ at HILL-STEAD MUSEUM Renée Ashley & John Surowiecki Read at Sunken Garden Poetry Festival; The Joint Chiefs Perform FARMINGTON, CT— On July 9, spectators at Hill-Stead Museum’s 15th annual Sunken Garden Poetry Festival will enjoy the distinctive styles of two nationally known poets: Renée Ashley and John Surowiecki, first- and second-place winners, respectively, of Hill-Stead’s third annual Sunken Garden Poetry Competition for adults. The reading will begin at 7:30 pm, preceded at 6:30 by the vocal fire power of roots-style quartet The Joint Chiefs. Festival activities begin at 5:30 pm, with an on-site bookstore and café, and conclude with a book signing by the authors, 8:30-9:30 pm. Audience members are asked to bring blankets or lawn chairs for seating in or around the garden. The Sunken Garden Poetry Festival is wheel chair accessible. Admission is $3 for museum members, free to students and children, $5 all others. On-site parking is $5. For rain venue and other information, or to learn more about the museum’s poetry and public programs, browse www.hillstead.org or contact Cynthia Cagenello at 860.677.4787 ext 111. Renée Ashley, of Ringwood, New Jersey, is the author of three collections of poetry, including Salt, recipient of the Brittingham Prize in Poetry; and Someplace Like This, a novel. Her prize-winning chapbook, The Museum of Lost Wings, was selected by Martha Collins for its “tight, resonant, lyrical, edgy” voice—a style “marked by paradox and reversals of linguistic expectation.” Ms. Ashley has received numerous awards, including a Pushcart Prize, the Kenyon Review Award for Literary Excellence, the Chelsea Award for Poetry, and the Ruth Lake Memorial and the Robert H. Winner Awards, both from the Poetry Society of America. She won the American Literary Review Poetry Contest in 1997, and has twice been a Fellow at the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, NH. The Joint Chiefs’ musical horizon spans everything from R&B classics to Appalachian waltzes and original ballads. They have released two CDs, Half Fast and It Matches Your Juice, and have performed at such venues as the International Festival of Arts & Ideas and Winterhawk Bluegrass and Beyond. Since 1992, audiences have enjoyed verse and music among the fragrant blooms of Hill-Stead’s historic one-acre garden. Described by Billy Collins as a “cultural phenomenon,” the summer-long performance series has featured the likes of Yusef Komunyakaa, Maxine Kumin, Stanley Kunitz, Philip Levine, CT Poet Laureate Marilyn Nelson, Sharon Olds and Grace Paley. 2006 performances remaining in the season are: July 20: Li-Young Lee; Jazz with Stephen Haynes and Bugaboo. August 3: Competition winning high school poets and musicians. August 17: Norah Pollard; bluesman Guy Davis. For further information: Contact Cynthia Cagenello at 860.677.4787 ext 111. _________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FAIRFIELD ARTS COUNCIL May 31, 2006 CALL FOR POETRY SUBMISSIONS - The Fairfield Arts Council (FAC) is seeking local poets from Fairfield and the surrounding towns to participate in the FAC 10th Anniversary Gala on September 16th, at 8:00 pm at the Regina A Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University. Poets are cordially invited to submit up to three poems for FAC to consider performing as part of the Gala program. This year's gala will celebrate the growth of the Fairfield Arts Council and will showcase a variety of significant local arts during the program. One segment will include readings by local poets of their work. Depending on the length of the poems, each poet will read one or two selections; we will have a maximum of 3-4 poets presenting. If you would like to be considered to participate, please mail or drop-off no more than three (3) poems to the Fairfield Arts Council, 70 Sanford Street, Fairfield, CT 06824 no later than FRIDAY, JUNE 30th. Submissions may also be emailed to info@fairfieldartscouncil . Selected semi-finalist poets will be auditioned in July. Fairfield Arts Council is a not-for-profit organization established to foster cultural development and increase public support for the arts. The organization works to promote all forms of artistic excellence by building alliances, advocating for artists and arts organizations, sharing relevant information, supporting strong arts programs in the schools, expanding resources for the arts, and making the arts accessible to everyone. For more information call (203) 319-1419, email info@fairfieldartscouncil or visit www.fairfieldartscouncil.org. For information, contact: Ms. Ryan Odinak, Executive Director Fairfield Arts Council PO Box 320963 Fairfield, CT 06825 203-319-1419 ryan@fairfieldartscouncil.org www.fairfieldartscouncil.org _________________________________________________________________ PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 18, 2006 HARTFORD- The Connecticut Poetry Society's Annual Celebration of Poetry Event will be held on Saturday, April 29 from 2-5 pm. on the campus of the University of Hartford, Butterworth Hall, 1265 Asylum Ave. Hartford, CT. Members of CPS are invited to attend the annual business meeting from 2-3 pm. at which time new officers will be elected. The Society is honored to host a reading at 3:00 pm with Alison Meyers, Director Hill-Stead Museum's Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, Farmington, CT. She is the author of three chapbooks of poetry and fiction and has received two Pushcart Prize nominations. Recent work has appeared in Connecticut Review, Common Ground Review and Freshwater Review. She will hold a book signing after the reading, Members and nonmembers of CPS are invited to attend the reading at 3:00 pm. followed by sign-up for an open microphone and reception. Refreshments will be served. The event is free and open to the public. For more information please call Christine Beck at 860-768-5688. _________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 17, 2006 Thursday, May 4 at 5:30 p.m. Opening Reception: Photo-Graphic: Portraits & Writings of Hartford Area Artists Award-winning photographer Michael J. Fiedler, with the help and support of the Charter Oak Cultural Center, in Hartford, CT, will present a unique glimpse of some of Hartford's most creative people. Photo-Graphic is a collection of portraits of artisans, craftspeople, performers and leaders in the Hartford art community. In addition to the images, each subject has recorded in their own handwritten statement, why they create what they do and how they feel about their work. The writings will be displayed along with the photographs and will offer an imaginative glimpse at some of the most creative people in the Hartford area. Wine and hors d’oeuvres served. Exhibit runs through June 2, 2006 Chris Phillips Events Manager Charter Oak Cultural Center 21 Charter Oak Avenue Hartford, CT 06106 chris.phillips@charteroakcenter.org www.charteroakcenter.org p 860.249.1207 f 860.524.8014 Charter Oak Cultural Center, housed in Connecticut's oldest synagogue building, is a nonprofit, multicultural arts center committed to preserving the Jewish Heritage of our building, giving access to the arts to all people and doing the work of social justice. _________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 30, 2006 Event: Poetry Writing Workshop Place: Hill-Stead Museum, 35 Mountain Road, Farmington, CT 06032 Time: April 22, 2006. Saturday. 10am – 4pm Contact: Alison Meyers, 860.677.4787 ext 110. meyersa@hillstead.org POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP AT HILL-STEAD MUSEUM Edwina Trentham Presents “Reading & Writing in Form” FARMINGTON, CT: On Saturday, April 22, 10am - 4pm, Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, CT, will present Paradoxical Freedom: Reading & Writing in Form, a poetry writing workshop for adults led by Connecticut-based poet Edwina Trentham. The 2004 Connecticut Book Award Finalist and author of Stumbling into the Light (Antrim House, 2004) will guide participants in experimenting with the sonnet, villanelle, sestina, canzone and other traditional forms in the poet’s “tool kit.” Registration is $75 for museum members and students, $90 for all others. To register, call 860.677.4787 ext 111. For more information on poetry programs at Hill-Stead, including the 2006 summer-long Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, browse http://www.hillstead.org. Recipient of the Yeats Society Poetry Award in 1994, Edwina Trentham is a talent whose “language spills over with color and light” (Sue Ellen Thompson). In 2004 she won Third Place in the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival’s National Competition, then returned to Hill-Stead as a featured reader in the 2005 Festival. Ms. Trentham is a Professor of English at Asnuntuck Community College in Enfield, CT, founding editor of Freshwater Review, and a Visiting Instructor in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at Wesleyan University. Her widely anthologized work has appeared in such journals as The American Scholar, The Massachusetts Review, The New Virginia Review and Prairie Schooner. Robert Cording has described Stumbling Into the Light as “acutely observant, generous and rich in detail.” Margaret Gibson has praised the collection for its “gentle candor and vulnerability.” For more about the author, visit http://www.antrimhousebooks.com/trentham.html. _________________________________________________________________ ANNOUNCEMENT March 25, 2006 SEVENTH ANNUAL FRESHWATER POETRY FESTIVAL ASNUNTUCK COMMUNITY COLLEGE 170 ELM STREET, ENFIELD, CT 06082 FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2006 7:00 p.m. HARP MUSIC by Polly Parker 7:30 p.m. READING by Winners of 14th annual poetry student poetry contest 9:00 p.m. COFFEE HOUSE in Cafeteria II, Music by Asnuntuck student Art Cote followed by a Music and Poetry Open Mic SATURDAY, May 6, 2006 9:00 a.m. WELCOME Coffee 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. MORNING WORKSHOPS Gregory Coleman: Enhancing Our Creativity: Labyrinths and Writing Poetry Dianne Bilyak: Publishing Your Poetry Edwina Trentham: What Really Matters: Transforming Life into Poetry DESCRIPTIONS AND BIOS: Dianne Bilyak Publishing Your Poetry In this workshop I will discuss the publishing world for beginning writers. I will give hints on how and where to send your work out and the best ways to organize the process. Materials will be brought in for participants to peruse. Please bring 3 copies of 3 poems you would like to send out for submissions and 3 stamped envelopes. Come with questions! Biographical Note: Dianne Bilyak has had poems and interviews published in Peregrine, Freshwater, Palimpsest, Reflections, The Massachusetts Review, and Re-Imagining the Divine. While attending UMASS Amherst she created and facilitated a program for students for two years called “Poets Anonymous.” A co-founder of ALL Gallery (ALL) in New Haven she also served as Literary Programming Director there in 2003. She has been a manuscript reader for the Yale Series of Younger Poets and Alice James Books and has worked on other journals as assistant poetry editor. She is in her last semester at Yale Divinity School, through the Institute of Sacred Music, where she is studying literature and religion. She is currently conducting, compiling, and editing a book of interviews with various poets who were graciously willing to discuss the intersection of spirituality and writing. Greg Coleman Enhancing Our Creativity: Labyrinths and Writing Poetry: When we write, we encounter times when our focus becomes murky and the poem becomes difficult to write or complete. Using the labyrinths, we will work through that which may make writing the poem difficult or incomplete. We will create either a new poem or revise an old poem. Bring pen, paper, and poems that have faltered and discover how labyrinths can help you with your creative process. At the end of the workshop, we will share our work with each other. Biographical Note: Greg Coleman, MS, MFA, is the owner of Heartstone Labyrinths ™, LLC, a poet and writer, and a master labyrinth designer and artist who has created over 70 Intentional Labyrinth™ designs each with its own handbook that describes its intention and how to use it. The designs are created to help individuals and groups work with particular physical, emotional, and spiritual concerns. He is a Reiki Master and teacher and a Registered Aroma therapist® who creates essential oil blends to accompany some of his labyrinth designs. He has created two forms of energy bodywork: Feng Shui Body Work™ and Intentional Labyrinth™ Energy Bodywork. He has given workshops in high schools and colleges, hospitals, and at wellness fairs in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island as well as at the gatherings of The Labyrinth Society, an international organization, in 2000, 2001, 2002, & 2003 and at the New England Labyrinth Guild for the past three years. He lives in Moodus, Connecticut, where he creates new labyrinths, gives workshops, and works with individual clients. Edwina Trentham What Really Matters: Transforming Life into Poetry: As William Zinsser suggests in his powerful book on writing memoir, Inventing the Truth : The Art and Craft of Memoir, memory deceives us, tricks us into believing that what we recall is what really happened, when in fact we are “inventing our lives,” both consciously and unconsciously, when we write about the past. Whether this “inventing” is a good thing or a bad thing in memoir is not the subject of this workshop. Rather, we will explore the essential role that being willing to explore what really mattered rather than “getting it right” plays in writing poetry. Through reading poems by others and using a series of writing exercises to get us in touch with our past and ways to let go of “facts” and “truth,” we will discover how clinging to “what really happened” rather than embracing and embracing “what really matters” when writing about our lives can get in the way of creating powerful poetry. Participants should bring a photograph of themselves as children, preferably with other family members. Biographical Note: Edwina Trentham’s first book of poetry, Stumbling into the Light, was published by Antrim House in November 2004. She has published her work in a number of magazines, including The American Scholar, The American Voice, Kalliope, The Massachusetts Review, The New Virginia Review, Prairie Schooner, The Sun, and Yankee. She also has work in three anthologies: 1997 Anthology of Magazine Verse and Yearbook of American Poetry; At Our Core: Women Writing About Power; Atomic Ghost: Poets Respond to the Nuclear Age. She was a fellow at Yaddo in 1989, and she has won a number of awards for her poetry, including honorable mention in the 2004 Sunken Garden Poetry Festival International Competition. She was a featured reader at The Sunken Garden Poetry Festival in Farmington on June 23, 2005. She is a Professor of English at Asnuntuck Community College, where she is the Editor of Freshwater. Noon to 1.00 p.m. LUNCH and OPEN POETRY MIC 1:00 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. AFTERNOON WORKSHOPS Cortney Davis: Three Strange Angels: Writing the Personal Lyric Poem Bessy Reyna: A Moment in Time: A Photograph in Words Steve Straight: Writing from Self to Other AFTERNOON WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS AND BIOS: Cortney Davis Three Strange Angels: Writing the Personal Lyric Poem In this workshop—which is suitable for both beginning and experienced poets—we will explore writing the personal lyric poem. This type of poem features a first person narrator, an “I,” and focuses on an autobiographical moment, a personal crisis or a revelation that is “embodied” in the poet’s actual life experience. Indeed, the personal lyric is centered in the body itself—in our senses, our memories, and in the key images that arise from the subconscious. Through the personal lyric we make sense of our shared human condition: we can bring order to chaos, we can heal. Our workshop will begin with a brief craft discussion on how to utilize the “three strange angels”—music, imagery and story—to create strong and moving personal lyric poems. Then we will complete a series of short writing exercises to help us enter a creative space, generate ideas, put us in touch with our own sense experiences and free us to look deeply at our own lives and write about them in vivid, accurate images. All you’ll need for the workshop is paper, pen and an open mind. You will leave with the beginnings of several new poems and the ideas for many more. Biographical Note: Cortney Davis’s most recent poetry collection, Leopold’s Maneuvers (University of Nebraska Press, 2004), won the 2003 Prairie Schooner Poetry Prize. Her other collections include Details of Flesh (CALYX Books, 1997), and a letterpress chapbook, The Body Flute (Adastra Press, 1994). Her memoir, I Knew a Woman: the Experience of the Female Body (Random House, 2001), won the Center for the Book Non-Fiction Award in 2002. She is the poetry editor of the journal Alimentum, a literary review of poetry, fiction and essays about food (www.alimentumjournal.com). Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Massachusetts Review, The Sun, Witness, Crazyhorse, Ms. Magazine, Ontario Review, Hudson Review, Bellevue Literary Review, Poetry East, Antigonish Review and other publications, and have been featured online on Poetry Daily and The Writer’s Almanac. Recipient of an NEA Poetry Fellowship, three Connecticut Commission on the Arts poetry grants, and three Pushcart Prize nominations, she has given readings and workshops nationally, most recently in Washington DC, Ohio, Boston, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Oregon, and Denver, and has been interviewed on NPR, WPKN, Voice of America, Cable Channel 12, and other radio and TV programs. She was a featured reader at the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival in 2005. Bessy Reyna A Moment in Time: A Photograph in Words “Poetry’s mission, its pleasure, has always been transformative. Things become other things and, as witnesses to this feat, we are turned more fully into ourselves” said David Baker Reviewing book Controvertibles by Quan Barry. “The great power of Poetry is the preservative. The ability to take a moment in time and attempt to hold it," according to poet Mark Doty. In her anthology What Have You Lost? poet Naomi Shihab Nye challenges readers to confront "Moments for which there are no words." In this workshop we will read poems in which poets have framed and encapsulated just such moments. These poems will be like guides lighting the way for us to find expression for our own very special moments in time. Moments which, until now, we have had no words to describe. The workshop will be presented in three segments of 20-25 minutes each, saving enough time at the end of the third session for participants who wish to read the work they created during the workshop. Biographical Note: Bessy Reyna, is the author of the poetry chapbooks The Battlefield of Your Body (Hill-Stead Museum Publications) and She Remembers, (Andrew Mountain Press). She is also the recipient of individual artist's awards given by the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and the Greater Hartford Arts Council. She was selected by the Puerto Rican Forum/Hispanic Professional Network as a recipient of a cultural award and as Latina Citizen of the Year, by the State of Connecticut Latino and Puerto Rican Affairs Commission. She is an op-ed columnist for the Hartford Courant and has been a contributor to Northeast, the Sunday magazine of The Hartford Courant. Her poems and stories have appeared in several anthologies and literary magazines in the U.S. and Latin America, including Connecticut Review; El Coro: A Chorus of Latino and Latina Poetry (UMass Press, 1997); Connecticut Review; and In Other Words: Latina writers in the US (Arte Publico Press, 1994, and she is a frequent contributor to Spanish language newspapers in Connecticut. She is currently the editor of Latin Arte News and has been volunteer editor of arts sections for several Spanish-language papers in Connecticut. As a Master Teaching Artist for the Commission on the Arts, she has been a writer-in-residence at several area elementary and middle schools. Reyna who was born in Cuba and grew up in Panama is a graduate of Mt. Holyoke College (B.A.) and the University of Connecticut (M.A. and J.D.) Steve Straight Writing from Self to Other This workshop is an invitation for writers to step outside themselves and expand their poetic canvasses. In interesting games and exercises, we'll take a series of steps from poems about ourselves to poems from the point of view of others to persona poems, producing new drafts or ideas for drafts along the way. Biographical Note: Steve Straight is professor of English and director of the poetry program at Manchester Community College. His first full-length book of poetry, The Water Carrier, was published by Curbstone Press in 2002. For many years Straight directed the Connecticut Poetry Circuit, and for many summers he directed the Seminar Series for the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival. He has given workshops on writing and teaching throughout the eastern United States and in Ireland. 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. READING by Cortney Davis, Bessy Reyna, and Steve Straight, followed by a booksigning See next page for registration form and directions to Asnuntuck. Please print out this form, fill it out, and send by May 4th, with your check made payable to Asnuntuck Community College to: WORKSHOPS: $15 each, $10 each for students & seniors (bring your own writing materials) BOXED LUNCH: Turkey and Cheese or Vegetarian: includes chips, fruit, cookies, and beverage $10.00 FRESHWATER Tee-shirts, totebags, copies of FRESHWATER 2006, books by workshop leaders, and a selection of other books will be on sale all day. WORKSHOP SEATING IS LIMITED. REGISTER EARLY TO ENSURE A SEAT. Check our web page: www.acc.commnet.edu/freshwater.htm for details on workshops and a printout registration form or print out and use the form below: 7th Annual Freshwater Poetry Festival Registration Form Name____________________________________________________________ Address___________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Phone_( )___________________________ E-mail______________ Box Lunch $10.00 (turkey and cheese or vegetarian: includes chips, cookies, fruit, and beverage) __Yes______Turkey __Vegetarian__________ NO_____________ Workshop Choice: $15.00 each, $10.00 each for students and seniors Morning Sessions (choose one): ____Gregory Coleman: Enhancing Our Creativity: Labyrinths and Writing Poetry ____Dianne Bilyak: Publishing Your Poetry ____Edwina Trentham: What Really Matters: Transforming Life into Poetry Afternoon Sessions (choose one): ____Cortney Davis: Three Strange Angels: Writing the Personal Lyric Poem ____Steve Straight: Writing from Self to Other Return with check to: Edwina Trentham Asnuntuck Community College 170 Elm Street Enfield, CT 06082 Directions to Asnuntuck Community College From the South– Take 91 Northbound to Exit 48. Turn Right at the end of the ramp onto Route 220 (Elm Street). Travel East through five traffic lights. The college will be on the right. Parking is available directly in front of the building as well as in the back. From the North— Take 91 Southbound to Exit 48. Turn Left at the end of the ramp onto Route 220 (Elm Street). Continue with directions as above from the South Asnuntuck will be on your right. Contact: Bessy Reyna www.bessyreyna.com _________________________________________________________________ PRESS RELEASE March 10, 2006 Poetry Reading at the Avon Library Avon, Ct. --- There will be a poetry reading at the Avon Public Library on Friday, April 7 at 7:00 p.m. Five poets will read from their work followed by an open-mic session hosted by Colin Haskins. To participate in the open-mic session, please arrive at 6:30 p.m for registration. Refreshments will be served.
On the program for the evening are Stanford M. Forrester, past president of the Haiku Society of America and editor & founder of “bottle rockets: a collection of short verse;” Tom Nicotera, co-host of Bloomfield Library's Wintonbury Poetry Series and editor of "Charter Oak Poets II," a collection of works from Hartford area writers; Virginia Shreve, a poet who resides in Collinsville, CT; John Basinger, member of the National Theatre of the Deaf and retired teacher of theater and sign language at Three Rivers Community College, known for his performance readings of "Paradise Lost;" and poet Stephanie Elliott. Bringing Nature Into the Classroom East Meets West Hartford Public Library provides strategic programs that respond to citizens’ real needs and interests. The library offers programs for parenting, literacy and language development; programs for technical literacy and competency; and programs for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Hartford Public Library also provides a cultural and artistic forum that reflects the city’s diverse and vibrant community. The Library has 650,000 visits each year. For more information call (860) 695-6295. Bessy Reyna http://www.bessyreyna.com _________________________________________________________________ PRESS RELEASE February 20, 2006 Poet Gjertrud Schnackenberg, Wallace Stevens Poetry Program STORRS, Conn.- The University of Connecticut's English Department is proud to host Gjertrud Schnackenberg as the guest poet for the 43rd annual Wallace Stevens Poetry Program on March 15-16, 2006. The program will also feature poetry readings by the University and high school students who won the Wallace Stevens Poetry Contest. Gjertrud Schnackenberg is the author of five books of poetry: The Throne of Labdacus (winner of the 2001 Los Angeles Times Book Prize and a New York Times Notable Book); Supernatural Love: Poems 1976-1992; A Gilded Lapse of Time; The Lamplit Answer; and Portraits and Elegies. Ms. Schnackenberg's writing has been honored with the Rome Prize, an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Lavan Younger Poets Award from the Academy of American Poets, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the Radcliffe Institute. She has also been a Visiting Fellow at St. Catherine's College, Oxford, and a Visiting Scholar at the Getty Research Institute for the History of Art and Humanities. Gjertrud Schnackenberg will read from her work Wednesday, March 15 at noon in Hartford at the Charter Oak Cultural Center, 21 Charter Oak Avenue. She will present a second reading on Thursday, March 16 at 8 p.m. in the Konover Auditorium of the Dodd Center at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. These readings are sponsored by the University of Connecticut English Department with the generous support of The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. Both readings are free and open to the public. For more information, please see the University of Connecticut Creative Writing Program website: http://www.longriver.uconn.edu Contact: Penelope Pelizzon at 860-486-3870 or Amanda Kushin at 860-427-3365 _________________________________________________________________ PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 17, 2006 POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP AT HILL-STEAD MUSEUM The Art and Craft of Revision with Pit Pinegar On Saturday, March 11, 10 am - 4 pm, Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, CT, will present “The Art & Craft of Revision,” a poetry writing workshop for adults led by Pit Menousek Pinegar. Teacher, photographer, performer and author of three collections of poetry, Ms. Pinegar will guide participants in the process of creating fully realized poems. Registration is $75 for museum members and students, $90 for all others. To register, call 860.677.4787 ext 111. For more information on the workshop and poetry programs at Hill-Stead, including the 2006 summer-long Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, browse http://www.hillstead.org. After eight years in editing, directing and teaching roles at Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, CT, Pit Pinegar left to pursue the “really big blank page” of inventing a niche for her many talents. Ten years later, her business, A Creative Life, is a rich resource for schools, businesses and individuals seeking meaningful self-expression. Ms. Pinegar was featured in Hill-Stead’s Sunken Garden Poetry Festival in 1992, and again in 2001. For several years she has directed Hill-Stead's urban outreach program for aspiring Hartford high school poets and also serves as a mentor for young writers in the museum's Young Poets Competition. She is a teaching artist at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts, the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts and the Center for Creative Youth at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. Her work has appeared in such journals as Kalliope and Connecticut Review. About her latest Pulitzer Prize-nominated collection, The Physics of Transmigration, Cynthia Hogue has written, “The lush poems… have an extravagant energy…This exquisite book will haunt you!” For more about the author, please visit http://www.pitpinegar.com. _________________________________________________________________ PRESS RELEASE IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 18, 2006 OIL DRUM ARTWORKS AT CAROUSEL MUSEUM (Free admission for March 11, open to the public) BRISTOL-Two Oil Drum Art exhibitions will be featured at the New England Carousel Museum, located at the Bristol Center for Arts and Culture, 95 Riverside Ave., Bristol CT. The exhibitions are free and open to the public on Saturday, March 11, 2006 from 1-4:00 PM The upstairs gallery will feature approximately 100 children's drum artworks. The children’s exhibit features free hands-on drum painting workshop, poetry readings from the Connecticut Poetry Society, musical entertainment by UROCK Performance Group of Waterbury and the Don Fazekas Trio, playing percussion oil drums. Performance times TBA. The downstairs fine arts gallery will display 30 drum artworks created by artists from Hartford, New Haven, Waterbury, and the Naugatuck Valley. Both exhibits will be on display at the museum until April 18. Hours through March: Wednesday through Saturday, 10 AM to 5 PM and Sunday from 12 noon to 5 PM April – November: Monday through Saturday, 10 AM to 5 PM and Sunday from 12 noon to 5 PM Museum admission is: Adults $5, Children 4-14 $2.50, 10% discount for seniors and AAA members, museum members and children under 4 are free. For information or advanced sign up for children’s drum painting call The Bristol Center for Arts and Culture at 860-585-5411. The New England Carousel Museum and Oil Drum Art are both registered nonprofit organizations. _________________________________________________________________ PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 9, 2006 Poetry Reading by Connecticut Poetry Society Editor Tony Fusco from Cadusceus, Vol. 3. a Yale Medical Group Art Place Publication. New Haven – Tony Fusco, Editor of Cadusceus: Volume 3 will be participating in a poetry reading with the contributing poets published in Cadusceus, a publication of Yale Medical Group Art Place on Thursday, January 26, 2006 at 6:00 PM at the Yale Bookstore, 77 Broadway, New Haven, CT. Mr. Fusco is also the editor of The Connecticut River Review published annually by the Connecticut Poetry Society and a valued member of that organization. For information about this event: Richard G. Carlson Events Coordinator Yale Bookstore (203) 777-8440 (Ext. 165). For information on the Connecticut Poetry Society: Joan Ketrys, President 203-753-7815 Press Contact: Lorna Morris Cyr Publicity, Connecticut Poetry Society 205 Country Lane Bristol, CT. 06010 860-584-2857 cyrlm@sbcglobal.net _________________________________________________________________ Wintonbury Branch Poetry Series---Spring 2006 Wintonbury Library, Bloomfield, CT January 3, 2006 Please join us for our lively poetry readings at the Wintonbury Branch every third Thursday at 7:00 PM from January through April. We have a slate of notable Connecticut poets lined up and you can share your own work or favorite poems in the "open mike" that follows the featured reader(s). Here's our schedule for spring. Hope to see you here. Thanks and Happy New Year! January 19 Two Poets: John Basinger Accomplished poet and poetry performer, long-associated with the National Theatre of the Deaf Marilyn Johnston Pushcart Prize nominee, author of the chapbook, Against Disappearance--Redgreene Press Finalist 2001 February 16 Jon Andersen Author of acclaimed first book, Stomp and Sing (Curbstone Press); recipient of the Working People's Poetry Award 2003 March 16 Ken McManus Windsor poet, Pushcart Prize nominee, publishing credits include Black Arts Quarterly April 20 Sue Ellen Thompson Author of several poetry collections, including her recent book, Leaving: New and Selected Poems, nominated for a Pulitzer Prize Contact: Marilyn Johnston Wintonbury Branch Library 1015 Blue Hills Avenue Bloomfield, CT 06002 860-242-0041 _________________________________________________________________ PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 16, 2005 NEW DEADLINE FOR WINCHELL CONTEST The Connecticut Poetry Society proudly presents the Wallace W. Winchell Poetry Contest Awards: 1st Place: $150 2nd Place: $100 3rd Place: $50Includes publication in Connecticut River Review Entry Fee: $10. for 3 poems. Postmarked between October 1 through December 31, 2005 Any subject. Max. 40 lines. Poems must be neatly typed on 8 ½ x 11 paper. Poems must be original, unpublished. NO simultaneous submissions. Identify each submission as Winchell Contest upper-left corner. Two (2) copies one with complete contact information upper-right corner, one without. Upon notification of winning, poem must be submitted by email or disc. Mail entries: The Winchell Contest, P.O. Box 4053, Waterbury, CT 06704-0053 Contact: Lorna Morris Cyr 205 Country Lane Bristol, CT. 06010 Tel: 860-584-2857 or cyrlm@sbcglobal.net _________________________________________________________________ PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 3, 2005 The Connecticut Poetry Society is excepting entries for the: Wallace W. Winchell Poetry Contest Contest Awards: Place: $150 2nd Place: $100 3rd Place: $50 Includes publication in Connecticut River Review Entry Fee: $10. for 3 poems. Postmarked between October 1 through December 1, 2005 Any subject. Max. 40 lines. Poems must be neatly typed on 8 ½ x 11 paper. Poems must be original, unpublished. NO simultaneous submissions. Identify each submission as Winchell Contest upper-left corner. Two (2) copies one with complete contact information upper-right corner, one without. Upon notification of winning, poem must be submitted by email or disc. Mail entries to: The Winchell Contest, P.O. Box 4053, Waterbury, CT 06704-0053 Founded in 1974 The Connecticut Poetry Society, (CPS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and enjoyment of poetry with a twenty-five year tradition of excellence in publishing the work of national and Connecticut poets. Our mission is to support the art form of poetry with chapter meetings, contests, and events dedicated to CPS members throughout the state. Chapters meet monthly to workshop original poetry; chapters also sponsor readings, lectures, and programs in their communities. Membership dues, contests, grants and corporate entities sponsor CPS. CPS sponsors three poetry contests on an annual basis: The Wallace W. Winchell Contest (October-December), the Joseph E. Brodine/Brodinsky (May-July) and the Lynn DeCaro Poetry Memorial Contest for Connecticut High School Students. CPS publishes, bi-annually “The Connecticut River Review” (CRR) journal of poetry, and for Members only: “Long River Run II” (a journal dedicated to selected works exclusively by CPS members) and sponsors the CRR Annual Poetry Contest. Contact: Mrs. Lorna Morris Cyr 205 Country Lane Bristol, CT. 06010 Tel: 860-584-2857 or cyrlm@sbcglobal.net _____________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 27, 2005 DURING THE BEAUTY SHORTAGE Now Available Sandy Hook, CT Charles Rafferty is pleased to announce publication of his third book of poems titled During the Beauty Shortage. It is available via Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0970780249/qid=1127400262/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i1_xgl14/002-8547013-4202453?v=glance&s=books&n=507846 Editorial Review from Amazon: In his third collection of poetry, Charles Rafferty proves once again that he is among the elite of American poets with his skillful use of form and lyricism, combined with his keen narrative observations. About the Author Charles Rafferty is the author of The Man on the Tower (University of Arkansas Press, 1995), which won the Arkansas Poetry Award, and Where the Glories of April Lead (Mitki/Mitki Press, 2001). He has published poems in TriQuarterly, The Southern Review, Quarterly West, Massachusetts Review, DoubleTake, Louisiana Literature, Connecticut River Review, The Laurel Review, Poetry East, and Connecticut Review, as well as in an anthology published by Carnegie Mellon University Press—American Poetry: The Next Generation. Recent awards include the Robinson Jeffers Tor House Prize for Poetry, the River Styx International Poetry Prize, and a grant from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts. He currently teaches American literature and writing at Albertus Magnus College and works as an editor for a technology consulting firm. He lives in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, with his wife and two daughters. Product Details Paperback: 80 pages Publisher: M2 Press (July 15, 2005) ISBN: 0970780249 Charles Rafferty _________________________________________________________________ September 26, 2005 WHITLOCK FARM BOOKSELLERS ANNOUNCES 2005 FALL SERIES 2005 FALL SERIES POETS &WRITERS Sat., Oct. 1, 1 p.m. • FRANZ DOUSKEY, poet and author of forthcoming biography, The Unknown Sinatra. • ALISON MEYERS, poet and Artistic Director of the Hillstead Museum’s Sunken Garden Poetry Festival. • KATE RUSHIN, poet and Visiting Writer, Wesleyan University. • JOE BENTIVEGNA, novelist, The Lords of Greenwich. UPCOMING: Sat. Nov. 5, 1 p.m. • PRISCILLA BUCKLEY, retired managing editor, National Review; author of Living It Up With National Review: A Memoir; and String of Pearls: On the News Beat in New York and Paris. • Poetry Slam: Youths vs. Adults, led by Elizabeth Thomas of UpWordsPoetry.com Sat., Nov. 19, 1 p.m. • DIANE SMITH, author, WTIC Morning Show co-host and CPTV producer, with her latest books. • DAN POPE, novelist, In The Cherry Tree. RAND COOPER, novelist, Big As Life. TONYA HEGAMIN, poet, Soul Mountain Retreat. AUTHOR NOTES, 10-1-05 EVENT Poet Franz Douskey has been published in more than 150 journals and magazines including the New Yorker, Rolling Stone and Yankee. He teaches creative writing at Yale and communications and English at Gateway Community & Technical College. A featured guest at New Haven's Festival of Arts &Ideas, Douskey's books include Rowing Across The Dark. He is a founding board member of the IMPAC-Connecticut State University Young Writers Trust and has served as a judge every year of the competition. Douskey is also the author of the forthcoming biography, The Unknown Sinatra. Kate Rushin is the author of The Black Back-ups. Her award-winning"The Bridge Poem" appeared in This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, recipient of the 1986 Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award. She received the Rose Low Rome Memorial Poetry Prize and the Grolier Poetry Prize, and was a Connecticut Circuit Poet in 1997. She is Adjunct Assistant Professor and Visiting Writer, African American Studies, at Wesleyan University. Alison Meyers is Artistic Director of Hill-Stead Museum's Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, Farmington, CT. She is the author of three chapbooks of poetry and fiction. She is the recipient of two Pushcart Prize nominations and a Second Place in the Common Ground Review 2004 Competition. She has served as a Time for Ideas in Libraries Humanities Scholar and a Visiting Poet in several Hartford, CT, public schools. She conducts workshops and reads throughout New England Joseph Bentivegna's novel of corruption in Connecticut, The Lords of Greenwich, has been called a clever mixture of medicine, murder and politics. An eye surgeon, Bentivegna's other books include When To Refuse Treatment and The Neglected and Abused: A Physician's Year in Haiti. DETAILS AND DIRECTIONS For more information, contact: Norm Pattis / Andy Thibault WHITLOCK PUBLISHING 20 SPERRY ROAD BETHANY, CT 06524 PHONE 203-393-1240 DIRECTIONS TO WHITLOCK'S BOOK BARN FROM NEW HAVEN (OR THE WILBUR CROSS PARKWAY, EXIT 59) 4 MILES NORTH ON RTE. 69 LEFT ON MORRIS ROAD AT THE BETHANY / WOODBRIDGE LINE FOLLOW FOR ½ MILE BEAR RT. ON SPERRY IMMEDIATE RT. INTO DRIVEWAY FROM WATERBURY 8 MILES SOUTH ON RTE. 69 RIGHT ON MORRIS ROAD FOLLOW FOR ½ MILE BEAR RT. ON SPERRY IMMEDIATE RT. INTO DRIVEWAY _________________________________________________________________ August 30, 2005 PRESS RELEASE IMMEDIATE RELEASE ATTENTION: ADVANCED NOTICE FOR ARTISTS AND VOLUNTEERS. Contact: Lorna M. Cyr, cyrlm@sbcglobal.net A new international art form called Oil Drum Art will combine a much older medium, carousel art, at the New England Carousel Museum. A day-long event will combine a painting workshop for children, an oil drum art exhibition, artists’ talks and entertainment. The exhibit will be held in March, 2005 at the Carousel Museum’s Fine Art Gallery located at the Bristol Center for Arts and Culture. The Connecticut Poetry Society will present readings by published poets and conduct children’s poetry workshops by renowned West Hartford Poet Laureate, Mari Sassi. Don Fazekas a drummer from Naugatuck, CT. will provide musical presentations on his “oil drum” art creation. UROCK Performance Group of Waterbury will be showcasing talent young singers and dancers. The New England Carousel Museum will hold workshops showcasing carousel and fair ground art. Guided tours of this unique museum will be given throughout the day. This event is made possible by a grant from The Connecticut Commission for Culture and Tourism Bureau, Hartford, CT. Oil Drum Art and The New England Carousel Museum are currently seeking donations for a matching grant to make all the above aspects of this event possible. Anyone who would like to contribute or be a part of this exciting event, which will attract artists of all media, please contact: Jack Lardis, Director, Oil Drum Art at 203-729-0800 or Andrew Goldstein, Office Manager of the Bristol Center for Arts and Culture at 860-585-5411 _________________________________________________________________ IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONNECTICUT POETRY SOCIETY CONTEST The Connecticut Poetry Society is now accepting poetry for the annual Al Savard Memorial Poetry Competition. Open to Connecticut poets only. Postmark deadline: June 1, 2005. Fee: $10. for submission of three (3) poems, payable to Connecticut Poetry Society. Awards: 1st. $100. 2nd. $75. 3rd. $50. Publication in Long River Run II, a CPS members anthology. Poems must be original and unpublished. Any form, up to 40 lines each. Include two copies of each poem: one with complete contact information in upper right corner, and second copy with NO contact information. Include SASE. Mark both copies: The Al Savard Memorial Poetry Contest. For information: 203-753-7815 Send submissions or inquiries to: The Al Savard Memorial Poetry Contest c/o Connecticut Poetry Society P.O. Box 4053 Waterbury, CT. 06704-0053 Founded in 1974, The Connecticut Poetry Society, (CPS) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion and enjoyment of poetry with a twenty-five year tradition of excellence in publishing the work of national and Connecticut poets. Our mission is to support the art form of poetry with chapter meetings, contests, and events dedicated to CPS members throughout the state. Chapters meet monthly to workshop original poetry; chapters also sponsor readings, lectures, and programs in their communities. Membership dues, contests, grants and corporate entities sponsor CPS. CPS sponsors three poetry contests on an annual basis: The Wallace W. Winchell Contest (October-December), the Joseph E. Brodine/Brodinsky (May-July) and the Lynn DeCaro Poetry Memorial Contest for Connecticut High School Students. CPS publishes, bi-annually “The Connecticut River Review” (CRR) journal of poetry, and for Members only: “Long River Run II” (a journal dedicated to selected works exclusively by CPS members) and sponsors the CRR Annual Poetry Contest. Contact: Mrs. Lorna M. Cyr, Public Relations Connecticut Poetry Society 205 Country Lane Bristol, CT. 06010 Tele: 860-584-2857 or cyrlm@sbcglobal.net _________________________________________________________________ May 3, 2005 Williams & Gray’s Promotions In concurrence with the Art’s & Ideas Festival Presents: POETIC RENDEZVOUS @New Haven Free Public Library On Thursday June 16, 2005 at 6:00 pm the New Haven Free Public Library will be hosting Poetic Rendezvous sponsored by Williams & Gray’s Promotions in concurrence with the Art’s & Ideas Festival. Interested participants will be allowed to register at the New Haven Free Public Library 133 Elm Street New Haven, CT. Spoken Word artist will be invited to register from May 2, 2004 until June 9, 2005, registration forms will be located at the Audio Visual Desk and Computer Desk on the lower level of the library. Deadline for participants is June 9, 2005 upon the deadline date there will not be another chance to registration, there will not be any type of walk-in performances; if you do not register by the deadline date of June 9, 2005 you will not be able to perform. Registered artist will be called in advance of showcase date of June 16, 2005 and will be asked to bring the following items: 1. Poets are asked bring 1 form of Identification to correspond with registration form. 2. Poets are asked to bring typed version of the material he/she will be performing for Local press. Poets are asked to arrive at 5:00 pm on Thursday June 16, 2005 to arrange the numeric order in which each artist will perform. Showtime will begin 6:00 pm sharp on Thursday June 16, 2005 in the Program Room of the New Haven Free Public Library. For more information please contact: www.cgray@williamsgrays.com www.cityofnewhaven.com/library (203)-843-8919 (203)-946-8125 _________________________________________________________________ May 3, 2005 HUDSON VALLEY POETS FEST SATURDAY, AUGUST 13 Now in its third year, the HUDSON VALLEY POETS FEST, originally developed as a grassroots alternative to the Woodstock Poetry Festival, has become a summer tradition gathering together poets and musicians from Manhattan to Albany to celebrate their art, their muse, and their big creative hearts. Taking place in the beautifully resonant environs of the WIDOW JANE MINE, Rt. 213 in Rosendale, NY, the HUDSON VALLEY POETS FEST will be held on SATURDAY, AUGUST 13th 2005 from noon to dusk. This year, a pot luck picnic will take place throughout the day as will a two poem limit open mic. A $4.00 donation is requested, with all proceeds going to the Century House Historical Society, caretakers of the WIDOW JANE MINE and the Snyder Estate. Hosted by Mike Jurkovic, HVPF '05 will feature many regional poetic luminaries, published both nationally and internationally. Poets already scheduled include Will Nixon, Barbara Adams, Sharon Nichols, Bill Seaton, Cheryl Anne Rice, Robert Milby and John Faucett. who will be reading from his new book "ALONG THE ROAD TRAVELLED" ISBN 1859291260 by Remus House http://194.164.139.3/08_shop/shop_04.htm with a release date of 5-21-05 Artists, craftspeople, and socially conscious organizations who wish to set up booths can contact Dietrich Werner at rosendalebuff@aol.com for information. For more information concerning HVPF '05, please contact Mike Jurkovic at (914) 474-7758 or rnrcurmudgeon@yahoo.com . Hudson Valley Poets Fest '05 Saturday, August 13th Noon - Dusk _________________________________________________________________ April 26, 2005 Spend an evening with Bessy Reyna and celebrate the debut of her new book of poems, THE Battlefield of Your Body "Bessy Reyna is an honest poet. She writes unflinchingly of loss: a lost island, a lost lover, a lost moment. She faces the police beating of a friend or a father's drunken stupor with the same bravery. Yet she can also sense the fleeting poetry in a circle of fallen leaves, in the intimacy of bodies. Bessy Reyna is a clear-eyed guide to the world we see but don't see." -Martín Espada Thursday, May 12 6 - 7:30pm Hill-Stead Museum 35 Mountain Road, Farmington 860.677.4787 www.hillstead.org Conversation with the poet, 6 pm Reading, 6:30 pm Book signing/reception, 6:45 pm Free to the public. Bessy is a Hartford Courant Columnist and a recipient of the Connecticut Latina Citizen of the Year Award. The book is available at the Hill-Stead Museum gift shop or by mail. THE EASY WAY TO GET TO HILL STEAD MUSEUM From 84W Take exit 38 (6 West Bristol) Follow 6 West for 1 mile. At second light (big intersection) take a RIGHT and immediate LEFT on Mountain Road. Follow Mountain Rd to end. At Stop sign take a RIGHT. The entrance to Hill Stead will be on your right about 1/10 mile from stop sign. _________________________________________________________________ Wintonbury Branch Poetry Series Wintonbury Library, Bloomfield, CT April 12, 2005 Theodore Deppe-- Thursday April 21, 2005 at 7:00 pm. Mr. Deppe is author of three books of poetry. He has received two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, one from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, and one from the Massachusetts Cultural Council. His work has received a Pushcart Prize and has been published in such journals as Poetry, Harper's Magazine and The New England Review. An open mike will follow the featured poet. Lonnie Black-- "Tapping into Your Poetic Awareness"--Two Poetry Writing Workshops--Tuesday May 17 and Tuesday May 24 at 6:30 pm How do we draw from our everyday experience, turn passing images and sudden insights into the language of good poems? Popular Hartford poet Lonnie Black will focus on these questions in two Tuesday evening workshops. Black, an accomplished poet-teacher known for his lively and informative teaching style has been a Mentor Poet for the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival and teaches at the Litchfield Center for the Performing Arts. These sessions are appropriate for adults at every skill level. Registration is required. To register, please call 860-242-0041. Wintonbury Library 1015 Blue Hills Avenue Bloomfield, CT 06002 860-242-0041 Marilyn Johnston, hosts _________________________________________________________________ POETRY FORUM April 3, 2005 Contact Michael C. Juliano 203-722-0146 m.juliano@excite.com COFFEEHOUSE POETRY AT SONO CAFFEINE SoNo Caffeine, 133 Washington St., Norwalk, CT, Sunday, April 3, 4:30 to 6 p.m. An open forum for poets to share their work. Sign up at 4 p.m. Readings from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Contact SoNo Caffeine at 857-4224 or Michael C. Juliano at (203) 722-0146 for information. _________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 18, 2005 HARTFORD’S OIL DRUM ART WAS EXCITING NEW ART FORM HARTFORD – 2005 ArtSpace Gallery was packed with artists and curious visitors who came to witness the arrival of a new grass roots art movement called Oil Drum Art. The diverse artworks covered a wide range of interpersonal expressions aesthetic and geopolitical. The president and founder of Oil Drum Art, Jack Lardis of Beacon Falls, CT, opened the ceremonies with remarks on how quickly the concept has spread throughout Connecticut art communities. Mr. Lardis introduced special guests, Mr. Ken Kahn, Executive Director of Greater Hartford Arts Council, and Ms. Jennifer Aniskovich, Executive Director of the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. Mr. Kahn spoke about the ingenuity of the artists and their creative solutions. Ms. Aniskovich, stressed the importance of new art in the state of Connecticut and how Oil Drum Art was setting an example of innovation and fresh thinking. Renowned artist, Gary Jacobs of the ArtSpace Coop was juror for the exhibition. The awards were presented to the winners by Mr. Lardis who explained why there were two categories -- aesthetic and geopolitical, evoking a infinite range of interpretations. The evening came to a close with an oil drum beat, a jazz rendition by professional drummer, Don Fazekas of Naugatuck and accompanist, Bill Mangon of Derby who played the bass guitar. Mr. Fazekas designed a large drum made from three oil drums and configured to look like a black crushed soda can. Mr. Lardis made a final comment: "Provocative drum artwork involves the viewer to a greater degree than passive art which makes the visitor feel more connected. Eventually Oil Drum Art hopes to achieve its mission of having an international Exhibition with drum artworks coming to Connecticut from artists around the world. He smiled and commented, “Stay tuned....” Awards: BEST OF SHOW: “Dependency” Tao Labossiere AESTHETIC CATERGORY: First Prize: “Observatorium” by Clinton Deckert Second Prize: “HMS Perry” by Amanda Perry Recognition Award: “City in the Round” by Edwin C. Lomerson III GEOPOLITICAL CATEGORY: First Prize: “Hearts and Minds” by Natasha Cohen Second Prize: “Exhausting” by Kevin Kingsley Recognition Award: “no place to hide” by Lorna Morris Cyr Oil Drum Art, Inc. is a non-profit organization extabished by Jack Lardis in Beacon Falls, CT. 203-729-0800. Summitted by: Lorna M. Cyr, Publicity, Oil Drum Art 860-584-2857. cyrlm@sbcglobal.net _________________________________________________________________ Caduceus reading and 2005 submissions March 17, 2005
Fairfield Review Releases Chapbook of Poetry in Dialog “Couplets: Conversations in Poetry” Features the editors of The Fairfield Review FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Fairfield, Conn. [December 26, 2004] The Fairfield Review, Connecticut's first on-line literary magazine, has published a chapbook of poetry written by the husband-and-wife editors of The Fairfield Review. The announcement was made today by co-founders and publishers Edward and Janet Granger-Happ of Fairfield, Conn.Entitled "Couplets: Conversations in Poetry," the booklet of 50 original poems presents a unique format in which the husband-and-wife team, both poets in his and her own right, craft poems on the same theme or subject. The result is an intriguing look at how two highly different poets approach the same subject, each with his and her own unique language, style, and sensibility. The special booklet of poems was published "as a gift to our loyal readers and a celebration of our seven-year relationship with each other and the poetry we bring to the web for each issue of The Fairfield Review," said the Granger-Happs. Founded in 1997, The Fairfield Review contains selected poetry, short stories and essays submitted nationally and internationally by emerging poets and authors, and selected by the Granger-Happs, who also serve as co-editors. With a subscriber base of 2,300 visitors per month, the non-profit literary magazine is published quarterly on www.fairfieldreview.org. "Couplets: Conversations in Poetry” is available through a donation to the Fairfield Review’s web site at www.fairfieldreview.org. Excerpts available on the web site and by request. Contact: Janet Granger-Happ, Edward Granger-Happ, Co-Editors, The Fairfield Review, (203) 256-1960, "fairfieldreview at hpmd dot com" ** Jessica Bram, Jessica Bram Communications, (203) 227-3250, "jessica at jbram dot com" ** ** Please replace the "at" and "dot" with the usual email characters. (This helps keep the SPAM search engines at bay :) _________________________________________________________________ POETRY FORUM December 25, 2004 Contact Michael C. Juliano 203-722-0146 m.juliano@excite.com COFFEEHOUSE POETRY AT SONO CAFFEINE SoNo Caffeine, 133 Washington St., Norwalk, CT, will hold an open poetry reading from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 2. It is a forum for poets to read their work. Held every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month. Sign-up starts at 4 p.m. Contact SoNo Caffeine at 857-4224 or www.caffeinecoffee.com or contact Michael C. Juliano at 722-0146 or at m.juliano@excite.com for information. _________________________________________________________________ Contact: Lorna Cyr 860-584-2857 Email: cyrlm@sbcglobal.net PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ARTIST AND POET OPPORTUNITIES CALL TO ARTISTS FOR OIL DRUM ART EXHIBITION IN HARTFORD'S ART SPACE GALLERY HARTFORD -- Oil Drum Art and Hartford Art Space Gallery have put out a Call To Artists of every artistic discipline -- painting, sculpture, printmaking, video, architecture, theater, lighting, music, literature, etc. -- to create interpersonal artworks for the March 3-12 exhibition. Free 55-gallon oil drums are available by contacting Chris Phillips at the Art Space Complex. The exhibition theme is open to aesthetic, environmental or geopolitical statements about our society. This provocative art exhibition will include oil drum artworks by over 40 Greater Hartford and Southern Connecticut artists which will be on display at the Art Space Gallery, 555 Asylum Avenue in Hartford, from March 3rd through the 12th. Delivery of the artworks will be during February 27 to March 2nd at Art Space. Several artists will give talks followed by an audience discussion about their oil drum art creations. There will be an awards presentation for outstanding artworks at 7 PM during the opening reception. A musical performance will follow the awards featuring a new drum genres produced by Don Fazekas, professional drummer. He created the musical instrument from three oil drums and his demonstration will be accompanied with a bass guitarist. The exhibition is free and open to the public. The weekday hours are Monday through Friday from noon to 2 PM. The opening reception takes place during the Greater Hartford Arts Council™ Aetna First Thursday," March 3rd from 5 to 8 PM. A closing reception will feature a poetry recital from the Connecticut Poetry Society on Saturday, March 12th from noon to 3PM. The selected poets will reflect on the impact oil is making on our environment and society. Artists interested in participating in the Oil drum Art Exhibition should call Chris Phillips at Art Space at 860-690-8359 for free oil drums. For general information contact Lorna Cyr at 860-584-2857, Scott Tao LaBossiere at 860-978-2622 or Jack Lardis at 203-729-0800. HARTFORD'S ART SPACE LAUNCHES OIL DRUM ART HARTFORD -- A provocative art exhibition made of oil drum artworks by over 40 Greater Hartford and Southern Connecticut artists will be on display at the Art Space Gallery, 555 Asylum Avenue in Hartford, from March 3rd through the 12th. These artworks were created from 55-gallon oil drums which were made into aesthetic or geopolitical statements about our society. Several artists will give a talk and have a discussion with the audience about their oil drum art creations. There will be an awards presentation for outstanding artworks to selected artists at 7 PM during the opening reception. A musical performance will follow the awards featuring a new drum genres produced by Don Fazekas, professional drummer. He created the musical instrument from three oil drums and his demonstration will be accompanied with a bass guitarist. The exhibition is free and open to the public. The weekday hours are Monday through Friday from noon to 2 PM. The opening reception takes place during the Greater Hartford Arts Council Aetna First Thursday," March 3rd from 5 to 8 PM. A closing reception will feature a poetry recital from the Connecticut Poets Society on Saturday, March 12th from noon to 3PM. The selected poets will reflect on the impact oil is making on our environment and society. For information contact Lorna Cyr at 860-584-2857, Chris Phillips at 860-690-8359 or Jack Lardis at 203-729-0800. _________________________________________________________________ POETRY FORUM December 19, 2004 Contact Michael C. Juliano 203-722-0146 m.juliano@excite.com COFFEEHOUSE POETRY AT SONO CAFFEINE SoNo Caffeine, 133 Washington St., Norwalk, CT, will hold an open poetry reading from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 19. It is a forum for poets to read their work. Held every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month. Sign-up starts at 4 p.m. Contact SoNo Caffeine at 857-4224 or www.caffeinecoffee.com or contact Michael C. Juliano at 722-0146 or at m.juliano@excite.com for information. _________________________________________________________________ POETRY FORUM December 5, 2004 Contact Michael C. Juliano 203-722-0146 m.juliano@excite.com COFFEEHOUSE POETRY AT SONO CAFFEINE SoNo Caffeine, 133 Washington St., Norwalk, CT, will hold an open poetry reading from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5. It is a forum for poets to read their work. Held every 1st and 3rd Sunday of the month. Sign-up starts at 4 p.m. Contact SoNo Caffeine at 857-4224 or www.caffeinecoffee.com or contact Michael C. Juliano at 722-0146 or at m.juliano@excite.com for information.
CALL FOR ARTISTS PERFORMANCE DANCE (TM) announces its Artistic Performance Series A PROFESSIONAL SHOWCASE FOR ESTABLISHED AND EMERGING ARTISTS FEBRUARY 6 AND 7, 2004 AT 8 P.M. 12 FITCH ST. – NORWALK, CT THE NEXT ARTISTIC PERFORMANCE SERIES TAKES PLACE APRIL 3, 2004 @ 8 P.M. SEEKING NEW, INNOVATIVE WORKS BY ESTABLISHED AND EMERGING LOCAL CONNECTICUT ARTISTS. ONGOING SERIES! CONCERT TAKES PLACE THE FIRST WEEKEND EVERY TWO MONTHS. INTERESTED CHOREOGRAPHERS, MUSICIANS, CREATIVE WRITERS, POETS, AND PERFORMANCE ARTISTS SHOULD SUBMIT A VIDEO OR CD SAMPLING OF THEIR WORK TO: PERFORMANCE DANCE(TM) 12 FITCH STREET NORWALK, CT 06855 WWW.PERFORMANCEDANCE.COM DANCE@PERFORMANCEDANCE. COM 203-855-1118 _________________________________________________________________ The Poet's Voice Sundays at 3 p.m. Fairfield County Connecticut Libraries Edward Hirsch Fairfield Public Library < 1080 Old Post Rd., Fairfield, CT < 203-256-3155 September 21, 2003 Sue Ellen Thompson New Canaan Library < 151 Main St., New Canaan, CT < 203-594-5003 November 16, 2003 Kevin Pilkington Greenwich Library < 101 West Putnam Ave., Greenwich, CT < 203-622-7900 February 22, 2004 Marjorie Agosin Ferguson Library < 1 Public Library Plaza, Stamford, CT < 203-964-1000 March 21, 2004 Mary Jo Salter Darien Library < 35 Leroy Ave., Darien, CT < 203-655-1234 April 4, 2004 Ruth Stone Westport Library < Arnold Bernhard Plaza, Westport, CT < 203-291-4840 April 25, 2004 These readings are supported by the Horace E. Manacher Poetry Fund. _________________________________________________________________ Public Service Announcement: LAST CALL To enter YOUNG WRITERS COMPETITION $19,000 IN CASH AWARDS Deadline -- February 1, 2004 Postmark Attention young writers: Write now to win $1,000 for a poem, essay or work of fiction IMPAC-Connecticut State University Young Writers Trust 231 Beach St. Litchfield, CT 06759 Tel. 800-814-6931 Fax- 860-567-9119 mailto:tntcomm82@cs.com mailto:ctyoungwriters.org ANDY THIBAULT Chairman MARILYN FONTANA Vice Chairman The IMPAC-Connecticut State University Young Writers Program awards $1,000 prizes to poets and prose writers in each of Connecticut's eight counties. The top two poets and writers each earn another $1,000 as state champions in their respective categories. In addition, a pilot program for writers of French and Spanish awards a total of $1,000 in prizes to competitors from Litchfield and Wamogo High Schools. Discussions are continuing to expand that program. The program has awarded $80,000 to Connecticut's best young writers since 1998. That amount will reach $99,000 by June 2004. Students must be ages 13-18 during the school year to be eligible. The entry deadline is Feb. 1, 2004 postmark for the statewide competition. The program is co-sponsored by the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, the Connecticut Library Association and the Litchfield-Morris Rotary. Entry forms have been mailed to public, private and parochial schools this fall. Entry forms are also available at all state police barracks. State police barracks are located in Tolland, Danielson, Montville, Colchester, Westbrook, Hartford, Bethany, Windsor Locks, Southbury, North Canaan, Bridgeport and Litchfield. Forms are also available on-line at: http://www.ctyoungwriters.org, http://www.ctstateu.edu and many other sites. It is expected that many libraries, businesses, media outlets, and writers and arts organizations will also post the entry forms and this announcement. IMPAC Chairman James B. Irwin Sr. endowed the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award in 1994. At 100,000 Euros it is the world's largest prize for a single work of fiction. Irwin started the Young Writers Program in 1997. IMPAC and the CSU System formed a partnership to bring the awards statewide four years ago. Writer and radio talk show host Colin McEnroe and poet Gray Jacobik were the keynote speakers for the sixth annual dinner in June 2003 at the Litchfield Inn. Writer, radio talk show host and CPTV producer Diane Smith was the MC. Joining them on the program was Candi Deschamps, a Danbury High graduate and the 2001 Statewide Prose Champion. She is now a junior at Smith College. McEnroe and Jacobik conducted workshops for the county winners prior to the annual dinner, building on the tradition begun by novelist Wally Lamb. Other past speakers for the annual dinner have included poets Kate Rushin, Franz Douskey and Richard Blanco, Connecticut Poet Laureates Leo Connellan and Marilyn Nelson, novelist Bruce Clements, French linguist Cheryl Demharter, Special Assistant to the United Nations Secretary General, Natalie Hahn, National Review Managing Editor Priscilla Buckley, ABC Nightline Correspondent Dave Marash and Brian Ross, Chief Investigative Correspondent for ABC News. Emily Madsen, an Avon High graduate and the 2002 Statewide Poetry Champion, will be among the speakers for the seventh annual dinner in June 2004. She is now a sophomore at Bryn Mawr College. Mark Macomber of Litchfield Bancorp was the first sponsor of the Young Writers Program. Founding sponsors include: David and Ginger Dean of Litchfield County Commercial, Diane Blick of The Business Center, Deann Foehrenbach of the First National Bank of Litchfield, Connecticut Cut Flowers and the Litchfield Inn. Sustaining sponsors include Charles Johnson of Medical Education Training Associates, Jeff Lalonde of Torrington Savings Bank, Dr. Joseph Bentivegna, Del Eberhardt of Touchstone Applied Science Services, Connecticut Business & Industry Association, Collins Hardwood Flooring, JCL Pro Tree, Atty. Jack Horak of Reid & Riege, Atty. Richard Meehan, Atty. Stephanie Weaver, Atty. Philip Russell, Atty. Ken Slater, Atty. David Jaffe, La Cupola Ristorante, Aspen Garden Restaurant, Bill Keifer of John Steele Bookshop, Bill McGurk of Rockville Savings Bank, Richard, and June Strada, Tomasso Brothers, Education Connection, Curbstone Press, Globe-Pequot Press, Vincent Valvo of Law Tribune Newspapers, Frank Morse of Carter Morse & Company, Bantam Fuel, Casa Bacchus, A Frame Come True, Spino's Men's Wear, Litchfield County Superintendent's Association, The Warner Theater, The Village Restaurant, Dr. Robert Van Wyck, the Hickory Stick Book Shop, Aldrich, Perkins & Co., Michael J. London & Associates, Atty. A. Paul Spinella and Atty. Norm Pattis. _________________________________________________________________ Wintonbury Library Poetry Series Spring 2004 Wintonbury Branch Library 1015 Blue Hills Avenue Bloomfield, CT 06002 Phone 860-242-0041 Wintonbury Branch Poetry Series, Director--Marilyn E. Johnston Mailto:marilynjohnston2003@yahoo.com The following is our poetry line-up for our spring season. Wintonbury Poetry Series Selected Thursdays 7:00 PM-- Open Mike follows featured reader January 15, February 19, March 18, April 15 The series will celebrate an "Art and Poetry Night" on January 15 featuring the poetry of the series' hosts, Marilyn E. Johnston and Tom Nicotera, as well as the paintings of Carolyn Avery, whose work will be on exhibit at both Prosser and Wintonbury for the month of January. Kim Bridgford will read her poetry on February 19. Her first book of poetry, published in March 2003, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. She currently directs the writing program at Fairfield University. Maria Florez will share the rich sounds of her poetry in both English and Spanish on March 18. Born in Colombia, Maria is co-founder of the Bohemian Latin Stand, a cultural group promoting Hispanic culture through music and poetry. On April 15, in celebration of National Poetry Month, we will feature Norah Pollard, poet daughter of Seabiscuit's jockey. She will read from her recent book of poems, Leaning In ( Antrim Books) which includes poems in memory of her father. _________________________________________________________________ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Fairfield Review Releases 5-Year Anniversary Edition "Best of Fairfield Review" Features Top Contributions By Emerging Poets, Authors Fairfield, Conn. [June 18, 2003] The Fairfield Review, Connecticut's first on-line literary magazine, has published a print version 5-Year Anniversary Edition called the "Best of the Fairfield Review." The announcement was made today by co-founders and publishers Edward and Janet Granger-Happ of Fairfield, Conn. The special five-year anniversary print edition was published "In order both to commemorate our anniversary and to pause and look back at the path we've traveled," said the Granger-Happs. Founded in 1997, The Fairfield Review contains selected poetry, short stories and essays submitted nationally and internationally by emerging poets and authors, and selected by the Granger-Happs, who also serve as co-editors. With a subscriber base of 2,300 visitors per month, the non-profit literary magazine is published semi-annually on www.fairfieldreview.org. "The Best of the Fairfield Review" released today includes 50 selections deemed most noteworthy of the approximately 300 poems, short stories and essays published during the Fairfield Review's five-year tenure. Entries cited for "Editors' Choice Awards" award include three poems ("The Flasher" by Jean Aloe of Greenwich, Conn.; "Lighthouses" by Robert James Berry of Kajang, Malaysia; "Costa Rica" by Michael Zack of Lexington, Mass.) and one short story ("On the Gray Hill" by Tom Brennan of Liverpool, England.) "The Best of the Fairfield Review" is available through a donation to the Fairfield Review's web site at www.fairfieldreview.org. Excerpts available on the website and upon request. Contact: Edward G. Happ, Editor, The Fairfield Review, mailto:FairfieldReview@hpmd.com, Jessica Bram, Jessica Bram Communications, mailto:jessica@jbram.com, (203) 227-3250 |
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