Workin' the Word

Exploring Inspired by Gertrude Stein: A Workshop

2012-01-06T11:29:00.000-05:00

The Word Works is presenting Inspired by Gertrude Stein, a special master class workshop. So what does that mean? Perhaps this video will give you a better idea.

INSPIRED BY GERTRUDE STEIN: A WORKSHOP

February 4, 2012, 10 am to 5 pm

Stanford in Washington Art Gallery

2661 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC.

Karren L. Alenier, author of Gertrude Stein Invents a Jump Early On

& Hans Gallas, a San Francisco-based collector of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas memorabilia

Open to writers of all levels & genres

Sponsored by: The Word Works & Stanford in Washington

More Info: http://wordworksdc.com/

Word Works Authors at Split This Rock Festival

2012-01-06T11:09:00.000-05:00

The Word Works is spreading the word about our authors Sarah Browning and Brandon Johnson who will make the 2012 Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness another huge success.

Of course, Sarah Browning, author of Whiskey in the Garden of Eden, is the founding director of Split This Rock. She knows how to attract the most socially active poets. Among her featured poets is Marilyn Nelson, who gave a master class workshop for us in 2001 on how to work with and write researched-based poems. Kim Roberts, who is also a featured poet, supported Marilyn's Word Works master class by getting us a great venue to hold that class. Of course, Word Works knows anything Kim does will be worth experiencing. Word Works has sponsored a number of her projects including her book Lip Smack: A History of Spoken Word in DC.

Brandon Johnson, author of Love's Skin, is active with Cave Canem, a national organization committed to cultivating the artistic and professional growth of black poets. He is a founding member of the Modern Urban Griots, a poetry and performance collective in the District of Columbia. And he is a dynamic reader of his own work.

Testimonials and reviews from the 2010 Festival tell the bigger story. So make your calendar with these dates March 22-25, 2012 for Split This Rock!

Inspired by Gertrude Stein: A Workshop

2011-12-29T16:28:00.000-05:00

Saturday, February 4, 2012, The Word Works, in cooperation with Stanford in Washington, will sponsor Inspired by Gertrude Stein, a special master class workshop on Gertrude Stein, a unique opportunity to learn about Stein and to be inspired by her work and the work of artists already influenced by this great Modernist.

The 10 am to 5 pm workshop will take place at the Stanford in Washington Art Gallery, 2661 Connecticut Ave NW Washington, DC. The program, which includes an overview of Stein and her work, a curated tour of the exhibition (now extended to March 2012) “Insight & Identity: Contemporary Artists and Gertrude Stein,” writing time, and an opportunity to share newly created work, will be led by Karren Alenier, author of the libretto Gertrude Stein Invents a Jump Early On, and Hans Gallas, co-curator of the “Insight & Identity” exhibition.

The program is open to writers of all levels and genres. The cost is $50. Visit http://wordworksbooks.org for more information or call 301-581-9439.

KARREN LaLONDE ALENIER, poet, librettist and innovator of educational programs, specializes in creative work related to Gertrude Stein. Since 2003, she has been writing The Steiny Road to Operadom, a monthly column on Gertrude Stein and opera for Scene4.com. She is author of five volumes of poetry, with a sixth — On a Bed of Gardenias: Jane & Paul Bowles — forthcoming January 2012. Her opera Gertrude Stein Invents a Jump Early On premiered in New York in 2005 with a good review from the New York Times.

HANS GALLAS, writer and artist, is a San Francisco-based collector of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas memorabilia. Items from his collection have been included in exhibitions around the world and are featured in the Stanford in Washington gallery show. He is also the author of the recently published picture book, Gertrude and Alice and Fritz and Tom.

The Word Works is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit literary organization publishing contemporary poetry in artistic editions and sponsoring public programs for more than 35 years.

# # #

Cafe Muse Celebrates Fine Poets September & October

2011-09-21T11:49:00.002-04:00

September 19, 2011, at Café Muse, The Word Works had the pleasure of hearing poets Megan Synder Camp and Michele Wolf read from their new books as well as host Greg McBride who gave moving tribute to our recently departed friend Ann Knox.

Here are the opening poems from The Forest of Sure Things by Megan Snyder-Camp:

SEA CREATURES OF THE DEEP

O sockeye O rock sole O starry flounder

O red Irish lord O spiny lumpsucker

Dear threespine stickleback, sweet broken-backed shrimp—

hear the dreadful voices from the balcony. You’re the blind

taking the bull by the horns. You’re snow on a stick,

a stuck jukebox, a ribbon-swamped trike. O gum boot,

O lemon peel nudibranch—do not fear the leafy horn-mouth;

dogwinkle and moon snail walk the floor and burn their bridges.

Lonely whitecap limpet, days are not true. You stand on one foot,

and we brush past. To live a life is not to walk across a field.

Pity the ghost shrimp, heart on his sleeve, or the glassy sea squirt,

run through with tears. O to have gathered no moss, to know a clam’s

muddy joy. You shut with a snap, you blur with silt, you poke

among barnacles. A bunch of one-trick ponies, even brave wolf-eel.

Cornered, the plainfin midshipman sings when afraid.

They say it fears only the elusive cloud sponge.

and from Immersion by Michele Wolf:

THE GREAT TSUNAMI

She recognizes its crest in the way he looks at her. 

The wave is as vast as the roiling mass in the Japanese 

Print they had paused in front of at the museum, 

Capped with ringlets of foam, all surging sinew. 

That little village along the shore would be 

Totally lost. There is no escaping this. 

The wave is flooding his heart, 

And he is sending the flood 

Her way.It rushes 

Over her.  

Can you look at one face 

For the whole of a life?  

Does the moon peer down 

At the tides and hunger for home?

Greg McBride read two poems by Ann Knox and in this video, you can hear one of these. Note the photo of Ann that Greg brought to the reading. It was taken at Ann’s last reading on the day of her death. Ann was a great asset to our literary community and we miss her very much.

Our our next program is October 3 with poets Linda Pastan and Jane Shore with tribute to Ann Darr.

Miller Poetry Series Wrap Up

2011-07-31T19:50:00.000-04:00

Word Works had a successful partnership with the National Park Service as we teamed up to present eight programs from June 9 to July 28 in the Rock Creek Nature Center planetarium in Washington DC. We had a great mix of familiar audience and newcomers. Here are some images from the July programs and a poem written by Rhonda Williford who attended every program!

META-CONSTELLATION

The Word Works Graces

have tipped the bowl

of the night sky free

of humidity, light pollution --

to expotential stars,

skim of Milky Way creamed.

The Lyra held upright to strum

sound bright to twin the lights --

too various to connect all dots --

intimate as a lost love,

extraterrestial as the setting,

neither desert or the whale

neglected. The poets drew

the pictures -- and the pictures

sang. We sat under

the constellations, grateful

for the created

community of words.

--Rhonda Williford

Cafe Muse Celebrates Hispanic Poets in Washington DC

2011-07-20T22:28:00.002-04:00

Café Muse was sizzling hot for its July 18 program when Luis Alberto Ambroggio and Carlos Parada Ayala brought together luminaries associated with their new anthology Al pie de la Casa Blanca: Poetas hispanos de Washington, DC (At the Foot of the White House: Hispanic Poets in Washington, DC). The program opened with tribute to Egla Morales Blouin by her daughter Wendy Harmic Blouin and Egla Blouin’s best friend Dr. Miriam Davis. Blouin worked on Al pie de la Casa Blanca but did not live long enough to see the work in print. She also did translation work for DC’s Gala Hispanic Theatre.

Congratulations to Luis Alberto Ambroggio for his upcoming induction in the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language (an honor from the government of Spain). The ceremony will take place September 30, 2011 at the Library of Congress.

Congratulation to Rei Berroa for The International Poetry Award that will be bestowed to him by the City of Trieste, Italy in December 2011. The International Poetry Award is an honor that has been given to highly esteemed writers from around the world for each of the past 12 years in recognition of lifetime achievement.

Here is the list in the order of their appearance and the country of origin:

-Wendy Harmic Blouin, Egla Morales Blouin's daughter (US)

-Dr. Miriam Davis, Egla's best friends (Argentina)

-Alberto Avendaño (Spain)

-Ada Vilageliu Díaz (Spain)

-Rei Berroa (Dominican Republic)

-David Camero (Venezuela)

-Yvette Neisser Moreno (US)

-Carlos Parada (El Salvador)

-Luis Alberto Ambroggio (Argentina)

This poem is a translation of Sami Miranda’s word play poem “Como vino.” Word play is very difficult to translate, but this translation by Yvette Neisser Moreno seems to please those in the know.

WINDING UP HERE (“Como vino”)

Like wine.

Like red wine,

like white wine.

How’d a black man wind up here?

Wandering on a raft.

How’d he wind up here?

Like wine in a bottle,

a message crossing

the sea.

When I saw that

they didn’t want me,

I drank a bottle

of wine. So what?

Red wine.

White wine.

Black man came on a raft,

four days on a raft.

When the helicopter wound down

and took me to Guantánamo

I stayed.

They asked: How’d you wind up here?

Like a bottle of wine

crossing the sea

with a message

no one reads.

Since he had come,

I sat and talked with him.

We drank a bottle of wine

and when he asked:

How’d you wind up here?

I said, what does it matter
if I'm already here.

‘Como vino’ by Sami Miranda

Translation by Yvette Neisser Moreno

COMO VINO

Como vino.
Como vino tinto,
Como vino blanco.
¿Cómo vino el negro?
En una balsa.

¿Cómo vino?
En botella,
un mensaje cruzando
el mar.

Como vi que no
me querían,
me tomé una botella
de vino. ¿Cómo?

Vino tinto.
Vino blanco.
Vino negro en balsa,
cuatro días en balsa.

Como vino el helicóptero
y me llevó a Guantánamo
me quedé.
Me preguntaban: ¿Cómo vino?

Como botella de vino
cruzando el mar
con un mensaje
que nadie lee.

Como vino,
me senté a hablar con él
y nos tomamos una botella de vino
y cuando me preguntó:

¿Cómo vino?
Le contesté, qué importa
si ya llegué.

by Sami Miranda

About Al pie de la Casa Blanca: Poetas hispanos de Washington, DC:

The anthology includes the work of 24 of the most prominent Hispanic poets who have lived in the DC area in recent years, including Naomi Ayala, Quique Avilés, Rei Berroa, Consuelo Hernández, Gladys Ilarregui, Mayamérica Cortez, Arturo Salcedo Martínez, Alberto Avendaño, Marty Sanchez-Lowery, Milagros Terán and Vladimir Monge.

It also includes a pair of essays by the editors, putting in context the thematic and aesthetic development Hispanic poetry in Washington within American poetical perspectives and the local history of Hispanic-Latino poetry. The poetry is interspersed with photographs by the Spanish academic, writer and photographer Gerardo Piña Rosales, which offer a cutting-edge visual essay that creates a stimulating dialogue with the poetry. The English translation of this anthology is in progress now.

The NEXT CAFÉ MUSE program will happen August 1, 2011 and feature Poets Kyle Dargan & Lew Watts with tribute to Sterling Brown. Please join us for another outstanding program.

Miller Time Update

2011-07-02T15:19:00.000-04:00

Are we flying high at the Rock Creek Nature Center Planetarium with the newly relocated Joaquin Miller Poetry Series? You betcha!

Maybe you saw our opening night post.

Our June16, Kathi Morrison Taylor & Deborah Ager presented Pia Taavila & Ian Williams. Pia gave us a look into deaf culture—she was raised by deaf parents and now teaches at Galludet. Ian gave us a 21st century look into the life of a single man but not before telling us the story about how his condo apartment house burned down days before he came from the greater Boston area to DC for his reading.

On June 23, Adam Tavel and Melissa Tuckey joined us in the Planetarium. We were also pleased to have The Word Works resident star-gazer Dr. Jim Beall who runs his own planetarium at St. Johns College.

June 30, we had a big crowd for Yvette Neisser Moreno and Iain Pollack. The heavens were rocking with lots of celestial imagery and sound effects.

If you missed any of these readings, you can still check out the books from many of these authors in the lobby of the Nature Center. It's not hard to get to the Rock Creek Nature Center by car or by public transportation.

The Planetarium is totally cool in every sense of the word. (No bugs either!) Join us July 7 for the next reading by Hailey Leithauser & Suzanne Rhodenbaugh.

Heavenly Graduation, Kelly Cherry, Jacklyn Potter Young Poets

2011-06-10T21:18:00.001-04:00

How did The Word Works ever manage to spend 35 seasons doing poetry at the Miller Cabin? The answer: we had Jacklyn Potter running the show for 22 years and she loved the out of doors.

Moving the Joaquin Miller Poetry Series to the Planetarium of the Rock Creek Nature is clearly a heavenly graduation, especially on a day such as June 9, 2011 was with its 100 degree Fahrenheit reading, the oppressive humidity and annoying gnats. None of that inside the pleasantly air-conditioned Planetarium where Ranger Scott treated us to the night sky that Joaquin Miller saw over the cabin when it was still in its original location (now Meridian Hill Park).

Our featured readers were: Kelly Cherry and our Jacklyn Potter Young Poets Julia Holemans and Cori Stash. Mel Belin read Joaquin Miller’s poem “Columbus.”

Kelly read from two books, both of which are now being sold in the lobby of Nature Center for entire eight weeks of the Miller Poetry Series.

Here’s a poem from The Retreats of Thought, which is a collection of sonnets that according to Daniel Tobin “dares nothing less than ‘to drag truth from hiding.’”

A BRIEF REVIEW OF WHAT WE HAVE COVERED SO FAR

I think that something and nothing are one

thing, the moon with one side bright as joy,

the other dark, unshined on by the sun

and cold as January in Sheboy-

gan. I think creation and consciousness

are the same one side of a Moebius strip,

unending, so that each is more or less

the other. I think time is round trip,

a journey sweet but often hard and lonely

and taken on the train of thought from here

to here, that all times happen at once, only

past, present, future are how they appear.

I think that when we die we die for good

and ever, making room in the neighborhood.

Kelly Cherry

from The Retreats of Thought

Join us Thursday June 16 at 7 PM

Rock Creek Nature Center

5200 Glover Road NW DC for

Pia Taavila & Ian Williams

Blessing Lucille, Rod, Marty

2011-06-08T17:20:00.001-04:00

This year at Café Muse, The Word Works has been paying tribute to poets whose bodily presence we miss. The programs have brought incredible audiences together. June 2011 in tribute to Lucille Clifton was especially poignant as we featured poets Martin Galvin and Rod Jellema who created a poetic conversation as they went back and forth in their readings, sharing subject matter and their own poems that “talked to each.”

Jeffrey Coleman, a Saint Mary’s College of Maryland associate of Ms. Clifton shared his story about how she mentored him and how she sent out her graduating seniors with this poem:

Blessing the boats

(at St. Mary's)

may the tide

that is entering even now

the lip of our understanding

carry you out

beyond the face of fear

may you kiss

the wind then turn from it

certain that it will

love your back may you

open your eyes to water

water waving forever

and may you in your innocence

sail through this to that

Lucille Clifton

Word Works author Donna Denize provided a humorous anecdote about how she came to sign a book
for Ms. Denize.

The open mic heard some new voices to our forum.

And outside the Friendship Heights Village Center after the program was done, Rod Jellema added a story about how her first book Good Times came to be published by Random House. It’s a story the remaining audience of a dozen people had never heard. Carolyn Kizer, who Rod Jellema called as strong as Sherman tank, by some chance read Ms. Clifton’s manuscript and asked if any of these poems had been published. Ms. Clifton responded none had been published because she didn’t know how to go about doing that. Ms. Kizer got on the phone and called Random House and said they must publish this manuscript, which, by the way, was only enough for a chapbook. However Random House published the manuscript with blank pages in between each poem to make up the difference. Good Times published in 1969, was cited by the New York Times as one of the ten best books of the year.

Don’t miss our July 18 program when Poets Carlos Parada Ayala and Luis Alberto Ambroggio read from Al Pie de la Casa Blanca: Anthology of Spanish-Language Washington-Area Poets with tribute to Egla Morales Blouin.

Cafe Muse Literary Series 

Friendship Heights Village Center

4433 South Park Avenue

Chevy Chase, MD

7:00 pm with open readings after featured readers. Free.

Adele Steiner, Hailey Leithauser, and Laura Golberg host.

Michael Davis plays classical guitar at most programs.

Word Works Tribute to Lucille Clifton

2011-06-03T15:24:00.004-04:00

At the June 6, 2011 Café Muse program featuring poets Martin Galvin and Rod Jellema, the Word Works will pay tribute to the late Lucille Clifton, a beloved poet and teacher in the national literary scene. Café Muse located at the Friendship Heights Village Center, 4433 South Park Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD begins at 7 pm.

Participating in the tribute are Jeffrey Coleman who will speak briefly about Ms. Clifton’s accomplishments and Donna Denize, who will read a Lucille Clifton poem.

The program is free and open to the public. More information at www.wordworksbooks.org.

(Photo courtesy of Karren L. Alenier)

Praise for Michele Wolf's Immersion

2011-05-30T22:28:00.002-04:00

Michele Wolf is deeply amazed and grateful that her new collection, Immersion, was a poetry best-seller for distributor SPD Books in March, and that her new website, http://michelewolf.com, has received more than 1,200 unique visitors, including guests from Poland and Ghana. Of Immersion, Washington, D.C.’s examiner.comnoted, “Get immersed in Immersion…wonderful…very moving, very powerful….Every poem is delightfully unexpected, pulling the reader into the next poem.The poems are nicely crafted, tight with economy of words….Wolf has opened herself up to her readers, and provided them with a better sense of their own family belief system.” AARP the Magazine wrote, “‘Can you look at one face/For the whole of a life?/ Does the moon peer down/ At the tides and hunger for home?’ So asks…Michele Wolf, a poet of uncommon insight, inImmersion, her third collection. From family life to world events, her words will touch you.”

The gorgeous cover of Immersion--painting by Hellenne Vermillion, design by Susan Pearce--invariably draws attention. Wolf, who continues to teach at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland, has a new blog post and three poems on the affecting site Poets on Adoption (http://poetsonadoption.blogspot.com/2011/05/michele-wolf.html). She wishes to fondly thank Nancy White, Karren Alenier, and Denise Duhamel for their support.

2011-05-26T21:04:00.001-04:00

Barbara Louise Ungar is thrilled to have received another rave review from blogger Rabbit Reader, who discovered her work when the Amazon logarithm suggested he might like it; intrigued by the title, Charlotte Brontë, You Ruined My Life (and no doubt by the excellent cover by Susan Pearce as well), and ended up selecting it to be on his Top Ten reads of 2011 list! He has since reviewed her two prior books, with another push for Charlotte, at http://rabbitreader.blogspot.com/2011/05/thrift-and-origin-of-milky-way-by.html, comparing Ungar not only to Margaret Atwood, but also James Joyce (she can die happy now).

Ungar was also surprised and delighted to see that Charlotte Brontë, You Ruined My Life remained a Poetry Best Seller for Small Press Distribution in April for the second month in a row (http://www.spdbooks.org/pages/bestsellers/poetry/default.aspx), and is grateful to Nancy White for having gone to some trouble to get The Word Works books distributed by SPD.

AWP 2011

2011-02-03T22:59:00.000-05:00

Word Works bought a booth #420 and here's what it looked like before we unloaded the boxes.

Here is the set up crew:

President Nancy White

Book Manager Brian Marx

Board Chairperson Karren Alenier

Brad Richard, 2010 Winner of the Washingotn Prize

Table after setup !!!

Participants in the Washington Prize Celebration Reading:

Back Row: Brad Richard, Jay Rogoff, Peter Blair

Front Row: Fred Marchant, Nathalie Anderson, Enid Shomer

All of our Washington Prize winners came from long distances, including Boston, Saratoga Springs, New Orleans, Florida, Philadelphia, South Carolina. This year travel was hard because of bad weather but we had a fabulous reading and crowd of about 60 people. Then we went out to dinner to continue the celebration!

Come to Booth 420 on Saturday to meet them. AWP Bookfair is free & open to the public Feb 5.

10 am - 4 pm.

Cafe Muse Pays Tribute to Hilary Tham January 3

2011-01-02T15:20:00.000-05:00

In 2011, Cafe Muse will pay tribute to late poets the literary community hold dear.

Our Monday, January 3 program featuring poets Charles Jensen & Alexandra van de Kamp will honor Hilary Tham.

Friendship Heights Village Center,
4433 South Park Avenue,
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
7:00 pm

Here are biographic details for our feature readers and for Hilary Tham

CHARLES JENSEN was a finalist for the 2010 Lambda Literary Award for his book of poems The First Risk. He is the author of three additional chapbooks, including Living Things, which won the 2006 Frank O'Hara Chapbook Award. His poems have appeared in New England Review, The Journal, Willow Springs, and 32 Poems. A past recipient of a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, he serves on the Board of Directors of the Arts & Humanities Council of Montgomery County.

ALEXANDRA VAN DE KAMP is the author of three chapbooks, and the full-length collection, The Park of Upside-Down Chairs, (WordTech Press, 2010.) She is one of the founding editors of Terra Incognita, an international literary/cultural journal in English and Spanish. Her work appears widely in Meridian, Greensboro Review, Poetry Northwest and other publications. She lives in Port Jervis, NY and teaches at Stony Brook University.

HILARY THAM (1946-2005) was an artist and author of nine books of poetry, including Counting: A Long Poem. Her second book, Bad Names for Women, won second prize in the Virginia Poetry Prizes (Judge: Gerald Stern) and third prize in the Paterson Prize for Poetry (judge: Diane Wakoski). She also wrote a memoir: Lane With No Name, Memoirs and Poems of a Malaysian-Chinese Girlhood and a set of interlinked short stores Tin Mines & Concubines. A new project will make her books electronically available to libraries in 2011.

January's tribute to Ms. Tham is with grateful acknowledgment to the New Room Poets, a group organized by Hilary Tham. We also look forward to a reading of one of her poems by her husband Joe Goldberg who will kick off the open mic portion of the program.

2010-11-13T09:09:00.000-05:00

Make a special effort to attend Cafe Muse

Monday November 15, 2010 7-9 pm

Friendship Heights Village Center

4433 South Park Avenue

Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Featured are Barbara Goldberg and David Salner

GOURMAND’S PRAYER

Yellowtail snapper with citrus beurre blanc, filet
mignon in demi-glace cabernet, roast duck
garnished with mint-jellied peaches, angels
on horseback (dates stuffed with garlic cloves
wrapped in bacon and served in a hot honey-
pepper sauce), bananas foster, key lime pie,
dense, flourless chocolate cake drizzled
with a raspberry coulis, Lord, grant me the power
to well digest all that I have well eaten.

Barbara Goldberg
____
From The Royal Baker’s Daughter

SIX NAKED NIGHTS
The story of Julia and Jerome
is set in a nudist resort, all-inclusive, but
it's not about sex, or even love. It's about -
well, I should begin at the beginning,
the pool-side lounge. After the first drink,
Jerome goes back for a tray of Margaritas,
while Julia waits, thirsty to continue
the discussion about Jacksons
Browne and Pollack, Robespierre -
you know, let's-get-acquainted fare.

Their eyes have begun to develop
the habit of meeting each other in deep
stares that have some sexual content, surely,
the same as if they were wearing clothes.

Happy hour makes way for dinner,
Margaritas to red wine, after-dinner liquor,
and, "No thanks," to desert and coffee.
They pick their way through the darkness,
a little tipsy, and arrive at Julia's door
for an embarrassed moment, before
she says "come in" and uses a plastic card
attached to a lanyard, to unlock her room.
All of the guests wear plastic cards
swaying from their necks and nothing else.
She turns on the light before pulling the lanyard
up over her head and tossing it on a chair
as if it were her last undergarment. She offers Jerome
the other chair and stands before him, opening
a book of poems she has written, published
by a small but respectable firm. He sighs
as the words draw him into a world
of invention, where no one wears clothes
or dies.

David Salner

David Salner is author of John Henry's Partner Speaks.

Cafe Muse Live with Luis Alberto Ambroggio & Idra Novey

2010-10-05T16:56:00.000-04:00

Cafe Muse had an evening of poetry in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Luis Alberto Ambroggio writes his poetry in Spanish. For this reading, he had help from Raquel Dunning, Adele Steiner, and Yvette Moreno-Neisser who read English translations of Senor Ambroggio's poems.

Idra Novey who writes in English and read some of her poems, also presented some poems by Paulo Henriques Britto in Portuguese and her translations of these poems.

The next Cafe Muse program on November 15, 2010 (please take careful note of the date) will feature poets Barbara Goldberg, author of The Royal Baker’s Daughter, and David Salner, author of John Henry’s Partner Speaks .

More information at WordWorksBooks.org.

Cafe Muse Oct 4: Idra Novey & Luis Alberto Ambroggio

2010-09-28T13:39:00.000-04:00

Poets Idra Novey and Luis Alberto Ambroggio

read from their work and sign books

When: Monday, October 4, 2010, 7:00 p.m.

Where: the Cafe Muse Literary Series

at the Friendship Heights Village Center

4433 South Park Avenue

Chevy Chase, MD 20815

More information at WordWorksBooks.org

IDRA NOVEY is the author of The Next Country, winner of the Kinereth Gensler Award (Alice James Books 2009) and translator of Paulo Henriques Britto’s The Clean Shirt of It (BOA Editions 2007) which won a PEN Translation Fund Award. Her poems have appeared in Slate, The Paris Review, A Public Space and numerous other publications. She teaches in the School of the Arts at Columbia University and serves as Deputy Director for Columbia’s Center for Literary Translation.

LUIS ALBERTO AMBROGGIO is the author of eleven collections of poetry. His poetry and essays have appeared in Linden Lane Magazine, Passport, Scholastic, International Poetry Review, and Hispanic Culture Review), and anthologies (DC Poets Against the War, Cool Salsa). Cross-Cultural Communications of New York has published his bilingual anthology Difficult Beauty, Selected Poems (1987-2006) His poetry has been recorded in the Archives of Hispanic Literature of the Library of Congress and has been translated into several languages.

Santiago, Chile 2005   

Here, where a ruin longs 

to be a house, and a house

to be left to ruin.

Where men blindfolded students

and pushed them down

the basement stairs.   

The house almost tips 

with its history, with a wish 

to be simply walls   

and pillars and patio— 

so we could walk by, arms 

loose but linked, and speak   

of window trim.

--- Idra Novey, excerpt “Pausing Outside a House” from The Next Country   

Why do I write?

To crucify myself, then to be reborn as innocent, moist soil,

to be the last and the first,

to stop the river now, hold it in my hand and drink water,

so when others sip the drops they’ll know there is a river,

because my teeth chatter from the cold, from stone and fury

and because the shadows of my days and nights will lose all hieroglyphics,

--- Luis Alberto Ambroggio, excerpt “The Witness Bears his Soul” from Difficult Beauty

Chautauqua, the Opposite of Burning Man

2010-09-21T10:49:00.000-04:00

The Chautauqua readers Janet and Dave Northrup brought various surprises with their program last night (September 20) at Café Muse.

Dave Northrup gave a reading of his short story inspired by the William Carlos Williams poem “The Red Wheelbarrow.” His story, while minimalist like Williams’ 16-word eight-line poem arranged in couplets, was full of farming details. A former English teacher, Dave Northrup, who is also wood sculpture artist, continues to teach the perplexing.

As promised, Janet Northrup read from Founding Women: Inspiration and Impact on Chautauqua and the Nation, a history of the Chautauqua movement in the United States. Of particular interest was hearing how the Temperance and Suffrage movements found voice along with well-known male politicians like William Jennings Bryan. Such women as Susan B. Anthony (leader of the Suffragettes and the protagonist of Gertrude Stein’s and Virgil Thomson’s opera The Mother of Us All) spoke to the public at a time when American women were prohibited from such activity.

In Chautauqua, New York, where the Chautauqua movement began and spread throughout the United States including Glen Echo Park, Maryland, (only ten minutes from the Café Muse location in Chevy Chase, Maryland), people have been gathering each summer for weeks of entertainment and intellectual lectures since 1874. You might say that when Chautauqua began, it was every bit as controversial as Burning Man, a temporary community that comes together each summer since 1986 for radical self-expression. However, the legally voiceless women of the Temperance movement, who came together at Chautauqua to address the problems of families starving because the male heads of households rarely made it home from the saloons with their paychecks, chose a radical and bold path of action for social good.

Janet Northrup said she had not ever expected to write the history of any organization but she got into the project and her readings continue to unearth new historic data from audience members. She suggested that now is the time to step up to write histories for organizations that are 50 to 100 years old before the historical details are lost. As for Ms. Northrup, her next project is a children’s book.

Northrup has donated a copy of her book which will be presented to the library of the Friendship Heights Village Center.

Be sure to mark your calendar for November 4 when poets Idra Novey and Luis Alberto Ambroggio will read at Café Muse.

Chautauqua at Cafe Muse

2010-09-15T12:17:00.002-04:00

The next Cafe Muse program Monday September 20 from 7 - 9 pm
will feature two chautauqua readers Dave and Janet Northrup.

Cafe Muse
Friendship Heights Village Center
4433 South Park Avenue
Chevy Chase, MD 20815

Chautauqua -- What is it?

Chautauqua continues to be an adult education movement that offers programs on current topics of interest and cultural activities.

Janet Northrup is active with the Chautauqua Women's Club of Chautauqua, New York. For three years, Ms. Northrup researched the history of chautauqua activities and developed a book based on her research. This is a part of American history few of us in the DC area have had the opportunity to learn about.

Not long ago an advertising jingle reminded women, “You’ve come a long way, baby.” In many ways that ad campaign idea exemplifies the changes at the Chautauqua Women’s Club over the past 120 years. When the first Chautauqua lectures were delivered in 1874, women were still forty-five years away from being allowed to vote. The Civil War had ended only nine years earlier and many families still mourned loved ones killed or wounded in battles. At that time the women’s programs and lectures at Chautauqua typically included topics such as: missionary work, hygiene, managing the home, rearing children, working with servants, and cooking. --- Janet Myers Northrup, excerpt Founding Women

The Word Works invites you to come hear the Northrups talk about their experience with the chautauqua movement.

Mike Davis will open at 7 pm with live classical guitar music and the chautauqua reading will be followed with a short open mic for poetry. Free to the public.

Portrait of Brad Richard: 2010 Washington Prize Winner

2010-08-10T17:16:00.001-04:00

The Word Works is pleased to announce that Brad Richard (pronounced ree-shard) of New Orleans, Louisiana has won the 2010 Washington Prize for his manuscript Motion Studies.

On Poetry Society of America's website, you can read a very human portrait of him and his family post Katrina. There is also a poem about the devastating Katrina experience.

Motion Studies is an ekphrastic collection that includes poems about the work of Thomas Eakins, including his famous painting entitled "The Swimming Hole."

Brad will be participating in the following reading:

Sunday, Aug 29, 3:30pm

New Orleans, LA

REMEMBERING KATRINA
Nicole Cooley, Peter Cooley, Yusef Komunyakaa, Kay Murphy, Brenda Marie Osbey, Alison Pelegrin, Brad Richard, and Martha Serpas, with Alice Quinn

An event honoring the fifth anniversary of the hurricane, featuring poets from New Orleans and the Bayou state.

Co-sponsored by the English Department, Tulane University.
Admission is free.

Kendall Cram Room, Lavin-Bernick Center
Tulane University
6823 St. Charles Avenue

Intersections -- Poetry with Mathematics

2010-08-09T13:54:00.000-04:00

On her blog Poetry With Mathematics, JoAnne Growney, a poet who has read in the Joaquin Miller Cabin Poetry Series some years ago, is doing a series on poems that mention or deal with mathematics.

For example she has featured Philip Wexler's poem "The Calculus of Ants on a Worm" that was published in Cabin Fever: Poets at Joaquin Miller's Cabin, 1984-2001, edited by Jacklyn Potter, Dwaine Rieves, and Gary Stein.

If you know of other contemporary poems that treat the subject of mathematics, contact JoAnne with that information on her website. [wow (at) joannegrowney (dot) com]

Cafe Muse: The Truths of Patricia Davis & Henry Israeli

2010-08-02T22:23:00.000-04:00

So much for the doldrums of August. Cafe Muse and talented audience of over 25 welcomed poet-playwright Patricia Davis and Philadelphia poet Henry Israeli.

Patricia Davis hot from a Capital Fringe production of her play Alternative Methods, which is headed to the New York City Fringe, read from The Blindfold's Eyes, the book she authored with Sister Dianna Ortiz. Her play Alternative Methods is drawn from the book. The play and book examine what it means to be tortured.

Henry Israeli said that Patricia's intense presentation was a hard act to follow so he changed the mood completely with sassy poems like "Mickey Mouse Blinks Out" and "Minnie in the Passenger Seat." These poems and others came from his book Praying to the Black Cat.

Making significant contribution the audience presented some awesome work. Readers included such poets as Sandra Beasley, Don Illich, Perry Epes, Judith McCombs and a number of others.

Some Thoughts On Poetry Book Contests

2010-07-29T14:26:00.003-04:00

The following was originally published on Blogalicious, Diane Lockward's blog on poetry, poets and books. Diane wrote this post on Poetry Book Contests in response to her experience judging the 2010 Word Works Washington Prize. You can find the original post here.

Entering poetry book contests often seems like a necessity if you want to get your manuscript published. But what an insidious process it can be. Not to mention expensive. And time-consuming. Before my first book came out in 2003, over a period of maybe six years, I entered the manuscript in dozens of contests. I spent several weeks each summer weeding out the weaker poems and substituting with what I hoped were stronger ones. I reconsidered the order of the poems. I redid the page numbering and the Table of Contests. I wrote out the checks. Then I waited months for notification.

The first time I received a semi-finalist spot was thrilling, more so the first time I received a finalist spot. But by the time I'd accumulated six of these close calls, it was getting stale. I felt stuck in place, always writing poems that could go into that book, unable to move onto the next book. Then I got lucky and found a home for my book, no contest involved. Since then my publisher has stuck with me for the following book and the forthcoming one for which I am hugely grateful. What a relief not to have to do the contest thing.

But recently I saw the process from the other side of the fence, i.e., I served as a first reader in a book contest. After reading through the pile of manuscripts, I put together some thoughts that perhaps someone out there might find useful before pulling out the next roll of stamps and the next batch of checks.

1. Do not overload the manuscript with poems. Too many is too many. I read one manuscript that had close to 100 poems! Now come on. The poet had simply failed to edit his own manuscript. Nor had he followed instructions in regards to number of pages. A collection that long has virtually no chance of being accepted anywhere.

2. I'd always heard that it was essential to have a strong first section. True! A weak first section discourages the reader from moving onto the second section. Weak first section and your goose is cooked.

3. After getting a really strong first section, make sure that the following sections are equally strong. You cannot get away with a weak section. Anywhere.

4. Be mindful of variety. This applies to subject, form, length. Too much sameness leads to boredom.

5. Work really hard on arranging the order of the poems. For many poets this is the most difficult part of putting together a manuscript. That's what friends are for. Ask a few poets whose judgment you trust to read the manuscript for order. Avoid the inclination to group similar poems together. Again, too much sameness leads to boredom. You want some kind of thread or threads running throughout, pleasing leaps from one poem to the next, surprises, and connections. Poor order was one of the main weaknesses in the manuscripts I read. You want a collection of poems, not a bunch of poems.

6. Here's another thing that separated the good from the not so hot: Diction, diction, diction. Why use boring words when there are so many good ones available? The language in the strong manuscripts immediately distinguished those collections.

7. Avoid excess baggage, e.g., accessorizing sections with numbers, plus titles, plus introductory poems, plus epigraphs. Keep it simple.

8. Don't go too highbrow with a bunch of unnecessary End Notes. Don't be pretentious. Nobody likes a stuffed shirt. If the information in the End Notes is essential, maybe it should be in the poem? or on the same page as the poem? I'm not saving never; I'm saying consider carefully the necessity. Likewise, avoid a bunch of ridiculous dedications of individual poems. I dedicate this one to Emily Dickinson, this one to my plumber, etc.

9. Remember that competence is not enough. The collection must stand out. The strong ones had something that was unique, that was special, that made them different from the others.

10. Good looks matter. Make sure your manuscript has a professional appearance. I was surprised to see manuscripts with the title uncentered, with dreadful fonts, with blurry pages. Don't crowd the pages, please! And please, in your Table of Contents, do not insert a hideous line of periods between title and page number.

Now here's the good news: If you have a good manuscript, you have a really good chance of winning. Don't send it out before it's ready, but when it's really ready, believe in it and send it out.

A Successful Miller Cabin Series Wraps Up

2010-07-29T08:57:00.006-04:00

Tuesday was the final night of the 2010 Joaquin Miller Cabin Summer Poetry Series, and a great time was had by all! There were several new faces amongst the regular crowd, and we hope to see these young faces return in the coming years.

Our featured readers were Dan Albergotti and Jona Colson. Dan kicked the night off with poems rich in literary references, including a poem directed toward his nonexistent daughter, inspired by a Yeats poem. Curiously, amongst Jona's litany of poems was a p

oem called "Daughter", written about an (also nonexistent) daughter of his. The readers complemented each other wonderfully, and really made for a compelling night for the listeners!

The evening also saw the return of the Scooter girl from two weeks ago! We are glad to see that she made it out of the storm to safety, and even returned for another reading! Also in attendance was Charles Jensen who read earlier in the summer!

It is so great to have our past readers grace the audience with their presence!A big Thank You to everyone who made this series possible, from the organizers, the readers, those who donated funds, and of course, the all-important listeners. This 35th season has been a great one, and we hope to see you back in Rock Creek Park for the 36th!

Last night at Miller Cabin

2010-07-21T18:33:00.004-04:00

Miller Cabin

Tuesday evenings at 7:30 at the Joaquin Miller Cabin in Rock Creek Park, Picnic Area #6, Beach Drive at Military Road Overpass. Sign up for opening reading at 7:15 pm. For more information and rain location, call Kathi Morrison-Taylor at 703-820-8113.

It threatened to storm last night, but the threat was not realized, and the reading was allowed to go as planned, outside under the stars at the Joaquin Miller Cabin!

A lively crowd gathered to hear poets Don Illich and Marie-Elizabeth Mali read.

Next week is our final installment of the Miller Cabin series for the summer! Don't miss poets Dan Albergotti and Jona Colson!

Café Muse: What a Turnout!

2010-07-20T10:40:00.006-04:00

Café Muse

Once a month on Monday nights, two featured poets read at the Friendship Heights Village Center, with an open mic to follow

Last night, 68 people packed into every available corner of the Village Center room to hear the poetic stylings of E. Ethelbert Miller and Myra Sklarew.

Ethelbert began the reading with some baseball poems from The Fifth Inning, and continued with poems from an anthology, including both a short poem of his own, and a Langston Hughes poem about nature.

Myra began her reading by pointing out her heroes in the room, following this up with a series of incredibly moving and deep poems, some from her recent book, Harmless.

A lively open mic session with quite the variety of poems concluded the poetry portion of the night, but plenty of people gathered in clusters around the room talking for quite some time afterwards. Check out the Word Works Facebook Page for more pictures from the event!

Last Night at Miller Cabin: Thunderstorm Edition

2010-07-14T19:24:00.007-04:00

Miller Cabin

Just before the rain started to fall, nearly twenty people congregated beneath the roofed area at Picnic grove #6 to hear the poetic ministrations of Cliff Bernier and Judith Valente. The rain began to fall lightly at first, and the sky was dark, but the environment felt apt for Cliff's nature-inspired poems.

By the time Judith's reading was beginning, a flashlight was required just to read the poems, and by the time for her second poem, the storm had completely drowned her out. The executive decision to relocate was made, and a mad dash was made for the safety of cars - except for one young lady who, unperturbed by the storm, set off on her scooter (we hope she got home alright!) - and headed off to the American City Diner to finish up the reading. We lost very few people, and had a full room of brave, soggy listeners for the rest of Judith's readings, and for the open mic. An altogether exciting evening! Thanks to everyone who braved the elements!

Last night at Miller Cabin

2010-07-07T11:57:00.003-04:00

24 people braved the 100 degree heat and vicious bugs to listen to the lovely poetry of Christina Beasley and Erin Murphy.

Christina gave such a fun variety of poetry, ending her reading with a quirky poem about a hedgehog. Each and every one of her poems is infused with incredible and creative uses of language.

Erin traveled from western central Pennsylvania, bringing her whole family along. She had a great sense of humor, providing fun commentary about her life and family between incredibly strong and truthful poems.

Café Muse: July Preview

2010-07-05T13:53:00.002-04:00

A new month has opened, and with it comes a new Café Muse event! We will be meeting on Monday, July 19th (later in the month than usual, so be sure to mark your calendars!). The much-anticipated featured readers are:

Myra Sklarew, author of three chapbooks and six collections of poetry, including her most recent, Lithuania: New & Selected Poems. Sklarew is a Professor Emerita at American University.

Ethelbert Miller, who has authored 11 books, and edited four more. In addition to writing prolifically, Miller is a literary activist, a board member of several writing centers and libraries, and the advisory editor of the African American Review.

Tomorrow at Miller Cabin

2010-07-05T13:43:00.008-04:00

Miller Cabin

Our first July meeting at the Miller Cabin will be tomorrow, July 6. On the docket for the evening are poets Christina Beasley and Erin Murphy. The weather is promising to be hot hot hot, but we hope to see a big crowd anyway!

Christina Beasley

Erin Murphy

Miller Cabin

2010-07-05T13:39:00.002-04:00

Last week at Miller Cabin, I inconveniently forgot my camera battery, but fortunately, Janelle Fernandez was able to send along this great picture of our readers and hosts!

This Week at Miller Cabin

2010-06-27T21:59:00.004-04:00

Miller Cabin

Join us this Tuesday for another night out at the Miller Cabin! Featured readers for Tuesday, June 29th are:

Traci Brimhall, author of the forthcoming book Rookery, has published poems in New England Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Missouri Review, Kenyon Review Online, FIELD, Gettysburg Review, Indiana Review and Southern Review, among others. She teaches creative writing at Western Michigan University beginning this fall.

Charles Jensen is the author of three chapbooks and one full-length book of poetry, The First Risk. In addition to writing poetry, he is the founding editor of a poetry magazine, and is pursuing a second master's degree in Nonprofit Leadership and Management.

Last night at Miller Cabin

2010-06-23T11:16:00.008-04:00

Thunderstorms were on the forecast, so last night's Miller Cabin reading was relocated from Rock Creek Park to the American City Diner on Connecticut Avenue. Despite less-than-ideal conditions, the readings went on! Alex Chertok kicked off the night, and Perry Epes followed with readings from his recent publication, Nothing Happened. Hopefully we'll be back at the Cabin with more comfortable weather next week! In case of inclement weather, the location change will be announced via the Word Works ENews Group, and the Word Works Facebook page. Please join these groups to make sure you're informed!

Tomorrow at Miller Cabin

2010-06-21T10:10:00.006-04:00

Tomorrow at Miller Cabin, the featured readers will be Alex Chertok and The Word Works' own W. Perry Epes, who recently published his collection, Nothing Happened. The past two weeks have seen Perry introducing the 2010 Young Poets; this week, he steps behind the mic to read his own work. We hope to see another big group this week!

Last night at Miller Cabin

2010-06-16T10:06:00.005-04:00

Twenty-six people braved the weather forecast, and were rewarded with a mercifully dry few hours for the second meeting of the 2010 Miller Cabin series.

Our second Jacklyn Potter Young Poet, Julia Holemans, gave a reading, and was followed by some truly funny, touching, and truthful poems by featured reader, Sue Ellen Thompson. A lively crowd migrated to the American City Diner to continue the conversation.

Former Young Poet, Baobao Zhang, returned to read her recent poem. We encourage any other former Young Poets to return to the Cabin to read at our open mic!

This week at Miller Cabin

2010-06-12T11:04:00.007-04:00

This Tuesday at Miller Cabin, poet Sue Ellen Thompson, author of four books, including her most recent, The Leaving: New & Selected Poems, will be reading along with Jacklyn Potter Young Poet Julia Holemans. Our other Young Poet winner, Will Frazier, gave an excellent reading last week, and we look forward to hearing from Julia!

Unfortunately, the weather report does not look as perfect as last week. In case of inclement weather, we will be meeting at the American City Diner, located at 5532 Connecticut Avenue, NW. Don't let the rain, heat or storms keep you away!

Weather Report from Accuweather.com

Miller Cabin Report

2010-06-09T14:18:00.009-04:00

The weather was perfect, and the turnout was large for the first Miller Cabin poetry reading of the summer! You might want to bring your own lawn chair next time, because it was standing room only after our picnic tables filled up with the more than 45 eager listeners.

The night opened with a reading of Columbus by Joaquin Miller, read by Mel Belin (with members of the audience chiming in with the "Sail On!") After this, featured readings began with Julie Enszer.

Next came two-time Jacklyn Potter Young Poet Will Frazier. Following him was Jericho Brown's intense performance.

Former Young Poet Laura Fletcher (2005) was the first in a long line of open mic-ers clamoring to recite their own pieces.

Only the setting of the sun could bring an end to it. Lively conversation continued well into the evening in a funky little room at the American City Diner, where 22 people gathered. Check out the Word Works Facebook Page for more pictures from the event! We hope to see you all again next week, and throughout the summer!

Café Muse: Success!

2010-06-08T10:10:00.005-04:00

The turnout for Café Muse last night was excellent! Thanks to everyone who came! Our featured readers, while very different in style, were both incredibly entertaining, and an abundance of readers came forward to read their own diverse pieces. Please enjoy some pictures from the event!

Miller Cabin Kickoff!

2010-06-07T12:29:00.004-04:00

Returning for its 35th year, the 2010 Joaquin Miller Cabin Poetry Series kicks off tomorrow night! Amble on in around 7:30 to listen to the poetic talents of Jericho Brown and Julie Enszer, as well as our Jacklyn Potter Young Poet Will Frazier, or if you prefer, nip in at 7:15 to sign up for the opening reading!

A warm welcome also to Laura Fletcher, who won the Young Poet competition in 2005, who will be returning to read a poem in the opening tomorrow!

Join us at the Café!

2010-06-07T12:06:00.006-04:00

Tonight at the Friendship Heights Village Center, Mark Bibbins and Jehanne Dubrow will kick off the first Café Muse event of the summer! At 7:00 pm, Michael Davis will open things up with some classical guitar, followed by the poetry readings. There will be an open reading time following the scheduled poets, so be sure to bring along your own poems! Be sure to check the Word Works website for more information about the event and the poets. Hope to see you there!

2009 Washington Prize Winner - Mayweed, by Frannie Lindsay

2009-09-17T14:41:00.003-04:00

The Word Works proudly announces that Mayweed, by Frannie Lindsay, of Belmont, MA, is the winner of the 2009 Washington Prize.

Lindsay’s two previous books are also prize winners: Lamb won the 2006 Perugia Press Intro Award and was runner-up for the James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets. Where She Always Was (Utah State University Press) was selected for the 2004 May Swenson Award.

The Word Works thanks all participants who entered the prize competition. Purchase Mayweed now. All contestants will receive a copy of this book. For more information about this year's prize, visit the Washington Prize page.

Word Works Author Rosemary Winslow Interviewed in The Examiner

2009-07-29T13:55:00.002-04:00

Rosemary Winslow, author of Green Bodies, a Hilary Tham Capitol Collection title, is interviewed in the July 28, 2009, issue of The Examiner.

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-14902-DC-Literature-Examiner~y2009m7d28-Rosemary-Winslow-talks-about-her-book-Green-Bodies

The Faces at Miller Cabin Programs

2009-07-15T14:32:00.009-04:00

There are only two more programs in the 2009 Joaquin Miller Cabin Poetry Series. Because life is uncertain, I urge you not to procrastinate about attending. Miller Cabin is a huge challenge even with the best possible circumstances. This is an historic literary happening and after 34 years who is to say there will be a 35th?

Here are highlights from

June 16 ---Tyler Caroline Mills with Jacklyn Potter Young Poets: Katherine Casey & Baobao Zhang

June 23 ---Chris Goodrich & Nancy Krygowski

June 30 ---Melanie Henderson & Luke Johnson

July 7 --- April Linder & Bonnie Naradzay

July 14 --- George Drew & W. Luther Jett

Miller Cabin's Moveable Feast

2009-06-10T15:37:00.011-04:00

While Joaquin Miller had to deal with the “perils of civilization,” the volunteers and audience of the June 9, 2009, opening night program had to deal with the perils of Mother Nature. Thunder, lightning, and rain sent participants directly to the Sixth Presbyterian Church where we typically have our receptions and our programs when inclement weather occurs. However, the church was dark and locked despite assurances from our contact Mr. White that he was primed to be there for us.

Karren Alenier suggested that we drive to Connecticut Avenue and try the new café attached to the Avalon Theatre. One of the assembled audience members called ahead and asked for permission and voila—a moveable feast (Marcela Sulak, one of the readers, had brought her birthday cake)!

The gracious manager and staff of the Avalon Café welcomed the dozen people with carrot cake and were happy to serve us coffee, tea, and spirits. Marcela had poems fitting the occasion—sonnets about food and coffee that got the staff chuckling and nodding their heads.

Deborah Bernhardt who had driven all the way from Massachusetts with a friend presented a lush landscape of language in the tradition of Gertrude Stein.

It was definitely a family affair. Lead co-host Kathi Morrison-Taylor invoked the spirits of Jacklyn Potter (the former director of the Cabin Series) and the late Word Works Board Members Robert Sargent and Hilary Tham. Mel Belin gave an inspired reading of Joaquin Miller’s poem “Columbus.” Paul Hopper in the open reading hosted by co-host Deborah Ager read a trio of poems honoring Jacklyn, his mother, and a late NIH doctor who had visited the Cabin. Marcela’s daughter wander on and off “stage” as her mom read.

We apologize to anyone who came either to picnic grove 6 where the Cabin sits or to the church and couldn’t find us. Nonetheless, we had an inspired reading in an unexpected and wonderful venue. Thank you to Henry Passman and his staff at the Avalon. Join us next week on Tuesday June 16 to hear Tyler Caroline Mills with the Jacklyn Potter Young Poets Katherine Casey and Baobao Zhang.

Word Works at AWP Chicago

2009-02-15T13:46:00.010-05:00

At the instigation of new Board member Nancy White, current director of the Washington Prize and past winner of said prize, The Word Works bought a table at the Associated Writing Programs (AWP) convention in Chicago February 11-14, 2009. At the table, Nancy and WW president Karren Alenier were joined by other past winners Peter Blair, John Bradley, and Fred Marchant as well as Word Works Hilary Tham Capital Collection Sarah Browning and loyal WW volunteers JoAnne Growney, Helen Park, and J.D. Smith.

The idea was to promote the Washington Prize and in that effort hundreds of WW book brochures with the contest rules and news letters were handed out in effort to reach of portion of 7,000 plus attendees. Washington Prize-winning books were set out on the table for visitors to see and book signings were announced and held. Among the many people who visited the WW table was John Hoppenthaler.

Who had time to eat or sleep or visit the local sights except to wander through a ice sculpting show across Michigan Avenue where the Chicago Hilton stands and was home to the AWP book fair, panels and readings. Well, there was time to go hear a bunch of Split This Rock principals including Word Works own author Sarah Browning give a poetry reading offsite in the Roger's Park Insights Arts gallery.

Reb Livingston & Karren Alenier smile for Deborah Ager (32 Poems)

Karren Alenier did however attend a panel on Page to Stage that included David St. John and Cornelius Eady (David St. John has a new opera under way), Michael Halberstam, Gregory McGuire, Susan Terris and a second panel entitled "Women of a Certain Age" that featured power-broking poets and writers: Linda Pastan, Alicia Ostriker, Rosellen Brown, Hilda Raz and Janet Borroway.

If asked, Karren would say that the most surprising thing that happened was she was asked twice about how Hilary Tham was. So Hilary's name continues to be spoken in the halls of poetry.

State of the Art

2009-02-01T08:36:00.010-05:00

One of the few “jobs” left in this large country of ours that is recession proof remains in the hands and minds of us poets. Because we rarely get paid for anything we do and only the rare individual listens to us, we are like monks—free to create our art.

In 2009, The Word Works will celebrate its 35th anniversary of helping poets realize their potential. Take, for example, our Café Muse Literary Salon, which began its 10th year of monthly programs in January when Brian Brodeur and Kathi Wolfe were our featured readers. And typically we have begun our programs with the live music, most often featuring the classical guitar concerts of poet Michael Davis.

Today, February 1, 2009, The Word Works holds its annual meeting. While our nonprofit charter requires this meeting, it is a meeting that typically goes to dreams of our future. Why not make this year your year to join with The Word Works to promote American poetry? Consider becoming a volunteer. We have a lot of jobs and projects and while volunteering does little for one’s pocketbook, it does a lot for your mortal soul.

Contact Karren at editor@wordworksdc.com if you would like to be a co-director with Adele Stein at Café Muse helping to run this program, or a co-director with Kathi Morrison-Taylor at the Joaquin Miller Cabin summer poetry series, an archivist working with our archive at George Washington University, our quarterly newsletter editor, our chief publicist, our web master. We have room for your energy and we would like you to become a part of our family.

Don't forget to join us in Friendship Heights February 2nd for Cafe Muse when we present Brandel France de Bravo and Wendell Hawken.

All in the Family

2008-08-05T11:50:00.005-04:00

So much for August being a slow month when nothing happens!

Kwame Alexander brought poets published in Family Pictures: Poems and Photographs Celebrating Our Loved Ones to Cafe Muse and the place was jumping with an audience of 30 plus.
Readers included Roberta Beary (noted for her award-winning haikus), Maritza Rivera Cohen (former impresario of the Mariposa Poetry Series), and Deana Nikaido (a Baltimore poet). The book is a beauty with photographs and contributions from such other poets as Grace Cavalieri and Barbara Crooker who Word Works audience heard from recently in our Cafe Muse and Miller Cabin forums.

The evening was also special because it was Katherine Young's last time as host. She is moving on to an MFA program at the University of Maryland. Our new co-hosts Adele Steiner and Marie Pavelicek-Wehrli were present and working to make the August program seamless. In fact, Katherine, Adele and Marie met before the usual dinner at the Meiwah to discuss the transfer of duties. Also working behind the scenes is Hailey Leithauser.

Next program is September 15 (make a note of this since this is not our usual first Monday of the month time slot) when we will have Sandra Beasley and Jon Pineda.

Miller Cabin Poet Diane Lockward on Poetry Daily

2008-08-01T15:05:00.004-04:00

Greg McBride has alerted us that:

"Seventh-Grade Science Project," by Diane Lockward was on Poetry Daily August 1, 2008
http://www.poems.com/poem.php?date=14093

Note that Cafe Muse, Miller Cabin, and Innisfree poet Diane Lockward is featured on Poetry
Daily today.
------------
Poetry Daily: A new poem every day, selected from current books and
journals, plus poetry news, special features, and more...
http://www.poems.com

Grand Finale! July 22, 2008

2008-07-31T14:02:00.002-04:00

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a week since our fabulous grand finale at Miller’s Cabin. The summer is flying by. If you didn’t get out to the series this summer, I hope you will find us next year!

We had another perfect evening on the 22nd, with poets Sauci Churchill
and Therese Halscheid. Well, nearly perfect. Our decades old sound system got stolen, along with Kathi Morrison-Taylor's old Honda. Darn! That was rude! So our poets had to make a special effort to project but they did. So poems about fathers, travel, and the natural world fell into our peaceful Cabin evening of fireflies, galloping horses, and cyclists were definitely heard!

Therese Halscheid's latest book of poems, Uncommon Geography, won the Paterson Poetry Book Prize's Finalist Award. She was also awarded Pudding House's chapbook prize, as part of their Greatest Hits Series. Her writings have been published in numerous magazines. She is Fellowship winner through NJ State Council on the Arts, a visiting writer in schools and teaches at Atlantic Cape Community College in NJ.

Sauci Churchill taught high school, worked 30 years as law librarian, and currently works in a garden. She lives with husband and White Cloud, 3rd of the shelter dogs that have graced their lives. Her two chapbooks have been published by Finishing Line Press: Running Down Division Street and The Red Fin.

Thank you to all the poets who read in the series this year, some who traveled far and others who are neighbors. Also thanks to open readers.

Also thanks to co-directors Melissa Tuckey and Rosemary Winslow. Thanks to Michael Hauptschein who brought his unicorn banner almost every program!

Keep in touch. And if you’re local, hope to see you at Café Muse sometime soon!

A New View of the Creek!

2008-07-16T22:23:00.004-04:00

On July 15th, we were happy to welcome Nicole Cooley and Ellen Rachlin to Miller’s Cabin. Someone had moved the picnic tables out of last week’s formation, so we decided to try something new and set up the reading with the audience facing the creek. The night was perfect and the view spectacular. Thank Fate (and the previous picnickers) for that suggestion.

Nicole Cooley grew up in New Orleans and her book of poetry about Hurricane Katrina, Breach, is forthcoming from LSU Press. She began the evening reading poems from the new book about her family, St. Bernard Parish, and the city's response to the hurricane.
(Her first book of poetry, Resurrection, won the 1995 Walt Whitman Award and was published by LSU Press in 1996. Her second book of poetry, The Afflicted Girls, about the Salem witch trials of 1692, came out with LSU Press in April 2004 and was chosen as one of the best poetry books of the year by Library Journal.) It seemed especially fitting for her to read the Katrina poems outdoors, by the bubbling creek, which, as Karren Alenier pointed out, has flooded in the past. The audience felt honored to have such a picturesque and powerful preview.

Next, Ellen Rachlin read. She is the author of Until Crazy Catches Me (Antrim House Books, 2008), and two chapbooks, Waiting for Here (Finishing Line Press, 2004) and the forthcoming Captive to Residue (Flarestack Publishing, 2009). Ellen’s poems remind me of Anglo-Saxon riddles, with answers like smoke, wind, an egg, time. In her stanzas, for instance, water may have a lair and lemons may be sweet. Wonderful to hear her selections out loud – delicate, puzzling, intriguing.

Our last Miller Cabin reading of the year is coming up next week, July 22, 2008: Sauci Churchill and Therese Halscheid will feature. Please join us at 7:30 in Picnic Area #6 for the grand finale!

Special thanks to Michael Hauptschein for the many times he has brought his unicorn banners to the park to help make the backyard of the Miller Cabin festive!

Sheila Black and Charles E. Wright

2008-07-16T21:58:00.003-04:00

July 8th brought about another attentive and somewhat boisterous audience in Rock Creek Park by Miller’s Cabin. We’ve been very fortunate with the weather this year, with just our June 10th reading held inside due to a whopper of a thunderstorm. In any case, it was an impressive turnout of poetry lovers.

We were very happy to have Sheila Black as one of our featured readers, visiting all the way from Las Cruces, New Mexico. Sheila is author of House of Bone (CustomWords Press, 2007) and the chapbook How to be a Maquiladora (Main Street Rag, 2006). Her second full-length collection, Love/Iraq, is forthcoming in 2008. The immediacy and imagination in her poems, such as “Barcelona” and “What You Mourn” held the audience captive and left us all wanting more!

Our second featured reader of the evening was Charles E. Wright. His musings on schwa and the infield fly rule kept us all attentive and entertained. In introducing him, I stole (with permission, of course) a favorite short poem of his:

Salad Days

These ribbons
of carrots

were medallions
in my youth.

And I learned something new, talking with Charles. Wallace Stevens’ wife was the model for the Mercury dime! There's got to be a poem in that somewhere!

What a great evening!

A Crowd Gathers for John O’Dell and Katy Richey

2008-07-03T09:04:00.011-04:00

John O’Dell treated us to a fine selection of his poetry, including this one, from a visit he took to Alaska. (Click on “Archibald MacLeish” in the epigraph to learn more about MacLeish in DC)

Asking More
“Do you ask more? Do you ask to travel forever?”
Archibald MacLeish in Tourist Death

Not long before he died, my father
went north, bored his Studebaker
through a wide redwood, puzzled over
The Trees of Mystery, posed my mother
before totems, trading posts, then beside
a Mounty, the milky waters of Lake Louise.

Now, I approach the sheer wall of years
he stood upon when he made that trip.
I, too, find myself following a needle’s
northern urge, looking at Raven’s wooden
preening, hearing his hoarse morning cries,
the afternoon thunder of calving ice.

Salmon shove against a creek’s unyielding
flow, fight for and win the death that birth
ordains, and in their spawning, outruns.
I stand halfway across a Ketchikan bridge
refusing the river’s infallible instruction.
In steady drizzle, in silence, I ask for more.

Next, Katy Richey’s poems graced the evening.Searching and playful, mysterious and direct--from “charlotte,” observations on the baby spiders in Charlotte’s Web, to a set of poems on the body: breasts, penis envy, blood pressure, Katy overcame a finicky sound system to deliver her poems with style. Please visit more of Katy’s poems in Beltway Poetry Quarterly.

The open mic brought our evening to a satisfying close, as dusk set in and moved to dark and we headed up the hill to the reception site. A number of our readers have a web presence, and this week I’ll offer a link to Elliot Perlin’s book, Like the Trailings of a Comet on an Endless Journey.

There were over thirty in the audience on Tuesday, a perfect July evening for poetry at Miller Cabin.

Please join us next week for Sheila Black and Charles E. Wright:
Tuesday, July 8 at 7:30.

John Murillo and Suzanne Zweizig at Miller Cabin

2008-06-29T16:53:00.005-04:00

On June 24 our series continued, featuring John Murillo and Suzanne Zweizig. John’s poems captured us easily with their music and images. Poems like “The Corner” and “Trouble Man” pulled us into a tough world of song as well as sorrow.

Suzanne’s poems took us on a trip to Europe and to Israel. We found her work to be full of memorable surprises: “the crowd spills in little archipelagos,” “a woman with heightened eyebrows reapplies her champagne in moderate gulps,” “bones surf the ground,” “the world hung like a piano out the window to spin.”

It was a refreshing and energizing evening at the cabin! Please join us July 1 at 7:30 to welcome poets John O’Dell and Katy Richey. Bring your friends! Come early to sign up for the open mic.

An AU Evening at Miller Cabin!

2008-06-29T16:50:00.001-04:00

Our series moved outdoors again on June 17th with perfect weather-- clear skies, mid 80's, low humidity, and poetry that lived up to whatever expectations such weather might bring.

The reading, with Kyle Dargan (author of The Listening and Bouquet of Hungers) and David Keplinger (author of, most recently, The Prayers of Others), was an introduction to new poetic leaders in the Washington DC literary community. Both Kyle and David teach poetry at American University and are filling the void left by world class poet-professors Myra Sklarew and Henry Taylor. Kyle's poetry presented at the Cabin left an overall impression of political connectedness tempered by an emotional tenderness and musical sensibility. David's reading is best characterized by this line from his poem "Life on Earth," "You are breathing in what something beautiful and ancient has breathed out." A wonderful storyteller as well as reader, David expands the universe of possibilities and that's what he called on the attentive audience at Miller's Cabin to do!

Diane Lockward with Young Poets at Miller Cabin

2008-06-29T16:45:00.003-04:00

On June 10, our series continued with Diane Lockward reading with the winners of the Jacklyn Potter Young Poets Prize: Will Frazier and Megan Hauptmann. This time the sky was clearly threatening and our reading site was the Sixth Presbyterian Church on 16th St. NW and Kennedy. Diane’s poems captivated us, with their ordinary subject matter and extraordinary images, with their playful and dangerous leaps. Her voice combined with the strong, dynamic voices of Will and Megan to make for a memorable evening of poetry. Add a few mice skittering across the stage and the flashing lightning…What an evening! What talent! Thanks to all who helped make this evening happen, including Perry Epes, who coordinated the Young Poets Prize, and Teri Cross Davis, who judged.

Please follow these links to purchase Diane Lockward’s books: Eve’s Red Dress and What Feeds Us. We’ll be on the lookout for work by Will and Megan in the years to come!

Links to Poets’ Books Here! Miller Cabin 2008 Off to a Fabulous Start

2008-06-29T16:40:00.002-04:00

On June 3, the 33rd Joaquin Miller Cabin Poetry Reading Series opened with a reading featuring Barbara Crooker and Anne Higgins. With determined optimism, I set up the sound system under the trees by the cabin only to be disappointed by raindrops at 7:25. Quickly we moved to the picnic shelter where we were treated to poems by Barbara (with their brilliant ekphrasis) and Anne’s playful, rich images, including a moving and clever tribute to Emily Dickinson. Alas, our reception site was locked when we arrived later that evening, so please consider ordering the poets’ work using the links in this entry. Barbara has two full-length books, Radiance, which won the Word Press First Book Award and was a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize, and Line Dance, newly out.

Word Works Authors and Moving Words

2008-04-29T07:11:00.005-04:00

Last night, wearing my hat as Moving Words Program Co-ordinator, I attended a reading by the winners of the Arlington, Virginia Cultural Affairs Moving Words contest for adults. The winners were selected by Kim Roberts, who founded the contest in 1999, and Jeneva Stone. The program was held at the Shirlington Busboys and Poets restaurant. There were six winners and two are Word Works authors: Mel Belin (Flesh That Was Chrysalis) and Kathi Morrison-Taylor, a new author in The Word Works Hilary Tham Capital Collection imprint. Other readers were Philip Clark, Katie Kemple, and Madelyn Rosenberg. Absent was Natalie Le Beau. Visit http://www.arlingtonarts.org/cultural_affairs/movingwords.htm to read the winning poems which will be posted as attractive broadsides on Northern Virginia Metrobuses operating in Arlington, Alexandria, Falls Church, Fairfax County and Fairfax City.

Other interesting highlights of the evening were that Edith Stone, daughter of Jeneva Stone, made her debut reading (Edith is eight years old) and Philip Clark read poems from an unpublished anthology that he is developing on poets who perished from A.I.D.S., including poems by Chasen Gaver and Essex Hemphill, poets who read in the early days of the Joaquin Miller Cabin Poetry Series.

If you haven't been to an event at the Shirlington Busboys, check out Fred Joiner's weblog. What I loved about last evening is that people of all ages and varying interests in poetry came together to hear the featured Moving Words winners and the open mic readers. Hats off to Norman Thornton for moderating the evening.

2008-04-26T19:44:00.013-04:00

In the Empire State is Poets House. Each spring, this national poetry library founded in 1985 by Stanley Kunitz and with currently over 50,000 volumes of poetry puts on annual showcase. This year, they temporarily housed the showcase in the New York Public Library at Jefferson Market. Annually The Word Works has participated in this showcase of new books added to the Poets House collection.

This year Karren Alenier attended the showcase with Word Works book designer Janice Olson. Each of the

five books we exhibited were designed by Janice.

Book titles in this showcase were: Call from Paris by Prartho Sereno, Green Bodies by Rosemary Winslow, The Hat City After Men Stopped Wearing Hats by John Suroweicki, Mary Falls: Requiem for Mrs. Surratt, Whiskey in the Garden of Eden by Sarah Browning,

Jacklyn Potter Tribute

2008-04-15T18:25:00.016-04:00

Jacklyn Potter, who ran the Joaquin Miller Cabin Poetry Series from 1984 to April 2005 when she died unexpectedly, was celebrated by her friends on April 13 at the Iota Restaurant and Bar in Arlington, Virginia, in the poetry series that

Miles David Moore hosts. Many people came to hear Karren Alenier, Anne Becker, Michael Davis, Patricia Garfinkel, Myra Sklarew, and Marchant Wentworth read Jacklyn's poetry. Lois McBride made a cake honoring Jacklyn's love of the Miller Cabin.

Toujours le Mot was how Jacklyn signed her letters.

The 2008 Miller Cabin Poetry Series fundraising campaign was launched at this event and The Word Works has already received some donations to help fund this year's programs. Please contact editor@wordworksdc.com if you wish to make a contribution in honor of Jacklyn. Jacklyn was also the lead editor of Cabin Fever: Poets at Joaquin MIller's Cabin 1984-2001. Karren Alenier
read Jacklyn's poem "Boundaries" from that anthology. Here is a poem from Jacklyn's unpublished work.

Return to the Gallery
(To Mary Cassatt’s “Child in the Straw Hat”)

For seven years I wandered
through a planetary bower.
The straw brim of your hat
circling toward me
brought me home.

Here in the city of winter flowers
your breath, rich as pomegranate seeds,
hardens into pigment.

I cannot speak. You cannot see.
A blind man’s cane strikes the years
in sidewalk cracks beside the avenue.

by Jacklyn W. Potter

Copyright © 2008 by the estate of Jacklyn Potter

Gallery of poets paying tribute to Jacklyn.

Review of Hat City on FutureCycle Poetry

2007-11-28T20:39:00.000-05:00

2006 Washington Prize winner John Surowiecki's The Hat City After Men Stopped Wearing Hats was recently reviewed at FutureCycle Poetry by George Drew.

Whiskey in the Garden of Eden reviewed in The Montserrat Review

2007-11-03T18:51:00.000-04:00

Sarah Browning's poetry collection, Whiskey in the Garden of Eden, was reviewed recently in The Montserrat Review. Read the review at http://www.themontserratreview.com/bookreviews/whiskeyinthegarden.html

Whiskey in the Garden of Eden was published by The Word Works under its Hilary Tham Capital Collection series earlier this year. You can purchase copies at http://www.wordworksdc.com/books2.html#whiskey.

2006 Washington Prize Winner Receives Verse Drama Prize from The Poetry Foundation

2007-10-16T11:42:00.000-04:00

The Poetry Foundation has announced that John Surowiecki is the inaugural recipient of the Verse Drama Prize of $10,000, honoring a living poet who has written a previously unpublished, outstanding original verse drama in English. In addition to the cash prize, the winning manuscript will be presented as a staged reading in New York and Chicago in 2008. The Verse Drama Prize brings renewed attention to an under-recognized area of poetry and encourages poets to work in a new genre, thereby bringing fresh life to the art.

Surowiecki is the author of two poetry collections, Watching Cartoons before Attending a Funeral (White Pine Press, 2003) and The Hat City after Men Stopped Wearing Hats (The Word Works, 2006 Washington Prize), and five chapbooks. My Nose and Me: (A TragedyLite or TragiDelight in 33 Scenes) is his first piece written for the stage.

In 2005, Surowiecki was awarded a poetry fellowship from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism, Office of the Arts. He is a freelance writer and teaches poetry courses at Manchester Community College. His poems have recently appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, Common Ground Review, Connecticut Review, Margie, Nimrod, and Poetry.

The Word Works Publishes Christopher Conlon's Mary Falls: Requiem for Mrs. Surratt

2007-08-05T21:44:00.000-04:00

The Word Works is pleased to announce the publication of Mary Falls: Requiem for Mrs. Surratt, a collection of poetry by Christopher Conlon.

“Here she is: Mary Elizabeth Surratt, who was hanged as co-conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, has taken passionate possession of Christopher Conlon and now lives as ghost in his evocative sequence,” says William Heyen, author of Shoah Train. Conlon melds history with poetry to evocative effect as he imagines the emotional turmoil of a woman infatuated with the man who would become a legend: John Wilkes Booth. The collection includes a Reading Group Guide.

Conlon is a poet, fiction writer, and editor whose books include Gilbert and Garbo in Love: A Romance in Poems (The Word Works, 2003), Thundershowers at Dusk: Gothic Stories (Rock Village Publishing, 2006) and Poe’s Lighthouse (Cemetery Dance, 2006). His work has been published in Poets & Writers, America, Filmfax, Tennessee Williams Annual Review, and many other periodicals. He lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Mary Falls: Requiem for Mrs. Surratt can be ordered online at http://www.wordworksdc.com or at http://www.amazon.com.

------------------------------
READING SCHEDULE

Wednesday, August 15
7:30 p.m.
The Frederick Coffee Company
100 N. East Street, Frederick, MD
Ph. 301-698-0039

Thursday, November 8
Time TBA
Nora School Poetry Series
955 Sligo Avenue, Silver Spring, MD
Ph. 301-495-NORA
http://www.nora-school.org

Wednesday, November 28
Kensington Row Bookshop
3786 Howard Avenue, Kensington, MD
Ph. 301-949-9416
http://www.kensingtonrowbookshop.com

Sunday, January 13, 2008
IOTA Poetry Series
Iota Bar & Restaurant
2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA
Ph. 703-522-8340 or 703-256-9275

Finale at Miller Cabin

2007-07-24T22:56:00.000-04:00

This season at Joaquin Miller's Cabin was exceptionally stellar—7 out of 8 programs were in the park (meaning we weren't rained out), audience attendance was consistently good (20 to 40 people per program), readers as was always the tradition over the 30 plus years were memorable if not standouts, and our co-directors Kathi Morrison-Taylor, Doug Wilkinson, and Rosemary Winslow as well as our Jacklyn Potter Young Poets Director Perry Epes provided the kind of engaged and hospitable support that makes people want to come back.

I believe we have a winning team in Kathi, Doug, and Rosemary.

Many thanks to everyone who contributed to the 2007 Miller Cabin Poetry Series. A special thanks to Mrs. Paul Grayson for catering the reception on June 19 and to all of you who made contributions in Jacklyn Potter's name.

Prartho Sereno Wins Word Works 2007 Washington Prize

2007-07-05T12:00:00.000-04:00

The Word Works is pleased to announce that Prartho Sereno, of San Anselmo, CA, won the 2007 Washington Prize for her full-length poetry manuscript, Call from Paris. The prize includes publication and a cash award of $1,500.

Ms. Sereno is a California Poet in the Schools and a watercolor artist whose work appears on book and CD covers. She is the author of a chapbook of poems, Garden Sutra (Finishing Line Press, 2005), and a book of essays, Everyday Miracles (Kensington, N.Y., 1998). Her illustrated book of poems, Causing a Stir: The Secret Lives and Loves of Kitchen Utensils, will be issued by Mansarovar Press in October 2007. She won a Marin Arts Council Individual Artist Grant in 2003. Her individual poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Atlanta Review, Chautauqua Review, Comstock Review, Rattle, Runes, California Quarterly, and other journals.

Call from Paris was chosen the winner from 257 manuscripts submitted by American poets. Two additional manuscripts were named honorable mentions: Balloon Animals, by Donald Illich, Rockville, MD, and The Fat Sheep Everyone Wants, by Bern Mulvey, Ekuserento Beru, Japan.

Final judges in this year’s contest were Karren L. Alenier, J.H. Beall, Bernadette Geyer, Miles David Moore, and Steven B. Rogers. First readers were Cliff Bernier, Doris Brody, Angelyn Donahue, W. Perry Epes, Michael Gushue, Erich Hintze, Tod Ibrahim, Sydney March, Mike McDermott, Ann Rayburn, Martha Sanchez-Lowery, Jill Tunick, and Doug Wilkinson. Second readers were Mark Dawson, Brandon D. Johnson, and Judith McCombs.

The Word Works has awarded the Washington Prize since 1981. In 2008, the Word Works again will offer publication and a $1,500 prize to a volume of original poetry. Submissions will be accepted from Jan. 15 to March 1, 2008, and the entry fee will be $25. All entrants receive a copy of the winning book. For further information and guidelines (available December 2007), send a stamped, self-addressed envelope to the Word Works, P.O. Box 42164, Washington DC 20015, or visit the Word Works Web site at http://www.wordworksdc.com.

Call from Paris is available by advance order for $10 plus $3.50 shipping and handling from the mailing address above.

Miller Cabin Readings

2007-07-03T22:37:00.000-04:00

When Kathi Morrison-Taylor says, "Let us join together to welcome," I am transported into the history of all the evenings lit with fireflies, candles, flashlights, and the poetry of illuminated artists who have traveled to this cathedral of trees towering over the modest log cabin originally built by Joaquin Miller.

This year we celebrate and remember poets intimately connected with the Miller Cabin: Jacklyn Potter, Robert Sargent, and Hilary Tham.

Cabin cake
baked by
Lois McBride

Miles Moore holds up The Tao of Mrs. Wei by Hilary Tham when he paid to tribute to her at the July 19, 2007 program which included
Heather Blain

and Shep Ranbom.

This year has been especially wonderful with sizeable audiences filling the picnic tables around the cabin. During the 4th of July holiday week over 30 people appeared to hear
Kay Lindsey and
Susan Bucci Mockler. To make the programs more festive, Michael Hauptschein occassionally hangs his unicorn banners.

Only three more programs left. Next week we hear Temple Cone and Barbara Lefcowitz. Joe Goldberg will read a poem by Hilary Tham. Don't miss the pleasure of the Miller Cabin Poetry Series this summer.

To quote Jacklyn Potter, "Tourjours le mot!"

The Word Works Publishes First Poetry Collection by Rosemary Winslow

2007-06-27T21:18:00.000-04:00

The Word Works, through its Hilary Tham Capital Collection, has published Green Bodies, the first collection of poetry by Rosemary Winslow.

Winslow is on the faculty of the Catholic University of America, where she teaches writing and literature, and where she has directed writing programs for 19 years. Based on her work, which has appeared in numerous literary magazines and anthologies, she has received a residency grant at the Vermont Studio Center as well as a writer’s grant and three Larry Neal Awards for Poetry from the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities.

Green Bodies can be ordered online at http://www.wordworksdc.com/.

READING SCHEDULE

Sunday, July 22, 4pm
Wonalancet Chapel
Rt.113A, Wonalancet, NH

Tuesday, July 24
Bayswater Book Co.
6 Main Street, Center Harbor, NH
603-253-8858
http://us.f504.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=bayswaterbk@metrocast.net&YY=59928&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&order=up&sort=date&pos=0

Thursday, November 8, 7:30pm
Nora School Poetry Reading
955 Sligo Avenue, Silver Spring, MD
301-495-6672

Sunday, December 9, 6 pm
Iota Bar and Restaurant
2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA
703-522-8340 or 703-256-9275

Jacklyn Potter Remembered

2007-06-27T09:27:00.000-04:00

Last evening June 25 under the trees at Joaquin Miller's cabin, we celebrated Jacklyn Potter, who for over 20 years was the impresario nonpareil of the Miller Cabin Poetry Series. The program began with readings by winners of the Jacklyn Potter Young Poets Competition—Helen Sitar who won in 2006 and Elizabeth McLean who won in 2007. Elizabeth, who drove up from Charlottesville, Virginia, with her parent, had a memorable poem about a swim meet. Helen, who has been coming to programs at Miller Cabin since she was eleven, read a very moving poem about being by her grandmother's side as she died.

Anne Becker presented the next part of the program which was a reading of poems by Jacklyn. Anne, who knew Jacklyn in the early 1970s and was house mates with her, selected a poignant mix of work that gave us Jacklyn, the activist working with migrant workers; Jacklyn, the daugher who as a little girl had to mother her mother; Jacklyn, the philosopher writing about immortality. Anne, who was by Jacklyn's bedside when she breathed her last breath, was very moved by Helen Sitar's poem about her grandmother. Also Anne brought photos of Jacklyn and the group of people they lived with in Washington, DC. There was our Jacklyn with long blond hair at the Embassy of Atlantis, the name of the group house nestled in a neighborhood of many embassies including the embassiy of Belgium.

Also many kudos to Perry Epes, Director of the Jacklyn Potter Young Poets Competition (he introduced the young poets last evening), Kathi Morrison-Taylor, Co-Director of the Miller Cabin Series (she has a warm and welcoming style that Jacklyn would love and last evening she gave us a vignette of Miller at 17 years old cooking for gold miners in California!), Doug Wilkinson, Co-Director of the Miller Cabin Series (he is handling the open mic portion of the program and last week he went solo with a engaging program headlined by Heather Blaine & Shep Ranbom) and audience (including the regular attendees) who braved the heat and humidity to share in the evening.

The Word Works Publishes First Poetry Collection by Sarah Browning

2007-06-27T08:32:00.000-04:00

The Word Works, through its Hilary Tham Capital Collection, has published Sarah Browning's first book of poems, Whiskey in the Garden of Eden.

Sarah has arranged a release party/reading on Sunday, July 15, 6 pm at Busboys & Poets. If you can't make the 15th, she'll be reading a number of other times this summer and fall (see following schedule).

Whiskey in the Garden of Eden is available at Busboys & Poets Books or from The Word Works.

Release Party/Reading
Whiskey in the Garden of Eden by Sarah Browning
Sunday, July 15, 6-8 pm
Langston Room, Busboys & Poets
14th & V Streets, NW
Washington, DC
U Street/Cardozo on the Metro green line
http://www.busboysandpoets.com/, 202-387-POET

-------------------------

Additional readings:

Wednesday, July 18, 7:30 PM
INTERSECTIONS
Honfleur Gallery
1241 Good Hope Rd. SE
Washington , D.C.
Refreshments provided. Suggested donation is $2

Tuesday, July 24, 7:30 pm
Miller Cabin Series
Joaquin Miller Cabin
Rock Creek Park , Picnic Area #6, Beach Drive at Military Road Overpass
For more information and rain location, call Julie Enszer at 301-537-6570

Saturday, July 28, 2 PM
Karibu Books, Pentagon City Mall
1100 South Hayes Street, Arlington , VA
703.415.1118 http://www.karibubooks.com/

Thursday, August 23
Northampton, MA
Location and time TBA
Friday, September 14, 6:30 pm
NW Washington, DC house party reading
For details, contact: lee.coyk@verizon.net

Wednesday, September 26, 7 pm
Kensington Row Bookshop
3786 Howard Avenue, Kensington MD
301 949 9416
http://www.kensingtonrowbookshop.com/

Monday, November 5, 7:30 pm
Cafe Muse at the Friendship Heights Village Center
4433 South Park Avenue, Chevy Chase, MD
301 656-2797

Sunday, December 9, 6 pm
Iota Bar and Restaurant
2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA
703-522-8340 or 703-256-9275

Welcome to The Word Works' New Blog!

2007-06-25T09:38:00.003-04:00

We are bursting at the seams with news, so stay tuned for our updates! Our Board will also post regularly on topics relevant to the literary community.

Workin' the Word

Exploring Inspired by Gertrude Stein: A Workshop

Word Works Authors at Split This Rock Festival

Inspired by Gertrude Stein: A Workshop

Cafe Muse Celebrates Fine Poets September & October

Miller Poetry Series Wrap Up

Cafe Muse Celebrates Hispanic Poets in Washington DC

Miller Time Update

Heavenly Graduation, Kelly Cherry, Jacklyn Potter Young Poets

Blessing Lucille, Rod, Marty

Word Works Tribute to Lucille Clifton

Praise for Michele Wolf's Immersion

AWP 2011

Cafe Muse Pays Tribute to Hilary Tham January 3

Cafe Muse Live with Luis Alberto Ambroggio & Idra Novey

Cafe Muse Oct 4: Idra Novey & Luis Alberto Ambroggio

Chautauqua, the Opposite of Burning Man

Chautauqua at Cafe Muse

Portrait of Brad Richard: 2010 Washington Prize Winner

Sunday, Aug 29, 3:30pm

New Orleans, LA

REMEMBERING KATRINANicole Cooley, Peter Cooley, Yusef Komunyakaa, Kay Murphy, Brenda Marie Osbey, Alison Pelegrin, Brad Richard, and Martha Serpas, with Alice Quinn

Intersections -- Poetry with Mathematics

Cafe Muse: The Truths of Patricia Davis & Henry Israeli

Some Thoughts On Poetry Book Contests

A Successful Miller Cabin Series Wraps Up

Last night at Miller Cabin

Café Muse: What a Turnout!

Last Night at Miller Cabin: Thunderstorm Edition

Last night at Miller Cabin

Café Muse: July Preview

Tomorrow at Miller Cabin

Miller Cabin

This Week at Miller Cabin

Last night at Miller Cabin

Tomorrow at Miller Cabin

Last night at Miller Cabin

This week at Miller Cabin

Miller Cabin Report

Café Muse: Success!

Miller Cabin Kickoff!

Join us at the Café!

2009 Washington Prize Winner - Mayweed, by Frannie Lindsay

Word Works Author Rosemary Winslow Interviewed in The Examiner

The Faces at Miller Cabin Programs

Miller Cabin's Moveable Feast

Word Works at AWP Chicago

State of the Art

All in the Family

Miller Cabin Poet Diane Lockward on Poetry Daily

Grand Finale! July 22, 2008

A New View of the Creek!

Sheila Black and Charles E. Wright

A Crowd Gathers for John O’Dell and Katy Richey

John Murillo and Suzanne Zweizig at Miller Cabin

An AU Evening at Miller Cabin!

Diane Lockward with Young Poets at Miller Cabin

Links to Poets’ Books Here! Miller Cabin 2008 Off to a Fabulous Start

Word Works Authors and Moving Words

Jacklyn Potter Tribute

Review of Hat City on FutureCycle Poetry

Whiskey in the Garden of Eden reviewed in The Montserrat Review

2006 Washington Prize Winner Receives Verse Drama Prize from The Poetry Foundation

The Word Works Publishes Christopher Conlon's Mary Falls: Requiem for Mrs. Surratt

Finale at Miller Cabin

Prartho Sereno Wins Word Works 2007 Washington Prize

Miller Cabin Readings

Cabin cake baked by Lois McBride

The Word Works Publishes First Poetry Collection by Rosemary Winslow

Jacklyn Potter Remembered

The Word Works Publishes First Poetry Collection by Sarah Browning

Welcome to The Word Works' New Blog!

REMEMBERING KATRINA
Nicole Cooley, Peter Cooley, Yusef Komunyakaa, Kay Murphy, Brenda Marie Osbey, Alison Pelegrin, Brad Richard, and Martha Serpas, with Alice Quinn

Cabin cake
baked by
Lois McBride