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NEW CONVERSATION SERIES CHAPBOOK IN THE WORKS FROM SLAPERING HOL PRESS!

 

Denise Duhamel is the author of numerous books and chapbooks of poetry, including Ka-Ching! (University of Pittsburgh, 2009), Two and Two (2005), and Mille et un sentiments (Firewheel Editions, 2005).  She received a B.F.A. degree from Emerson College and a M.F.A. degree from Sarah Lawrence College.

Amy Lemmon is the author of two poetry collections: Fine Motor (Sow’s Ear Poetry Review Press, 2008) and Saint Nobody (Red Hen Press, 2009). Her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, New Letters, Prairie Schooner, Verse, Court Green, The Journal, Barrow Street, and many other magazines and anthologies. Amy holds a PhD in English/Creative Writing from the University of Cincinnati.

 

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Another “standing room only” success,  HVWC’s Slapering Hol Press presented our fourth annual Veteran’s Day ”Poets & Writers on War and Peace” featuring   award winning poet and human rights activist D. Nurkse, poet Frances Richey and community poets whose work was selected from our juried competition.. The audience included  our diverse community of literary supporters as well as Veterans, who each year, attend  and participate in  the event.    The reading was part of the Slapering Hol Press Second Friday Café Reading Series.

The event's feature readings began with award winning Poet Frances Richey whose book,  The Warrior. A Mother’s Story of a Son at War (Viking; 2008), was nominated for a Pushcart Award. In addition to reading  selections of her book, Richey shared personal stories regarding  the context of several poems Poet  D. Nurkse, the award winning  author of nine books of poetry, followed with selections of his  work including poems from  his most recent book The Border Kingdom.

Following the feature poets, selected community poets and writers who submitted work for consideration by a panel of SHP judges read their work. Community writers included a range of published and novice poets including: Andrew Acciaro, Andrea Alterman, Michael Carman, Philip M. Carr-Harris, Gretl Claggett, Gillian Cummings, Terry Dugan, Ruth D. Handel, Margaret Kogan, Gloria Lazar, Natalie Safir, Mervyn Taylor, Christina Turczyn, and Laura Vookles.

Plans are underway for the 2010 Poets and Writers on War an Peace scheduled for Friday November 12th. Check the HVWC website for updates and information for submitting work for consideration for this reading. For updates and information about other readings at the HVWC, log onto our website www.writerscenter.org

This event was  made possible with a re-grant from the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, supported by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

2010 Call for Submissions

Those interested in reading at the November 12th , 2010 Slapering Hol Press (SHP) 5th Annual Poets and Writers on War and Peace gathering at the Writers' Center (with featured poets and writers from David Surface's writers workshop with Veterans) may submit up to three samples of original poems or prose for consideration. Each piece should be no longer than two pages (double spaced), as there is a three minute limit per reader at the event. Please include name, e-mail address and /or phone number at top of submission for notification of acceptance. Only those accepted will be notified.

Email submissions will not be considered. Submissions must be postmarked no later than 10/1/2010.

 
Palm Beach Poetry Festival Beats Cold Snap

by Margo Stever

For the last six years, poet Miles Coon (MFA, Sarah Lawrence College) has organized the Palm Beach Poetry Festival at the Old School Square Cultural Arts Center in Delray Beach, Florida.  Held this year from January 18-32, the festival featured poets Marie Howe, Tom Lux, David Wojahn, Carolyn Fourche, Kevin Young, Stephen Dobyns, Mary Cornish, and Ilya Kaminisky.  The festival attendees participated in a workshop each morning, listened to craft talks in the afternoons, and attended poetry readings each evening.  Special events such as performance poetry and participant readings were also included as part of the festival fare.  For anyone who has a spare week in January and an intense interest in focusing on their own poetry, the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, with its relaxed and supportive ambience, is the perfect antidote to the cold.

From left to right at the PBPF Benefit Gala: photographer Lynn Butler who did the photo on the cover of Margo Stever’s book, Frozen Spring, and on the front of What's Become of Eden: Poems of Family at Century's End, a Slapering Hol Press anthology, Don Stever, Vice-Chairperson, HVWC Board of Directors, Susan Williamson, Assistant Director of the Palm Beach Poetry Festival, and Margo Stever.

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An Update from Mary Kaiser author of Falling Into Velázquez

I'm hoping to pull together my full-length collection of my Shaker poems in the next few weeks.   I've published a number of the poems from the book, one was selected by Wendell Berry as an Honorable Mention in the Thomas Merton poetry contest this past year, and an excerpt from the manuscript came in as a Distinguished Entry in the Campbell Corner contest.   Last summer, I attended Bread Loaf and worked with Linda Bierds, who was very encouraging and helpful.  

The  publication of my chapbook was a pivotal and defining moment in my career.  After working for about twenty years as a scholar and reviewer, I made the transition to writing poetry in my mid-forties, when I was fully engaged as a community college teacher and the mother of two school-age children.  I had no opportunity for full-time study, so I worked feverishly through an apprenticeship as a poet by taking workshops online and attending summer conferences and week-long workshops.  The manuscript of Falling into Velazquez was the end product of five years of intensive work, and when it was published by Slapering Hol Press, I felt that I'd passed through the apprentice stage.  The publication for me marked the beginning of my life as a mature poet, and gave me the affirmation I needed to move on with poetry.

I know that the beautiful letter-press printing of Slapering Hol's chapbooks makes every poet feel honored and recognized with a truly beautiful presentation, and the invitation to read at the Writers' Center is a thrill for every winner, but I feel that in my usual career trajectory, Slapering Hol was my portal into the identity of a creative writer, and for that admission, I will always be deeply grateful.

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Helen Barolini’s Hudson River Haiku published by Slapering Hol Press to Celebrate the 2009 Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial 

The Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson, Robert Fulton, and Samuel de Champlain’s voyages up the Hudson River are celebrated in Helen Barolini’s, Hudson River Haiku, published by Slapering Hol Press.  In addition to Barolini’s haiku, the  chapbook includes watercolors by Italian Artist Nevio Mengacci.  Hudson River Haiku is co-edited by the co-founder of HVWC and poet Margo Stever and editor Jo Ann Clark.

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