Read Our Annual Report
30 Things You Might Do To Celebrate National Poetry Month
- Read a poem. Out loud. Feel it the sound of it move through you and into the air.
- Watch and listen to Billy Collins’ Ted Talk.
- Practice the math of counting syllables by writing a 5-7-5 haiku.
- Follow HoCoPoLitSo on Facebook. And Twitter.
- Read a Poetry Blog.
- Stop by the library on the way home and borrow a volume of poetry.
- Read the latest issue of Little Patuxent Review.
- Tweet some poetically purple prose. Retweet someone else’s.
- Email a friend a favorite poem.
- Print out a poem and put it on a bulletin board for others to see.
- Watch a poet on YouTube.
- Bilingual? Have a go at translating a poem. Not? Try the exercise with a friend that has a second language.
- Write a love poem, just for fun. Share it with the intended.
- Subscribe to Poets.org’s Poem a Day email.
- Make a comment on a Poetry Blog.
- Find a soon to be significant other and read Neruda’s 20 Love Poems and a Song of Despair to each other.
- Donate to HoCoPoLitSo.
- Read a poem out loud to someone else.
- Go to a poetry reading at a coffee house. If it is an open mic, share your own work.
- Jot down an ode to something ordinary in your life.
- Buy tickets for yourself and a friend to the Nightbird Reading, featuring Kim Addonizio, Michael Cirelli, Nayma Ayala, and Mother Ruckus. After the evening reading, post on the HoCoPoLitSo page about your experience.
- Support a poet, buy their book. Now really support them: read it.
- Celebrate National Poem in You Pocket Day, April 26th, by carrying a poem in your pocket and sharing it with others.
- Take on Poets.org’s list of 30 things to do for National Poetry Month.
- Tweet about poetry. If it’s Friday, tell your followers to #ff @hocopolitso.
- Memorize a poem and carry it around inside you. Let it out again and again when the occasion warrants.
- Add a quote from a poem to your email signature for a month. Switch it with a new one next month. (No reason to stop the practice just because it isn’t National Poetry Month in May.)
- Watch an episode (or two) of HoCoPoLitSo’s The Writing Life on YouTube.
- Tell a poet what their work means to you. They’d love to hear. Face to face, in email, in a good old fashioned card.
- Encourage someone else to join you in taking on this list. After all, poetry is a thing best shared with others.
National Book Critics Award Winner Edith Pearlman to Read in Columbia, Maryland, June 27th
Edith Pearlman
Now that Edith Pearlman has won the National Book Critics Award for fiction, what is she going to do? She’s going to visit Columbia and read from her acclaimed work, that’s what. Mark your calendars for Wednesday, June 27, 2012 and get yourself reading a copy of her Binocular Vision, wonderful stories often exploring the theme of accommodations people make in life. You’ll be glad you did.
Who is Edith Pearlman? some find themselves asking… like, um, even The New York Times, “Why in the world had I never heard of Edith Pearlman? And why, if you hadn’t, hadn’t you? It certainly isn’t the fault of her writing, which is intelligent, funny and quite beautiful.”
Pearlman’s website touts:
Edith Pearlman has published more than 250 works of short fiction and short non-fiction in national magazines, literary journals, anthologies, and on-line publications. Her work has appeared in Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Prize Collection, New Stories from the South, and The Pushcart Prize Collection – Best of the Small Presses.
And yet it is just now, in her seventies, she is finding the greater fame and public attention she deserves. The National Book Critics Circle board, a group of 600 reviewers selecting Binocular Vision for the award, stated the recognition “a triumph for Pearlman’s distinctive storytelling, bringing it to a larger audience.” We are all glad for that — this is work that deserves to be read. And we at HoCoPoLitSo, working with the Columbia Festival of the Arts and the Town Center Community Association,* are ecstatic to be bringing Pearlman in person to Columbia so soon after this accolade.
We’ll keep you abreast of details, like ticket sales, here and on our Facebook page (you are following us, aren’t you?) as they develop. In the meantime, share this wonderful news with friends in email, on Facebook, with your book clubs, everywhere. And get yourself a copy of her work to enjoy! It won’t be long till you are listening to her in person, getting a chance to ask her questions you have and to sign a copy of your new favorite book.
* Guess what intimate venue the reading is going to be held in….
Clear the Calendar: Blackbird Poetry Festival, April 26th – Addonizio, Cirelli, Ayala, Mother Ruckus
Mark your calendars, it’s time for the Blackbird Poetry Festival: April 26, 2012
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Howard Community College and HoCoPoLitSo are proud to present “Poetry In Harmony,” the 4th annual Blackbird Poetry Festival. This year’s festival, mainly on location at the College will feature Michael Cirelli, Kim Addonizio, Naomi Ayala and Mother Ruckus. There will be readings (including by faculty and students), workshops, performances and the ‘Poetry Police” who cite students caught without poetry on hand for National Poem in Your Pocket Day.
The day’s events are mostly free and open to the public, others for students only. The evening will feature a “Poetry in Harmony” Coffee House reading with Michael Cirelli, Kim Addonizio and a performance by musical group Mother Ruckus; tickets for this performance will be $15 general admission, $10 for seniors and students with id (now available for purchase online, click here).
Festival schedule:
- 9:30 – 10:30 Naomi Ayala speaks at Howard County School System (HCPSS) Professional Development Day Session I
- 10:40 – 11:40 Naomi Ayala speaks at HCPSS Prof. Dev. Day Session II
- 10:00 Poetry Police start to patrol HCC at campus looking for National Poem in Your Pocket Day violations
- 11:00 – 12:20 Kim Addonizio meets with HCC’s Creative Writing Class (closed)
- 11:00 – 12:20 Michael Cirelli meets with students and community (open and free)
- 2:30 – 4:30 Readings by: Naomi Ayala, Michael Cirelli, Kim Addonizio and regional poets, HCC students and faculty (open and free)
- 7:00 Doors open for “Poetry in Harmony,” a coffeehouse-styled reading
- 7:30 – 9:30 Readings by Michael Cirelli and Kim Addonizio, and a performance by musical group Mother Ruckus, which includes performance poet Gayle Danley and songstress Sahffi. ($15, $10 for seniors and for students with an id)
Performer bios:
Clockwise form top left: Kim Addonizio, Mother Ruckus, Naomi Ayala, Michael Cirelli.
Michael Cirelli has been a National Poetry Slam individual finalist, winning the finals in both San Francisco and Berkeley. Cirelli has performed all over the country while teaching writing workshops to teenagers up and down the West coast. While in L.A., he was the director of PEN Center West’s, Poet In the Classroom program. He is currently the Director of Urban Word NYC. He is also the director of the Annual Spoken Word & Hip-Hop Teacher & Community Leader Training Institute at the University of Wisconsin that won the 2007 North American Association of Summer Sessions “Creative and Innovative Program Award.” His collection of poetry, Lobster with Ol’ Dirty Bastard was a New York Times Book Review independent press best seller. Vacations on the Black Star Line is his second work. blog.grdodge.org/2010/05/21/poetry-fridays-2010-festival-poet-michael-cirelli/
Kim Addonizio has been called “one of our nation’s most provocative and edgy poets.” Her latest books are Lucifer at the Starlite, recently a finalist for the Poets Prize and the Northern CA Book Award; and Ordinary Genius: A Guide for the Poet Within. Kalima Press recently published her Selected Poems in Arabic. Addonizio’s many honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, two NEA Fellowships, and Pushcart Prizes for both poetry and the essay. Her collection Tell Me was a National Book Award Finalist. Other books include two novels, Little Beauties and My Dreams Out in the Street. Addonizio offers private workshops in Oakland, CA, and online, and often incorporates her love of blues harmonica into her readings.www.kimaddonizio.com
Naomi Ayala makes her residence in Washington, DC where, until recently, she served as the coordinator for curriculum and instruction at the National Council of La Raza’s Center for Community Educational Excellence, and the Program Director for Celebra la Ciencia: The Hispanic Community Science Festivals Project of the Self Reliance Foundation and the Hispanic Radio Network. As a freelance writer and consultant, Ms. Ayala currently helps develop, edit and promote curricula and other educational materials – in both her native Spanish as well as English – for innovative education programs and national organizations. She runs professional development workshops for teachers, conducts specialized residencies in public and private schools (K-12), while presenting her poetry to diverse audiences around the U.S. She is a member of the Board of Directors of Teaching for Change. Ms. Ayala is the author of two books of poetry, Wild Animals on the Moon, selected by the New York City Public Library as one of 1999’s Books for the Teen Age, and This Side of Early. Her poetry has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies around the U.S. and beyond.
Mother Ruckus Sahffi and Gayle Danley: featuring a combination of slam and song. Mother Ruckus has performed at the International Festival in Baltimore and the Teavolve Café. To get a sense of their sound, check out: www.sahffi.com. Sahffi is part of a group called t3n (pronounced ten) www.t3n.us/p/music.html
Little Patuxent Review hosts North Carolina Literary Exchange Events March 2-4 in Columbia and Bethesda’s Writers Center
Our friends at Little Patuxent Review are celebrating a literary exchange with three poets from Chapel Hill, NC, this weekend. Read on for event details:
Friday evening, 3/2, we are sponsoring a reading at a new wellness center: Wisdom Well 8955 Guilford Road Suite 240, Columbia.
Meet our visiting poets, featured readers for the evening:
Richard Krawiec of Jacar Press
Debra Kaufman
Stephanie Levin
You can pick up a copy of LPR’s groundbreaking Social Justice issue and share wine, food, and music with the LPR editorial staff.
The free reading begins at 7 PM, with open mic at 8 PM. Doors open at 6:30 PM.
Saturday, 3/3 — spend the whole day at The Writers Center with LPR, or stop by for a free evening reading.
12 -3 PM All-genre workshop “Crafting Images” with three “literary exchange” poets from Chapel Hill, NC.
Workshop Leaders: Rich Krawiec, Debra Kaufman, and Stephanie Levin
Images vitalize prose and are the primary components of poems. In this workshop we’ll explore the different ways images are written, structured, and organized for prose and poetry. In prose, we’ll look at how to integrate images with action, dialogue, and interior monologue to make your work vital. In poetry, we will look at ways to create and develop images, from simple phrases to lines to metaphors that extend throughout a poem. This workshop will be taught by three writers, so everyone will get personal attention for their work. Bring selections of your own writing to work on.
$70 Non-member registration: https://www.writer.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=353&nccsm=21&__nccspID=2349
3-6 PM Poetry Workshop “Ripped from the Headlines: Writing Poems about Hot Topics” With LPR editor Laura Shovan and contributor Patricia VanAmburg
Sound bites on the evening news, compelling news articles, and blog posts have to provide big impact in a small space–similar to poems. In this workshop, we will discuss how to tease both facts and emotions out of the media’s “hot topics” in order to produce new poems. In addition to discussing what it takes to get from headline to poem, we will focus on controlled voice as a crucial element in how a poet presents current events to readers.
$70 Non-member registration: https://www.writer.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=353&nccsm=21&__nccspID=2351
7:30-9:30 PM — Free! Social Justice Reading and Panel Discussion
Truth Thomas moderates
Join poet Truth Thomas, guest editor for the Winter 2012 Social Justice issue of Little Patuxent Review, as he brings the power of poetry and prose to bear on the movement toward a more equitable world. LPR contributors will read poems and participate, along with audience members, in a panel discussion led by Thomas on the various ways literature can facilitate understanding and change. Light refreshments will follow, providing opportunity for additional interaction.
Participants include: Truth Thomas (Presenter) and Poetry Readers/Panelists: Deb Kaufman, Patricia VanAmburg, Stephanie Levin, Richard Krawiec, James Toupin, Kathleen Hellen, JoAnn Balingit and Tony Medina.
TOMORROW: Irish Evening w/ Hugo Hamilton & Music by The Narrowbacks
HoCoPoLitSo’s 34th Annual Evening of Irish Music & Writing will be held tomorrow evening in Smith Theatre at the Horowitz Performing Art Center on the campus of Howard Community College in Columbia, Maryland. Show time is 7:30 pm. Tickets will be available at the door; the lobby opens at 7pm, seating starts at 7:15.
Hugo Hamilton, author of The Speckled People, Sad Bastard and Headbanger.
The evening features a reading by novelist and memoirist Hugo Hamilton, followed by traditional and original Irish music of The Narrowbacks – Terry Winch, Jesse Winch, Brendan Mulvihill, Linda Hickman and Eileen (Korn) Estes – who will be joined at times by step dancers from the Caulkin School of Traditional Irish Dance.
The event, a fundraiser for HoCoPoLitSo, will feature a raffle of three different baskets*, two Irish themed and one themed for the upcoming Blackbird Poetry Festival (April 26). Among the raffle items: two tickets to attend brunch with Mr. Hamilton and the HoCoPoLitSo board the following morning. This year’s evening also features the return of ‘the bar’, an intermission drink selection including Guinness, Harp, and Irish coffee.
Read Columbia Flier critic Mike Giuliano’s preview article of the occasion.
NEW LOCATION: Note the location of this year’s Irish Evening differs from recent years. Directions to Smith Theatre can be found here.
*Items may vary slightly than those listed in the linked image.
Duly Noted: Terrance Hayes, HoCoPoLitSo Vistor Last Fall, Appointed to President Obama’s National Student Poets Program
Terrance Hayes, Monteabarro Hall, October 2011
Congratulations are in order for Terrance Hayes who was recently chosen for President Barack Obama’s new National Student Poets Program (NSPP) panel. “Hayes is one of four literary leaders who will judge students who received a National Scholastic Art & Writing Award for poetry. Five high school students will be selected to serve for a year as national poetry ambassadors.” He is a wonderful choice for the task.
In October of last year, Terrance Hayes joined Tara Betts on stage at Howard Community College’s Monteabarro Hall to launch HoCoPoLitSo’s 2011-12 season with our inaugural Lucille Clifton Poetry Series reading. In 2010, Hayes won the National Book Award for his 4th poetry collection Lighthead. He is currently on the faculty at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.
- CMU press release: http://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2011/december/dec7_hayespoets.html
Now online: Belinda McKeon in Conversation with Colm Tóibín on HoCoPoLitSo’s The Writing Life.
The episode of HoCoPoLitSo’s TV show The Writing Life, featuring Belinda McKeon hosting Colm Tóibín, is available through February for online viewing at http://www.howardcc.edu/Visitors/hcctv/programming/writinglife.html. In town for the 33rd annual Evening of Irish Music & Writing this time last year, the two sat down to have a literary conversation in Howard Community College’s TV studio. Through the half hour, they discuss Tóibín’s books and shed light on his work as a writer.
Tóibín’s list of achievements is long, his talent, vast. He is known and awarded for his novels and short stories and for his journalism and literary criticism, as well. This was his second appearance for HoCoPoLitSo’s Irish Evening.
Belinda McKeon reading the Form and Structure issue of Little Patuxent Review.
Playwright and novelist Belinda McKeon’s debut novel Solace, published last year, has won the Bord Gáis Energy Irish Book of the Year (2011) and Ireland’s Sunday Independent recognized her with its Best Newcomer Award.
The annual Irish Evening is a perennial favorite and a highpoint to each HoCoPoLitSo season. This year a reading by memoirist and novelist Hugo Hamilton will be followed by the Irish music of the Narrowbacks accompanied by traditional Irish step dancers on Friday, February 17th at Smith Theater on the campus of Howard Community College in Columbia. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets online.
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Watch the episode: http://www.howardcc.edu/Visitors/hcctv/programming/writinglife.html
Note: this episode aired on the Howard Community Website for the month of February 2012. Episodes are featured on that site for a month at time, each new month brings a new episode or encore performance. To visit a growing and permanent archive of The Writing Life episodes online, visit the HoCoPoLitSo YouTube Channel.
Hugo Hamilton Makes an Appearance in Howard Magazine
Check it out: Hugo Hamilton leans out of the latest Howard Magazine calendar in dramatic fashion. He will be reading as a part of HoCoPoLitSo’s 34 Annual Irish Evening fundraiser on February 17th. Tickets online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/211558
Little Patuxent Review Launches Social Justice Issue, Saturday at 2pm
This Saturday, Little Patuxent Review, a twice yearly literary and arts publication out of Howard County, hosts a free contributor reading at Oliver’s Carriage House to celebrate the launch of its latest, Social Justice issue. The issue features Columbia resident and HoCoPoLitSo board member Truth Thomas as its guest editor.
Scheduled to read at the event are Melinda Abbott, JoAnn Balingit, Dylan Bargteil, Ann Bracken, Susan Gabrielle, Stephanie Gibson, Jen Grow, Clarinda Harriss, Kathleen Hellen, Alan King, Michael Salcman, Lauren Schmidt, Jill-Ann Stolley, James Toupin, Susan Turner-Conlon and Patricia VanAmburg.
Copies of the issue, which also features an interview with Martin Espada by another HoCoPoLitSo board member, Susan Thornton Hobby, will be available for sale ($10).
Details:
When: Saturday, January 28th, 2pm
Where: Oliver’s Carriage House, 5410 Leaf Treader Way, Columbia, MD 21044
Unable to make the event, track down a copy of the issue online.
Recommended: Super Bowl Sunday, It’s All About… Diane Ackerman
Now that the teams are set, it’s time to talk about Super Bowl Sunday. Yes, we’ll put down our literary-mindedness and pick up the rallying cry for the sportiest day in America:
For some, Super Bowl Sunday is all about the commercials, for others it might be the nachos. There are those, of course, who savor the taste of one of the two gridiron sides in fierce competition for the sport’s most prestigious trophy. Just who will the champ be? Fans of the Patriots and the Giants will have their eyes glued to the action, hoping and hollering in support.
For us, the real celebration this special day incurs is a trip to Frederick to take in a reading. That’s right, a reading. You didn’t really expect us to put down our literary-mindedness completely, did you? Rest assured, it won’t get in the way of any Super Bowl activities, none at all. We promise to chip crunch, commercial watch and holler with the rest of the country. But first…
Diane Ackerman
Very excited! It’s time for the Burr Artz Poetry Series reading again. The series, held Super Bowl Sundays (February 5th this year), is a perfect cultural compliment to the day’s sporting. It starts at 2pm at the Weinberg Center in Frederick and ends well before party and game time. It’s a great series that’s brought Billy Collins, Nikki Giovanni and Robert Hass to the gorgeous venue. We’re excited to learn this year Diane Ackerman is featured. Plus… it’s free. (And, for us, it is a literary event we are not hosting, so we can sit back and just enjoy!)
Diane Ackerman, a literary force for decades with her work as an essayist, poet and naturalist, has authored some two dozen books, among them are eight volumes of poetry, more than a dozen non-fiction works and two children’s stories. There are many favorites in the list; perhaps the most renowned is A Natural History of the Senses (1990). Her most recent work, from just last year, also non-fiction, is One Hundred Names for Love: A Stroke, a Marriage, and the Language of Healing. In 2007, her novel The Zookeeper’s Wife: A War Story captivated reader attention around the world.
Mark your calendars and save a little time on Super Bowl Sunday for Diane Ackerman, it will compete as a treat on a day that otherwise tends to be just about football.
- Diane Ackerman’s website
- Diane Ackerman on wikipedia
- Event details:
- February 5th, 2pm. Free admission
- Weinberg Center directions
- As we understand, the event is underwritten by the C. Burr Artz Trust and is presented in partnership with the Weinberg Center, the Frederick County Public Library and Frederick Reads.
HoCoPoLitSo 
