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Howard County Poet Laureate Application Deadline Extended to January 22
Out of consideration for the year-end holidays, the deadline for application to the newly-created position of Howard County Poet Laureate has been extended to Monday, January 22nd, at 11:59 p.m. Don’t miss your chance to be the next, and first-ever Poet Laureate to our local community!
This program, presented in partnership between HoCoPoLitSo and Howard County Arts Council with the office of the County Executive, offers a stipend of $5,000 for each year of the appointed poet’s service representing poetry and the arts in Howard County. You can review all of the information at bit.ly/howardcountypoetlaureate on HCAC’s grants portal, and apply now!
Darragh McKeon and Cóilín Parsons Headline HoCoPoLitSo’s 46th Annual Irish Evening
7:30 p.m. Saturday, February 3, 2024
Smith Theatre, Horowitz Center, Howard Community College
HoCoPoLitSo’s 46th annual Evening of Irish Music and Poetry on Saturday, February 3rd, 2024, at 7:30 p.m. presents Novel Approach: Troubles in Ireland and America, featuring novelist Darragh McKeon, reading from his new book, Remembrance Sunday, followed by a conversation moderated by Cóilín Parsons, Georgetown University Associate Professor and Director of Global Irish Studies, wherein the two will explore the crossroads between the Troubles and our current political moment in America and worldwide. The evening also features music by Poor Man’s Gambit; and Ireland’s Deputy Ambassador to the United States, Orla Keane, will give opening remarks.
The evening program begins at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 3rd, 2024. Irish beverages, scones, and books will be offered for sale beginning at 7 p.m. and during intermission. A book sale and signing follows the reading and discussion. After intermission, Poor Man’s Gambit will play traditional Irish music.
General in-person admission is available for $45 up to the day of the event. Ticket sales are now available, and we invite you to take advantage of this offer with our promise of a memorable evening in February that would make an excellent holiday gift, today.
Proceeds from the event are used to underwrite HoCoPoLitSo’s literary programs in the community, and the production of The Writing Life, a writer-to-writer talk show now seen worldwide on youtube.com/hocopolitso, and through Howard Community College’s Dragon Digital TV.
Wilde Reading Series 1/9/2024 Re-scheduled
UPDATED: The January session of the Wilde Reading Series, featuring Yvette Neisser and Pantea Tofangchi, has been re-scheduled for the evening of Tuesday, January 30th at 7 p.m.
Due to the severe inclement weather and possibility for flooding expected this evening in Columbia, the Wilde Reading Series event previously scheduled for tonight, January 9th, 2024 at 7 p.m. is cancelled, pending re-scheduling. We apologize for any inconvenience and please check back to this space, or to the Wilde Readings Facebook page, for an adjusted date.
Howard County Poet Laureate Review Panel Announced
UPDATED 1/10/2024: The Poet Laureate submission deadline has been extended to Monday, January 22, 2024.
The Howard County Poet Laureate program, created in partnership between HoCoPoLitSo, the Howard County Arts Council, and the Office of Howard County Executive Calvin Ball, is pleased to announce the members of the Poet Laureate review panel:
GRACE CAVALIERI is Maryland’s 10th Poet Laureate (2018-2023). Her newest book is The Long Game: Poems Selected & New (The Word Works). She founded and produces The Poet and the Poem series of audio interviews for public radio, now from the Library of Congress, celebrating 47 years on-air. Grace was formerly Assistant Director for Children’s Programming, Corporate PBS, then Senior Program Officer NEH. Among other awards she holds the Allen Ginsberg Award and the CPB Silver Medal. She is an Academy of American Poets Fellow. She has written 26 books of poems and plays produced on American stages.
E. ETHELBERT MILLER is a literary activist and author of two memoirs and several poetry collections. He hosts the WPFW morning radio show On the Margin with E. Ethelbert Miller and hosts and produces The Scholars on UDC-TV which received a 2020 Telly Award. Miller is Associate Editor and a columnist for The American Book Review. He was given a 2020 congressional award from Congressman Jamie Raskin in recognition of his literary activism, awarded the 2022 Howard Zinn Lifetime Achievement Award by the Peace and Justice Studies Association, and named a 2023 Grammy Nominee Finalist for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album. Miller’s latest book is How I Found Love Behind the Catcher’s Mask, published by City Point Press.
SYLVIA JONES is associate poetry editor at Black Lawrence Press and works part-time as an adjunct lecturer in creative writing, she teaches at Goucher College and George Washington University. Her writing appears in DIAGRAM, R&R Journal, Smartish Pace, Sprung Formal, Poet Lore, Shenandoah, The Poetry Society of New York, Revolut, and elsewhere. Sylvia earned her MFA from American University in Washington D.C. and lives in Baltimore, MD.
The deadline to apply to this inaugural position of Howard County Poet Laureate is fast approaching: applications close January 9th, 11:59 p.m. UPDATED: applications have been extended to close January 22nd, 11:59 p.m. All those interested are strongly encouraged to review the application guidelines and eligibility requirements, and to apply soon to allow time for completing the process.
let there be lit.
A Fond Farewell to Catherine McLoughlin-Hayes
It is with deep regret that we convey the loss of long-standing HoCoPoLitSo board member and Irish Evening champion and chair, Catherine McLoughlin-Hayes, who passed away peacefully in her sleep this past Thursday, December 28th, 2023. For all you have given us, the wonderful world of Irish writers and music, and, especially, your dear friendship, we thank you and will remember you always with love.
An obituary and information on a viewing and Mass of Christian Burial are provided here:
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/catherine-mcloughlin-obituary?id=53964787
If you wish to make a donation in memory of Catherine, you may do so via PayPal or by check made out to:
Wilde Readers of January: Yvette Neisser & Pantea Tofangchi
UPDATED: This January session of the Wilde Reading Series, featuring Yvette Neisser and Pantea Tofangchi, has been re-scheduled for the evening of Tuesday, January 30th at 7 p.m.
HoCoPoLitSo welcomes all to the January edition of the Wilde Readings Series, with Yvette Neisser and Pantea Tofangchi, hosted by Linda Joy Burke. Join us at the Columbia Art Center on Tuesday, January 30th at 7 p.m., at 6100 Foreland Garth, Columbia, MD 21045. Please spread the word— bring your friends, family and students! Light refreshments will be served and books by the readers available for sale.
An open mic follows the featured authors and we encourage you to participate. Please prepare no more than five minutes of performance time, about two poems. Sign up when you arrive, or in advance by calling the Columbia Arts Center at (410)-730-0075.
Below, get to know Yvette and Pantea!
Who is the person in your life (past or present) that shows up most often in your writing?
Yvette: My father. He died young, so I have written many poems processing his loss.
Pantea: Me and my family.
Where is your favorite place to write?
Yvette: In my bedroom, before dawn.
Pantea: My desk.
Do you have any consistent pre-writing rituals?
Yvette: Nothing consistent, though I often write first thing when I wake up, with a cup of tea.
Pantea: I pick a book of poems and read a few poems and then write! Or look at paintings.
Who always gets a first read?
Yvette: Depends on the poem, the subject. If I’m excited about a first draft, I share it with someone who I think would appreciate it–this might be my partner, a good friend, a fellow poet, or my mom.
Pantea: My husband.
What is a book you’ve read more than twice (and would read again)?
Yvette: I’m not sure if I’ve read anything more than twice. Certainly I’ve read several of Pablo Neruda’s works at least twice: Twenty Love Poems, The Captain’s Verses, and Heights of Macchu Picchu, and will probably read them again. I also just read Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain for a second time and would read it again.
Pantea: The Little Prince. One Hundred Years of Solitude. Baron in the Trees. Sharabe Khaam (The Raw Wine). Another Birth (a collection of poems by Iranian poet Forugh Farrokhzad).
What is the most memorable reading you have attended?
Yvette: The most magical for me were the Dodge Poetry Festival readings (in NJ) that I attended as a young poet— especially Lucille Clifton, who read in the early morning in a small cabin, with people seated all over the floor.
Pantea: Ivy Book Store, Judith Krummeck reading from her book in conversation with Dan Rodricks.
• Yvette Neisser is the author of two poetry collections, Iron Into Flower (2022) and Grip (2011 Gival Press Poetry Award). Her translations from Spanish include South Pole/Polo Sur by María Teresa Ogliastri and Difficult Beauty: Selected Poems by Luis Alberto Ambroggio.
Founder of the DC-Area Literary Translators Network, she has taught writing at The George Washington University, The Writer’s Center, and elsewhere. By day, she works in international development. You can find her online at yvetteneisser.net.
• Pantea Amin Tofangchi is an Iranian-American poet, writer, and graphic designer. She writes poems (in English), essays, stories and plays (mostly in Persian). Her work has been published in Ploughshares, Little Patuxent Review, Welter, Atlanta Review—in which she won the International Merit Award—and other journals. She was selected as a finalist for The National Poetry Series’ 2016 and Georgia Poetry Prize 2018. Her latest book, Glazed With War, is a poetic memoir about growing up in Iran.
You can learn more about Pantea’s writing at panteatofangchi.com, and find her graphic design portfolio at panteaat.myportfolio.com.
Wilde Readers of December: Monica Prince & Carole Boston Weatherford
HoCoPoLitSo welcomes all to the December edition of the Wilde Readings Series, with Monica Prince and Carole Boston Weatherford, hosted by Laura Shovan. Join us at the Columbia Art Center on Tuesday, December 12th at 7 p.m., at 6100 Foreland Garth, Columbia, MD 21045. Please spread the word— bring your friends, family and students! Light refreshments will be served and books by the readers available for sale.
An open mic follows the featured authors and we encourage you to participate. Please prepare no more than five minutes of performance time, about two poems. Sign up when you arrive, or in advance by calling the Columbia Arts Center at (410)-730-0075.
Below, get to know Monica and Carole!
Who is the person in your life (past or present) that shows up most often in your writing?
Monica: My mother shows up the most in my work. My first published choreopoem, How to Exterminate the Black Woman, is about and for my mother. Something about all the lessons I’ve absorbed from her makes me want to feature her in my writing. So many of my poems feature her because I have a romanticized idea of what it means to be a Black mother from her. She’s the strongest woman I know. I want her legacy to live after her.
Carole: Billie Holiday, my muse.
Where is your favorite place to write?
Monica: I love writing in public— bars, restaurants, intermissions during plays, in line at the bank. The frenzied nature of being in public, possibly observed, and not having that much time to get something down pushes my creativity. Most of the poems in Roadmap were written while I waited for friends to meet me at a bar, between workshops and events during a writing residency, and during commercial breaks while watching TV with my mom. I joke with my students that I’ve made my career off 7-13 minute stretches of poetry, and it’s not wrong.
Carole: Planes and trains.
Do you have any consistent pre-writing rituals?
Monica: The only thing I do every time I write is I try to find a black pen. I hate the color blue, despite it being my power color, so I can’t get good work done with a blue pen. I don’t have many rituals because I only write when I can get the time, which is infrequent these days.
Carole: No.
Who always gets a first read?
Monica: Typically, my husband Rob gets to hear my work first, but mostly because he’s almost always there while I’m composing work. Other than that, it’s whoever is present when I finish a draft. I’m unafraid of showing off my terrible drafts immediately because I’m a trained slam poet who has been workshopping poems on stage for over a decade. I’m not very precious about my work in that way. I want folks to see how pieces change over time.
Carole: My agent.
What is a book you’ve read more than twice (and would read again)?
Monica: Ntozake Shange’s For colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf. I read that book at least twice a year every year because I teach it. But it’s also the source of my original inspiration for writing choreopoems. I’d also say Meaty by Samantha Irby. I love reading and listening to it, it’s awesome in both versions. I’ve read that at least three times.
Carole: Coming Through Slaughter by Michael Ondaatje.
What is the most memorable reading you have attended?
Monica: At one of my first AWP conferences, I think it was in Minneapolis in 2015, I attended a Cave Canem reading. It was one of those things that was scheduled before the conference really started. I met all these fellows whose work I’d been following for years. Jericho Brown read from what would later become the Pulitzer Prize-winning collection, The Tradition, and I found myself sobbing. There was something about being surrounded by Black poets after another one of our siblings was murdered for nothing that made me feel at home, even if I wasn’t a fellow myself. I was three months from graduating with my MFA and I had been considering never writing again— nothing felt good about my work, especially after my thesis defense left me a little raw and stinging. But that reading saved me; that community saved me. I’m grateful for them.
Carole: Poet Ntozake Shange and saxophonist Oliver Lake at DC Space in the late 1970s or early 1980s.
• Monica Prince, one of the foremost choreopoem experts in the country, teaches activist and performance writing at Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania. She is the author of Roadmap: A Choreopoem, How to Exterminate the Black Woman: A Choreopoem, Instructions for Temporary Survival, and Letters from the Other Woman.
Keep up with her at www.monicaprince.com; @poetic_moni at Instagram and Twitter (she’s not calling it X); and @MonicaPrinceChoreopoet on Facebook.
• Carole Boston Weatherford is a two-time NAACP Image Award winner and the author of Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre, which won the Coretta Scott King Author and Illustrator Awards, a Caldecott Honor, and a Sibert Honor. She is also the author of the Newbery Honor book Box: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom and the Caldecott Honor books Freedom in Congo Square; Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement; and Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom, as well as the Coretta Scott King Medal book Standing in the Need of Prayer. Born in Baltimore, Weatherford now teaches at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.
Find her online at cbweatherford.com; on X as @poetweatherford; @carole.weatherford on Facebook; and @caroleweatherford on Instagram.
Wilde Readers of November: Heidi Mordhorst & Victoria Adams-Kennedy
HoCoPoLitSo welcomes all to the November edition of the Wilde Readings Series, with Heidi Mordhorst and Victoria Adams-Kennedy, hosted by Ann Bracken. Join us at the Columbia Art Center on Tuesday, November 14th at 7 p.m., at 6100 Foreland Garth, Columbia, MD 21045. Please spread the word— bring your friends, family and students! Light refreshments will be served and books by the readers available for sale.
An open mic follows the featured authors and we encourage you to participate. Please prepare no more than five minutes of performance time, about two poems. Sign up when you arrive, or in advance by calling the Columbia Arts Center at (410)-730-0075.
Below, get to know Heidi and Victoria!
Who is the person in your life (past or present) that shows up most often in your writing?
Heidi: They show up often, my mom and my dad. They do not mean to, but they do.
Victoria: It’s not just one; It’s my mother and her seven sisters. I learned so much from watching them and eavesdropping on their conversations. Their distinct personalities make them perfect subjects.
Where is your favorite place to write?
Heidi: I have a comfy sofa in a pleasant room in our new 1925 house in East Silver Spring.
Victoria: The Last Resort Artist Retreat in Baltimore. It’s a serene environment with beautiful artwork.
Do you have any consistent pre-writing rituals?
Heidi: Only the one, and it’s not exactly intentional or consistent: as I’m waking, or as I’m brushing my teeth, or as I’m shampooing, or as I’m pointing a hot noisy hairdryer at my head, something will come to me. Most recently a poem title: A Revision Is Required.
Victoria: I’m inspired by character traits that are most often attributed to members of my family or my childhood community. There were lots of colorful characters in my neighborhood. I draft characters who are composites of those people and their circumstances. Then the story comes and I sit down to write.
Who always gets a first read?
Heidi: Most often the trusted members of my critique group. They are fans, but they ask me hard questions as well, which generally carry the message, “You have made this way more complicated than it needs to be.”
Victoria: One of my aunts or a member of Zora’s Den, my writers’ group I founded in 2017.
What is a book you’ve read more than twice (and would read again)?
Heidi: Hmmmm. I rarely pick up an adult title more than once (although there are poems I never get tired of)—but there are many books written for young readers that I return to again and again. A recent favorite is GREEN ON GREEN by Dianne White, illustrated by Felicita Sala.
Victoria: The first to come to mind is Indigo by Beverly Jenkins. It is one of many.
What is the most memorable reading you have attended?
Heidi: I’m a relative newbie to public readings. I haven’t been to many live readings and I’ve read at very few! I did have a memorable time hearing Lucille Clifton read at the Dodge Poetry Festival one year—but which year?
Victoria: A reading by Terry McMillan at the Enoch Pratt Library in Baltimore City. She was engaging through her work and her commentary. And she had command of the room with humor and insight.
• Heidi Mordhorst is the author of two collections of poetry for young readers and contributions to
journals and anthologies for both adults and children, most recently Poetry by Chance and Dear
Human on the Edge of Time: Poems on Climate Change in the US. She taught in public schools for
35 years and recently served on the NCTE Excellence in Poetry Award Committee. She now offers
multi-arts poetry programming for young writers through WHISPERshout Writing Workshop.
Heidi can be found online at her blog, my juicy little universe, on Facebook and Bluesky, and at the homepage of her youth writing workshop, WHISPERshout.
• Victoria Adams-Kennedy writes about the complexities of Black Love. Her first novel, Sometimes
Love, was published in 2017 by Brown Girls Books. She is the founder of Zora’s Den, a group for
black women writers for which she co-edited The Fire Inside, Volumes I & II. Victoria holds an MFA
in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts from the University of Baltimore. Her work has appeared in
midnight & indigo and TORCH Literary Arts.
Victoria can be reached at Facebook or Instagram, both under the account @victoriaadamskennedy.
Announcing: the Howard County Poet Laureate!
UPDATED 1/10/2024: The Poet Laureate submission deadline has been extended to Monday, January 22, 2024.
HoCoPoLitSo is excited to announce the establishment of the first-ever position of Howard County Poet Laureate, created in partnership with the Howard County Arts Council to elevate poetry in the consciousness of Howard County residents and to join in celebrating the literary arts— now open to eligible applicants residing in Howard County!
The Poet Laureate is an honorary two-year position, in service to the community, formally appointed by the County Executive based on a recommendation made by an artistic and community panel selection process coordinated by HoCoPoLitSo.
During their term, the Poet Laureate acts as an advocate for poetry, literature, and the arts and contributes to Howard County’s poetic and literary legacy through public readings and participation in civic events. The next—and first!—Poet Laureate will serve from April 2024 through March 2026 and will receive a stipend of $5,000 per year of service, and up to $500 per year for reimbursable expenses related to the Poet Laureate’s activities.
The Howard County Poet Laureate Program is a partnership between Howard County Poetry & Literature Society with the Office of County Executive Calvin Ball and the Howard County Arts Council. To learn more about the program please visit the HCAC program landing page here or review the program guidelines available therein.
Eligible candidates may apply now by clicking HERE! Deadline for submissions is January 9, 2024. UPDATED: deadline for submissions has been extended to Monday, January 22, 2024.
Wilde Readers of October: Odessa Rose & Deborah Kalb
HoCoPoLitSo welcomes all to the October edition of the Wilde Readings Series, with Odessa Rose and Deborah Kalb, hosted by Linda Joy Burke. Join us at the Columbia Art Center on Tuesday, October 10th at 7 p.m., at 6100 Foreland Garth, Columbia, MD 21045. Please spread the word— bring your friends, family and students! Light refreshments will be served and books by the readers available for sale.
An open mic follows the featured authors and we encourage you to participate. Please prepare no more than five minutes of performance time, about two poems. Sign up when you arrive, or in advance by calling the Columbia Arts Center at (410)-730-0075.
Below, get to know Odessa and Deborah!
Who is the person in your life (past or present) that shows up most often in your writing?
Odessa: Until my latest novel, “Kizmic’s Journey”, no one in my life has ever showed up in my books. In “Kizmic’s Journey,” I wrote about my family’s church, so I had characters that were based on them in the book, in particular my uncle who was the Bishop of our church until his death.
Deborah: Various versions of myself.
Where is your favorite place to write?
Odessa: My favorite place to write is in my home office. My family are in the house with me and I like being close to them. My husband lets me bounce ideas off him. My daughter often comes in my office and tells me about her stop motion scripts or films that she is working on. My sons stop in to give me hugs and kisses. I know I can probably get more done if I worked some place else, but I am most creative when I’m home.
Deborah: My home office, at my desktop computer.
Do you have any consistent pre-writing rituals?
Odessa: Research is my only pre-writing ritual. I love to research because I love learning new things. I like discovering things about my characters and the many themes that run through my novels.
Deborah: Taking long walks and contemplating what my characters might do next.
Who always gets a first read?
Odessa: My husband always gets the first read. Often times I wake him up in the middle of the night to discuss something going right or wrong with the book. So, he deserves the first read.
Deborah: A few of my family members and a couple of close friends.
What is a book you’ve read more than twice (and would read again)?
Odessa: Toni Morrison’s “Song of Solomon” is a book I’ve read over and over and over again. I love Morrison’s writing. I love the imagery in “Song of Solomon.”
Deborah: The Pursuit of Alice Thrift by Elinor Lipman.
What is the most memorable reading you have attended?
Odessa: The most memorable reading I’ve attended is when Terry McMillan came to Morgan State University when she was on tour for “Waiting To Exhale.” I had just had an operation and was supposed to stay in bed, but when I learned that Terry McMillan was coming to town, I got up and went. I somehow forgot my book, but she signed my ticket, and I got a picture of her with my friend. I will never forget that day.
Deborah: Various book events featuring my father, Marvin Kalb, who is 93 and still writing books.
• Odessa Rose received her B.A. in English from Coppin State University and her M.A. in Literature from the University of Maryland at College Park. She is the author of Water In A Broken Glass, which was her first novel. This intriguing story captured the #6 spot on the On-Demand Best Seller list, received the Just About Books Annual Book Award, is ranked #17 on Accredited Online Colleges’ 20 Essential Novels For African-American Women list, was recorded for the Maryland School for the Blind, is included in The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature, Ethnic American Literature: An Encyclopedia for Students, and Black Like Us: A Century of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual African American Fiction.
In 2018, Water In A Broken Glass was adapted into an award-winning feature film called Water In A Broken Glass. Her second novel, In the Mirror received the African American Expo Award for Fiction. Rose is a member of the Black Writers Guild of Maryland. She is also the co-creator of the television magazine, This Is Baltimore, Too. She resides in her hometown of Baltimore with her husband and three children. You can find Odessa and links to all her social media pages at odessarose.com.
• Deborah Kalb is a freelance writer and editor. She spent about two decades working as a journalist in Washington, D.C., for news organizations including Gannett News Service, Congressional Quarterly, U.S. News & World Report, and The Hill, mostly covering Congress and politics. Her book blog, Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb, which she started in 2012, features hundreds of interviews she has conducted with a wide variety of authors.
She is the author of the forthcoming novel Off to Join the Circus (Apprentice House, 2023), as well as three novels for kids, Thomas Jefferson and the Return of the Magic Hat (Schiffer, 2020), John Adams and the Magic Bobblehead (Schiffer, 2018), and George Washington and the Magic Hat (Schiffer, 2016) — and she’s the co-author, with her father, Marvin Kalb, of Haunting Legacy: Vietnam and the American Presidency from Ford to Obama (Brookings, 2011). She is the author/updater of Elections A to Z, 5th edition (CQ Press/SAGE, 2022), the editor of the two-volume reference book, Guide to U.S. Elections, 7th edition (CQ Press/SAGE, 2016), the co-author of The Presidents, First Ladies, and Vice Presidents (CQ Press, 2009), and the co-editor of State of the Union: Presidential Rhetoric from Woodrow Wilson to George W. Bush (CQ Press, 2007), and has contributed updates to a variety of other CQ Press books on politics and government.
Deborah can be found online at deborahkalb.com and on Twitter @deborahkalb, Instagram @deborahskalb, and on Facebook.
HoCoPoLitSo 