poetry

by

Invitation from the Wheeler Memorial Library in Orange, MA Oct. 24 to Hear Finalists Read for the Robert P. Collén Poetry Competition

Join us on Tuesday, October 24th, at 7PM for the 10th annual Robert P. Collén Poetry Competition! We’ll be reading the entries from our 10 finalists, before announcing this years third, second, and first place winners. The awards presentation will be held at the Wheeler Memorial Library, and will also be broadcast live through Zoom. Please e-mail our director, Jessica Magelaner, at director@orangelib.org for the meeting link.

Photo by Ivo Rainha on Pexels.com

I am one of the ten finalists who will be reading my poem “Aubade” for first, second or third place in the Robert P. Collén Competition. Come and hear some amazing local poets.

I will be blogging on Thursdays. Follow me here.

by

Cheryl J. Fish to Read in Rockport on Friday, October 20

SAVE THE DATE: THE GLOUCESTER WRITERS CENTER PRESENTS WRITER-IN-RESIDENCE CHERYL J. FISH ON FRIDAY, OCT. 20 AT 7 PM.

Cheryl J. Fish, author of the debut novel OFF THE YOGA MAT and the poetry collection THE SAUNA IS FULL OF MAIDS will be reading and in conversation with Gloucester Writing Center member/poet Heidi Wakeman about writing novels and poems based on travels, friendships, coming of middle age, and the role of yoga and sauna in Fish’s fiction and poetry.

Friday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m.  

At THE LITTLE ARTS CINEMA 19 School St, Rockport, MA 01966. THERE WILL BE A Q&A AND BOOK SIGNING. For more information, contact Eric Parkison, eric@gloucesterwriters.org

“Fish’s debut novel Off the Yoga Mat is smart, soulful, and surprising,” 

Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of The Waters (Jan. 2024 from WW Norton)

“The Sauna is Full of Maids illustrates ‘a longing for

eternal things.'” These timeless essentials include friendship and the naked democracy of the sauna.” Paul Hoover, author of O, and Green.

I will be blogging on Thursdays. If you have an upcoming reading let me know, and I’ll blog it.

Follow me here.

by

Michelle M. Tokarczyk Will Read from her Poetry Book, Bronx Migrations on Tuesday, October 10

Michelle M. Tokarczyk will read from her book, Bronx Migrations on Tuesday, October 10 from 6:30 to 7:30 pm at the Hudson Park Library, 66 Leroy Street, New York, NY 10014

Tokarczyk has authored two other poetry books: The House I’m Running From and Galapagos: Islas Encantadas. Her poems have been published in numerous journals and anthologies and have received nominations for Pushcart and Best of the New awards.

Attend and enjoy her poetry.

I will blog on Thursdays. If you have an upcoming reading, let me know and I’ll blog it. Follow me here.

by

Boiler House Poets Read Saturday 11am, Sept. 30 at Bear and Bee Bookshop

The Boiler House Poets, part of the Annual Residency at MASSMoCA, will do a collective reading on Saturday , September 30, at 11 am at Bear and Bee Bookshop, 28 Holden Street, North Adams, Massachusetts. It looks like an exciting reading.

I will continue to blog on Thursdays. If you have an upcoming reading or art exhibit, let me know and I’ll blog it.

by

Ekphrastic Reading September 14 at Moonlit Sea Prints Gallery in Easthampton Massachusetts

The Easthampton Art Walk will feature works by several galleries, but Moonlit Sea Prints in Eastworks will sponsor a reading in conjunction with their Japanese Woodblock Print Show “Stories With Shotei.”

The Moonlit Sea Prints Gallery features prints by many Japanese artists, including Hiroaki Takahashi (Shotei,) Kiyoharu (Ginnosuke)Yokouchi, and Hiroshi Yoshida. The Moonlit Sea Prints Gallery curates Japanese woodblock prints that touch the soul and imagination.

I will be reading a poem about a Shotei print, “Coming Ships,” along with many other poets, like Jennifer Delozier, who will be reading about “Two Ladies Catching Fireflies.” The reading will take place at 5 pm on Thursday, September 14 at Eastworks, Moonlit Sea Prints Gallery at 116 Pleasant Street, Suite #226. It’s on the second floor, and there will be a flag signaling the gallery in the hallway. A QR code next to the prints will allow you to read the poems on your smart phone.

Hiroaki Takahashi Shotei was a Japanese woodblock print artist of the early 20th century in the shin-hanga art movement whose work generally focused around beautiful landscapes and scenes of everyday life. Many of his works are beautiful vignettes, many easily leading the viewer to imagine the stories transpiring within the images. Moonlit Sea Prints of Easthampton MA will be presenting this exhibit, “Stories with Shotei,” showcasing the works of Hiroaki Takahashi Shotei paired with short stories

The show will continue for a two-month period at Moonlit Sea Prints Gallery. I will continue to blog on Thursdays. If you have any readings coming up, let me know. I’ll blog them here.

by

Anton Chekhov on Description

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” – Anton ChekhovIMG_0187

To vividly describing a place, person, or thing is to imagine it in your mind’s eye. If it exists you may prefer to look at it or a photograph. Either way, you’ll start with some scene before you without dividing it into objects or attaching any words to it. Just form an impression of the colors, textures, shapes, and feeling.

Most importantly, refrain from your impulse to name them. Just picture and observe.

Then, be careful to select the right words to convey the place. If the words that come to mind don’t seem adequate, look in a dictionary, ask around, or do some research. Be sure to keep searching until you have the closest match possible between observation and language. While it’s okay to stop short of perfection, since words and thought inevitably fail to capture perception, keep revising until you can’t think of any way to improve your description further.

Instead of allowing the meaning you want to express to decide the words, you can be seduced by alliteration, rhythm and other sonic features, or fail to escape from customary phrasing, and allow language itself to decide what it is you want to say. This is for description in fiction or nonfiction. Poetry, of course, calls out for those sonic features.

In this way your description will serve you well in your writing.

I will blog on Thursdays. Follow me here.

by

I am grateful to Poetry Super Highway for Making Me Poet of the Week on Poetry Super Highway December 26-January 1, 2023. Take a look during that week:

Poetry Super Highway

I am grateful to have been chosen “Poet of the Week” on the Poetry Super Highway. Check it out on December 26-January 1, 2023 for my poem “A Paddle Into Childhood.”

Happy New Year to All. I’ll see you again in 2023.

by

Thank You to Vita Brevis Press for Publishing Two of My Poems

I am grateful to Vita Brevis Press for publishing my poems:

“3 a.m.“

“Respiratory“

in What is All This Sweet Work?: A Poetry Anthology About Love and Loss (2022). Take a look.

by

Writing the Landscape

One thing I love about winter in the Northeast is the snow. Now the snow is going, and it’s officially spring this week.

Photo by Taryn Elliott on Pexels.com

I love the quiet, the writerlyness of the whole thing. But how does this affect my writing? I wrote a collection of poems about my partner who died of Alzheimer’s. We had spent a lot of time in Mexico, so this landscape came into my poems:

“When I think of Oaxaco

I remember the Zocolo

where they sold pipa del agua

and chocolate dripping from paper cups.”

The setting just naturally came into the poem. Does this happen with you?

Take look at my collection:

https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/touch-my-head-softly-by-eileen-kennedy/

I will continue to blog on Thursdays and do announcements, as they come in, on Tuesdays.