Sonoma County Literary Update

REMEMBERING MIKE TUGGLE

It is with deep sadness that we note the passing of former Sonoma County Poet Laureate, Mike Tuggle. As a poet, a mentor, and a friend, he touched many of us in the literary community. He will be long remembered and deeply missed.

I first met Mike and his second wife, Susan Kennedy, when I began working with the California Poets in the Schools Program in 1991. Over the years, our paths crossed often at poetry readings and literary gatherings, especially during the years he served as Sonoma County Poet Laureate. Then in 2011, Mike’s book of poems What Lures the Foxes was selected for publication by Kelly’s Cove Press, coming out simultaneously with my book, giving us many more opportunities to read our poems together. Mike had a deep appreciation for music and rhythm, which he brilliantly harnessed in his poetry. He had a gentle wisdom, accentuated by his lovely Oklahoma/Texas drawl, and a calming presence I always appreciated.

Mike was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1939, and grew up in West Texas. He lived in Sonoma County from 1981 until his death on June 18, 2017. He taught with the California Poets in the Schools Program from 1971-2003. His publications include Cazadero Poems, co-authored with Susan Kennedy, Absolute Elsewhere, The Singing Itself, What Lures the Foxes, and most recently The Motioning In.

Susan Kennedy wrote this about Mike’s passing:

His last day was a full one, like his Sagittarius nature loved. First to his open mic in Guerneville, then to the Cazadero Farmer’s Market and the General Store, checking in with the lovely ladies. Then a visit from his grandchildren with Grandma Margo before they went swimming at the creek below his cabin. Then watching a movie with Jai, a favorite activity. That was the last time anyone spoke to him. When he was late showing up for Father’s Day dinner at Lilah and Ishi’s, Ishi and the kids drove up and found him, lying on his couch with an incredibly peaceful, profound look on his face. When I asked Jai what movie they had watched he said “It was about an old man who waiting to die and then he did.” He was suffering greatly with all his infirmities and we are ultimately grateful that he has been released from them although we are all grieving very hard, facing the big hole he leaves in our lives.

About poetry, Mike said “A good poem hurts you a little,” and while that is certainly true of Mike’s poetry, there is also a warm, honest, and guileless vision that takes you by the arm and walks you through our common human experiences of loneliness, coupling, uncoupling, grief, and pure animal joy. At the end of this month’s post, I have included two poems from his most recent collection.

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POETRY REFLECTIONS
A featurette by Iris Dunkle, Sonoma County Poet Laureate

It is with great pleasure that we will be welcoming Dana Gioia, Poet Laureate of California and former chair of the National Endowment for the Arts for a reading in Marijke’s Grove at Paradise Ridge Winery (see July 16 on calendar).

“Gioia concerns himself with every aspect of his craft: its traditions, its movements toward and away from rhyme and meter, and its ancient roots in the sound of the human voice . . . Gioia is clearly a poet whose words are heard, whose positions ignite debate, whose work constantly and unflinchingly searches out new ways to counter what he calls ‘our sentimental, upbeat age.’” —from the American Book Award citation for his poetry collection Interrogations at Noon.

Mr. Gioia will be joined by Iris Jamahl Dunkle, Poet Laureate of Sonoma County, as well as student champions from Poetry Out Loud. Both Mr. Gioia and Ms. Jamahl Dunkle will be available to sign books after their readings.

Poetry is the sculpture of language, words coming together to form an artful display of emotion, truth, and beauty. That’s why we’re so excited that this event will be taking place within our current sculpture exhibition, Geometric Reflections, at Paradise Ridge Winery. We hope to see you there!

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LITERARY HIGHLIGHTS FOR JULY

The Handmaid’s Tale at the Sitting Room
Book club at the Sitting Room discusses Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale on Wednesday, July 19, 2:00-4:00 p.m. The Handmaid’s Tale is a dystopian novel from Canadian author Margaret Atwood, set in a near-future New England in a totalitarian theocracy that has overthrown the US government. The Handmaid’s Tale won the 1985 Governor General’s Award and the first Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1987; it was also nominated for the 1986 Nebula Award, the 1986 Booker Prize, and the 1987 Prometheus Award. The book has been adapted into a film (1990), an opera (2000), a TV series (2017), and other media. The Sitting Room Book Group meets the third Wednesday of every month from 2 to 4 pm. All are welcome. No fee. Details of this month’s discussion at: www.sittingroom.org/events.html

Hot Summer Nights at Copperfields
Along with its many other author readings and events, Copperfields in Montgomery Village, Santa Rosa is hosting a series this summer called “Hot Summer Nights.” Each of these will feature four Redwood Writer’s Clulb authors reading from their newly published books. f you check the calendar for this month, you’ll find the complete listing for these:

The first is on Tuesday, July 11, 7:00-8:00 p.m., featuring William Haigwood, Davenport; Marian Lindner, The Witch Lineage; S.C. Alban, A Life Without Living; Roger DeBeers, Murder is Forever.

The second is on Tuesday, July 18, 7:00-8:00 p.m., featuring : Jan Ogren, Choose Life: Poetry, Prose and Photography; Dorothy Rice, The Reluctant Artist: Joe Rice 1918-2011; Kay Mehl Miller, Ring Around Reality; John Freedom, Heal Yourself With Emotional Freedom Technique.

The third is on Tuesday, July 25, 7:00-8:00 p.m., featuring: Alex Moores, Living in Water; Susanna Solomon, More Point Reyes Sheriff’s Calls; Cathy Wild, Wild Ideas—Creativity from the Inside Out; Jean Wong, Hurtling Jade And Other Tales of Personal Folly.

Get Lit at the Aqus Cafe
Some of you may be familiar with the quarterly reading series called Get Lit, hosted by Dani Burlison and Kara Vernor, and now at its new venue at the Aqus Café. On Thursday, July 13, 7:00 p.m, Get Lit will feature Brian Boldt, Frances Lefkowitz and Lorelle Saxena. An open mic follows (five minute limit). Aqus Cafe, 189 H Street, Petaluma.

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TUSCAN LITERARY TOUR AND WRITING RETREAT
Last month, Jo-Anne Rosen mentioned that I would be away in June, and for the first two weeks, I had the pleasure of leading a small group of travelers on a literary tour and writing retreat in Tuscany. We stayed in a private villa south of Florence, visiting various hill towns in Chianti, as well as Sienna and San Gimignano. We had three days touring the city of Florence, then headed off for a weekend in Ravenna. One of the literary focuses of the tour was Dante, and several of the travelers had been reading Dante’s Inferno and Purgatorio with me at the Sitting Room. Though Florence was Dante’s beloved home, Ravenna is the town that welcomed him in exile, where he wrote the Divine Comedy, where he died and is buried. On our return, we visited the sanctuary of La Verna, high in the Apennines, and Bramasole, the home of Francis Mayes in Cortona. In our final days we visited Assisi.

Some mornings and evenings, we wrote together in the salon of the villa or out on the terrace. Other days our writing was “plein air,” set in an inspirational spot, such as the woods of La Verna, the cloister of San Marco in Florence, or beside the tomb of Dante in Ravenna.

If you think a literary tour and writing retreat like this would suit you, send me an e-mail at tehret99@comcast.net, and I’ll put you on an e-mail list for future announcements. You can see these and more images/details of the Tuscan Literary Tour and Writing Retreat on my Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/terry.ehret.

I have led literary tours in West Ireland and Wales as well. You can find more information using these links:
Wales: https://wales2013.wordpress.com/
Ireland: https://westireland.wordpress.com/
Tuscany: https://tuscanywritingretreat.wordpress.com/

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TWO POEMS FOR JULY
These two poems are by Mike Tuggle, who passed away on July 18, 2017. These can be found in Mike’s most recent collection, The Motioning In: New and Selected Poems, published by Petaluma River Press.

The Motioning In
by Mike Tuggle

Sometimes in the side of this hill a small tree
catches a small breeze and all by itself dances,
circular ripple of leaves and branches
while the trees all around stand perfectly still.
This green moving within the still body of green
is like a calling-unto, a motioning in.
A great yearning to merge with what you are seeing fills you,
pulls you out of your singular body into your greater one.
Where you become for a moment those huge fir trunks
glimmering purple and blue in the shadows,
that maple ablaze with a bright old light.
But just for a moment.
Afterwards you are filled with sadness,
a green foreknowledge of death.

The Question
by Mike Tuggle

How do you want to die, Buppa?
my four-year-old granddaughter asked me.
Well I don’t want to die, I told her,
but I guess I will one day.
So how do you want to when you do?
I was lying back on the sofa
and she was rubbing my feet with lotion.
I didn’t have to consider long
as I watched her strong, chubby fingers
squeezing my toes, the question still
hovering between us.
Like his, I told her.
Just like this.

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Terry Ehret
Sonoma County Literary Update Co-editor

Dear Literary Folk,

I am filling in for Terry Ehret, who is in Italy for the month of June. She’ll be in Florence and Tuscany for two weeks of teaching and leading a group of writers followed by two weeks in Venice and Cinque Terre. How beautiful is that! Ah well, it is beautiful here, too. The oleanders are in bloom outside my window. And as usual, the literary scene is lively, not only in our county but across the bay.

Of note:  The Third Annual Bay Area Book Festival takes place in downtown Berkeley the weekend of June 3-4. Highlights include over 200 authors, 100 literary events and 200 exhibitors, including children’s activities. On Saturday, June 3, 10:00-11:15 a.m. Sonoma County author Joan Frank will moderate a panel at the Book Festival, First Books: What It Took to Get There. For a schedule, list of exhibitors and more information go to: https://m.baybookfest.org.

WordTemple is launching a book on Saturday, June 24, 7:00 p.m. for Gregory W. Randall, a Sonoma County poet celebrating his first full-length collection, A Cartography of Selves. Mark your calendars now for a party and reading at Sebastopol Center for the Arts, 282 S. High St., Sebastopol. Refreshments will be served.

Don’t miss Off the Page Readers Theater’s summer show, BOLD MOVES, showcasing the work of local writers, actors and directors.  You will have three opportunities to watch this troupe perform on Friday, June 9 or Saturday, June 10, 8:00 p.m. at Copperfield’s Santa Rosa, Montgomery Village Shopping Center, or on Friday, June 16, 8:00 p.m. at Subud Hall, 234 Hutchins Avenue, Sebastapol. Dana Goia, poet laureate of California, has contributed two poems to this show. The other featured authors are: Shayna Billings, Susan Bono, Sher Lianne Christian, Armando García Dávila, Jodi Hottel, Chuck Kensler, Jo-Anne Rosen, Sarah Saulsbury, Michelle Wing and Jean Wong. Actor-directors are: Pat Hayes, Kathleen Haynie, Richard Koman, Hilary Moore, Jeff Savage, Spencer Sherman and Winona Wagner.  Preshow music performed by Hank Levine. More details: http://www.copperfieldsbooks.com/event/bold-moves-1

And on June 17, check out the First Annual Sebastapol Lit Crawl. Sebastapol opens its doors from Main Street through The Barlow and back again. There will be readings in bookstores by seasoned writers, emerging poets and writers on stage in a beer garden and a range of written works in progress read out loud for the first time in a cafe. More information at https://lit-art-crawl-sebastopol.com

Sonoma County Authors in Print:
Congratulations to authors with new books in print as well as those with poems or stories published in journals.  See below for details or the Sonoma County in Print page for updates. Authors, please do notify us when you have a book published or Ed Colletti (edcoletti@sbcglobal.net) if your work has appeared in a journal or anthology.

Submissions:
Are you looking for places to submit your stories and/or poems? Check out newpages.com, or  subscribe to the Creative Writers Opportunity List ( CRWROPPS listserv) at https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/CRWROPPS-B/info. There are always new calls on these sites. Our Calls for Submissions pages features local as well as national opportunities for publication.

Petaluma-based Wordrunner eChapbooks will be reading mini fiction collections for its fall publications, starting June 1 and closing July 31. (Disclaimer: This lit journal is published by me and a few writer friends, and we hope you are reading it! We now have 30 echapbooks in print.).  Two collections will be selected for publication online and in epubs. Authors are paid $100 plus royalties for Kindle or Smashword sales. Stories by authors awarded Honorable Mentions will be considered for publication in our annual themed anthology, spring of 2018. Submission fee: $5. To see what we are looking for, please peruse fiction collections at: http://echapbook.com/archives.html. For detailed guidelines and submissions link:  http://echapbook.com/submissions.html

The deadline for Redwood Writers Club Screenplay Contest is June 27. The contest is open to residents of Sonoma, Napa, Marin, Mendocino, Lake, Humboldt and Solano counties. Fee for California Writers Club members is $8; nonmembers, $12. First prize: $100; Second prize: $50; Third prize: $25. Details and submission flier: http://redwoodwriters.org/2017-screenplay-contest

Suzanne Sherman is accepting submissions for the next book in the 100 Years in the Life Series, “Teenage Girls! Coming of Age Through a Century.” The story length limit is 2,000 words. Deadline is August 1. More details at: www.100yearsinthelife.com/book-series/share-your-own-story

Looking for Inspiration?
Thanks to Sher Christian for this tip on writing prompts and inspiration.

The Time Is Now offers a weekly writing prompt (a poetry prompt is posted on Tuesdays, a fiction prompt on Wednesdays, and a creative nonfiction prompt on Thursdays) to help you stay committed to your writing practice throughout the year. For prompts, go to: https://www.pw.org/writing-prompts-exercises. Poets & Writers also offer a selection of books on writing—both the newly published and the classics—to check out for inspiration, plus advice and insight on the writing process from the authors profiled in Poets & Writers Magazine. And don’t miss Writers Recommend, which includes books, art, music, writing prompts, films—anything and everything—that has inspired other authors in their writing.

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere
I recommend for your reading pleasure the best short fiction collection I’ve come across since falling in love with Alice Munro’s books, and that is ZZ Packer’s  Drinking Coffee Elsewhere, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Packer was a Stegner Fellow in fiction at Stanford University and was awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship for fiction, among many other honors. She currently teaches in San Francisco State University’s Creative Writing department. The stories are funny, deeply compassionate and sometimes terrifying page-turners. The language never fails to astonish me. Here’s a brief sample—these excerpts from “Speaking in Tongues” are the observations of an adolescent girl about to be punished in church for “laughing at Jesus”:

Soon someone would begin jangling a tambourine and the choir would sing. Robin-breasted women would swell their bosoms, inhaling God…

Sister Gwendolyn held her hands behind her back, sharking around Tia as best she could without her haunches threatening to unpry books from the shelves.

I’ll never forget those robin-breasted women inhaling God! Or Aunt Gwendolyn sharking around! I’d sell my Aunt Gwendolyn  (if I had one) to write lines as good as these.

ZZ Packer will be leading a workshop at the Napa Valley Writers Conference this summer. See our Conferences/Retreats page for details.

Happy solstice everyone.

Jo-Anne Rosen
Co-editor, Sonoma County Literary Update

Dear Literary Folk,

Remembering Benbrook and Kyger
In March, two fine poets left our company. In last month’s post, I mentioned the poet Richard Benbrook. The other local poet who passed away in March is Joanne Kyger. I’d like to take a moment to remember both.

Richard Benbrook was an Arkansas native, but he made Petaluma his home in his youth, and then again from 1985 till his death last month at the age of 69. In the SF Bay Area, he worked in design, published a poetry and literary magazine for several years, The Tomcat, and was an award winning political cartoonist for the Petaluma Argus Courier. He was one of us, an original, charismatic figure who brought warmth, whimsical humor and insight to this quirky town, and smiles to everyone who knew him. You’ll find a moving tribute to Richard at this link: http://www.petaluma360.com/entertainment/6875584-181/richard-benbrook-saying-goodbye-to?artslide=0.

Joanne Kyger, a student of philosophy and literature, began her artistic career as part of the San Francisco Renaissance and the emerging Beat Movement. She lived in Japan with Gary Snyder, her husband at the time, and traveled in India with Snyder, Allen Ginzberg, and Peter Orlovsky. She eventually returned to California, settling in Bolinas, where she lived and wrote until her death last month at the age of 82.

In their tribute to Kyger’s work, Michael McClure and Ray Manzarek write that she was “one of the major experimenters, hybridizers, and visionaries of poetry.  Kyger is very much a poet of place, with a truly strong voice — delicate, graceful, and never wasteful; her poems explore themes of friendship, love, community, and morality, and draw on Native American myth as well as Asian religion and philosophy. Kyger’s love for poetry manifests itself in a grander scheme of consciousness-expansion and lesson, but always in the realm of every day.”

Kyger published more than 20 collections of poetry. If you’re looking for an introduction to her work, you might check out  On Time: Poems 2005 – 2014 (Citylights 2015). I have included one of her poems from this collection at the end of this post.

Calls for Submission
Our Calls for Submission page on the Literary Update regularly announces upcoming contests and journals looking for poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and sometimes artwork. I encourage you all to take a moment to browse this page. I also realize that some of you in the literary community have your fingers on more pulses than do I or Jo-Anne Rosen, my co-editor. If you’re reading this and thinking, yeah, that page could be much better, drop an e-mail to me or Jo-Anne (editor@socolitupdate.com).  We’d love to incorporate your wider knowledge and familiarity with local, national, and international opportunities to publish. Here are two I’m plugging:

The California State Poetry Society is sponsoring a poetry contest, deadline June 30, with cash prizes and publication in California Quarterly’s journal. Poems can be submitted online or in snail-mail, and there is a small reading fee. For more information and guidelines, check out their website at www.californiastatepoetrysociety.org.

There is also still time to submit poems for consideration for Sixteen Rivers’ Upcoming Anthology. The new deadline is May 15. Sixteen Rivers Press is seeking unpublished poems that respond to the cultural, moral, and political rifts that now divide our country: poems of resistance and resilience, witness and vision, that embody what it means to be a citizen in a time when our democracy is threatened.Poets are encouraged to interpret this call broadly. We welcome voices raised in passion and in praise, whether lyrical, philosophical, visionary, or personal. For details and guidelines, visit this link: https://www.sixteenrivers.org/call-for-submissions-our-new-anthology/.

Literary Highlights
Here are some of the many upcoming literary events around the county. You can find details about these and many more on our calendar page.

Monday, May 1, 6:15 p.m. Rivertown Poets feature Sonoma County poets Katherine Hastings and Paul Greenberg at Aqus Cafe, 189 H Street in Petaluma

Mondays, May 1, 8, 15, 22, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Jumpstart writers meet at Copperfield’s Petaluma on the first four Mondays of each month, excluding August and December. Workshops are facilitated by Susan Bono and Marlene Cullen, alternating months. Creative prompts are used to inspire writing. Bring a notebook and a fast-moving pen. All writers are encouraged to come. ($15 per workshop).

Saturday, May 6, 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Writing the Watershed with Elizabeth Herron at the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation in Sebastopol. Elizabeth has a history of watershed writing and publication and taught both Creative Writing and Ecological Identity for over a decade at Sonoma State University. Writing exercises and time outdoors at the beautiful Laguna Foundation.

Saturday, May 6, 2:00 p.m. An Hour Of The Spoken Word & Live Music with poet Jonah Raskin reading from his book, AURAS, accompanied by stand-up bass player, Steve Shain. Location: Rincon Valley Library, Santa Rosa.

Sunday, May 21, 1:00-4:30 p.m. Sonoma Festival of Light and Rhymed Poetry, Trinity Episcopal Church, 275 East Spain St., Sonoma. Contact: Patricia Bradley at bradley2006@gmail.com

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Poem for May

Joanne Kyger’s Kitchen Window © Donald Guravich

SAY GOODNIGHT

by Joanne Kyger

To the small field of daffodils
while doves and sparrows
pass overhead

Stars as grand citizens of the sky
appear near dazzled moon
Still possible to read
Under its full light

The doors of the little palace open
messages go out
What happened last night?

It was that meteor flashing
like a runaway gazelle
down the coast.

April 27, 2013

Dear Literary Folk,

Happy spring to you all on this glorious April morning! April is, of course, National Poetry Month, so there’s much going on the lift the spirit and inspire the writer in you, whatever your genre.

For example, Oakland poet, playwright, essayist, and activist Alison Luterman will be interviewed by Irwin Keller on Thursday, April 6, 7-8:30 at 85 La Plaza, Cotati. Luterman and Keller will discuss “how we live our lives to the fullest, and how we tell our stories – turning our days into poetry, written sometimes in ink and sometimes in flesh and blood, breath, and action.” For more information or to register for this event, check out this link: www.commonweal.org/events/?eid=4542

Later in the month, on Saturday, April 15 at 6:30 p.m., the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference is marking National Poetry Month with a Celebration of Poetry featuring California’s poet laureate, Dana Gioia, and Bay Area authors at the Napa Valley College Upper Valley Campus, 1088 College Ave., St. Helena. Among those joining Gioia will be Sonoma County Poet Laureate Iris Dunkle; Caroline Goodwin, who served as San Mateo’s first poet laureate; Rachel Richardson, author of two poetry books and co-founder of Left Margin Lit; David Roderick, San Francisco Chronicle poetry columnist, author, and co-founder of Left Margin Lit; and Napa County Poet Laureate Beclee Newcomer Wilson.

If you can’t make it to St. Helena on tax day, then consider catching Joyce Carol Oats at 7:00 p.m., Santa Rosa’s Copperfield’s Bookstore. Oates will be reading from her latest, A Book of American Martyrs.

Then on Tuesday, April 25, 6:00 p.m. Copperfield’s Books and Redwood Writers present their Spotlight on Fiction with Crissi Langwell’s novel The Road to Hope at Copperfield’s Montgomery Village.

And a final highlight from our extensive calendar of April events is Independent Bookstore Day, a one-day national party that takes place at indie bookstores across the country on Saturday, April 29. The event will be held locally at Copperfield’s Montgomery Village at 10 a.m.

Poetry Contest for Sonoma County History
Our current Poet Laureate, Iris Dunkle, has announced a poetry contest for adults and youth, sponsored by the Sebastopol Center for the Arts, on the topic of Sonoma County History. The deadline for submission is May 1, 2017. Check Iris’s Poet Laureate page for all the details.

More Suggestions for Celebrating National Poetry Month
The Academy of American Poets has a great list of says to celebrate National Poetry Month. You’ll find the complete list at this link: www.poets.org/national-poetry-month/30-ways-celebrate-national-poetry-month.

Favorite Poems
Among their recommendations is to pick a poem and memorize it, a tradition honored every year by the annual “Favorite Poems” evening. In honor of National Poetry Month, the Sebastopol Center for the Arts will be hosting its annual Favorite Poems event the afternoon of Sunday, April 9 from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. If you would like to read or recite your favorite poem, please send a copy to Larry Robinson at lrobpoet@sonic.net, and include a short statement of why it is your favorite. The only restriction is that the poem cannot be one of your own or that of a family member. We have usually been able to fit most submissions into the program but we may not have room for long poems.

Poetry and Film
Another recommendation from the Academy of American Poets is to watch a poetry movie. Here are two suggestions:

In theaters right now, look for a remarkable film called Paterson. The film presents a week in the life of a bus driver in Paterson, New Jersey, who is himself named Paterson. Besides driving bus, he also writes poetry, which one critic says “slip across the screen like water.” The film’s title alludes to William Carlos Williams, whose epic poem Paterson was in turn inspired by the works of Ezra Pound, James Joyce, and Hart Crane. The poems featured in the film were actually written by Ron Padgett, a still-living poet with roots in the “New York School.”

There is also a wonderful film about Robert Bly, called A Thousand Years of Joy. The film’s website says, “A Thousand Years of Joy charts Bly’s singular path from farmer’s son on a wintry Minnesota farm to radical anti-Vietnam War activist to wild man of the 1990’s men’s movement.” If you missed it, you can view the film at http://sebastopolfilmfestival.org/films/robert-bly-thousand-years-joy/

Who’s Your Literary Best Friend?
The Sitting Room’s Call for Contributions to their Annual Publication: As Edward Mendelson reminds us, “A reader who identifies with the characters in a novel […] is performing one of the central acts of literary understanding.” (The Things That Matter, a study of seven women writers.) Are there times in your life when you have turned to a literary character for comfort and company – an imagined friend who sticks with you through thick and thin? Or indeed, an adversary, someone who gets under your skin, who reminds you of some of the shapes of evil?

The Sitting Room invites contributions and will publish all that adhere to the theme and format guidelines in their 2017 publication, celebrated in June at the Sitting Room’s annual birthday party. The deadline is April 15. For details and guidelines, visit the Sitting Room Website: www.sittingroom.org/publish.html

Remembering Rich Benbrook and Tomcat
Sadly, Sonoma County has lost another of our literary lights, Rich Benbrook, who founded the art and literary magazine Tomcat in the 90s. Many poets appeared in Tomcat, and if any of your readers were among those Rich supported, and would like to send me your thoughts, I will hold a special place in the May 1 Literary Update to honor and remember Rich’s contributions to our literary community.

Get Lit in Petaluma Has a New Home and Night
Formerly at the Corkscrew Wine Bar, Get Lit, a quarterly reading series hosted by Dani Burlison and Kara Vernor, is moving to Aqus Cafe. Join them Thursday, April 13, from 7:00-9:00 for the launch of their new location with featured readers Dave Madden (San Francisco), Amy Elizabeth Robinson (Santa Rosa), and Jeremy Benson (Napa). An open mic during the second hour will follow the featured readers, so bring something to share (five minute limit). Get Lit is a free event that hosts emerging and established writers and aims for lively, funny, heartbreaking, and real. Past readers have included Molly Giles, Guy Biederman, Stefanie Freele, Shirin Yim Bridges, Glen David Gold, and many others. More info at facebook.com/getlitreadings.

Sixteen Rivers Has Extended Its Deadline the Upcoming Anthology to May 15, 2017
All I have is a voice / To undo the folded lie.
—W. H. Auden, “September 1, 1939”

For a new anthology, Sixteen Rivers Press is seeking unpublished poems that respond to the cultural, moral, and political rifts that now divide our country: poems of resistance and resilience, witness and vision,that embody what it means to be a citizen in a time when our democracy is threatened.

Poets are encouraged to interpret this call broadly. We welcome voices raised in passion and in praise, whether lyrical, philosophical, visionary, or personal. Because we hope to create a wide-ranging conversation among the poems, this anthology will combine submitted contemporary work with previously published poems from other periods of unrest and upheaval.

Submission period: February 15–May 15, 2017. Submit 1 to 3 unpublished poems, totaling no more than 3 pages, either online by Submittable or by regular mail. We expect to complete our selection by September 30, 2017; our scheduled publishing date is June 2018. Payment for publication will be two copies of the anthology.

Note: This book will be nationally advertised and similar in scope and design to our first anthology, The Place That Inhabits Us, now in its fourth printing.

Poem for April

For this month, here’s one of my favorite spring poems.

Cherry Blossoms
By Toi Derricotte

I went down to
mingle my breath
with the breath
of the cherry blossoms.

There were photographers:
Mothers arranging their
children against
gnarled old trees;
a couple, hugging,
asks a passerby
to snap them
like that,
so that their love
will always be caught
between two friendships:
ours & the friendship
of the cherry trees.

Oh Cherry,
why can’t my poems
be as beautiful?

A young woman in a fur-trimmed
coat sets a card table
with linens, candles,
a picnic basket & wine.
A father tips
a boy’s wheelchair back
so he can gaze
up at a branched
heaven.
All around us
the blossoms
flurry down
whispering,

          Be patient
you have an ancient beauty.

                                                   Be patient,
                               you have an ancient beauty.

From The Undertaker’s Daughter, by Toi Derricotte, 2011, University of Pittsburgh Press.

Dear Literary Folk,

Your Voice, Too, Is Needed: Call for Poems for a New Anthology

All I have is a voice / To undo the folded lie.
—W. H. Auden, “September 1, 1939”

For a new anthology, Sixteen Rivers Press is seeking unpublished poems that respond to the cultural, moral, and political rifts that now divide our country: poems of resistance and resilience, witness and vision,that embody what it means to be a citizen in a time when our democracy is threatened.

Poets are encouraged to interpret this call broadly. We welcome voices raised in passion and in praise, whether lyrical, philosophical, visionary, or personal. Because we hope to create a wide-ranging conversation among the poems, this anthology will combine submitted contemporary work with previously published poems from other periods of unrest and upheaval.

Submission period: February 15–April 15, 2017. Submit 1 to 3 unpublished poems, totaling no more than 3 pages, either online by Submittable or by regular mail. We expect to complete our selection by September 30, 2017; our scheduled publishing date is June 2018. Payment for publication will be two copies of the anthology.

Note: This book will be nationally advertised and similar in scope and design to our first anthology, The Place That Inhabits Us, now in its fourth printing.

A Local Literary Treasure: The Writers Forum
Featurette by Marlene Cullen

Writers Forum founder Marlene Cullen is thrilled to announce that Writers Forum will now be free at their new location: Copperfield’s Books, 140 Kentucky St. Petaluma.

Writers Forum meets the third Thursday of the month, March through October, 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. The Forum is a unique opportunity for participants to share ideas and explore the many facets of writing. Workshops are led by a variety of speakers presenting information about the craft and the business of writing.

Note: The March 16 Forum will meet from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Representatives will provide information about writing conferences in the North Bay. Presenters include Mendocino Coast Writers’ Conference, Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, Redwood Branch of The California Writers Club Conference, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) for San Francisco North and East Bay Region Oktoberfest Fall Conference, Sonoma County Writers Camp, Writing by Writers.

No rsvp nor sign-ups ahead of time. Bring a notebook and a pen.

Background
Marlene Cullen used to help Susan Bono with Writers Sampler in Sebastopol. She often thought it would be wonderful to have the same program in Petaluma. She kept waiting for someone else to start it. When no one did, she thought, “I could do that.” So she did!

Presenters for 2017: Elizabeth Stark on Building a Writing Practice, Skye Blaine on Memoir, Eric Elfman, Alford Pursell on Flash Fiction,Teri Sloat on The Evolution of a Story, Cameron & Co. Cameron Kids on Children’s Publishing.

Women in Science Fiction
Sitting Room Salons
with Kim Hester-Williams and Terry Ehret

You might say that women have been writing Science Fiction since 1818, the year Mary Shelley published her novel, Frankenstein. Certainly their numbers have been increasing in recent decades and this Spring we’ve invited Kim Hester-Williams and Terry Ehret to hold salons on two of their favorite contemporary authors, Octavia Butler and Ursula K. Le Guin. Please join us to learn more and bring your own favorites to share.

Saturday, March 11, 1:00-4:00 p.m.: Kim D. Hester Williams presents “In The Huntington With Octavia”: What I Learned And Why Everyone Should Read The Work Of Octavia E. Butler

Saturday, March 18, 2017 1:00-5:00 p.m.: Terry Ehret presents “Fishing In The Ocean Of Story”: The Visionary Worlds Of Ursula K. Le Guin

Details available at the Sitting Room Website:  www.sittingroom.org
The Sitting Room
2025 Curtis Drive
Penngrove, CA 94951

Seryna Bonacorso of El Molino High School
Sonoma County’s Poetry Out Loud Winner
Featurette by Phyllis Meshulam

On February 13, 2017, at the lovely Glaser Center in Santa Rosa, we held the 11th annual Sonoma County Poetry Out Loud competition. POL is a nationwide poetry recitation program for high school students. It starts first at the classroom level, when a teacher assigns the memorization of a poem from the online anthology. Then school-wide, county-wide and state-wide contests take place. Winners eventually progress to the Nationals and compete with other champions from all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

This year we had eleven schools competing locally. Four judges have the very difficult task of evaluating performances based on physical presence, voice and articulation, appropriateness of dramatization and evidence of understanding. A fifth judge monitors accuracy. Our panel of distinguished judges was: Armando Garcia Davila, Terry Ehret, Penelope La Montagne, Larry Robinson and Lisa Shulman, with Ed Coletti acting as emcee.

Our 2017 winner is Seryna Bonacorso of El Molino High School who recited “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” by Wallace Stevens, and “Albatross” by Kate Bass. Second place winner was Cristina Avelar of Maria Carrillo High School with “Zacuanpapalotls” by Brenda Cárdenas, and “I Felt a Funeral in my Brain” by Emily Dickinson. In third place was Shea Dorrell of Piner High School with “Hysteria” by Dionisio Martinez and “Eros Turannos” by Edwin Arlington Robinson.

The statewide competition will take place in Sacramento on March 12 and 13, where Seryna will be representing Sonoma County. The Nationals will occur between April 24th and 26th in Washington D.C.

Phyllis Meshulam is the author of Doll, Moon and editor of Poetry Crossing: 50 Lesson Plans for 50 Years of California Poets in the Schools.

Remembering Susan Sibbet
Some of you may have known Susan Sibbet, a poet and teacher who was passionate about writing as food for the soul, and who brought her gifts to California Poets in the Schools for many years until her death three years ago. She also was one of the founders of Sixteen Rivers Press. I’m honored to be part of a tribute to Susan, hosted by Poetry Flash, at DIESEL, A Bookstore in Oakland. The date is Sunday, March 5th at 3 p.m. I will be joined by Steve Gilmartin, Nina Lindsay, Carolyn Miller, and LeeAnn Pickrell.

DIESEL, A Bookstore
5433 College Avenue
Oakland, CA 94618

Poem For March
One of the poems Seryna Bonacorso recited at the Poetry Out Loud Competition last month was “The Albatross,” by Kate Bass. The poem was deeply moving and skillfully delivered by Seryna. I had not previously heard of Kate Bass, so I checked out her bio on the Poets.Org website: British poet Kate Bass was born in north London. She studied chemistry at Edinburgh University and worked for the Patent Agency in London before studying illustration at Anglia Polytechnic University. She lives in Cambridge, England, with her family and works as an illustrator.

The Albatross

When I know you are coming home
I put on this necklace:
glass beads on a silken thread,
a blue that used to match my eyes.
I like to think I am remembering you.
I like to think you don’t forget.

The necklace lies heavy on my skin,
it clatters when I reach down
to lift my screaming child.
I swing her, roll her in my arms until she forgets.
The beads glitter in the flicker of a TV set
as I sit her on my lap
and wish away the afternoon.

I wait until I hear a gate latch lift
the turn of key in lock.
I sit amongst toys and unwashed clothes,
I sit and she fingers the beads until you speak
in a voice that no longer seems familiar, only strange.
I turn as our child tugs at the string.
I hear a snap and a sound like falling rain.

— Kate  Bass, “The Albatross” from The Pasta Maker. Copyright © 2003 by Kate Bass.

Terry Ehret
Sonoma County Literary Update Co-Editor

Be Recognized For Your Literary Journal Publications—Submit these each month to Ed Coletti: edcoletti@sbcglobal.net

______

Dear Literary Folk,

It’s a Twilight Zone Kind of World Right Now
As ungrounded as many of us feel in the first weeks of Trump’s presidency, there are many ways we can stay engaged, stand together, and make our voices heard. Write your state and federal representatives, stand together with others when protesting or resisting is necessary, and consider adding your name to the document “It Won’t Happen Here”: a call to the officials of Sonoma County to protect the community from discriminatory orders and laws. You can find out more at this link: www.facebook.com/ItWontHappenHere/?ref=py_c.

If the recent events have inspired you to write, New York Times op-ed writer Nicholas Kristof is calling for Trump poems in any form as part of a Trump Poetry Contest. Here’s the link for that. There are already more than 1,500 poems posted.

Kristof explains his purpose: “I’d like to invite readers to submit their poems about Donald Trump and his administration. My hope is that the entries will be good enough that I can weave together a column of the best ones. That means that short poems are best, so that I can use several. I’m fine with anything from haiku to limericks, just no epics. The poems can rhyme or not, as you prefer, but they do have to be your own work, and your submission means that you agree to let me publish them in The Times.”
https://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2017/01/23/enter-my-donald-trump-poetry-contest/?_r=0

Celebrate Diversity with 100 Thousand Poets for Change
Closer to home, Sunday, February 26, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. 100 Thousand Poets for Change Celebrates Sonoma County’s Diversity. As the Trump administration seeks to turn us against each other, we will celebrate the diversity of communities in Sonoma County and stand in support of each other! Gaia’s Garden Restaurant.

Jo-Anne Rosen’s Selected Fiction
Co-editor of the Literary Update, Jo-Anne Rosen, will be reading Tuesday, February 28, 6:00 p.m. Copperfield’s Books and Redwood Writers Spotlight on Fiction: In What They Don’t Know: Selected Fiction, Rosen probes the lies and secrets—the “fictions”—of a surprising cast of characters, from bewildered adolescents to elderly lovers. Presented with humor, dignity, and a keen, dispassionate eye, the actors in these 18 beautiful, often sad stories carry with them complex histories of desire and pain, always longing for what they can’t (or shouldn’t) have. At Copperfield’s Montgomery Village, 775 Village Court, Santa Rosa.

February is Poetry Out Loud Month
Poetry Out Loud’s county-wide high school poetry recitation contest is scheduled for Monday, February 13, 6:30–9:30 p.m. The schools involved this year are Analy, Casa Grande, Creekside, El Molino, Elsie Allen, Healdsburg, Maria Carrillo, Piner, Rancho Cotate, Roseland University Prep, Santa Rosa, Sonoma Academy and Tech High. The event is FREE, and will be held at the Glaser Center in Santa Rosa. Sonoma County has always had a fabulous line-up of students for this event. It’s an evening of inspiration and hope.

Other Literary Highlights

For a short month, we have lots of other events coming up. Here are some that caught my eye.

Rivertown Poets will feature a poet-and-musician duo, award-winning poet Diane Frank and cellist Erik Ievins. Open mic will follow the features, with a limit of three minutes per reader. Monday, February 6, 6:15 p.m.

Raphael Block and guitarist David Field will present work from Raphael’s new book, Strings of Shining Silence: Earth-Love Poems, at Book Passage, Corte Madera on Sunday, February 12, 1:00 p. m.

Marc Bojanowski, bestselling author and Santa Rosa native, will present his second book, Journeyman, a visceral, muscular, and exquisitely crafted state-of-the-nation novel about an itinerant carpenter who rediscovers the magnitude of finding home. Wednesday, February 15, 7:00 p.m. Copperfield’s Montgomery Village.

And to the south in Marin County, Marin Poetry Center features Sixteen Rivers poets Gerald Fleming, One, and Lynne Knight, Again. Falkirk Cultural Center, Thursday, February 16, 7:30 p.m. Jerry and Lynne are long-time members of Sixteen Rivers Press.

Details about these and many other February events on our Calendar Page.

February’s Poem:
Enemies
By Wendell Berry

If you are not to become a monster,
you must care what they think.
If you care what they think,

how will you not hate them,
and so become a monster
of the opposite kind? From where then

is love to come—love for your enemy
that is the way of liberty?
From forgiveness. Forgiven, they go

free of you, and you of them;
they are to you as sunlight
on a green branch. You must not

think of them again, except
as monsters like yourself,
pitiable because unforgiving.

Wendell Berry, “Enemies” from Entries: Poems. Copyright © 1994 by Wendell Berry.
Source: Indivisible: Poems for Social Justice (Norwood House Press, 2013)

_________________

Terry Ehret
Co-editor, Sonoma County Literary Update

Dear Literary Folk,

Once again, poets, writers, and friends gathered at our home in Petaluma on New Year’s Day to invoke our creative energies in a poetic embrace of 2017. Healdsburg poet Vilma Ginzberg summed up the day eloquently in wishing us a year of a thousand acts kindness for which there is no inoculation. If you’d like to be included on the e-mail invitations for this annual New Year’s Poetry Pot-luck, you can e-mail me at tehret99@comcast.net.

New Year Updates
Some of the Sonoma County Literary Update pages are in need of their own update, including Writers’ Connections, Ongoing Groups/Open Mics, Calls for Submission (ongoing) and Workshops (ongoing). Co-editor Jo-Anne Rosen has done some initial housekeeping and would like to thank Karen Pierce Gonzalez for her preliminary investigations. We post whatever comes our way, but we’d love if if readers out there in the literary community would help us to keep these pages more current and interactive. Please contact us if this appeals to you or if you notice any expired links or out-of-date information.

Farewell to Two Great Poet-Musicians
On New Year’s Eve, poet David Meltzer left us to join the great host of writers and musicians, actors and leaders who have gone before us in 2016.

Meltzer wrote more than 40 volumes of poetry, among them Arrows: Selected Poetry 1957—1992, Name: Selected Poetry, 1973-1983 and Beat Thing. His nonfiction work includes Reading Jazz, Writing Jazz, When I Was a Poet and most recently Two-Way Mirror: A Poetry Notebook, a collection of anecdotes and quotations published by Oyez Press in 1977 and rereleased by City Lights Publishers in 2015. For those of you who don’t know David Meltzer’s work, a great place to start is the Poetry Foundation’s page: www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/david-meltzer.

Poet Diane de Prima has said, “David Meltzer is a hidden adept, one of the secret treasures on our planet. Great poet, musician, comic; mystic unsurpassed, performer with few peers.” Lawrence Ferlinghetti has called Meltzer “One of the greats of post-World War Two San Francisco poets and musicians. He brought music to poetry and poetry to music!”

Here’s an excerpt from his 2011 When I was a Poet:

I was an Acrobat
a Tightrope Walker
keeping balance
in my slippers
on a wire above
Grand Canyon
Inferno Vertigo
Oh I did prance the death-defying dance
whereas now
death defines each second
of awaking

To view a video of David Meltzer reading the full poem, recorded this past September, check out this link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyXfov9Zq0w

The other great poet-musician who left us in November is Leonard Cohen. Cohen’s work needs no gloss here. I will only say that his lyrics and his honesty were an inspiration to many of us. I first heard “Bird on a Wire” when I was about 12 years old, and it became a kind of anthem for me. Judging from the outpouring of tributes and testimonies to Cohen’s life and work in the days following his death (one day before our tumultuous election day), I venture to say that Leonard Cohen was and will always be the soul of a generation.

January Events Worth Noting
Tonight, Monday, January 2, Rivertown Poets will feature North Bay poets M.J. Arcangelini and Crystal Ockenfuss. Open mic will follow the features. Signups start at 5:45 p.m., and the readings at 6:15. The Aqus Café hosts at 189 H Street in downtown Petaluma.

Youth Poetry Slam takes place on Saturday, January 7, 7:30 p.m. at Art Center Ukiah, 201 South State Street, Ukiah.

For those of you with a book in search of an agent, mark your calendar for Sunday, January 8, 2:30-4:30 p.m. Redwood Writers presents Agents’ Day & Pitchfest. At the Flamingo Hotel, 2777 Fourth Street, Santa Rosa.

Our Sonoma County dramatic arts community, Off Page Readers Theater, marks the new year on Friday, January 20, 7:30 p.m., with its Winter 2017 show, Family Matters, performing work by local authors: Sandra Anfang, Joe Arcangelini, Catharine Bramkamp, Armando Garcia-Dávila, Craig Harris, John Johnson,Chuck Kensler, Nancy Long, David Madgalene, Hilary Susan Moore, Megan O’Hara, Linda Saldaña, Jean Wong. Mockingbird Books, 6932 Sebastopol Ave, Sebastopol.

And finally, this event caught my eye as something we can all benefit from: Saturday, January 21, 7:00 p.m. Copperfield’s Bookstore (138 Main Street, Sebastopol) features Mark Coleman discussing his new book, Make Peace with Your Mind: How Mindfulness and Compassion Can Free You from Your Inner Critic.

These and many more events for January and February can be found on our Calendar Page, with many thanks for Jo-Anne Rosen, who keeps the calendar and our website up to date.

Poem for January
The poem I’ve selected for January 2017 is called “Good Bones,” by poet Maggie Smith. This poem unexpectedly went “viral” in the aftermath of the Orlando shootings and in the months of tragedies that followed, including the November election.

Maggie Smith is the author of The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison (Tupelo Press, 2015), winner of the Dorset Prize, and Lamp of the Body (Red Hen Press, 2005), winner of the Benjamin Saltman Award.

Good Bones

Life is short, though I keep this from my children.
Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine
in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways,
a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways
I’ll keep from my children. The world is at least
fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative
estimate, though I keep this from my children.
For every bird there is a stone thrown at a bird.
For every loved child, a child broken, bagged,
sunk in a lake. Life is short and the world
is at least half terrible, and for every kind
stranger, there is one who would break you,
though I keep this from my children. I am trying
to sell them the world. Any decent realtor,
walking you through a real shithole, chirps on
about good bones: This place could be beautiful,
right? You could make this place beautiful.

_________________

Terry Ehret
Co-editor, Sonoma County Literary Update

Dear Literary Folk,

It seems like a very different world from the one we knew when I composed my last post. Then the times seemed dark, even dire, but the election has shifted something fundamental in our lives. More than ever we need to summon our voices to speak our hopes and our fears. Let our collective music rise to meet the times we are in. In the words of Rumi, “Don’t go back to sleep!”

Send Us Your Thoughts

Through these dry, drought years, I invited you to send the Literary Update your poems and prose on living in the drought. I published one of these each month. We’re not out of the drought yet, although some kind hand of nature has brought us much-needed rain.

Now I invite you to send Jo-Anne and me your poems, short prose, photos, and art on these difficult and worrisome times. Perhaps together we will find a way to rekindle the light.

Joining Voices

Much is going on in our literary community and beyond. Some of you are attending meetings, readings, and rallies to voice your concerns. Others are writing letters to the editor, composing petitions, drafting resolutions to create or reaffirm sanctuary in our cities and on our campuses. Many of you are planning to attend the Million Women March in Washington on January 21st. And some have headed to North Dakota to support the Standing Rock opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline (http://standwithstandingrock.net).

All good work. I thank and bless you for it!

When I launched the writing workshop on political poetry back in September, I chose to call it “Singing in Dark Times,” an homage to Bertholt Brecht, who knew a thing or two about the need for artists to be engaged in their times. The calendar for December is rich with literary events, readings, and workshops to keep us singing in the dark times ahead. I’ve selected a few to highlight.

Friday mornings, December 2, 9 and 16, , 11:00 a.m.–1:00 p.m. “Writing as a Healing Practice” Co-Ed drop-in writing circle with author and writing guide Susan Hagen. This gentle, supportive, earth-based healing circle fosters self-awareness and personal growth. Open to all adults. No reservations needed, no writing experience necessary. DROP IN at Sonoma County Healing Academy (SoCoHA), at Gravenstein Station, 6741 Sebastopol Ave., Suite 120, Sebastopol, across from Coffee Catz patio. Suggested donation $20-$40 per session. www.susanhagen.com

Friday, December 9 and Saturday, December 10, 6:30 p.m. Petaluma Readers Theatre benefit for Petaluma Arts Council. Two Holiday Classics: Dylan Thomas’ “A Child’s Christmas in Wales” and “A Christmas Memory” by Truman Capote. Tickets $10-12. Available at Petaluma Arts Council, 230 Lakeville St., Petaluma.

Friday December 9, 7:30 p.m. The Famous Forgotten Women: A reading with Tamam Kahn and Iris Jamahl Dunkle. Edgehill Mansion, Dominican University.

Sunday, December 11, 2:30-4:30 p.m. Redwood Writers present Rebecca Foust: How Poetry and Prose Practices Nurture Each Other. Flamingo Hotel, 2777 Fourth St, Santa Rosa. The general public is invited, $10. For details, go to http://www.redwoodwriters.org.

Sunday, December 18, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. A WINTER’S TALE: A One-Day Writing & Meditation Workshop with Clara Rosemarda. Fee $120 ($95 if registered by December 12th); $50 deposit holds your space. Workshop is held in a comfortable home near Downtown Santa Rosa. Contact Clara: 707-578-2081 or rosen@sonic.net. www.ClaraRosemarda.com

Poem for December

In closing, I offer you a poem written by Kaitlin Deasy, one of the participants in the political poetry workshop at the Sitting Room this fall.

Terry Ehret
Sonoma County Literary Update Co-Editor

______

Kaitlin Deasy grew up in Northern California and attended the University of California at Berkeley where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature. She currently resides in Sonoma County and works as a massage therapist. Her poems have appeared in the West Marin Review, West Trestle Review and Wild Violet Literary Journal.

Trump Tower, Las Vegas
Genesis 11

Our multilingual anthem
rises 58 floors in hot air
Nothing is impossible! &
clings to the ceilings —-
only those who look can
see they engineered a
tower without windows
they gave us gilded pools
to wade in while we mou
nt our nakedness, they
took the sun as our priso
ner so we can unknow
night, our soothsayer;
they hide the clock, they
wait until the ceilings beg
in to weep & our babble
becomes rain. Security
locks all exits, tower flood
ing. We hear them say
from the other side of the
walls: you are your own
death.This is the only lang
uage you may share.When
they open the doors
our  bodies  fill  the  streets

Dear Literary Folk,

As I write, the candles in the jack-o-lanterns are sputtering out and a soft drizzle is falling in the dark. Here in Petaluma, the Halloween action is on D Street, so not too many trick-or-treaters at the door. The rain kept many indoors as well. Here in P-town, as in Santa Rosa, Sonoma, and other county venues, we’re also celebrating Day of the Dead (El Día de los Muertos) on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 1 and 2.

Congratulations to Bob Dylan!
In October, we were all surprised, some happily so, to learn that singer-songwriter Bob Dylan had won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Controversial as that decision was, I’m delighted that the award recognizes the common root of poetry and music, and the powerful transformative effect Dylan’s music has had on a generation and more.
One summer, I visited both Swansea, Wales and in Hibbing, Minnesota: childhood homes of Dylan Thomas and Bob Dylan, respectively. Bob Dylan, of course, changed his name from Bobby Zimmerman—a fact I trot out only by way of introducing this month’s poem by Diane Sher Lutovich, called “Dancing at Bobby Zimmerman’s Bar Mitzvah.” Scroll down, and you’ll find this at the end of this month’s post.

Healdsburg’s new Literary Laureate
On Saturday, October 22, the Healdsburg Literary Guild hosted a Night of Laureate Candidate Readings to select a new Healdsburg Literary Laureate. Four candidates vied for the honor of representing the community from Jan. 1, 2017 to Dec. 31, 2018. The authors were Russ Messing, Richard Perce, Ken Dalton, and Arte Whyte. Congratulations to Russ Messing, farmer and owner of Deergnaw Olive Oil. Messing, an evocative poet, has published two volumes of poetry.

Interested in Joining or Starting a Writers’ Group?
Just the other day, someone asked about starting a writers’ group in the county, wondering if there was a way to announce this. Indeed, there is. The Literary Update has a page devoted to writing groups of all sorts, but it hasn’t been updated lately, and so may not have caught your notice. I’m thinking this would be a good time to do so.  If you are looking for a group, or would like to invite others in the literary community to join your writers’ group or network, Check out our Writers’ Connection Page and send us an announcement to sonomacountyliteraryupdate@gmail.com. If you’d like to help us revise and update this page, send us an e-mail, and we’ll be happy to work with you!

Rivertown Poets

I’m always happy to plug the Rivertown Poets series at Aqus Café on the first Monday of the month. The November 7th reading features Lucille Lang Day and Casey Fitzsimmons. Each monthly reading includes a very lively open mic. Try to come a little earlier–the open mic list fills early. Signups start at 5:45 p.m. The café is open for food and beverages at 189 H Street in downtown Petaluma. Check the Calendar page for details, or Contact: Sande Anfang, wrdpntr51@gmail.com.
Lucille Lang Day. Photo by Marissa Bell Toffoli (2013)

November is “National Novel Writing Month”
Snoopy’s Writers Presents…”NaNoWriMo Write In” Every Monday in November from 1:00-4:00 pm in the Party Room and Tuesdays thru Sundays 9 am – 5 pm in the Cafe. The Warm Puppy Cafe, Snoopy’s Home Ice, 1667 West Steele Lane, Santa Rosa. Write a 50,000 word Novel in 30 days. Midnight Oct 31 to Midnight Nov 30. ATMOSPHERE – Pleasant, Creative, stimulating, good food, coffee, Friendly Service. WRITERS – Beginner, Advanced, Published Author. Bring computer, pens and notebooks. BYOL – Buy your own lunch. Georgette ggdeb@sonic.net or Dawn undertheredfedora@gmail.com

West Sonoma Book Faire
Do you miss the great years of the Sonoma County Book Festival? Well, Sonoma County is having a book fair again. The first annual West Sonoma Book Faire takes place on November 10, 6:00-9:00 p.m., at the Sebastopol Grange, 6000 Sebastopol Ave. (Hwy 12). Free admission. There will be author’s booths, a poet’s table, readings, a raffle to support the  Sonoma County Library Foundation, food & drink bar, and more.

Upcoming  Healdsburg Literary Guild Readings
Author Jean Hegland will be in conversation with Ray Holley… Jean’s latest book is Still Time and her novel Into the Forest was asdapted as a film starring Ellen Page that was in theaters in summer 2016 and was released recently on DVD in October 2016. Wines by Bluenose Wines will be featured following the talk. The event will be at SHED on November 10th, 2016 at 7 pm. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear Jean, a local and world-renowned author. Get tickets ($15) online at: http://healdsburgshed.com/event-type/performance/

The Poetry of Ulalume Gonzalez de Leon
For those of you in the north county who’ve been following the translation project I’ve been working on with John Johnson and Nancy Morales, I’m pleased to announce that the three of us will be presenting our translations of the Mexican poet Ulalume Gonzalez de Leon. The Healdburg Literary Guild will graciously host this reading on Sunday, November 20, at 1:30 at the Bean Affair in downtown Healdsburg, 1270 Healdsburg Avenue. This event is free!

Poem for November

Dancing at Bobby Zimmerman’s Bar Mitzvah
by Diane Sher Lutovich

What were they thinking
those children in 1954; he,
the blue-eyed son wrapped in
a wrinkled tallis, his yarmulke levitating
on that huge head of curls; the blue-eyed
girl tripping in new high heels,
back and shoulders bare
as an invitation.
Evening shone tender, blue
from inside, lighting up the town
as if the sun had refused to fully set.
The Androy Hotel, perched between
ore dumps and open pit mines, on Hibbing’s
one main street, its Crystal Lounge
Awash with his aunts, uncles—Irenes,
Slyvias, Labels, Mikeys—all congratulating,
guzzling champagne, wrapping their dreams
around the bar mitzvah boy,
all to the beat
of sambas and rumbas
imported from Duluth;
chandeliers reflecting
light in a hundred directions
rousing people who’d been hibernating
for years. His mother beamed
over her blue-eyed boy who’d go far–
medical or law school she predicted.
He looked dazed or
ashamed, kept his feet shuffling, fingers tapping,
eager to leave for somewhere else
I, too, couldn’t wait for those big-city lights,
attentive boys who knew how to dance, kiss.
No one would have guessed
how far we’d run after
the champagne was gone,
the guests coerced to their cars, homes,
and we had licenses of our own. But it was as far
From Hibbing—its open pit mines, its mounds
of red topsoil, winters of icy caves, and
summer nights sweet and fragrant as forget-me-nots–
as we could.

from What I Stole, by Diane Sher Lutovich, Sixteen Rivers Press, 2013.

Terry Ehret
co-editor, Sonoma County Literary Update

Dear Literary Folk,

October promises to be a great month for remembering our dead, celebrating our local living authors and artists, and stepping into unknown through science/speculative fiction in Sonoma County. We’ve always enjoyed a vibrant literary calendar of short story, novel, and poetry, but I am happy to give a special shout-out this month for the genre that explores what isn’t, but might be—the subjunctive at its most imaginative.

Celebrating the Blended Worlds of Science and Fiction
At the Sitting Room, on Saturday, October 8, Jean Hegland and Susan M. Gaines, founding director of the Fiction Meets Science Program at the University of Bremen, talk together about their common interest in a recent evolution of fiction about science and scientists. The conversation, from 2-4 PM, will be facilitated by Raye Lynn Thomas. Susan and Jean will tell us about some of their favorites of the many novels in that category that are written by women and/or that focus on female scientists. For more information, phone 795-9028, or visit the website: www.SittingRoom.org

Mid-October, on Wednesday, October 19, Copperfield’s Books in Petaluma hosts “Brave New Worlds,” emerging and established sci-fi, speculative fiction, horror, and fantasy authors. The debut novella by Portland writer and musician Nathan Carson, Starr Creek, is set in 1986 rural Oregon, where strange occurrences unveil an alien world inhabiting the Oregon woods. The event begins at 7 PM at 140 Kentucky Street, Petaluma.

Then, at the end of the month, on Friday, October 28, Copperfield’s Books will host celebrate the book launch of local favorite and award-winning editor/publisher Ross Lockhart’s anthology, Eternal Frankenstein. The event is also at 7 PM, location: 140 Kentucky Street, Petaluma.

“Colors of Life”: El Día de los Muertos, Petaluma
This year’s month-long celebration of El Día de los Muertos opens this evening with an artist’s reception at the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum for the exhibition of the work of Carlos Villez. The reception is from 6-8 PM at 20 4th Street in Petaluma.

The opening ceremony will be on Sunday, October 2, 12-4 PM at the St. Vincent de Paul Church Plaza, 35 Liberty Street. There will be music, dance, food and a Health Fair. The celebration closes with a candlelight procession with giant puppets, starting at Water Street Bistro at the Petaluma River footbridge, ending at the Petaluma Historical Museum on Saturday October 29th, 6:00 – 10:00.

For those of you who don’t know about this tradition, El Día de los Muertos is a ritual celebration from México, Latin and South America in which the spirits of dead loved ones are invited to visit the living as honored guests. Observed in Mexico on Nov 1st and 2nd, this tradition reflects the belief that death is part of life, and so, instead of sadness this is a time of remembering and rejoicing. Central to the celebration is the creation of ofrendas or altars, bearing pictures, lighted candles and traditional items including marigolds, bread, water fruit, favorite foods of deceased family members. The ofrenda honors the loved one who has died and welcomes them back for the celebration. As celebrated in Petaluma for the past 9 years, the observance presents an opportunity for cross-cultural sharing and a unique partnership between the Latino and Anglo communities.

For a schedule of the month’s events, visit their website on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/El-D%C3%ADa-de-los-Muertos-Petaluma-154451587898565/

A Reading from Jean Hegland’s Still Time
Last month, Sonoma County celebrated with Jean Hegland the local premier of the film adaptation of her novel Into the Forest. Last year, Jean debuted her newest novel, Still Time. On Friday, October 7 at 7 PM, the Occidental Center for the Arts will host a special reading from Jean’s moving novel about memory, Shakespeare’s green worlds, and the gift of second chances. Location: 3850 Doris Murphy Way, Occidental.

Ellen Bass and W.S. DiPiero Read for Sixteen Rivers Benefit
You are all cordially invited to join Sixteen Rivers Press at our annual fall benefit, this year featuring Ellen Bass and W.S. DiPiero. The date is Saturday, October 8, 3-6 PM. You’ll enjoy a beautiful fall afternoon at an elegant private home in Berkeley, gourmet refreshments, and the opportunity to hear two extraordinary poets in an intimate setting. Tickets are priced at four levels, beginning at $25. Proceeds will go to the support of Sixteen Rivers Press and the publication of our books. Tickets are available from Brown PaperTickets: www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2592448

Love On! With 100 Thousand Poets for Change
100 Thousand Poets for Change invites you to be part of a celebration of love, called “Love! Aimer c’est du désordre, alors aimons! (Love is messy, so love on!),” and will take place on Friday, October 28. Susan Lamont, who has been emcee-ing and coordinating the 100 Thousand Poets for Change readings, writes this “featurette” about the event.

The next reading is Friday, October 28th and the theme is love. We’re emphasizing the complicated side of love — though you can do hearts and flowers, if you want. The theme is inspired by a mural on a wall in Montmartre, Paris, which features Rita Hayworth saying, “Aimer c’est du désordre, alors aimons!” (Love is messy, so love on!) I took a photo of it when I was there a few years ago. If you’d like to read and see your name on the flyer, just let me know. So far I have Dixon Wragg, Donna Emerson, Connie Madden, Michael Browne, Elaine Holtz and Ken Norton.

Music at this reading will be provided by Ralph Park, who sings songs of love in Italian, Russian and more. It was hearing him sing at The Redwood Café that inspired this theme.

This will be the last reading of the year. We’re considering switching to the 4th Sunday afternoon of the month beginning next year. January’s theme will be “Working Class Blues.”

And, for those of you who teach poetry, please offer this opportunity to your students and everyone else please share this with your poetry-loving friends.

Poem for October

Autumn
by Rainer Maria Rilke
(translated by Robert Bly)

The leaves are falling, falling as if from far up,
as if orchards were dying high in space.
Each leaf falls as if it were motioning “no.”

And tonight the heavy earth is falling
away from all other stars in loneliness.
We’re all falling. This hand here is falling.
And look at the other one. It’s in them all.
And yet there is Someone, whose hands
infinitely calm, are holding all this falling.

Herbst
Die Blätter fallen, fallen wie von weit,
als welkten in den Himmeln ferne Gärten;
sie fallen mit verneinender Gebärde.
Und in den Nächten fällt die schwereErde
aus allen Sternen in die Einsamkeit.
Wir alle fallen. Diese Hand da fällt.
Und sieh dir andre an: es ist in allen.
Und doch ist Einer, welcher dieses Fallen
unendlich sanft in seinen Händen hält

Maria Rainer Rilke (September 11, 1902, Paris)

_________________

Terry Ehret
Co-editor, Sonoma County Literary Update