News & Reviews

News & Reviews
In descending order of up-to-datedness; i.e. the most recent additions are at the top. Sooner or later, the oldest stuff will vanish or get relegated to the attic.

Submit local poetry news, reviews you've written of stuff you liked or hated, other strong opinions, gossip whether relevant or scandalous to: arachne@madpoetry.org

News

February 11, 2012, Saturday, 1:30 pm: Laureates Inaugural Reading and Reception. For the new Madison Poets Laureate, Sarah Busse & Wendy Vardaman. Location: Goodman South Madison Library.

F.J. Bergmann, Poynette, is now the editor of Star*Line, the journal of the Science Fiction Poetry Association.

October 6, 2011: Tomas Tranströmer of Stockholm was announced by the Swedish Nobel Academy as the winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize for Literature. His books have been translated into more than 60 languages, and he is today the most widely read poet in our lifetime.

Poetry on Willy St. article:
host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/article_a85ec48c-edaf-11e0-8777-001cc4c002e0.html

Poets on youTube: readers from the 100 Thousand Poets for Change Madison event on September 24: youtube.com/cesawcer. Thanks to Paul Baker for doing the filming!

August 10, 2011: Philip Levine has been named U.S. Poet Laureate.

Bruce Dethlefsen, of Westfield, has been named the next Poet Laureate of Wisconsin for 2011–2012. He succeeds Marilyn Taylor whose term expires at the end of the year. The Poet Laureate is appointed ~~by the Governor,~~ based on the recommendation of the Poet Laureate Commission of Wisconsin. The Commission makes its recommendation as the result of a highly competitive process, which began in June this year.

The Poet Laureate is required to choose and lead one large-scale project that contributes to the growth of Wisconsin poetry. He must also plan and attend at least four statewide literary events each year and perform in at least four government, state and civil events as requested by ~~the Governor’s office,~~ school systems and literary organizations.

Dethlefsen intends to use his position as the State Poet Laureate to promote the writing and sharing of poetry throughout Wisconsin. He plans to encourage and support local cultural and creative talent by organizing local poetry readings in public libraries, schools and coffee houses throughout the State. “I look forward to being an ambassador for the wonderful poets and poetry of Wisconsin,” Dethlefsen announced.

Dethlefsen received a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse and an M.S. from the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh. He has published three books of poetry and has been published in countless journals of poetry. Mr. Dethlefsen is the recipient of several distinguished poetry prizes. He spends much of his time coaching, teaching, leading workshops and judging poetry throughout Wisconsin.

Calls for Submissions

WOODROW HALL JUMPSTART AWARD
An offshoot of the Poetry Jumps Off the Shelf initiative, this award was designed to help other Wisconsin poets implement a project or program that brings poetry into the eye of the general public in an unconventional manner. Proposals are now being accepted for 2012. An award of $500.00 will be given to help an individual or a group implement a project or program. In addition, an award of $400.00 will be given to a finalist for the same purpose. A panel of judges will make the selections. See past Poetry Jumps Off the Shelf projects and the winning proposals of past awards for examples of the kinds of ideas the panel will be looking for. Winners must initiate projects by September 2012. No entry fee. Multiple entries from same poet welcome. Please note: A Woodrow Hall Jumpstart Initiative of $300.00 may be awarded to a runner-up. Download application form at PoetryJumpsOfftheShelf.com
ENTRY DEADLINE IS LEAP YEAR: FEBRUARY 29, 2012. Notifications in March.
Questions? shoshaunashy@yahoo.com

Awards & Publications

Tom Boswell, Evansville, won the 2011 Codhill Press Poetry Chapbook Award for his manuscript Midwestern Heart. He received $1,000 plus 50 copies of the published manuscript. Boswell also won first prize in the PoetryPort 2012 poetry contest for his poem, “The Devil’s Grandmother.” The prize carries an award of $500 and a trip to Sarasota, Florida, for the awards ceremony.

Timothy Walsh, Madison, received an Honorable Mention in the 2011 New Millennium Writings Award for Poetry.

Two Madison residents, J.L. Conrad, for Disaster Fruit, and Rebecca Hazelton, for Fair Copy, were named finalists in the Tupelo Press 2011 First/Second Book Award Competition.

Timothy Walsh, Madison, received an Honorable Mention in the New Millennium Writings awards for Poetry.

F.J. Bergmann won the Heartland Review's Joy Bale Boone poetry contest, was a finalist for the Speculative Poetry Foundation Older Writer's Grant, and was a Merit Award winner in the
2011 Atlanta Review International Poetry Competition.

Charles Cantrell, Madison, won the 2011 Agha Shahid Ali Scholarship Competition to attend a workshop at the Fine Arts Work Center Summer Program in Provincetown, MA. http://www.fawc.org/summer/

Mark Kraushaar of Lake Mills has won the 2010 Anthony Hecht Prize of $3,000 and publication for The Uncertainty Principle, judged by James Fenton: http://waywiser-press.com/hechtprize.html.

Poetry Books

David Scheler's new poetry chapbook, Casting for Meteors, has been published by Finishing Line Press. It is a book of experiences motivated by the natural world. Available from Dave and at Avol's Bookstore.

Kenneth Haynes' new book of poems, The People in 10-F, is now available here.

Tapes, CDs, DVDs, videos

Old News: Old but relevant articles previously posted on this page.

Reviews: submit brief opinions or reactions to poets or poems you read or hear for the benefit of those who might not have encountered them. More unsolicited reviews would be welcome—about or by Madison-area poets, please.

St. Cecelia's Daze
By Katrin Talbot
Poetry Book, 62 pp.
Parallel Press, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-934795-13-2
$10.00

As in her first poetry collection, In Which Miss Maybelline Is Introduced To The Honourable Dr. Suzuki, music and poetry are inextricably intertwined in Katrin Talbot's life. Words and images, filtered through musical tropes, come naturally as breathing. St. Cecelia's Daze exhibits Talbot's broadening scope as a poet, indelibly guiding the reader through four segments—Recitative, Scherzo, Modulation to Relative Minor and Standard Rep—as if perusing an actual concert programme. Whether it's a Rachmaninoff piano concerto, a Bartok violin quartet or the award-winning "Sewing With Chopin", Talbot is the gentle, if firm, instructor marrying concepts to its appropriate language. At times, though, this dichotomy threatens to break her life apart, as in the poem "Around the Globe": My head now/tight with Word, or, more exactly, in the final poem she tossed the pearl/slo-mo/into that untidy/treasure chest/I hide in/the back/of my untidy/head. Nevertheless, a primal, even sensuous joy wriggles through each poem, urging the reader to seek out more than the advantages of/a delicate/life.

Review by James P. Roberts
author, FAMOUS WISCONSIN AUTHORS.
JRob52162@aol.com

Old Reviews: Reviews previously posted on this page.

Services

BookThatPoet.com lists poets nationwide who are available to read, perform, or do workshops. Poets pay a yearly fee and can be contacted directly from the site.

Too busy to submit your poetry to magazines or journals? Don't know where they fit in?
POEMFACTOTUM is an affordable poetry submission service! No hourly fees; just flat rates.

Editing, manuscript selection, and book or chapbook layout, design, and publishing services also available.