Poetic Asides Round Up: 001

Wow! I recently asked for round ups from the Poetic Asides readers, unsure of what to expect as a response. As usual, you all surprised me–in a great way! Unfortunately,…

Wow! I recently asked for round ups from the Poetic Asides readers, unsure of what to expect as a response. As usual, you all surprised me--in a great way! Unfortunately, that meant I couldn't share all the information I received, but I tried to share a lot of it. And I want to encourage everyone to keep sharing. Hopefully, this round up can be a semi-regular feature on the blog.

Recent books:
Around the very end of 2010, Needfire Press published A
Mouth for Picket Fences
, by Barry Napier.

Leaving the Hall Light On, by Madeline Sharples (Lucky Press
LLC, May 2011). Memoir interspersed with poetry.

Dave Malone released a free ebook of poetry, Spring in Love,
on April 15. Another free ebook will be released on June 21: Summer in Love.
Learn more at davemalone.net.

Robin A. Burrows recently released a collection titled Of
Hearts and Souls
, and she’s running a free book giveaway for people who “like”
her social media pages on Facebook, Twitter and/or Goodreads (one free book
during the month of June per site). Learn more at
www.robinaburrows.com/publications.html.

One of my favorite poets, Barton Smock, recently released a
huge, self-published collection of poems: the paper dolls have been cutting
your hair
. I’ve already read through a lot of it, and I love the collection.
Click here to learn more.

Another great voice, Walt Wojtanik, is in the process of
rolling out his first collection titled WOOD. Learn more on Walt’s blog by
clicking here.

Carol A. Stephen and other poets recently released a
chapbook, Tangled Strands. Copies can be had for $10 (includes postage) at
Quillfyre Publishing, 85 Crampton Dr.,
Carleton Place ON K7C 4P8, Canada.

On July 1, Finishing Line Press will release the poetic
chapbook Into the Great Blue: Meditations on Summer, by Sarah W. Bartlett.

Pat Butler’s collection, Poems from the Boatyard, is next in
line to be published by her publisher (sorry, no name given yet).

Eve Brackenbury’s collection You is coming out in 2011.

Scott Owens has a collection due for publication later this
year titled Something Knows the Moment.

Sarah Tregay’s young adult novel-in-verse, Love and
Leftovers
, is forthcoming from Katherine Tegen Books/HarperCollins in January
2012.

Events:
Katie Favazza is currently attending a two-week litfest
taking place in Denver, Colorado. Click here to learn more if you’re
in the area
.

Carole Katsantoness is the activity planner and board member
for KCVoices Magazine. On June 19 at 1 p.m., there will be a reading at the
Great Day Café in downtown Overland
Park.

Also on June 19, Daniel Ari will lead a Poetry Jam from 2-4
p.m. in Richmond, California. Click here to send Daniel an
e-mail and get on his mailing list
.

June 20, Bruce Niedt will be the featured poet at Poetry in
the Round, Barnes and Noble Bookstore, Rte. 73 East, Marleton, New Jersey,
at 7:30. Open mic to follow.

The Denver County Fair is hosting Bounty, its first annual
poetry contest. Thanks to Drew Myron for sharing this unique opportunity. The
entry deadline is on my birthday, July 18. Poets can learn more here.

On July 21, Michael Grove will be one of the featured poets
on the State Capital Steps and front lawn of in Lansing, Michigan,
from 7-9 p.m.

July 21-24, Sarah W. Bartlett
will lead a four-day writing retreat for women in Vermont’s
Northeast Kingdom: “Returning to the Well.” Learn
more at womenwritingvt.com.

On July 21, 28, and August 4, Scott Owens will conduct a
workshop titled “The Greatest Writing Prompt Ever” at Minetta
Lane Center
for the Arts and Peace in Hickory,
North Carolina. I’ve attended
this workshop before, and Scott does provide some great tips for self-generating
prompts.

August 3-7, Haiku North America will be holding its biennial
conference this year in Seattle,
Washington (thanks for reporting
Cara Holman). Learn more at www.haikunorthamerica.com.

August 15-18, Gail Denham will lead a morning coaching
session on poetry at the Oregon Christian Writers Summer conference in Aldersgate, Oregon.
Learn more at www.oregonchristianwriters.org.

August 25, salon at the Webster House in downtown Kansas City, Missouri,
at 6 p.m.

September 11, KCVoices will have a reading at Naomi’s
Hallmark in Shawnee, Kansas, at 5 p.m.

September 23-24, the Missouri State Poetry Society
convention will be held in West Plains,
Missouri. There is a contest as
well with a September 1 deadline. Faye Adams reported this opportunity and let
me know that her husband, Billy J. Adams, is actually the current president of
the MSPS. Learn more about this and other state poetry societies at www.nfsps.com.

Taylor Graham mentioned an event on September 24 called 100
Thousand Poets for Change. Click here to learn more.

Eve Brackenbury will be hosting Wordstock in September in Sibley, Missouri.
At last year’s inaugural poetry festival, more than 100 poets attended. Learn
more at wordstockpoet.wordpress.com.

November 2-6, Nature of Words happens in Bend, Oregon.
Learn more at www.thenatureofwords.org.

Scott Owens meets the second Tuesday of every month for
Poetry Hickory (a reading series in Hickory,
North Carolina, at Taste Full
Beans) and Writers’ Night Out, a networking and critique group. Nancy Posey is
involved with this group as well.

Bruce Niedt’s Quick and Dirty Poets group runs a monthly
reading series at The Daily Grind coffee shop in Mt. Holly, New Jersey. Click here to learn more.

Taylor Graham leads an informal group of poets from 2-3 p.m.
every Tuesday at the Pizza Factory in Placerville,
California, which sounds like a
lot of fun.

Actually, Taylor has several
monthly events in the El Dorado/Placerville, California, area that she attends. If
anyone’s interested in joining her mailing list, click here to send her an
e-mail
.

Taylor
also mentioned that Medusa’s Kitchen is a great resource for poetry events in
her part of the country. Learn more at medusaskitchen.blogspot.com.

Melissa Hager helps lead a monthly teen poetry reading
series called Teen Poetry Happens @ The Bean in Taylorsville, North Carolina.
It’s off for the summer at the moment but will re-start on the second Tuesday
in September.

Lesley Tyson and Megan McDonald let me know about a monthly
open mic poetry reading they host in Northern Virginia
on the second Saturday of each month. Tomorrow (June 11) is actually the next
one at Red Hot and Blue Restaurant in Fairfax City, Virginia from 2 to 5 p.m.
For more information on other events and to get on their e-mail list, contact
poetsanonffx@gmail.com.

Susan Budig hosts open mics throughout the year at Bean Good
Café in the Minneapolis
area. Learn more at www.beangoodcafe.com.

Pam Winters regularly attends two monthly readings in Annapolis, Maryland.
Ahh! Coffee on the second Saturday of the month and Zu Coffee on the fourth
Friday of the month. These readings are hosted by Rocky Jones and Cliff Lynn.
(And she’s spotted other Poetic Asides folks at these events!)

Mike Bayles reads poems on the last Thursday of each month
at the Midwest Writing
Center’s “Out Loud” open mic in Davenport, Iowa.

Publishing Opportunities:
Madeline Sharples co-edits The Great American Poetry Show
anthology (Muse Media Press). Currently seeking poems for volume 3. Contact via
e-mail at info@tgaps.net.

Mike Maher edits Sea Giraffe Magazine, an online publication
of fiction, poetry and nonfiction. Learn more at SeaGiraffeMag.com.

Poets within 100 miles of the DC area may be interested in
an anthology edited by Sid Gold. There is a reading fee of $12 and July 15
deadline. Click here for more details.

Turbulence Magazine published in the UK (Jacqueline Hallenbeck is a US distributor) will consider
submissions of up to 6 poems with a brief bio. Learn more at
turbulencemagazine.webs.com.

Stephanie Nickel will consider publishing poems by other
poets that fit her blog’s theme at http://free2soar.wordpress.com.

Kathleen Cassen Mickelson is the assistant managing editor
for Every Day Poets, which publishes a new poem every day. Learn more at
everydaypoets.com.

Michele Brenton (banana_the_poet) says UK small press, Endaxi Press, may
be open to collaborative poetry projects.

John Newmark says submissions are open for his online poetry
journal focused on genealogical poetry. Click here to learn more.

Other Announcements:
Folded Word’s unFold magazine two of Madeline Sharples’
Twitter-length poems on June 13 and 15 on Twitter and at
http://unfoldmag.wordpress.com.

On June 25, The Poetry Foundation will have a grand opening
for a new home in Chicago
(thanks to Sherry Mullins for sharing). Learn more at
www.poetryfoundation.org/downloads/PFNew-Home-final.pdf.

Kathleen Cassen Mickelson has a poem coming out in the
summer issue of Boston Literary Magazine.

Walt Wojtanik and Marie Elena Good have started up a blog
that offers several opportunities for Poetic Asides members and other poets.
Learn more at poeticbloomings.blogspot.com.

Pam Winters has a poem forthcoming in a future issue of
Gargoyle magazine. By the way, this magazine is accepting submissions through
Labor Day. Click here for details.

Dan Paicopulos recommends the film “Louder Than A Bomb”
about Chicago-area high school slam poets. Learn more here.

Mad Kane offers a weekly limerick writing competition that
is a prompt-response type of competition. Learn more at www.madkane.com/humor_blog/.

Jacqueline Hallenbeck has 3 poems to be published in a
future issue of asininepoetry.com and 2 poems to be published in Afterword, a
local magazine in Jersey City.

Anne Sperry Connors is the founder of The Lake Geneva
Writers Group in Lake Geneva,
Wisconsin. If you’re in the area
and interested in the group, just let me know.

For poets in the Edmonton
area of Canada,
S.E. Ingraham let me know about a great group they have in that area: The
Stroll of Poets. I actually met and had lunch with a very nice member of this
group at AIPF earlier this year: Neil Meili. Learn more at www.thestrollofpoets.com.

Sara McNulty just started attending a very gracious writing
group at the Cedar Mills library in Bethany
(near Portland), Oregon. They meet the third Saturday of each
month and all are welcome.

*****

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*****

Follow me on Twitter @robertleebrewer

*****

Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.