Poets at the Library of Virginia Tuesday at 6pm

Virginia in Verse: The Poetry of Michelle Boisseau and John Casteen.
Michelle Boisseau, author of A Sunday in God-Years, and John Casteen, author of Free Union: Poems, will discuss and sign their books of poetry. A Sunday in God-Years is centered on the long poem "A Reckoning," made up of 15 shorter poems/sections (some sections are documents like wills and runaway slave notices). The poems in Free Union revolve around physical work, the Appalachian landscape, and family relationships. Casteen, for ten years a designer and builder of custom furniture, covers subjects ranging from the farm to the shop floor, from the rivers of the Piedmont to the wooded shoulders of the Blue Ridge, and from the hyper-attentiveness of childhood through the anxieties and joys of fatherhood.

James River Writers Conference sold out!!

JRWC

is completely full!! If you didn't reserve a spot, you can't come! There is a waiting list sign-up though- every year I've noticed badges that weren't picked up so if you really want to go there might be a chance (things happern).

Thomas Lux will be there representing the poets.

I'll be there, volunteering (representing the poets).

Five Pet Peeves about Poetry

Check this blog out for fun.

from Gary Sullivan

In the meantime, Poetry at VCU in the form of the Levis Prize Winner Katie Ford was quite enjoyable.

Poet Betty Adcock at the Virginia Museum at 6pm

Pauley Center Parlor, 6 pm
Tickets: $8 (VMFA members $5) Ticket Desk: 804.340.1405 or online.

BETTY ADCOCK
Wed, Sept 16
Betty Adcock, the author of six collections of poetry, has been called “the steward of supreme innocence.” She has said that in writing poetry she hopes “to tell the truth and find that it is music.” Adcock has been recognized with two Pushcart Prizes, as well as the Poets’ Prize, the North Carolina Medal for Literature, the Texas Institute of Letters Prize for Poetry, the Hanes Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. She teaches in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers. Her most recent book is Slantwise.

"Submit, Harlequin" to paraphrase the Ticktockman

Submit to Tiny Books new zine

Tiny Books is a new publishing venture from FlashPaperPublications in Richmond, Virginia.
We are starting a new quarterly zine for small poems.

Submit 1-6 poems,
- 16 lines or less plus title
- 50 characters or less per line counting spaces

Issue #1 will appear in October 2009.

Submission Guidelines
Say what you need in 16 lines or less. Submit one to six poems with a brief cover letter in the body of an email- NO ATTACHMENTS. No previously published work or simultaneous submissions. All rights revert to the author upon publication. Pays three copies.
Electronic submissions only to: flashpaperpoetry@gmail.com

Small books, not much room- don't take it personal!

First Friday Artwalk may be doomed

I am so discouraged by the city trying to kill First Friday and the downtown art galleries- could it be the Center(who can afford to go?)stage effect??

If not, why aren't they hitting the Main Street galleries and Manchester with the same rules and regs??? You tell me.

Where's a good rag like Style (when it started) or Holmberg(Richmond times disgust) when you need them??

I hope someone gives a rats ass besides the small non-profits- maybe the downtown restaurants could be enticed to care- don't even talk to me about opportunistic landlords-

oh no, I've said too much (I haven't said enough)

Updating with not much to say

I am impatiently waiting for submission results, though I know it will take forever, at least for some of them.

That's why I like to publish my chapbooks myself. Sure, chapbooks carry no weight in any important venues but I am not trying to get (or keep) a job based on my writing, nor am I seeking the fame (and fortune) that could be expected from being a famous writer.

I just want to have something when people ask for copies of poems. They can spend $5 or $10, and get words to carry home. I just redid "Dashboard Fire" and am now starting to work on "Gallery" and maybe some others.

Buy them at art6- in the shop. Take a little bit of Shann home with you.