Summer, Plath, and Paddleboarding...
This photograph, Plath’s “Marilyn” shoot, is by Gordon Lameyer, from the Lilly Library, Indiana University.
Happy Summer, Dear Friends!
The Northwest is slowly moving from gray to blue sky and I've been writing new poems *and* paddleboarding...a first for me. Normally, I just paddleboard. (By the way, my paddleboard's name is "Muse," I kid you not. I'll include a photo at the end along with a poem that was recently published in Waxwing.)
I'm just writing to pass along some news, info, and opportunities before I slip off into a hammock for July and August.
Opportunities:
1) Last Day to Submit: Two Sylvias Press full-length poetry book prize! Deadline: June 30th (midnight Hawaiian time). If you have a full-length collection looking for a home, check them out: http://twosylviaspress.com/poetry-prize.html Winner receives $1000, print/eBook publication, author copies, and a vintage inkwell.
Judge: Diane Seuss!
2) Poets on the Coast: A Weekend Retreat For Women Rich/Russell Scholarship: Deadline July 9th! A full scholarship for a woman poet to cover a fully funded Poets on the Coast retreat registration (approx $500 value) to provide a weekend of writing and critiquing in La Conner, Washington. Learn more here: http://poetsonthecoast.weebly.com/scholarship.html
(Or if you just want to attend, you can sign up here, there are 2 spaces remaining.)
What Year Is It? -- Sylvia Plath is in the News:
Two "new" poems by Sylvia Plath were found on carbon paper (remember that!?) in the back of an old notebook by two Plath researchers. "Steinberg, who discovered the carbon paper while searching the archive, said he felt 'a jolt' when he realized what he had discovered amid 'a convoluted strangle of typewritten words.' 'I thought, ‘I might be the first person in 40 years to work with this document,' he added."
The National Portrait Gallery in DC is featuring Sylvia Plath and her writing through May 20, 2018. "The exhibit, showcasing Plath’s personal letters, artwork, and family photographs, highlights her struggle to understand herself and cope with the pressures placed on women in her era."
Ever wonder what was in Sylvia Plath's college scrapbook? It's been catalogued here, (a great list, though I was slightly bummed there was no photos.)
Opportunity to Write More Poems:
Two Sylvias Press now offers an Online Poetry Writing Retreat. All you need is email access and a desire to write new poems. The July session sold out, but there are a few spaces left for August. The retreat includes poem prompts, sample poems, a Two Sylvias Press publication (your choice), a softcover journal created specifically for retreat participants, creativity suggestions, and reflection questions/activities to guide and inspire. All prompts, writing exercises, and inspiration sent daily or weekly to your email (your choice. AND at the end of the retreat, the editors at Two Sylvias Press also critique two of your poems and offer ideas on where to submit them. You can register here: http://twosylviaspress.com/online-poetry-retreat.html
What I'm reading? Kaveh Akbar's Portrait of the Alcoholic (Kaveh's first full-length collection Calling a Wolf a Wolf is available for preorder & will be out in the fall) , Dean Rader's Self Portrait as Wikipedia Entry, and Claire Dederer's memoir Love & Trouble (all books I recommend)
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What I'm watching? A lot of documentaries and several on surfing and the wine industry. This one, Sour Grapes, about wine forgery & the wine biz was pretty intriguing. Not about wine, but also about money (and art), check out Saving Banksy, where people actually take down walls of their buildings to preserve "a Banksy" and it this film poses the question "What would you do if you owned a million dollar painting that the artist doesn't want sold?"
What I'm loving? Baby barn swallows in our birdhouse, insomnia--it had me out on my deck at 1:30 am the other night and looking up at the Milky Way, napping in a hammock despite sunburns, people who sit outside until midnight with a bonfire and hearing a Jimmy Buffet song sweep down the street.
How I deal with the news....
Many thanks to Waxwing Magazine for featuring my poem:
That's the scoop from the Pacific Northwest! Hope you are all enjoying the summer in your world.
Stay in touch, keep art close, and wishing you the best of all of it.
xo,
Kelli
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