#ArtLitPhx: Poetry Month in the Desert- Readings and Book Signings

During the month of April, National Poetry Month, Mesa Community College will host, in partnership with Arizona Humanities, two poetry readings in the Elsner Library, Room 300, at Mesa Community College (1833 W Southern Ave, Mesa, AZ 85202). The readings will be Thursdays, April 5 and 19, 2018, at 7:00 pm, followed by a Q&A and book signing. Both events are open to Mesa Community College faculty, staff, and students, and the general public. Refreshments will be provided and books will be available for purchase.

Thursday, April 5, 2018 —  Eloisa Amezcua and Natalie Diaz

Eloisa Amezcua, MacDowell fellow and author of From the Inside Quietly, winner of the inaugural Shelterbelt Poetry Prize.

Natalie Diaz, Lannan Literary Fellow, Native Arts Council Foundation Artist Fellow, and author of When My Brother Was an Aztec.

 

Thursday, April 19, 2018 — Bojan Louis and Felicia Zamora

Bojan Louis, Poetry Editor for RED INK: An International Journal of Indigenous Literature, Arts, & Humanities and author of Currents.

Felicia Zamora, 2017 Poet Laureate for Fort Collins, CO and author of Of Form & Gather, winner of the 2016 Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize.

For more information, please contact Josh Rathkamp (480-461-7560) or Ernesto L. Abeytia (602-615-5893).

 

#ArtLitPhx: Sacred Journeys – A Mobile Poetry Workshop with Jaclyn Roessel

In celebration of National Poetry month, Arizona Humanities is hosting a poetry workshop on Saturday, April 8th, from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. This poetry workshop will focus on the omnipresence of sacredness in our everyday environments.

Jaclyn Roessel of Grownup Navajo will take you on a journey across the urban desert landscape. Participants will travel by the Valley Metro light rail across Phoenix and embark in several writing exercises. The goal of this session is to explore the intersection of engagement in our community and mindful approaches to our craft.

The session will begin at the Ellis-Shackelford house (1242 N. Central Avenue Phoenix, AZ 85004), home to Arizona Humanities. Participants can meet at 9:30 a.m. for coffee and pastries, then at 10 a.m. the group will start their journey to the different stops along the light rail including Civic Space Park, Pueblo Grande Museum, and “A” Mountain in Tempe.

The day will wrap up with light refreshments and an open mic session back at Arizona Humanities in Phoenix.

This event is free, however participants are responsible for the 4$ light rail fee.

See the Facebook Event page for more information. Participants can RSVP through Eventbrite.

#ArtLitPhx: Stanzas in the Stacks

stacksIn honor of National Poetry Month, local poets will be sharing their work at the Friends of the Tempe Public Library Connections Cafe.

Free of charge. No registration required. Saturday, April 30th, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM. Tempe Public Library – Friends Cafe

Grab a latte and your snapping fingers as we celebrate National Poetry Month at the Tempe Public Library! Tempe Public Library will be hosting an afternoon of local poetry readings in our Connections Café. View the Facebook event and Tempe website for this event.

Bios:
 

Shomit Barua:Shomit Barua

Shomit Barua received his MFA from Bennington College. He teaches writing at ASU, Mesa Community College, as well as for la Phoenikera Writer’s Guild. His contemporary approach to cognitive spirituality explores humor within the sacred. As a poet, he has collaborated with architects, animators, artists, dancers and musicians.

 

 

David Chorlton:David Chorlton

David Chorlton has lived in Phoenix since 1978 when he moved from Vienna, Austria, with his wife. Born in Austria, he grew up in Manchester, close to rain and the northern English industrial zone. In his early 20s he went to live in Vienna and from there enjoyed many trips around Europe. In Arizona, he has grown ever more fascinated by the desert and its wildlife, and especially enjoys the mountain ranges of southern Arizona, a region that appears frequently in his books which include The Lost River from Rain Mountain Press, A Normal Day Amazes Us from Kings Estate Press, Waiting for the Quetzal from March Street Press, and The Devil’s Sonata from FutureCycle Press. As much as he loves the Southwest, he has strong memories of Vienna, and that city is the setting for his first work of fiction: The Taste of Fog, from Rain Mountain Press. Selected Poems, appeared in 2014 from FutureCycle Press, and his newest collection of poetry is A Field Guide to Fire, his contribution to the Fires of Change exhibition shown in Flagstaff and Tucson.

 

 

Jenna Duncan:Jenna Duncan

Jenna Duncan teaches journalism and English classes at Glendale Community College. She is a writer, filmmaker, and hobbyist fashion designer based in Phoenix. She holds a Bachelors degree in Journalism from the University of Arizona (2001), a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing at Goddard College (2007), and a Master of Arts in Media Studies degree from The New School (2010). Duncan currently serves as Associate Editor for JAVA Magazine and contributes articles to Phoenix New Times.

 

 

 Kitt Keller:Kitt Keller

Kitt Keller received her MFA from ASU in 2014. Her work has been seen in Ghost Town, Four Chambers Magazine, Narrative Magazine, and Hoot Review. She lives in a yellow brick house in Tempe, Arizona, where she writes, reads, and collects craft supplies that will absolutely be used someday.

 

 

Shawnte Orion:Shawnte Orion

Shawnte Orion is a local poet who co-hosts the monthly Caffeine Corridor Poetry Series in Phoenix. He was featured among Phoenix New Times’ Top 100 Creatives in 2014. He is the author of two books of poetry including The Existentialist Cookbook and Faithful as the Ground. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Georgetown Review, Barrelhouse, Gargoyle Magazine, Crab Creek Review, New York Quarterly, and other journals.

#ArtLitPhx: National Poetry Month Workshops

Josh Rathkamp Poetry Month Flyer-page-001Don’t forget–

Arizona Humanities is hosting Workshops to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of National Poetry Month this April.

Programs to feature local and national poets across Arizona for free workshops and readings

Free programs and workshops will take place across Arizona in Gilbert, the San Carlos Apache Reservation, downtown Phoenix, and Flagstaff.

Programs in Arizona will feature local Arizona poets Josh Rathkamp, Laura Tohe, Orlando White, Cynthia Schwartzberg Edlow, and one national guest poet, J Mase III, with Josh Rathkamp’s workshop upcoming on the 7th.

Read the program details, poet bios, and registration information here. Tune in on twitter @AZhumanities for daily writing prompts and tips from poets throughout the month. For more information, visit www.azhumanities.org or call 602-257-0335. Follow #AZpoetry for updates and news.

For questions about poetry month programs contact Programs Manager Ellie Hutchison, ehutchison@azhumanities.org.

#ArtLitPhx: National Poetry Month Workshops

AZ Poetry Month Square Graphic (1)Arizona Humanities Announces Programs to Celebrate the

20th Anniversary of National Poetry Month this April

Programs to feature local and national poets across Arizona for free workshops and readings

Arizona Humanities is excited to announce a series of programs celebrating National Poetry Month during the month of April. Free programs and workshops will take place across Arizona in Gilbert, the San Carlos Apache Reservation, downtown Phoenix, and Flagstaff.

Established by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month is the largest literary celebration in the world. The month aims to encourage the reading of poetry, inspire people to write poetry, and more. Programs in Arizona will feature local Arizona poets Josh Rathkamp, Laura Tohe, Orlando White, Cynthia Schwartzberg Edlow, and one national guest poet, J Mase III.

Ellie Hutchison, Programs Manager with Arizona Humanities remarked, “National Poetry Month brings people together to increase awareness and bring appreciation to the importance of poetry in our lives. We are so excited to unite talented local and national poets to the community through interactive activities throughout the month and to engage diverse audiences in our communities.”

Read about the program details and poet bios at http://www.azhumanities.org/national-poetry-month/. Tune in on twitter @AZhumanities for daily writing prompts and tips from poets throughout the month. For more information, visit www.azhumanities.org or call 602-257-0335. Follow #AZpoetry for updates and news.

For questions about poetry month programs contact Programs Manager Ellie Hutchison, ehutchison@azhumanities.org.

CGCC Poetry Reading: Allyson Boggess, Matthew Jolly, Patricia Murphy

Join us to celebrate National Poetry Month.

Thursday, April 5, 2012
7 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.
Library First Floor
Chandler-Gilbert Community College
2626 E. Pecos Rd., Chandler, AZ 85225-2499

 

Allyson BoggessAllyson Boggess is a graduate of the MFA program at Arizona State University, where she was a poetry editor at Hayden’s Ferry Review. She teaches poetry at CGCC and writing at ASU and the Harvard Extension School. Her work was recently published in [PANK]. She lives in Phoenix.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew JollyMatthew Jolly is a member of the English faculty at GateWay Community College where he teaches classes in English composition and literature. He grew up outside Cleveland, Ohio, but now lives in Southeast Phoenix with his wife Lauren, his son Benjamin, three devious dogs, and a cat named Ebbilah. He received his MFA in poetry from Arizona State University where he was the recipient of a graduate fellowship and winner of the Glendon and Kathryn Swarthout Award in poetry. His work has appeared in Phoebe: A Journal of Literature and Art; The New Delta Review; and as part of NCTE’s online celebration of National Poetry Month. His “Elegy, Autopsy, and Archeological Excavation: An Interview with David Wojahn” (Hayden’s Ferry Review, 2003) was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

 

 

Patricia Murphy

Patricia Murphy is a Senior Lecturer at ASU where she teaches creative writing and is the founding editor of Superstition Review. In Spring 2009 she won the Provost’s Faculty Achievement Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Student Mentoring. Murphy earned her B.A. in English and French from Miami University and her M.F.A. in Poetry from ASU. Her poems have appeared in many literary magazines including The Massachusetts Review, Clackamas Literary Review, New Orleans Review, Seattle Review, Cimarron Review, Kalliope, Quarterly West, American Poetry Review, Green Mountains Review, Indiana Review, and The Iowa Review. Her poems have received awards from the Cream City Review, The GSU Review, Glimmer Train Press, the Ann Stanford Poetry Prize, and Gulf Coast among others. She is the recipient of an Artist’s Project Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and she has been awarded residencies at Mesa Refuge, Atlantic Center for the Arts, and Vermont Studio Center.

April is National Poetry Month

official National Poetry Month poster from poets.org

The art of poetry has been around pretty much as long as there have been words. Finally in 1996, Poetry was given its own month. That’s right, April is National Poetry Month, a month to celebrate poetry and poets and their impact on American culture. National Poetry Month was established by the Academy of American Poets, an organization that supports American poets and fosters the appreciation of contemporary poetry, in 1996. During this month the Academy of American Poets wants to especially increase the visibility and availability of poetry in popular culture and highlight the legacy and ongoing achievement of American poets. One of the top goals is to introduce more Americans to the pleasures of reading poetry. My questions for our readers:

What pleasures do you gain from reading poetry?

Do you do anything specific to celebrate National Poetry Month? If so, what?

What role do you think poets play in American culture?

The Academy of American Poets lists 30 ways to celebrate National Poetry Month. You can find them all listed here.

One of my favorite options is “poem in your pocket day.”  The idea is to carry one of your favorite poems with you all day. I think this is a great concept to do in general. Glancing at a poem throughout the day can give you the strength, inspiration and motivation to get through the day or to even write a poem yourself. For National Poetry Month I aim to carry a poem in my pocket at least twice a week.

Anyone else have any National Poetry Month goals?