a POEM for your THOUGHTS

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American Life in Poetry: Column 528

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

 

A couple I know adopted three very small children from a distant country, and the children had never been constrained in any way. The airliner’s seatbelts were so fearful for them that they screamed all the way back to the States. But since then their lives have been wonderfully happy. And here’s a similar story, this too with a good ending, by Patrick Hicks of South Dakota. The Strangers  After we picked you up at the Omaha airport, we clamped you into a new car seat and listened to you yowl beneath the streetlights of Nebraska. Our hotel suite was plump with toys, ready, we hoped, to soothe you into America. But for a solid hour you watched the door, shrieking, Umma, the Korean word for mother. Once or twice you glanced back at us and, in this netherworld where a door home had slammed shut forever, your terrified eyes paced between the past and the future. Umma, you screamed, Umma! But your foster mother back in Seoul never appeared. Your new mother and I lay on the bed, cooing your birth name, until, at last, you collapsed into our arms. In time, even terror must yield to sleep. American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org)

POETRY EVENT - CHICAGO

WORKSHOP Forms and Features: Abecedarian Saturday, September 26 12:00 PM –2:00 PM Poetry Foundation 61 West Superior Street Free admission

All experience levels are welcome to a discussion and creative workshop moderated by library staff. In September, Forms and Features focuses on the Abecedarian, a poem organized by the sequence of the alphabet. Space is limited to 15 participants. Please register in advance by emailinglibrary@poetryfoundation.org.

poetry news - NYC

Announcing the Winners of the 2015 American Poets Prizes   The Academy of American Poets is pleased to announce the 2015 winners of the American Poets Prizes. Launched in 1936, the Academy of American Poets’ annual awards are among the oldest and most generous prizes for poets in the United States. This year, we have awarded over $200,000 to poets at various stages of their careers.

Joy Harjo: Wallace Stevens Award Winner   The Wallace Stevens Award is given annually to recognize outstanding and proven mastery in the art of poetry. Established in 1994, the award carries a stipend of $100,000. Recipients are nominated and elected by a majority vote of the Academy of American Poets’ Board of Chancellors. Marie Howe: Academy of American Poets Fellowship Winner   Established in 1936 and given in memory of James Ingram Merrill, this prize recognizes distinguished poetic achievement and carries with it a stipend of $25,000. Fellows are nominated and elected by a majority vote of the Academy of American Poets’ Board of Chancellors. Kevin Young: Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize Winner   Kevin Young’s poetry collection Book of Hours (Alfred A. Knopf, 2014) has received the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize. Awarded by the Academy of American Poets since 1994, this $25,000 prize recognizes the most outstanding book of poetry published in the United States in the previous year. Past recipients include Wanda Coleman, Mark Jarman, and Stanley Kunitz. The judges were Marie Howe, A. Van Jordan, and Donald Revell. Kathryn Nuernberger: James Laughlin Award Winner   Kathryn Nuernberger’s book The End of Pink (BOA Editions, 2016) has won the James Laughlin Award, which recognizes a superior second book of poetry by an American poet. Offered since 1954 and endowed in 1995 by the Drue Heinz Trust, the annual award is named for the poet and publisher James Laughlin, founder of New Directions. The winning poet receives a cash prize of $5,000, a one-week residency at the Betsy Hotel in Miami, and the Academy of American Poets distributes copies of the book to thousands of its members. The judges were Francisco X. Alarcón, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, and D. Nurkse. Roger Greenwald: Harold Morton Landon Translation Award Winner   Roger Greenwald’s Guarding the Air: Selected Poems by Gunnar Harding(Black Widow Press, 2014) has won the Harold Morton Landon Translation Award. Founded in 1976, this $1,000 prize recognizes a published translation of poetry from any language into English that demonstrates literary excellence. This year’s judge was Bill Johnston. Todd Portnowitz: Raiziss/de Palchi Fellowship   Todd Portnowitz has won the 2015 Raiziss/de Palchi Fellowship for his translation of Pierluigi Cappello’s Go Tell It to the Emperor: Selected Poems. Established in 1995, this prize recognizes outstanding translations of modern Italian poetry into English through an award of $25,000 and a five-week residency at the American Academy in Rome. The judges were Adria Bernardi, Luigi Fontanella, and Giuseppe Leporace. Blake N. Campbell: Aliki Perroti and Seth Frank Most Promising Young Poet Award Winner   Blake N. Campbell has won the Aliki Perroti and Seth Frank Most Promising Young Poet Award for his poem “Bioluminescence.” Established in 2013, the award recognizes a student poet with a cash prize of $1,000. The prize is open to winners, who are twenty-three years old or younger, of the current year’s University & College Poetry Prizes, also given by the Academy of American Poets. Submissions are judged by one of the past or current members of the Academy’s Board of Chancellors. This year’s judge was Linda Gregerson. Sjohnna McCray: Walt Whitman Award Winner   (Announced earlier this year) Sjohnna McCray’s manuscript, Rapture, was selected by Tracy K. Smith for the Walt Whitman Award. Established in 1975 to encourage the work of emerging poets, the award includes first-book publication by Graywolf Press, a cash prize of $5,000, a residency, and distribution to thousands of Academy of American Poets members.

POETRY NEWS - AMHERST, MA

Before You Became Improbable returns September 17-19 and 24-26  "A unique, phenomenal, and deeply treasured experience." - Len Berkman, Smith College Professor of Theater  AMHERST, MA - It took eight years of correspondence before Thomas Wentworth Higginson arrived in  Amherst to meet his elusive advisee, Emily Dickinson. Before You Became Improbable reimagines the day of that meeting, offering audience members an encounter with her words and poems in a remarkably personal theatrical experience. This immersive journey returns to the Emily Dickinson Museum in September after a sold-out 2014 run.     Before You Became Improbable is not a stationary production, but a walking theatrical journey throughout downtown Amherst, en route to the Dickinson grounds.  Equipped with a special pair of headphones, audience members are guided carefully through the show, following a path visible to only them, leading them through a series of compelling encounters. The journey ends in the Dickinson parlor, where participants gather to share insights and experiences with the playwright and each other. Tickets can be reserved here. Before You Became Improbable is written and directed by Amherst Regional High School Performing Arts Department Head John Bechtold and produced by Wendy Kohler and the Emily Dickinson Museum. It runs Thursday through Saturday (with a Sunday rain date) September 17-19 and September 24-26, with one or two participants departing every four minutes between 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the Emily Dickinson Museum, located at 280 Main Street in downtown Amherst. Designed as an experience for two people at a time, audience participants should come prepared with comfortable shoes, the willingness to walk for much of the show, and a venturesome spirit.   DETAILS   Directed by John Bechtold Produced by Wendy Kohler and the Emily Dickinson Museum Location: Begins and ends at the Emily Dickinson Museum, 280 Main Street, Amherst, MA Time: September 17-19 (rain date September 20) and September 24-26 (rain date September 27) Participants begin the journey in pairs leaving every four minutes between 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. Cost:$35 per person ($25 museum members), $15 students To make reservations, visit our reservations page . For more information:  call 413-542-2034 or email EDMprograms@EmilyDickinsonMuseum.org    About the Emily Dickinson Museum The Emily Dickinson Museum: The Homestead and The Evergreens is dedicated to educating diverse audiences about the poet's life, family, creative work, times, and enduring relevance, and to preserving and interpreting the Homestead and The Evergreens as historical resources for public and academic enrichment.   The Emily Dickinson Museum is owned by the Trustees of Amherst College and overseen by a separate Board of Governors. The Museum is responsible for raising its own operating and capital funds. The Emily Dickinson Museum is a member of Museums10, a collaboration of ten museums linked to the Five Colleges in the Pioneer Valley--Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and Smith Colleges, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.  www.EmilyDickinsonMuseum.org                    Emily Dickinson Museum 280 Main Street, Amherst Massachusetts 01002 | 413-542-8161 | info@EmilyDickinsonMuseum.org

poetry news - CHICAGO

September 9, 2015

2015 Prizes for Contributors to PoetryAnnounced

Eight prizes awarded to poets, critics, and essayists featured in the magazine over the past year

CHICAGO – Poetry magazine awards eight annual prizes for the best work published in Poetry during the past 12 months. Rae Armantrout, Terrance Hayes, Tarfia Faizullah, Jillian Weise, Ming Di, Jennifer Stern, Amy Newman, Jenny Zhang, and Maya Catherine Popa will receive the 2015 prizes for their poems, translations and prose in Poetry.

“Every year, Poetry recognizes the work of its contributors with a series of awards, some dating back to our earliest history and some of recent vintage,” says Poetry magazine editor Don Share. “Garlanding poets, critics and translators, the list of prizewinners has grown strikingly more impressive and more diverse over time, like contemporary poetry itself.”

THE LEVINSON PRIZE, presented annually since 1914 through the generosity of the late Salmon O. Levinson and his family, in the amount of $500, is awarded to Rae Armantrout for her poems “The Difficulty,” “The Ether,” “Followers,” and “Taking Place” from the January 2015 issue. The oldest of the magazine’s prizes still awarded today, the Levinson Prize has been awarded to such great poets as Wallace Stevens (1920), Edna St. Vincent Millay (1931), H.D. (1938), E.E. Cummings (1939), Dylan Thomas (1945), Muriel Rukeyser (1947), John Berryman (1950), William Carlos Williams (1954), Anne Sexton (1962), John Ashbery (1977), Yusef Komunyakaa (1997) and Rita Dove (1998).

THE BESS HOKIN PRIZE, established in 1948 through the generosity of Poetry’s late friend and guarantor Mrs. David Hokin, in the amount of $1,000, is awarded to Terrance Hayes for “How to Draw a Perfect Circle,” published in the December 2014 issue. Past winners of the Bess Hokin Prize include Ruth Stone (1953), Sylvia Plath (1957), W.S. Merwin (1962), Adrienne Rich (1963), Margaret Atwood (1974) and Paul Muldoon (1996).

THE FREDERICK BOCK PRIZE, founded in 1981 by friends in memory of the former associate editor of Poetry, in the amount of $500, is awarded to Tarfia Faizullah for “100 Bells” in the January 2015 issue. Past winners of the Frederick Bock Prize include Billy Collins (1992), Jane Kenyon (1993) and A.E. Stallings (2004).

THE J. HOWARD AND BARBARA M.J. WOOD PRIZE, endowed since 1994, in the amount of $5,000, is awarded to Jillian Weise for her poems “Future Biometrics” and “Biohack Manifesto" in the March 2015 issue. Past winners of the J. Howard and Barbara M.J. Wood Prize include Charles Wright (1996) and Franz Wright (2011).

THE JOHN FREDERICK NIMS MEMORIAL PRIZE FOR TRANSLATION, established in 1999 by Bonnie Larkin Nims, trustees of the Poetry Foundation, and friends of the late poet, translator and editor, in the amount of $500, is awarded to Ming Di and Jennifer Stern for their translations of Liu Xia’s poems “Empty Chairs” and “Transformed Creatures” in the November 2014 issue.

THE FRIENDS OF LITERATURE PRIZE, established in 2002 by the Friends of Literature, in the amount of $500, is awarded to Amy Newman for her poem “Howl” in the July/August 2015 issue.

THE EDITORS PRIZE FOR FEATURE ARTICLE, established in 2005, in the amount of $1,000, is awarded to Jenny Zhang for her essay “How It Feels” in the July/August 2015 issue.

THE EDITORS PRIZE FOR REVIEWING, established in 2004, in the amount of $1,000, is awarded to Maya Catherine Popa for “Forever Writing from Ireland,” her review of "The Architect’s Dream of Winter" by Billy Ramsell, "This Is Yarrow" by Tara Bergin, "Scapegoat" by Alan Gillis, and "Clasp" by Doireann Ní Ghríofa in the September 2015 issue.

The prizes are organized and administered by the Poetry Foundation in Chicago, publisher of Poetry magazine.Browse all past issues of Poetry magazine since 1912.

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POETRY EVENTS - WASH,D.C.

September 2015

Thursday, September 10, 12:00 Noon
BAGLEY WRIGHT LECTURE SERIES: SRIKANTH REDDY

 As part of the ongoing series, poet Srikanth Reddy will give a lecture on poetry. This event is free and open to the public.

Location: Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor, James Madison Building <view map>
Contact: (202) 707-5394

Tuesday, September 15, 7:00 PM
POET LAUREATE INAUGURAL READING

 21st Poet Laureate Consultant Juan Felipe Herrera will kick off Hispanic Heritage Month with his inaugural reading. This event is free and open to the public. Co-sponsored by the Library of Congress Hispanic Division.

Location: Coolidge Auditorium, Thomas Jefferson Building (ground floor) <view map>
Contact: (202) 707-5394

poetry events - NYC

POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA

UPCOMING EVENTS Saturday, September 19, 2:00pm Bronx, NY POETRY FOR EVERY SEASON: OCTAVIO PAZ POETRY WALK The New York Botanical Garden's blockbuster exhibition Frida Kahlo: Art, Garden, Life is the first to examine Frida Kahlo's keen appreciation for the beauty and variety of the natural world, as evidenced by her home and garden as well as the complex use of plant imagery in her artwork. Featuring a rare display of more than a dozen original Kahlo paintings and works on paper, this limited six-month engagement also reimagines the iconic artist's famed garden and studio at Casa Azul, her lifelong home in Mexico City. Curated by poet and photographer Rachel Eliza Griffiths, a poetry walk will feature the poems of Nobel Prize winner Octavio Paz, a contemporary and friend of Kahlo's, many of which reference native plants and flowers. The poetry walk will be adjacent to the Haupt Conservatory amid the seasonal beauty of the Garden's own collections. At this afternoon reading, Griffiths will read a selection of Paz poems from the poetry walk, as well as original poems inspired by the life and work of Frida Kahlo.  Co-sponsored by the New York Botanical Garden. New York Botanical Garden Ross Hall Bronx River Parkway at Fordham Road   Sunday, September 20, 10:00am Brooklyn, NY BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL The Brooklyn Book Festival is the largest free literary event in New York City, presenting an array of literary stars and emerging authors who represent the exciting world of literature today. One of America's premier book festivals, this hip, smart, diverse gathering attracts thousands of book lovers of all ages. Poets participating this year include Elizabeth Alexander, Tina Chang, Nick Flynn, Marie Howe, Saeed Jones, Ada Limón, Cate Marvin, Eileen Myles, Gregory Pardlo, Rowan Ricardo Phillips, Tracy K. Smith, Jean Valentine, and Wendy Xu. Brooklyn Borough Hall 209 Joralemon Street For a full calendar of Brooklyn Book Festival events visit here.   Thursday, September 24, 7:00pm New York, NY A TRIBUTE TO PHILIP LEVINE with Ann Close,  Levine's last editor at Knopf, and poets Kate Daniels, Toi Derricotte,Juan Felipe Herrera, Edward Hirsch, Yusef Komunyakaa, Dorianne Laux, Mari L'Esperance, Paul Mariani, Jane Mead, Tomás Q, Morín, Sharon Olds, Tom Sleigh,David St. John, and Gerald Stern. Join many of the poetry organizations in New York City to honor the work and memory of the great poet Philip Levine (1928-2015). An array of distinguished poets and friends of Levine's will read his work in tribute. Co-sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, Blue Flower Arts, Cave Canem Foundation, Library of Congress, NYU's Creative Writing Program, Penguin Random House, Poets House, and the Unterberg Poetry Center, 92nd Street Y Admission is free. The Great Hall Cooper Union 7 East 7th Street New York, NY 10003  Thursday, Oct 1, 7:00pm New York, NY THE NEW SALON AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY:READINGS AND CONVERSATIONSMatthew Zapruder, with Deborah Landau   Matthew Zapruder is the author of four collections of poetry, most recently Come On All You Ghosts, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and Sun Bear. Why Poetry, a book of prose, is forthcoming from Ecco Press in 2016. An Associate Professor in the St. Mary's College of California MFA program and English Department, he is also Editor at Large at Wave Books. He lives in Oakland, CA. Co-sponsored by the NYU Creative Writing Program Admission is free. Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House New York University 58 West 10th Street New York, NY 10003   The PSA's programs are made possible by support from our community of readers, writers, and lovers of poetry like yourself. Please consider becoming a member help us continue to place poetry at the crossroads of American life.