Hudson Valley Writers Guild Newsletter, March 31, 2011
In This Issue
Guild Announcements: Listing of Peer Writing Groups , Fiction contest winners, Poetry Publishing Workshop with Dan Nester
Member Announcements: Janine De Tillio Cammarata, Kathe Kokolias, K.A. Laity, Hollis Seamon
Area Announcements: National Poetry Month Events in Hillsdale, Writers Institute Programs, Two Towns Book Event in Clifton Park, Poetry and Prose Reading at the Arts Center, Bookmarks Reading Series at the Arts Center, Gary Soto at Siena, Word Fest in Albany, Favorite Poem Project in Rensselaerville, Blogging Writers Event at Colonie Center, Second Annual Smith’s Tavern Poet Laureate Contest, Delmar Writers Group Showcase, Mystery Writers Event at Tappan Library
Guild Announcements
Listing of Peer Writing Groups
HVWG volunteer Therese L. Broderick is updating the Guild’s list of local peer writing groups and feedback groups (of any literary genre). If you participate in such a group — whether private or public — please let Therese know the name, email address, and/or phone number of the group’s contact person. Call Therese by phone (518) 482-2639 days, evenings and weekends or send her an email message (brdrck@gmail.com).
To see the Peer Writing Groups listing now on the Guild’s website, visit the direct link hudsonvalleywritersguild.wordpress.com/resources/peer-writing-groups/ or follow this path:
1. Go to hvwg.org
2. Click on “Resources”
3. Select “Peer Writing Groups” from the drop-down menu
Fiction contest winners announced; reading scheduled April 2, 1 p.m.
The Hudson Valley Writers Guild is pleased to announce the winners of its 2010 Short Fiction Contest. The winners and honorable mentions will be recognized at a reading on Saturday, April 2, at 1 p.m. at the East Greenbush Public Library, 10 Community Way, East Greenbush. The first, second and third place winners, respectively, are Ken Holland, Fishkill; Jo Salas, New Paltz; and Carol Derfner, Kinderhook. Honorable mentions are John Velie, Albany; David Sylvester, Watervliet; and Susan Clements, Buffalo.
Details of the HVWG’s 2011 contest — which will be for non-fiction (personal essay, memoir, humor) — will be announced at the end of the afternoon reading. All writers living in the state of New York are eligible. The public is invited to attend the reading and hear from the winners. For more details, contact winterview@earthlink.net or visit the HVWG website (hvwg.org).
Guild Sponsored Poetry Publishing Workshop April 9, 10 a.m.
Daniel Nester, associate professor of English at The College of St. Rose, will be conducting a free workshop on “Getting Your Poems Published in Journals,” Saturday, April 9, 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., at Albertus Hall, Room 202, 432 Western Avenue, The College of Saint Rose, Albany. The workshop is sponsored by the Hudson Valley Writers Guild and is free and open to the public. There is no advance registration.
The world of literary journals, famous and small, new and old, print and online, may seem daunting to the newcomer. This workshop/class will center on where to start: how to find the right places for your work, what goes into a cover letter, formatting your manuscript, resources for poets, and how to start looking at one’s own work with an eye on publication. Participants may send 5-7 to the instructor ahead of time, email: nesterd@strose.edu, or bring them to the workshop, as well as books by your favorite living poets.
Member Announcements
Janine De Tillio Cammarata will be on a panel at the Empire State Book Festival at the Empire State Plaza in Albany on April 2 from 12:45-1:30 with a meet & greet session right after.
Kathe Kokolias will not be reading at The Book House on Saturday, April 16, as announced in a previous HVWG newsletter and on her website. The rescheduled date will be announced in a future newsletter and also at kathekokolias.com.
K. A. Laity will be presenting portions of her new play on the life of the twelfth century recluse, Christina of Markyate, at the Popular Culture Association National Conference (April 20-23, San Antonio, TX) and at the Great Writing Conference (June 18-19, London, England). She will also be the keynote speaker at the University of Iowa’s Craft/Critique/Culture Conference on April 16-17, 2011.
Hollis Seamon will be participating in two mystery panels at the Empire State Book Festival in Albany on April 2. She will moderate the “Cozy Up to A Mystery” panel discussion and will be a panelist for the “Kick-Ass Women on the Case” discussion. For more information on the book festival, go to empirestatebookfestival.com .
Area announcements
National Poetry Month at the Roeliff Jan Community Library
The Roeliff Jan Community Library invites the community to celebrate National Poetry Month in April with a wide ranging series of events, including poetry readings, speakers, films and a poetry workshop at the Library’s new facility. The Library is located at 9091 Rte. 22, approximately 1/2 mile south of the traffic light in Hillsdale. (Hillsdale is in Columbia County east of Hudson near the Massachusetts line.) Following is the schedule of events:
Saturday, April 2, 4:30 p.m.
Joan Murray, poet and playwright, and Old Chatham resident, will open the festival. The theme of her reading and the open reading that follows is “Poems of Rural Life.” She is the author of prize-winning books from W.W. Norton, Beacon Press, and Wesleyan University Press, and is one of 41 US Poets to be awarded a 2011 National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship. Her website is JoanMurray.com. Join us! Bring a favorite poem or one of your own.
Sunday, April 3, 2 p.m.
Bruno Navasky, poet and elementary school teacher, will talk about reading poetry with children and read some of his favorite poems. He will discuss teaching poetry in the classroom and his editorial process in selecting poems for his anthologies. He is editor of Poem in Your Pocket for Young Poets (2011), Festival in My Heart: Poems by Japanese Children (1993), and Sixty Years of American Poetry (1996). His publications include poems, reviews, and translations in the New York Times, The Paris Review, and elsewhere. He is a former editor of American Poet and a current board member of The Academy of American Poets.
Friday, April 8, 7 p.m.
Film Screening of Dead Poets Society. English professor John Keating instills in his student a love of poetry and inspires them to seize the day. With Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles. Directed by Peter Weir.
Saturday, April 9, 11 a.m.
Poetry for Children. Bruno Navasky will lead parents or grandparents and children in reading and sharing favorite poems. He will provide poems or you can bring your own favorites.
Saturday, April 9, 2 p.m.
Shakespeare Performance. Costumed dramatic readings by Taconic Hills High School students.
Sunday, April 10, 2 p.m.
Peter Bergman, Executive Director, The Millay Society, will discuss Edna St. Vincent Millay’s neighboring home, Steepletop, and her place in the twenty first century. Through poetry, prose, and photography, Bergman will explore the world of Edna St. Vincent Millay, bringing her life alive again more than sixty years after an untimely death. Peter is a writer and reviewer for area papers and a regional playwright with seven dramas and comedies set in the Berkshires. His new novel, Small Ironies, is being published in 2011.
Friday, April 15, 7 p.m.
An Evening with Peter Dufault: Screening, What I Meant to Tell you: An American Poet’s ‘State of the Union,’ a film about Dufault, directed by his son, Ethan Dufault, followed by a short reading. In his poems, nature is the sublime bedrock that forms the basis for ethics and spirituality. A WWII pilot and 1968 Congressional candidate, Dufault remains a peace activist and musician. This is an opportunity to hear him read poems that bridge the gaps between the personal, physical, and political worlds. Author of seven poetry books, his poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, Atlantic Monthly, and Poetry.
Saturday, April 30, 2 p.m.
J. Daniel Beaudry, Reading and Poetry Writing Workshop / A Way of Poetry?—It is hard to tell if the world is just naturally more luminous to poets, or if it is made so through their engagement in the process of writing. One thing is certain, however: vibrant experiencing and poetry are intertwined. During this workshop, elements of the Buddhist and Imagist poetic traditions will inform participants’ personal explorations of the possibility that the process—the practice—of writing poetry can lead to a fuller and truer way of being alive.
Daniel Beaudry’s poetry has appeared in Frogpond, Modern Haiku, Nature in Legend and Story, and world-renowned canopy biologist Dr. Nalini Nadkarni’s book, Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees. Daniel divides his time between Saint Rose and Hudson Valley Community College where he teaches Japanese Literature, the Literature of the Returning Soldier, and Composition and Rhetoric. He is studying to become a Tendai Buddhist priest and is the President of the Edna St. Vincent Millay Society. The reading is open to all. However, registration for the workshop will be limited to 12 participants. To register contact Cecele Kraus at (518) 329-3056 or cecelekraus@gmail.com.
Writers Institute Programs, April 6 & April 12
The State Writers Institute will host playwright and screenwriter John Patrick Shanley at the Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center, Uptown Campus on Wednesday, April 6 at 8 p.m. On Tuesday, April 12, poet Rosanna Warren will be reading at in Room 375 in Campus Center of the Uptown Campus at 8 p.m. These events are free and open to the public. For additional events check the website at albany.edu/writers-inst.
Two Towns-One Book, April 8, 3:30 p.m.
The Friends of the Library and Community Partners would like to invite you to the Launch Celebration of Two Towns-One Book, Clifton Park & Halfmoon Read. Please feel free to forward this invitation to other readers in our community who want to be a part of a growing trend; a community-wide read! Nominations will begin April 8 at 3:30 p.m. at the Celebration and continue until May 7. Look for more information as the “Launch” date approaches in our local newspapers and on twotownsonebook.org . Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library is located at 475 Moe Road, Clifton Park.
Poetry and Prose Open Mic, Arts Center, April 10, 2 p.m.
Join area writers on April 10 at this increasing popular event for prose and poetry. Hosted by Nancy Klepsch and Dan Wilcox. Readings start at 2 p.m. in the Art Centers black box theater. Plenty of free parking nearby. 265 River Street in Downtown Troy.
Bookmarks Reading Series Continues April 11, 7 p.m.
The final event in this series will be on the theme of “Changing Course: Mid-Life Epiphanies” and will be curated by Kathryn Allen. The reading is free and begins at 7 p.m. at the Arts Center of the Capital Region, 265 River Street, in downtown Troy.
Gary Soto reading at Siena College, April 14
The English Department of Siena College is pleased to announce that award-winning poet Gary Soto will be visiting in April. The author of 23 books, Gary Soto is a poet, playwright, essayist and children’s book writer. Widely anthologized, he is a frequent contributor to magazines such as Threepenny Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Crazy Horse and Poetry, which has honored him with both the Bess Hokin and Levinson Prizes. He has received the Discovery/The Nation Award, as well as the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Children’s Video, the Literature Award from the Hispanic Heritage Foundation and an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation. He has also received fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the California Arts Council. A National Book Award finalist for New and Selected Poems, Soto divides his time between Berkeley and his hometown of Fresno, California.
Gary Soto will be visiting the campus of Siena College, meeting with students in formal and informal settings throughout the day. The visit will culminate in Soto reading from his work at 7 p.m. in the West Room of Serra Hall.
Albany Word Fest, April 16, 7 a.m.
The online sign-up for the 2011 Albany Word Fest is now online and ready for all poets and spoken word artists to take their places. A 12-Hour Word Fest Open Mic will be taking place on Saturday, April 16, starting at 7 a.m. at The Linda (339 Central Avenue, Albany). For more information on the all-day annual celebration of poetry, music, spoken word and sign up for the open mic, go to albanywordfest.com. The online sign-up will be available until Friday, April 15.
Favorite Poem Project in Rensselaerville April 16, 3 p.m.
We invite you to participate in Rensselaerville’s Sixth Annual Favorite Poem Project. As part of a national movement begun by former poet laureate Robert Pinsky, this event brings communities together by inviting citizens to bring their favorite poems to read aloud in a relaxed poetry celebration. This year’s Favorite Poem Project will take place at Conkling Hall on Methodist Hill Rd. in Rensselaerville on Saturday, April 16, from 3-5 p.m.
To provide some “Open Mic” access, participants may read both a favorite poem and an original poem. Refreshments served.
Also, save these dates: July 29-31 for the Rensselaerville Library’s Second Festival of Writers – featuring such well-known writers as: Jean Craighead George, Nick Flynn, Francine Prose, Verlyn Klinkenborg, Helen Benedict and Stephen O’Connor among others. Events will include writing workshops, readings, a theatrical experience, a film showing, lawn party, and a photography exhibit. The theme for the Festival is “a sense of place.” Hopefully, there will be room and time for an Open Mic as well.
Blogging Event at Colonie Center, April 16, 6 p.m.
TechValley Blogger Tweetup –Tech Valley Bloggers are invited to attend a Tech Valley Blogger Tweetup on April 16, 6-7 p.m., at Colonie Center, when we will announce the winners of the Tech Valley Blog Contest. This is the inaugural event in a series of opportunities to network and share best practices in social media. For more information, and to find out how you can win an Apple iPad 2 and ticket to Blog World 2011 in New York City, see Tech Valley Blog Celebration Giveaway.
Smith’s Tavern Second Annual Poet Laureate Contest, April 17
Sunday, April 17, at noon sharp at Smith’s Tavern, 112 Maple Avenue, Voorheesville. Prizes are: Poet Laureate – $100; Second Place – $50; Honorable Mention – $25. At press time there were still a few slots left for poets wishing to sign-up. Do so by emailing dsullivan6@nycap.rr.com.
Delmar Writers Group Showcase, April 29, 7 p.m.
Delmar writers’ group showcase: DWG members will be showcasing their work at the Pine Hollow Arboretum on Friday, April 29, at 7 p.m. Among those who will be sharing their work are Mimi Moriarty, Marion Menna, Alan Casline and a host of others. The arboretum is located at 16 Maple Avenue, Slingerlands. The grounds will be open earlier in the day with many flowering trees in bloom. All are welcome to come by.
Mystery Writers Event at the Tappan Library May 3, 7 p.m.
Tappan Library has teamed up with the Mystery Writers of America – New York Chapter to present a special A-List Author Event on Tuesday, May 3, at the Manse Barn, 32 Old Tappan Road, Tappan, NY, 7-8:30 p.m. Admission is free. Meet the authors and learn how they draw their inspiration from true crime investigations that touch us to those that keep us awake at night to create page-turning fiction sparked by actual events. Our panel moderated by Robert Knightly, The Cold Room, May 2011; will feature Andrew Gross, Reckless; Sharon Linnea, These Violent Delights, May 2011; M.J. Rose, The Reincarnationist and Jessica Speart, Winged Obsession.
