The Poetry Instigator: A New Writing Blog for Prompts

Check out this new blog for writing prompts: The Poetry Instigator at www.writingprompts.org. Lucy Biederman and Eleanor Tipton, two George Mason University graduate students, created this new blog that we think you'll be interested in.

On July 20, we're launching a four week SUMMER JOURNALS CHALLENGE, for which we're collaborating with four awesome national literary journals to bring you four weeks of cool prompts, literary discussions, special features, and more. Each of the four weeks, an editor from one of the featured journals will read the poems based on the week's prompt & choose a winner, who will receive a free year's subscription to the journal, not to mention bragging rights!

*Visit The Poetry Instigator and register for the summer challenge today

*Forward this announcement to any friends who might be interested

*Visit us on Facebook, become a fan, and/or update your status with our website to help us advertise!

Consequence Magazine Announces the Consequence Prize in Poetry

The Consequence Prize in Poetry will be awarded for the best poem addressing current war or armed conflict. The award will be presented at a poetry event sponsored by CONSEQUENCE magazine at the 2009 Massachusetts Poetry Festival on October 17, 2009. The winner will receive $100, have the selected poem published in both print and online editions of Consequence, be invited to read at the launch of Consequence Magazine’s next print edition, and receive a three year subscription to the magazine.(All poems submitted will be considered for publication in both print and online editions.)

Our Judge this year is poet and translator Kevin Bowen who will also present the award. No entry fee is required and the entry deadline is September 1, 2009. For more information, please visit www.CONSEQUENCEmagazine.org.

Review of Mark Nowak's Latest Book, Coal Mountain Elementary

277 Miners Die in South Africa Last Year

Five Killed, Five Injured in Coal Mine

Three Die in Kazakhstan Coal Mine Collapse

Those are the last three entries on Poet Mark Nowak’s blog, Coal Mountain. In this blog, which shares the name of his most recent book of poems, Nowak posts stories of the devastating human consequences of the mining industry and its practices, stories not often found in the mainstream media. Nowak’s ongoing work to keep the stories of mining deaths at the forefront of his readers’ minds demonstrates the urgency with which these issues need to be addressed; constantly reminding us that there are lives of real people at stake as well as environmental, economic and political costs to mining.

Nowak translates the resolve of his daily activism on behalf of working people into art in all three of his books of poetry, Shut Up, Shut Down, Revenants, and his most recent book, Coal Mountain Elementary. Deceptively simple, Coal Mountain Elementary combines photographs, newspaper articles, eyewitness testimony, and parts of an elementary school curriculum to relay the human consequences of coal mining. The book reveals how people across the globe are daily dehumanized to support an unsustainable level of consumption. Nowak’s poetry lies in the arrangement of the book as whole – fragments of testimony demand that we witness the devastation of human life in the interest of mining and profit.

The book is divided into three “lessons,” based the curriculum Nowak excerpts from the American Coal Foundation. The first lesson, “Coal Flowers: A Historic Craft,” contrasts the making of a craft that mining families would make when they had “little money/ to buy decorations/ or purchase toys” with Chinese newspaper reports of mining disasters and verbatim testimony from the Sago mining disaster in West Virginia. The brutal truths revealed by this juxtaposition are reinforced by the inclusion of Ian Teh’s photographs of Chinese mines, and Nowak’s own photos of the Sago mine and surrounding area. A photo of a sign reading “Safety Protects People. Quality Protects Jobs” is followed by a Sago mine worker’s description of being caught in the explosion:
“And I thought we was getting covered up with a roof fall at first. I said, oh no, I’m going to get covered up in a mantrip, buried alive here.” The next page indicates that two class periods will be necessary for the making of coal flowers.

In preserving the voices of the miners, Nowak has created a haunting tone to the book. As the narratives progress, we begin to see that these men are talking about ghosts – they talk about the bodies of their friends, relatives, supervisors, and coworkers that they find, and they are guilt-ridden about communications problems that gave false hope to the families of the dead. Their voices are presented next to Chinese newspaper reports of mine disasters, many of which contain the voices of mourners. The second lesson ends with such a voice:

“Tang Xufang, wife of a missing miner, brought his clothes from a dormitory, piled them up and set them on fire, an old Chinese tradition that some believe allows their dead loved ones to use the articles in the afterlife. …After the accident, Tang set off for the mine by train, but couldn’t get past police until Chinese reporters arrived… and demanded they open the gates.”

The way Tang is treated by the police – voiceless, powerless – and the way the press amplifies her voice exemplifies the effect of Coal Mountain Elementary on the reader. Tossed between photographic evidence of working conditions, the voices of the Sago miners, and the newspaper accounts, the children’s curriculum becomes increasingly poignant, as the lessons move from craft, to "mining" a cookie for its chocolate chips to explore costs (labor is not included other than with a price tag), to writing a short story about life in a mining town. This intertextuality is both the art and the power of the book – the story of Sago unfolds in such a way that is impossible to separate from the unrelenting onslaught of the accounts of deaths in Chinese mines. Nowak interweaves the four elements expertly, leaving us no choice but to face the consequences of our consumption and our failing policies.

Buy this book at Coffee House Press.

Katherine Howell is the Blog Goddess and Communications and Development Assistant for Split This Rock Poetry Festival; she lives and writes in Washington, D.C. Other reviews by Katherine can be found here.

Opportunites from the Writer's Center

The Writer’s Center, established in 1976, is one of the nation’s oldest and largest literary centers. It provides over 60 free public events and more than 200 writing workshops each year, sells one of the largest selections of literary magazines in its on-site bookstore, and publishes Poet Lore, America’s oldest continually published poetry journal.

Emerging Writer Fellowships: Call for Submissions

The Writer’s Center, metropolitan DC’s community gathering place for writers and readers, is currently accepting submissions for several competitive Emerging Writer Fellowships. Emerging Writer Fellows will be selected from applicants who have published up to 2 book-length works of prose and up to 3 book-length works of poetry. We welcome submissions from writers of any genre, background, or experience. Emerging Writer Fellows will be featured at The Writer’s Center as part of their Emerging Writers Reading Series. The readings, held on Friday evenings, bring together writers in different genres with a backdrop of live music. The Writer’s Center book store will sell titles by the Emerging Writers throughout the season in which they appear in an effort to promote them and their work to a wide audience.

Selected Fellows are invited to lead a special Saturday workshop at The Writer’s Center, with compensation commensurate with standard Writer’s Center provisions.

Fellows receive an all-inclusive honorarium to help offset their travel costs in the amount of $250 or $500, depending on their place of departure.

Fellows for Fall 2009 include novelist Alexander Chee (Edinburgh), novelist Lisa Selin Davis (Belly), poet Suzanne Frischkorn (Lit Windowpane), poet Aaron Smith (Blue on Blue Ground), Canadian fiction writer Neal Smith (Bang Crunch), poet Srikanth Reddy (Facts for Visitors), and poet Nancy Krygowski (Velocity).

Their events will be held in September, October, and December. See events calendar for more information.

Spring 2009 events will be held in February, March, and April/May.

To be considered, please send a letter of interest, a resume or CV that details publication history and familiarity facilitating group discussions, and a copy of your most recent book. Self-published or vanity press titles will not be accepted. A committee comprised of The Writer’s Center board members, staff, and members will evaluate submissions on behalf of our community of writers.

The deadline to submit is August 15, 2009.

Applicants are encouraged to call Charles Jensen, Director, for more information at 301-654-8664.

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Undiscovered Voices Fellowship: Call for Applications

The Writer’s Center seeks promising writers earning less than $25,000 annually to apply for our Undiscovered Voices Fellowship. This fellowship program will provide complimentary writing workshops to the selected applicant for a period of one year, but not to exceed 8 workshops in that year. We expect the selected fellow will use the year to make progress toward a completed manuscript of publishable work.

The Writer’s Center believes writers of all backgrounds and experiences should have an opportunity to devote time and energy toward the perfection of their craft.

The selected fellow will be able to attend writing workshops offered by The Writer’s Center free of charge. In addition, the fellow will give a reading from his or her work at the close of the fellowship period (June 2010) and will be invited to speak with local high school students on the craft of writing.

To apply, candidates should submit
a) a cover letter signed by the candidate that contains the statement: “I understand and confirm I meet all eligibility requirements of the Undiscovered Voices Fellowship.” The cover letter should include information on the impact this fellowship would have on the candidate.
b) contact information for two references who can speak to the candidate’s creative work and promise
c) a work sample in a single genre:
• 8 pages of poetry, no more than one poem per page
• 10 pages of fiction, double-spaced, no more than 1 work or excerpt
• 10 pages of nonfiction (essay, memoir, etc), double-spaced, no more than 1 work or excerpt
OR
• 15 pages of a script or screenplay

These items should be sent in hard copy to The Writer’s Center, Attn: Undiscovered Voices Fellowship, 4508 Walsh St, Bethesda MD 20815. The deadline is September 15, 2009.

2010 Poets and Contest Winners Announced!

Split This Rock Poetry Festival, March 10-13, 2010, will feature a diverse array of some of the finest poets writing at the intersection of imagination and social change.

Featured at Split This Rock's second festival will be Chris Abani, Lillian Allen (pictured), Sinan Antoon, Francisco Aragón, Jan Beatty, Martha Collins, Cornelius Eady, Martín Espada, Andrea Gibson, Allison Hedge Coke, Natalie Illum, Fady Joudah, Toni Asante Lightfoot, Richard McCann, Jeffrey McDaniel, Lenelle Moïse, Nancy Morejón, Mark Nowak, Wang Ping, Patricia Smith, A.B. Spellman, Arthur Sze, and Bruce Weigl.

As usual, diversity of all kinds is a top priority at Split This Rock. As at the first festival, Split This Rock 2010 will feature performance poets, experimental poets, lyrical poets, and narrative poets. Poets of color are in the majority. There are gay and lesbian poets, poets of working-class origin, and poets with disabilities. The list includes international voices, with poets from Canada, Cuba, Nigeria, Iraq, and China, as well as DC poets who write and work in our own community. And we're pleased to bring back two popular poets from the first festival, Martín Espada and Patricia Smith.

All 23 of these poets are in the world, are poet-citizens in a variety of ways. Lillian Allen is an originator of dub poetry and a leader on diversity and culture in Canada. Fady Joudah was a field doctor with Doctors Without Borders. Cornelius Eady is a founder of Cave Canem, the organization for African American poets. Jan Beatty has worked as a welfare caseworker and an abortion counselor. Mark Nowak facilitates "poetry dialogues" with Ford autoworkers in the US and South Africa. These are just a few examples. Check out the website for more on these critical voices.

We'll also be profiling them and reviewing their books on Blog This Rock in the coming months, so keep an eye out here.

Save the date: March 10-13, 2010. This is a festival you won't want to miss!
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2009 Split This Rock Poetry Contest Results

First Place: "River, Page" written by Teresa J. Scollon, Traverse City, MI.


Second Place: "The Center for the Intrepid" by Jenny Browne, San Antonio, Texas.

Third Place: "Femincide/ Fimicidio- The Murdered and Disappeared Women of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico" by Demetrice Anntia Worley, Peoria, Illinois.

We are very grateful to this year's judge Patricia Smith and to all who supported Split This Rock by entering the contest. The competition was tough - it is heartening to see the poets continuing to write their poems for a better world. Thank you.

The winning poems will be posted soon on Split This Rock's web site. Stay tuned!

Get a Personalized Poem from Workshop Leader and Poet, Lorna Dee Cervantes

On Sunday, the wonderful Lorna Dee Cervantes read some of her works at Sunday Kind of Love. As she read, she mentioned an ongoing project, born out of creativity and necessity (as she says on her website, "desperate times require desperate measures, require love"). The project involves writing love poems for strangers, bringing to mind Cyrano, the letter-writers of ancient China, and others gifted with language who use it to bring love and joy to others. As she read examples of the work the project had inspired, Lorna referred to it as "poetry busking," and the idea is simple: provide her with some information, and she will write a 100 word love poem for you. For a small fee of course (this includes a signed copy). The necessary information, as well as contact information is below. If you want to know more about Lorna, visit her blog, or even better, come to the workshop she's leading at the Institute for Policy Studies tomorrow (see link for more information).

Send the following information to lornadeecervantes [at] mac [dot] com to receive an original poem:

My name is:
My email is:
My address is:

I'll pay ($10+) ________ for a poem in (any style) ________ or __________.

I'll get it by email or I'll add $5 and get it by email and print.

I want a poem: for me, for my love, to our love (You can also have poems written for family members and friends).

I want a poem for _____________ that expresses _________________________________.

Once you've got all that filled out, provide some inspiration and insight:

Some words:
Some sounds:
Some sights/images:
Some tastes:
Some feelings, including tactile:

Help support Lorna and poetry, and show your love for someone important with an amazing gift.

Last Call For Panel Proposals!

Call for Proposals: Split This Rock Poetry Festival 2010

Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness invites poets, writers, activists, and all concerned citizens to Washington, DC, March 10-13, 2010 for four days of poetry, community building, and creative transformation as our country continues to grapple with two wars, a crippling economic crisis, and other social and environmental ills.

We invite you to send proposals for panel discussions, group readings, roundtable discussions, workshops, and small-scale performances on a range of topics at the intersection of poetry and social change. Possibilities are endless. Challenge us.

The deadline is JUNE 30, 2009.

Last years panels included:
Crip Poetry: A Culture of Disability, Justice and Art

A Panel By Kathi Wolfe, Chris Bell, Petra Kuppers, Stephen Kuusisto

Nothing is more connected to poetry than the body–(with its limitations and joys) and the body politic–the intersection of the personal with social justice issues (from peace to race to LGBT). This is especially true for disability culture (crip) poets who write out of their own experience of disability (in relation to their own bodies) and to the body politic (to disability as a social construct). The panel will be a lively discussion, focused on these questions: How does disability intersect with other political issues? How do a passion for social justice and experience with disability help to create memorable, well-crafted poems?

Writing Isn't Lonely: Collaborative Writing Workshop

Susan Tichy, Eleanor Graves, Danika Myers

If our politics are communal, why do so many poems celebrate the individual voice? If poetry is about discovery, not certainty, what happens when we have "a message"? How can we write politically while preserving complexity in our language and thought? Techniques of collage can move "the message" away from content and into the poem's process. We become makers of our poems, not their sole speaker, and the whole world of language becomes our material. This workshop will take you through collaborative exercises focused on speaking truth where truth is not evident.

Writing Down the Walls: Poetry in Prison

Shelley Savren, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Clarinda Harriss, Walter Lomax, John Mingo, Kyes Stevens

Poets who have conducted writing workshops in prisons (and/or in juvenile justice facilities) will discuss their experiences working with inmates – the challenges of the system, the successes of the workshops and the disappointments. They will examine the importance of reaching this population through poetry and whether or not writing empowered the participants or brought about change. Joining the panel will be inmates who participated in poetry writing workshops and/or wrote poetry while incarcerated. They will discuss the effects of writing poetry in a hostile environment and will explore how the act of writing poems enabled them to change their lives or at least survive behind prison walls.


Details and guidelines are online here(splitthisrock.org/documents/2010_panel_proposals.doc).

Discussion and community building are at the heart of Split This Rock. We value diversity, creativity, and new ideas. Check out last year's schedule for inspiration.

Please join us!

Help Spread the Word

Forward this post, re-post it on your blog, send a message to all your Facebook friends. We are a grassroots movement and need your help to reach a wide variety of poets and poetry lovers. Thanks!