Happy Start to New Year
Really thrilled to have one poem upcoming in Presence 2020, two in Women’s Studies Quarterly, three in Hunnybee; that “How to Handle Criticism” appears in The Winnow, and that Gnashing Teeth has published Heat the Grease – We’re Frying Up Some Poetry. Thanks also to Darrell Laurant for interviewing me on The Hero(Chax Press, 2018), and to Bateau LitandTentaculareditors for publishing more translations.Translation for Writers
 |
| L-R: Ann Lauinger, Beth Gersh-Nešić, and yours truly talk translation at Hudson Highland Poetry Series |
Poetry at Curley’s Diner
 |
| Poet and Curley's Proprietor Eleni Begetis Anastos and me |
Lovrien Price Gregory
 |
| Lovrien Price Gregory New York Sun - 1925 |
While portraiture was her adult focus, late in life she opened to abstract expressionism—producing breath-taking nudes in shards of vibrant color. I seek a home for her work. If there’s a museum or archive that could benefit from this spectacular provenance spanning the 20th century, please let me know.
Suffragettes Invade Central Park
 |
| Meredith Bergmann works on her sculpture |
Friends Scoop Top Awards
 |
| Regi Claire |
 |
| Alison McBain |
We also salute Alison McBain, fiction writer, cartoonist, and blogger, on winning gold in the Literary Classics International Book Award for her YA fantasy, The Rose Queen(Fairfield Scribes, 2018). Woo-hoo! More to come, we are sure!
New Releases
Sandi Gelles-Cole and Kenneth Salzmann, Eds. What Remains: The Many Ways We Say Good-bye(Gelles-Cole Literary Enteprises, 2019)
John F. McMullen, World War II Baby and Other Poems (Local Gems Press, 2019)
Creative Opportunities
Augury Books Open Reading Period for poetry manuscripts, January only, $10 fee
John C. Hart Memorial Library, Yorktown Poetry Workshop, fourth Wednesdays, 6pm
Hudson Valley Writers Center Open Mic Nights 7:30-9:30 third Fridays
 |
| Oscar Wilde |
Mahopac Library, Poetry Workshop, second Wednesdays, 6:30pm (second floor); Writers Group, every Thursday, 6:30pm (third floor)
Norwalk Library, 2nd Floor, Poetry Workshop, first and third Mondays, 6:30-8:30pm
Paraclete Press Inaugural Poetry Prize, submit 60-75 page manuscripts by January 30
 |
| Ann Starr |
The Poetry InstituteReading Series Open Mic (New Haven), third Thursdays, 7pm
Refiction Magazine, free online fiction writer’s magazine with resources and tools
Starr Review, New Edition, subscribe for art reviews by art connoisseur Ann Starr
Uncommon Hours: An Online Course About Designing the Writing Lifewith Carolyn Flynn
Chilaquiles
My American hybrid of the classic Mexican dish—great any time of day—and you probably have the ingredients on hand. Serves two. Tastes best if eaten while wearing PJs. Olé!
1 tablespoon organic unsalted butter6 pasture-raised large eggs
salt, pepper, and a touch of nutmeg
1 block cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
1 green pepper, grilled, peeled, and cut into thin slices (optional)
2-3 handfuls of unsalted, non-GMO tortilla chips
your favorite red salsa
chopped fresh cilantro, organic sour cream, guacamole or avocado (optional)
Melt butter in large frying pan. Beat eggs; add some water or milk as preferred, and seasonings. Pour eggs into hot pan. Add green pepper, sautéed onion, or steamed spinach or swiss chard—or not. Sprinkle half of cheese over top, followed by tortilla chips, and rest of cheese. Tip pan and lift one edge of eggs with a spatula to help chilaquiles solidify. Lower heat so they do not burn. Once eggs are dry, remove from heat, drizzle with salsa and other toppings, slice like a pie, and serve.
Tip: Always buy block cheese. Bags of shredded cheese come with something called cellulose, basically plastic. Also, to rid store-bought tortilla chips of that stale taste, spread chips on cookie sheets and broil for a few seconds until sizzling and golden at the edges—watch so they don’t burn!
Poetry / Literary / Art Events
Alliance Française de Greenwich, Byram Shubert Library, January 7, 5pm, Art Historian Beth Gersh-Nešić on “When Modern Art Came to Paris: Immigration and Assimilation,” free and open to the public
HVWC, January 24, 7pm, Sigrid Nunez and Jim Tilley, $10
HVWC, January 24, 7pm, Sigrid Nunez and Jim Tilley, $10
It’s a little quiet in January, don’t you think?
ʼRound the Net
 |
| Choreographer Rachel Cohen |
Choreographer Rachel Cohen for improv classes at Action Theater and new work last fall at the Construction Company
American author A. N. Devers for opening in London’s Soho the Second Shelf Bookshopto preserve and promote literature written by women
Poet and translator Chen Du for a poem in Levitate, essays in Hamline Lit LinkandDead Mule, translations in The Bare Life Review, Columbia Journal, Lunch Ticket, and River River; and translation of poems by Charles Alexander in Yan River(China).
 |
| 1916 |
Art Historian Beth Gersh-Nešićfor presenting at the André Salmon Colloquium at the University of Turin (Italy) a paper on Salmon’s support of women artists at the 1916 Salon d’Antin where Picasso’s Demoiselles d’Avignon was also first exhibited
Poet Gary Glauber on winning a James Tate International Poetry Prize, on work in Parentheses (France), The Chachalaca Review, and Sheila-Na-Gig; and for his chapbook The Covalence of Equanimity forthcoming from SurVision Books
Poet Cindy Hochman for her review of Francesca Bell’s Bright Stain (Red Hen Press, 2018) in Pedestal 85
 |
| Maureen Pilkington and her brother poet Kevin Pilkington |
Poet Rolf Maurer for penning “Ann Cefola: Listening For The Lyre Of Hope And Love In The Underworld Of the Atomic Age”
Yorktown Poet Laureate John McMullen on his 300th radio show, and for this skewering of an MFA workshop taken by Jane Austen
Author Maureen Pilkington for this great review of This Side of Water (Regal House Publishing, 2019)
Art connoisseur Ann Starr on her review of the Ditchling Museum in Starr Review, New Edition
Until next time,