Category Archives: Special Events

My Poetry Marathon Gathers Speed! Please Help!

Wow, it doesn’t seem possible that I have reached Day 21 in my Poetry Marathon for Tupelo Press! That’s 21 poems I have written, one each day, this month. Today’s is “Crossing to Friday Harbor,” which is on the Tupelo 30/30 Blog. If you DONATE to the press (please visit the 30/30 Blog for how) and mention MY NAME, I will send you a handmade gift and one of my marathon poems, signed to you.  Please check it out and send a gift to Tupelo (gifts will come back to you)! I make gnomes like the guy above, and zombies, vikings, santas, angels, and animals.

A BIG THANK YOU to those who have donated already. I appreciate it so much, and so does Tupelo Press.

To read my marathon poems, go to the Tupelo Press 30/30 Blog: http://tupelopress.wordpress.com/3030-project/

Thank you very much!!  Kathy

December Poetry Marathon!

Dear Friends:

I am participating in Tupelo Press 30/30 Project! To give back during the holidays this year I am in a “marathon” for the month of December with nine other poets, writing a poem every day, and raising funds for Tupelo Press.

I invite family, friends, and colleagues to sponsor me in my poetry marathon (see below for ways to contribute). Every dollar you spend is a vote for my poetry, and for poetry in general!   If you make a contribution to Tupelo to support my poetry marathon--I will send you a personalized thank you gift (remember to give my name as the poet you are supporting)!  “And if you haven’t got a ha’penny,” wish me luck!  🙂 

Running an actual marathon is as hard as writing a poem every day, painful in different ways! I recommend both (I know!), and you can read my poems as I knock them off this month.  Take a little time to visit the 30/30 Project Blog and look at my brand spanking new poems here: http://tupelopress.wordpress.com/3030-project/

Tupelo Press is one of the best non-profit independent publishers we have. You can join me in helping them survive and continue to put more poets into print.

Here are ways to contribute: 

1. Subscribe to Tupelo Press! Visit: http://www.tupelopress.org/books_subscribe.php

Purchase our dynamic 2014 series – 9 books for $99 and we’ll pay the postage! Or choose one of our exciting prior series, or a personalized list of any 9 titles. Put your poet’s name in the “comments” field. 

2. Complete the Tupelo Press Donation Form Visit: https://www.tupelopress.org/donate.php

Scroll down to the bottom of the page, fill out the donation form and send it in with a check or fill in the credit card details. Put your poet’s name in the “honor” field.

3. Donate Using PayPal Visit: https://www.tupelopress.org/donate.php 

Click on the orange “Quick Donation via PayPal” button and complete the entry with either PayPal account details or credit card information. Put your poet’s name in the “message” field.

If you would like a tax receipt, please provide your mailing address. 

Here is what you are supporting: +Independent literary publishers are mission-driven—they focus on publishing literature. +Independent literary publishers provide access to the voices of entire communities. +Independent literary publishers produce over 98% of poetry being published each year, and the majority of literature in translation and works of fiction by emerging writers.

Thank you so much for your support of me and small press publishing.

My best always,  Kathy

Invite Poets to your Book Club w/ A Poet at Your Table

Please read Midge Raymond's great piece about this group (which includes yours truly!)

underwood

 

A Poet at Your Table – A Rare Opportunity for Book Groups 
In cooperation with Seattle Arts and Lectures Poetry Series and Crab Creek Review

It’s one thing to hear a poet perform in a large auditorium … but what if you could listen to a poet talk about her book in the comfort of your own home?

The greater Seattle area boasts an impressive group of poets who want to connect with readers throughout Washington.

Join the second annual A Poet at Your Table season, and receive an evening with an award-winning poet. A poet will visit your book group or gathering to discuss the process of creating her book, read poems, and answer questions about the writing life. We design a presentation that best fits your needs. In addition, your group is eligible to receive discounted tickets for the 2013-2014 Seattle Arts and Lectures Poetry Series.

Featured Poets:

  • Kelli Russell Agodon
  • Susan Rich
  • Elizabeth Austen
  • Kathleen Flenniken
  • Katharine Whitcomb
  • Annette Spaulding-Convy
  • Jeannine Hall Gailey
  • Sheila Bender
  • Kelly Davio

 Frequently Asked Questions…

1) What do we have to do to prepare for A Poet at Your Table ?

~  Besides reading the chosen poetry book, no preparation is needed. Whatever your book group usually does is fine. Just let the poets know what works for you.

2) How far in advance do we need to book our poet?

~ A month in advance would be great, but you can contact A Poet at Your Table on shorter notice, and they’ll try!

3) Do you have a web site where we can review the books and learn about the poets?

~ Visit Facebook at www.facebook.com/APoetAtYourTable. Please also check out the websites of the featured poets to see which seems the best match for you.  All of our poets have websites and many have blogs.

4) Our book group is in Kitsap County — is that too far for A Poet at Your Table?

~  Poets live and work throughout Washington.

5) Can we choose more than one poet to visit?

~   Absolutely! You could invite two poets to come on the same evening or one poet per month.

For more information please contact: PoetAtYourTable@gmail.com

The Big Poetry Giveaway 2013

Poetry Giveaway

To celebrate National Poetry Month, I am participating in the 2013 version of the Big Poetry Giveaway.

I am offering up a free copy of my Floating Bridge Chapbook, Lamp of Letters, along with a copy of Nikky Finney's Head Off & Split, winner of the National Book Award.

All you need to do is post a comment about this blog post stating that you are "in," and on May 1 you very well may be randomly chosen to receive a free book. It's that easy.

For more information, go to Susan Rich's blog, The Alchemist's Kitchen http://thealchemistskitchen.blogspot.com/2013/03/sign-up-now-to-participate-in-big.html

AWP Conference

AWP to me is kind of like an annual marriage—for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, til death do us part. And the gathering of all of the writer friends in my life! Pretty much! Everybody please come to my Panel Presentation at AWP.

Dancing about Architecture

Writing at the Intersection of Language, Art, and Music Michael Mejia, Gretchen Henderson, Katharine Whitcomb, Jeffrey DeShell, Debra di Blasi

March 7, 2013, 10:30-11:45 a.m.
Room 201, Level 2, Sheraton Boston Hotel
AWP Conference, Boston, MA

This panel is interested in complex intersections between language, music, and the visual arts. Moving beyond the ekphrastic response, we will discuss how our texts seek to conceptually and materially adapt and participate in the practices of other arts, creating innovative hybrids, unclassifiable monsters, and art whose language, style, form, and approaches to authorship remind us of the book’s less genre-bound past and point to continuing opportunities for cross-genre experimentation in the future.

I will be making a presentation for this panel about my work with poetry in collaborative projects, namely A Sense of Place: The Washington State Geospatial Poetry Anthology (of which I am the editor), Cascadia Chronicle: A Geospatial Journal of Place, Environment, and Imagination (of which I am co-founder, and senior co-editor), and Smelling the City, my collaborative exhibit with conceptual artist Brian Goeltzenleuchter in the Summer Salon Series at the San Diego Museum of Art in summer 2011.

VERY IMPORTANT: Here is your opportunity to tell your conference story on http://www.conferenceconfidential.com

Relate your favorite AWP story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Speaking in Pictures: A Poetry Workshop Concerning Art Leader

One-week Residential Workshop Retreat Arrival: Saturday, 4 August 2012 Departure: Saturday, 11 August 2012 The question is not what you look at, but what you see. ·Henry Thoreau Poetry and painting are sister arts according to the Greeks. It’s a natural collaboration to focus on ekphrastic poetry. Ekphrastic poetry simply refers to our poems inspired by visual images. Together, we will discuss traditional and experimental models of the form by Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Hayden, Lisel Mueller and Rainier Maria Rilke; study recent examples by contemporary poets, and sharpen our powers of observation and description. Finally, through a series of provocative exercises, we will write our own poems on a variety of works of art. For the purposes of this workshop, art includes sculpture, collage, architecture and the natural world.

All levels of writers are welcome — from beginners to very advanced practitioners.Speaking in Pictures: A Poetry Workshop Concerning Art Leader: Susan Rich (http://poet.susanrich.net/) One-week Residential Workshop Retreat Arrival: Saturday, 4 August 2012 Departure: Saturday, 11 August 2012 The question is not what you look at, but what you see. ·Henry Thoreau Poetry and painting are sister arts according to the Greeks. It’s a natural collaboration to focus on ekphrastic poetry. Ekphrastic poetry simply refers to our poems inspired by visual images. Together, we will discuss traditional and experimental models of the form by Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Hayden, Lisel Mueller and Rainier Maria Rilke; study recent examples by contemporary poets, and sharpen our powers of observation and description. Finally, through a series of provocative exercises, we will write our own poems on a variety of works of art.

For the purposes of this workshop, art includes sculpture, collage, architecture and the natural world. All levels of writers are welcome — from beginners to very advanced practitioners.Speaking in Pictures: A Poetry Workshop Concerning Art Leader: Susan Rich (http://poet.susanrich.net/)

Hey Writers–Here are some great upcoming opportunities to work with poet Elizabeth Austen!

Ready to try something new? Elizabeth Austen is teaching a couple of poetry writing workshops in February:

Poems from Poems: Call and Response

austen-jack-straw

"Good poems are the best teachers. Perhaps they are the only teachers," writes Mary Oliver in A Poetry Handbook. This workshop explores ways to let others’ poems not only teach you, but lead to new poems of your own. We’ll experiment with po-jacking, sonic translations, echo translations and other ways to use one poem as a jumping off point for another. Come prepared to write and stretch your craft – participants will leave the workshop with fresh drafts of new poems.

February 4, from 1 to 5 p.m. at Richard Hugo House $96/$86.40 for Hugo House members. Registration is open online or via phone at (206) 322-7030. Here is a link to the class description and registration.

Elizabeth will also teach a shorter, free version of the class on February 26, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Lopez Island Library.

Contact Elizabeth at eaustenpoetry@gmail.com for more information. More information is available on her website as well!

Poets on the Beach Conference, September 9-11, 2011

Hey fellow poets! Are you longing to spend some inspiring days by the ocean? In a literary-themed hotel on the coast of Oregon? Here's your chance.

"Dwell in Possibility” ~ Emily Dickinson

Join Kelli Russell Agodon and Susan Rich for the first Poets on the Coast Weekend Writing Retreat September 9-11th, 2011 at the Sylvia Beach Hotel in Newport, Oregon on historic Nye Beach.

This retreat has been designed for women writers of all levels, from beginning poets to well published. Sessions on creativity, generating work, publication and one-on-one mentoring are included. 
 There are only have a limited number of spaces available and they will be filled on a first-come basis.

With the Sylvia Beach Hotel, designed to inspire writers with its literary-themed rooms, this retreat will offer you a unique experience to explore your writing and creativity. Come spend a weekend with other women poets. Be ready to be nurtured, inspired and creative. For all the nitty-gritty info, see the official link: Poets on the Beach Writing Conference