New site for FlashPaperPoetry

MSN is shutting down the 'groups' where I've kept a poetry calendar for Central Virginia for about ten years-

HERE is a try, at least- it's a little unwieldy but will suffice to keep the info up until I get something better.

The extra events for the rest of January are the poets reading every Thursday at ART AFTER HOURS at the VMFA, Beth Fennelly at Poetic Principles on the 28th, and Katy Lederer at UR on the 29th. more info and links on the new page

FlashPaperPoetry lives on!!

get your poetry fix on your phone!

Just what you need in that special moment-

there's even a cool icon for each category...

HERE

check out LUST...

more poetry news

Talking about poetry and politics-

In today's America, poetry is either high art or lowbrow commerce. It comes either from avant-garde poets, writing only for a snobbish elite and ignored by the broad public; or from commercial sources, assembly-line verses crammed into a Hallmark card, written for the masses and spurned by the tastemakers. In today's culture, the most popular poems are usually song lyrics, from rock anthems to rat-a-tat rap songs about the thug life. They're not the kind of poetry you read on marble platforms for presidents and Supreme Court justices.


Mystery & Birds: 5 Ways to Practice Poetry

A little obligatory Poe

Kay Ryan (current poet Laureate) loses her partner to cancer

Dodge Festival in 2010 isn't

Read here

I am very glad I went this past year. This is a major blow for poetry.

Art After Hours- Shann Palmer's poetry

Tonight's the night!!

Thursday January 15th

I read at 6:30 and at 7:00- different poems each time!

MUSIC: Bluz Catz - American Blues, Jump & More
6:30 & 7 pm Art OF POETRY: Shann Palmer
7 & 7:30 pmTOPIC TOUR: Art a la carte
8 pm ART MOMENT: Jeffrey Allison- Paul Mellon Collection Educator
FRIENDS OF ART SILENT AUCTION: View and bid on works of art by local and regional artists

Tickets $10 (members $8).

A disappointing First *Second* Friday

The crowds were small and the money was tight- I was concerned when I saw very little about First Friday being moved to Second Friday because of the proximity of New Year's (plus most galleries didn't want to be struggling to get a new show up)

Our gallery (and others, and Curated Culture) sent info to the papers, to radio stations, the usual publicity outlets- but the info was not given any weight (I know- choosing what gets major ink is hard and bla bla bla- but it seems to me an event such as First Friday which is BTW, one of Richmond's most successful events in spite of the city and such, should be better supported by the local media).

Of course, maybe the galleries should have thought in advance how this would all work- it seems these things often catch us short- short of time, short of money, short of everything.

Part of it, no doubt, is the lack of balance between the for profit and the non-profit galleries. Art is art- isn't it? I suppose I should also take a little dig at the artist who (and this is definitely not aimed at ALL artists, but you know who I mean) who think they are so talented they like to stroll in and take their kudos and stroll out as if they are so special that's all people came to see-

It makes it tough for the wonderful but working artists who are willing to mix with the hoi-polloi, bring a tray for the table and work the room (and try to help with their own publicity).

Just a little unfocused rant here- there are all sorts of meetings coming up this week and next for 'planning' and 'strategic goals' and other baloney that will only make money for consultants and survey makers.

I'll work on getting to meetings, work with groups, whatever it takes, and I hope other members of art6 and other galleries do, too. I wish I felt more people had ART in mind and not how they can make money. I wish more people would put a little time in, somewhere, and make this all happen.

And I wish those who could would buy art and support our local artists.

not to mention poets and poetry....

and a little friendly ink from RTD and STYLE and URGE and V etc wouldn't hurt.

Happy Birthday to me from Consider the Lily!

I got a call this afternoon I won the Vera Bradley set the store was giving away!!Very Exciting- I admit to being a VB fan ever since I started having back and shoulder problems from carrying heavy bags.

Consider the Lily is a pretty little giftshop on Lakeside Ave right by the corner of Lakeside Ave and Hilliard Rd- the parking and the hours are a little weird, but if you are looking for something interesting it's a great place to stop. The people there were very nice, even when I lost my glasses in my purse but thought I'd left them on the counter.

How can I not recommend it??

Happy Birthday to me!!

yep- 59 years
went by waaaay too fast!!

Happy New Year Y'all!!

We're having a great time here at art6 with Rattlemouth!!

Unless you live real close, you missed it!!

Art After Hours starts soon at the VMFA

And look who's reading her poetry on January 15th!!

Go HERE

Tickets to all seven events are $60 (members $48). Single tickets are $10 (members $8).
Single tickets, but not series tickets, may be ordered online. Series and single tickets are sold at the museum Wednesday through Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm or may be charged by telephoning 804.340.1405 Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. (VMFA members may purchase tickets in advance at the museum (limit two per event per member, members must show VMFA membership card at time of purchase).

Read a review of one of my poems HERE

You can purchase the entire anthology here Richmond poet Cheryl Pallant also has a poem in the book.

Send art6 six dollars for a holiday mitzvah!

Mitzvah: Hebrew for "commandment." "A combination of a religious law, personal obligation, and a privilege.". Plural is Mitzvah. Often used to refer to a good deed

Non-profits such as art6 are suffering from the economic problems we are all experiencing.

It's the holidays, it's a good thing to do!

Send a check for $6 or $60 or whatever you can to:

art6 Gallery
6 East Broad St
Richmond, VA 23219

Your gift if tax-deductible!

It will keep the doors open and the heat on, not to mention putting art on the wall.

art6

10 reasons to go to poetry readings

Reason number 8: To Support the Poet. A certain portion of the audience will be family and friends of the poets who know how broke and desperate for support they are.

For the rest of the list, click HERE

Hey local poets, I have been invited to a new venue on Broad Street near Gaskins Rd- anybody have thoghts? How about Tuesdays??

Art in a Box- Grand Illumination- Tonight!!

Come downtown and see the Grand Illumination and all those dear deer- then come on over to Broad Street for the First Friday Artwalk!

art 6 is open from 6-10pm and we have a variety of artists with "Art in a Box"- including my poems (Yay!!!) and lots of other cool stuff.

In addition to our usual wine and beer cash bar, we'll have HOT COFFEE!!

yes yes yes!

You can leave your hat on.

an advent poem

In the Episcopal Church, we celebrate the season of Advent during the month before Christmas. No carols in services until the 24th (some parishes won't even have a pageant until then) and our focus is encouraged to be on the waiting- I always get a little annoyed at the bombarding I must endure from the world- and how we sing carols through January when everyone else is sick of them- until I thought of the births of my own children- how I prepared joyfully, hopefully, with fear. So to close my poem-a-day challenge from Writers Digest, I offer this as my last poem in November.


Change

I used to hate December- the noise,
the expense, the false good cheer-
until I thought about having a baby-
decorating the nursery, humming
soft lullabies to my swelling belly,
going to showers, buying special toys;
how in the month before I counted
days, awake with anticipation, my
own advent vigil for a miracle child
who would save me from sadness,.
give me the opportunity to do what
my parent’s couldn’t- raise a child
in love with life, self assured, strong
enough to take on the world, for me.

help me! Vote!

Throwdown 1

Select the best caption. The one with the lowest score is OUT.

Which caption is the best?

Adam Deutsch
Stacey Lyn n Brown
R.J. Gibson
Christopher Hennessy
Shann Palmer
Leslie Harrison
Nate McClain

View Results

Create your own myspace poll


The contest is o9ver at Avoid the Muse

Poetry and Poetry Contests

Above all, keep in mind that poetry collections must be novelistically structured. Before Emily Dickinson’s heap of 1,775 untitled poems could be competitive she would have to discard 1,700 of them, give each of the remaining 75 a title, sort them into three thematic batches, each with a section title and epigraph, and come up with a catchy “umbrella” title (Wild Nights might be a hit with student-screeners). This procedure is so de rigueur these days it’s as if there were a bumper sticker slapped on every collection, boasting: “My other book is a novella.”

Some interesting advice from contest winner and publisher David Alpaugh.

To read the entire article click HERE

Trinity Rep Radio Theater: feature a program of stories and poems that explore the relationship between mothers and daughters. [MP3] —

Give Richmond a present! Buy LOCAL!

Instead of going to a big chain to buy gifts, go to FOUNTAIN BOOKSTORE in Shockoe Slip and buy those gift books!

You can probably even order a gift certificate online and have it sent to someone you care about- and before you say, but it's small! They don't have what I want- Kelly and her people KNOW books, they actually read them, all the time- and they can order almost anything you want. If you don't know what you want, ask- they WILL have a suggestion.

You can even join this cool thing called IndieBound and make up your own wish list so folks know what to get and order it directly from Fountain Bookstore! I set mine up (hint, hint)!

I was by there tonight for a poetry reading and they also have cards and doodads and a really nice children's section.

seriously- support your local indie bookstore, or watch them disappear!

Tony Hoagland, marry me!

This is another reason why he is one of my favorite poets-

Requests for Toy Piano

I would leave my husband and children for you, Tony!!

will art survive the economy?

For the first time, I am having serious doubts about the survival of art in Richmond, non-profit art, and in particular, art6, my home base.

In the face of economic downturn, and it's not over yet, the money people have to spend is shrinking, the time, the energy that we can devote to such small endeavors is beginning to chafe at all of us. We struggle to pay our personal bills, forget the rent and utilities at public spaces.

Where do we go to spend our entertainment dollars? First Fridays are not as popular as they were when we were having 4,000-5,000 visitors- we now have more like 2500 on a given night, most of those beer swilling students, not folks who will purchase a piece of art. The meetings for the governing groups occur on weekday mornings most of the time, fine for restaurant owners and for-profit galleries with paid staff. Where does that leave the all-volunteer, artist-run gallery?

Out in the cold, that's where. Everything we do is done by folks who have other job to support their art habits. We have families, we have obligations, we're tired at the end of the day, we're broke.

(There are those predators who will eke out a living, unwilling to think of anything but promoting themselves, they seem to crawl around the edges sucking money out of the system- they work for awhile, then move on, done with the big picture. It happens in poetry, too.)

In the meantime, the 'important' artist exhibits ridiculous work that is academic and (often) ugly and the rest of us walk by and shake our heads trying to figure out why in the world it matters- where is the heart of the work, or as we sometimes hear in a sermon- where am *I* in this?? Like some current poetry, it doesn't speak to anyone, it only rambles a self-centered inner monologue. Go to the galleries on First Friday- you'll know what I mean. The expensive art far outweighs the affordable- the ridiculous is heads up over what might fit in your house.

I can hear you saying- Go get Grants!! As if that's easy- it's very complicated, even torturous to assemble all the paperwork needed and it all has to be done just right- by volunteers- who are stretched this and aching with the effort of living and being artists themselves.

I'm tired of trying, of pushing, of begging people to come see, come buy, bring your children. It's easier to stay home and burrow, I guess.

I can't do that- I won't. I'm the fool who continues to drop the brick on my foot, hit my head with the hammer- I don't expect other people to clear the way- I'm a fucking saint-

no I'm not. But I won't let this go that easily- that's all I'm saying.

Join art6- help out, come join the fight with us. You get to work with crazy people like me.

To the 15 people who usually read my blog- thanks

poem for kristallnacht

Change (for Kristallnacht)

When glass is shattered
its jagged music spreads
concentric from the site.

No sound is more compelling
or absolute, and we become
compromised, made vulnerable:
eyes, bare feet, our belongings
open to injury, violation.

Once begun the act is done,
to be never forgotten. New panes
may look the same but are not.

In dreams she hears the sound
of breaking glass and stirs awake-
How easily things get broken.

(The line “How easily things get broken.” is from the Mass by Leonard
Bernstein)

This is part of my poem-a-day group for November