Dear Literary Folk,
I’m writing to you from Seattle where this year’s Associated Writing Programs (AWP) conference is underway. Among the featured presenters are Annie Proulx, Coleman Barks, Gary Snyder, Ursula LeGuin, Tobias Wolf, Amy Tan, Joy Harjo, Jane Hirshfield, Bob Hass, Sherman Alexie. In addition to these luminaries, there are many fellow Sonoma County writers in attendance. I’ll update with photos and a roll call as the conference unfolds.
Women’s History Month
Here are a few of the literary ways to mark this remembrance and celebration.
Saturday, March 8, noon-2:00 p.m. Redwood Writers hosts the next Library Open Mic at the Santa Rosa Central Library, 211 E St., Santa Rosa. The theme in March is “Women,” in honor of International Women’s Day, which is on the day of the reading. The general public is invited to sign up to read. For more information about Redwood Writers or this event, go to www.redwoodwriters.org. For directions or information about the library, call (707) 545-0831 or go to http://www.sonoma.lib.ca.us.
Sitting Room Annual Publication Deadline Extended to April 1.
Sitting Room invites you to contribute to their annual publication. The theme for 2014 is When I First Realized I Was a Feminist. We are not going to define the term, but simply invite accounts of the first time you realized you were a feminist. All ages and genders are welcome to contribute, in prose, poetry, or black-and-white illustration. Here’s our style guide and publication address. We have received several 2-3 sentence responses, similar to those click moments featured in early issues of Ms. So if you don’t want to create a full-page account, then feel free to submit a CLICK! For details, visit www.sittingroom.org/style-guide.html.
Monday, March 17, 7:00 p.m. On St. Patrick’s Day, Sonoma County’s Poet Laureate Katherine Hastings will be the featured reader at the Crossroads Irish American Festival in San Francisco. The venue will be Bookshop West Portal, 80 West Portal Avenue, San Francisco. An evening of Irish Soda Bread, drinks and poetry: www.irishamericancrossroads.org/calendar.html
Saturday, March 29, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Women’s National Book Association-San Francisco Chapter is hosting its annual Pitch-O-Rama in San Francisco at the Women’s Building, 3543 18th St. (between Guerrero & Valencia Sts.) . You will have an opportunity to pitch your book to 12 literary agents, publishers and editors. The morning includes a free pre-pitch training session when writers will receive training; a two-hour, one-on-one pitch session; and mentoring throughout the pitch session. For for more information and to register, please see the WNBA’s website: http://wnba-sfchapter.org/pitch-o-rama-2014. The fee is $65 for members and $75 for nonmembers.
Thoughts on the Drought
Last month, I invited you to send me your thoughts on the California drought. We’ve all felt the drought in our bones for weeks before the official declaration. Has the weather drawn from you an essay? a poem? a rant? A lament? If so, please send me what you’ve written.
You can send me your thoughts to tehret99@comcast.net. Please write Thoughts on the Drought in the subject line. Try to keep contributions under 250 words.
I received two responses in February, which I share with you below.
Terry Ehret
Co-editor, Sonoma County Literary Update
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A beautiful young father, an Acoma Pueblo Indian tour guide at his tribe’s museum, told me how he had played in a creek near Santa Fe as a child. Now, he said, it’s dry and my daughter can’t enjoy it. I know whose fault that is.
A day later, I was at the Santa Fe Plaza walking slowly past the jewelry offerings. Many of the Pueblo Indians came from hours away to sell their gorgeously crafted pieces. But I literally stuck up my nose from their unwashed smell. Culture clash, I’d supposed.
Now I soon will be unwashed and smelly. It’s all a question of available water.
—Susan Spaulding
Light Rain
Such a wondrous sound
after an absence of months,
rain tumbling down
in holy hush.
Whatever she touches
sighs in deep thanks.
Pores open wide, roots
wriggle, unfurl, drink
their fill, let the rest
stream in swells.
We pray you, return
again and again. Our
parched earth is bereft,
people afraid. Thank
you dear Earth for
seeing our needs, may
we meet yours before
we’re pushed to plead .
Water our hearts with
fresh, bountiful springs.
—Raphael Block
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Click here for a pdf that contains most of the pages on the website, updated for March 2014.
Sonoma County Literary Update 