Here we are at the end of April again. Simon Ortiz will read on Wednesday, April 29. What an experience that should be.I remember reading his book Woven Stone years ago and being changed. Here's what he says in an intro to that book about being from the pueblo of Acoma and also a writer: "I believe that being real in a real world is loving and respecting myself. This I believe has always been the real and true vision of Indigenous People of the Americas: to love, to respect, and be responsible to ourselves and others, and to behold the passion and awe the wonders and bounty and beauty of creation and the world around us." What a reading and conversation we should have Wednesday with Simon Ortiz, professor now at ASU, our good fortune.
Sheilah Britton read her poems from Mayo last night. We had a large audience as the hot afternoon faded into evening over town lake. As I looked out at people attending, I could see how moved many were.
If you haven't found your way to Tempe Poetry yet, this is your last chance for the year. Come early. Find a glass of wine in the lounge, bring it to the Lakeside Room and settle in for our final reading of the year.
If you haven't joined our group at Facebook (Tempe Poetry) be sure to do that now so we can update you for next season. Our 10th. Hard to believe.
Last night Sharon Suzuki-Martinez read funny and wise poems for Tempe Poetry. They sparkled with their original view of the world. The wind was up and the spray from Tempe Town Lake made an amazing backdrop to the well-attended reading. You could see egrets bucking the wind in the marshy land just below the dam.
Native American poet Simon Ortiz dropped in. He'll read on April 29, so be sure to keep that date open for our end of the season event. That should be an amazing reading. On April 22 Sheilah Britton shares poems she wrote as writer in residence at Mayo. She interviewed patients in the palliative care you and then included their life stories in these works. This program is in collaboration with ASU's creative writing.
I am always startled at this point in Tempe Poetry's season at the excitement I feel when I hear good poetry. Everyone so far has had a different take on what a poem is. That's the goal of course. April is my fastest month. There are five readings this season because we have five Wednesdays. Next year we have only four readings. It's all so intense.
One of the things I love about Tempe Poetry is how people in the audience just stand around and talk with everyone else before and after the reading. There's such a great sense of community.
On Wednesday, April 15, Sharon Suzuki-Martinez reads parables, fables, and other poems in the Lakeside Room. I'm hoping they have the fires lit outside. Fire and water. Sharon's poems, also, are elemental in their power. Their accessible narrative hides many layers. Bring friends to enjoy this reading.
Here we are--halfway through the 9th season of Tempe Poetry. I never can believe how fast the time goes.
Last night we had a combined reading by Elizabyth A. Hiscox & Douglas S. Jones. The conversation afterwards was provocative. Elizabyth used the image of stop action animation to help us understand something of the way she works. Douglas talked about the similarities between poetry and cooking, the sensual nature of the tasks, the attention to detail, and the sense of sharing. This couple's poetry feels full of the sense of community, so all this made sense.
If you haven't yet, check out the online chapbook for TPiA: http://www.tempe.gov/arts/events/poetry.htm
Other info and our submission guidelines are there. Also look for us on Facebook.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Elizabyth A. Hiscox & Douglas S. Jones Read Together
Elizabyth & Douglas will read together for Tempe Poetry on April 8 in the Lakeside Room at Tempe Center for the Arts. This is our first time ever having two readers, but this couple works collaboratively, so we'll be able to talk about the way they do that and the effect each one has on the other's individual work. It should be a really dynamic reading.
Here are longer bios for our poets next Wednesday. Elizabyth A. Hiscox holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Arizona State University and is an Assistant Poetry Editor for the online literary journal 42 Opus. She was 2007 Poet-in-Residence at St. Chad’s College at the University of Durham, England. Currently, she serves as Program Coordinator for the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at ASU. Her chapbook from Finishing Line Press is called Inventory from a One-Hour Room. Douglas S. Jones is originally from Northern California and earned his MFA from Arizona State University, where he was the 2005 Teresa A. Wilhoit Fellow in Creative Writing, chosen by C.D. Wright. In 2007 he was Poet-in-Residence at St. Chad’s College at the University of Durham, England. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Blackbird, Clackamas Literary Review, Cake Train, The Potomac Review, The Pedestal Magazine, Whiskey Island and others.
Last night we began our 9th season with Aracelis Girmay who had flown from New York earlier in the afternoon. She's been all over the country in the last couple of weeks and we were luck to have her. What an exciting reading it was. I forget how much I really love these. And how fast the month of April goes before it's all over. People come to share with us and their energy is just amazing. The view overlooking the reflecting pool and then over Tempe Town Lake is breathtaking. Last night they had the bonfires just outside the windows stoked high so everything felt very elemental.
If you haven't been and live anywhere near, be sure to find your way to one of these readings. Bring in a glass of wine from the TCA Lounge, if you'd like.
Bring everybody you know.
Join us on Facebook either under Tempe Poetry for the Arts or under this heading: Elizabyth A. Hiscox & Douglas S. Jones Read Together Find more info about the series at http://www.tempe.gov/arts/events/poetry.htm
Aracelis Girmayis flying in next week to kick off the 9th season of Tempe Poetry in April. Her poetry book, Teeth, is powerful and intense. So is her children's book, changing, changing. She made collages for that book that are are stark and authentic. I know she and I will have lots to talk about during the interview segment of the event.
Aracelis read on Bill Moyer's Journal. Here's the link: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/07202007/girmay1.html
These free readings, sponsored by the city of Tempe's Cultural Services, are held in the Tempe Center for the Arts, 700 W Rio Salado Pkwy,Tempe, AZ 85281.
When you are planning your evening with us, think about visiting the TCA lounge for discounted appetizers and drinks from 5 to 7 p.m. Feel free to bring a class of wine into the reading.
If it's February it must be time to start to think about Tempe Poetry in April. We have a huge season coming up, with 6 poets providing individual responses to the question what is a poem and why do we write. I'm excited to announce our upcoming schedule:
April 1. Aracelis Girmay is coming from New York City to share work from Teeth. Her visit is generously supported by Bilingual Review Press. Aracelis' poetry feels scary and true and close to the bone.
April 8. Elizabyth A. Hiscox and Douglas S. Jones read together. We've never held a joint reading before, but it makes sense to have this exciting couple together, especially to talk about their strategies for writing and living together as poets.
April 15. Sharon Suzuki-Martinez writes funny and wise poems that twist around in ways that always surprise me.
April 22. Sheilah Britton shares poems she has written as writer in residence for Mayo’s Humanities in Medicine Program in collaboration with ASU Creative Writing, working one-on-one with patients in the palliative care program.
April 29. Simon Ortiz has long been a favorite poet. I can't explain how excited I was to learn he was coming to ASU to teach. He's one of the key figures in the second wave of the Native American Renaissance.
If you know about Tempe Poetry, this all probably clear. If not, let me share a little bit about Tempe Poetry. We are a reading series in our 9th season and are put on by the city of Tempe's Cultural Services. Our readings are held in the beautiful new TempeCenter for the Arts. Our readings are held in one of two rooms, both of which overlook TownLake, which is really an amazing place in the desert. We meet each Wednesday in April at 7 PM.
But the readings, well, they are lots more than just readings. There's the moderated discussion part where I get to talk with the poets so that we end up having a good sense of what the poet and the poetry are doing.
My plan when we started this was to be sure that the audience was always familiar with the poets' work before even coming to the readings. So we've always had poems printed. This year we are going green and will have all the poems in an online literary review. This way we can share lots more poems with you. http://www.tempe.gov/arts/events/Poets/Vol9.pdf
Is this getting too long? It's always that way when I talk about Tempe Poetry. There's just so much I want to say. Oh, and our website is http://www.tempe.gov/arts/events/poetry.htm
Yeah, and we're on Facebook. You probably know that. You're probably reading this on FB--that is, if I can make all of this work.
One other thing that is really important, though, is to talk about TPiA's sense of community. These events are really good for just coming and talking about writing in a fairly informal setting. Everyone's there because we love poetry.So we all talk together. I'll be writing more as we go along. I've never blogged before. It just seems like a natural fit with Tempe Poetry. Put us on your April schedule. Anyway, I'll keep in touch.
Here we are at the end of April again. Simon Ortiz will read on Wednesday, April 29. What an experience that should be. I remember reading his book Woven Stone years ago and being changed. Here's what he says in an intro to that book about being from the pueblo of Acoma and also a writer: "I believe that being real in a real world is loving and respecting myself. This I believe has always been the real and true vision of Indigenous People of the Americas: to love, to respect, and be responsible to ourselves and others, and to behold the passion and awe the wonders and bounty and beauty of creation and the world around us." What a reading and conversation we should have Wednesday with Simon Ortiz, professor now at ASU, our good fortune.
