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Number
289
January February March
Some
Information
JOYCE
JENKINS
Copyright
© 2002 Poetry Flash
It must be Laureate season: the Bay Area Book
Reviewers Awards are coming up on April 3 or 4, and
I'm pleased to say that poet and children's author
Francisco X. Alarcón will be honored with
the Fred Cody Award. San Francisco Main Public
Library will gladly set the Koret Auditorium BABRA
date as soon as they determine the next San
Francisco Poet Laureate---and the Mayor's schedule.
The other date is saved for the new SF Laureate's
reading and talk.
We have a new Poet Laureate of California post,
made possible by Assembly Bill 113. It's been in
the works for some time; Luke Breit of the
Sacramento Poetry Center and the California Arts
Council have put in some long hours on it. Now the
search is on, and the Govenor will make the final
selection from three nominees. You can nominate a
poet for consideration. Poets must have published
poetry in print and be generally recognized for the
excellence of their work; nominations are limited
to current California residents who have lived here
for ten years or more. A minimum of six public
readings around the state are required during the
two-year term; a specific 'Laureate' project is
part of the deal. The program aims "to bring the
poetic arts to Californians and to California
students who might otherwise have little
opportunity to be exposed to poetry." Each
nominator (individual or organization) must submit
a letter describing their qualifications,
followed by a short bio of the poet to be
nominated---why the nominator considers the poet's
work to be representative of California. Include
contact info for the nominated poet with a short
paragraph indicating that the poet has been
contacted, and agrees to the nomination. Send three
typed poems and one eight-by-ten black and white
photo of the poet. No materials will be returned.
Postmark deadline: February 19. Send to: Ray Tatar,
Poet Laureate Program, California Arts Council,
1300 I Street, Suite 930, Sacramento, CA 95814. See
the CAC web site, cac.ca.gov for more details.
The Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission is
seeking a 2002--2004 Laureate. The poet must be
available for public readings and talks; there is
an honorarium of $1,500 for a two-year term.
Guidelines and entry forms are available at the
Arts Commission, 2030 Del Paso Blvd., Sacramento,
CA 95815. Deadline: February 1. The Sacramento
Anthology: One Hundred Poems, edited by current
co-Laureates Dennis Schmitz and Viola Weinberg, was
just published by the Sacramento Poet Laureate
Program. The collection celebrates a wonderfully
detailed sense of Sacramento; the selections were
made from thousands of submission. Copies are
available for $10 from the Arts Commission, and are
on sale at area bookstores including Beers Book
Center, Tim Tested Books, Border Books in Elk
Grove, Carol's Books, The Avid Reader, Open Book
Ltd., and Tower Books. For more information, call
the Sacramento Arts Commission, (916) 566-3992.
Not to be outdone: Poet and Sebastopol resident
David Bromige has been selected as the second Poet
Laureate of Sonoma County.
Poets & Writers, Inc. is beginning a new
program for Marin County, Writers in the Parks,
focusing on supporting readings and writing
workshops in Marin's large number of national,
state, and local parks and large open spaces. The
readings and writing workshops to be supported must
address some aspect of the Marin landscape, the
environment, the effect our actions have on the Bay
Area's land, or other appropriate topics. As
Director Ryan Tranquilla says, "Poets & Writers
hopes that the Writers in the Parks program will
encourage writers to be active figures in helping
to interpret the surrounding natural landscape,
through poetry and prose, for Bay Area residents as
well as visitors to Marin's many parks." To learn
more, call Poets & Writers San Francisco office
at (415) 986-9577 or e-mail ryan@pw.org.
News: John Ashbery received the Wallace Stevens
Award from the Academy of American Poets, $150,000
for mastery in the art of poetry. Committee members
for 2001 were Charles Bernstein, Susan Howe,
Harryette Mullen, Geoffrey O'Brien, and Cole
Swensen. Alan Dugan received the National Book
Award 2001 for Poems Seven: New and Complete
Poetry. Robert Pinsky said, "Dugan is among the
most original and impressive American poets alive."
If you aren't familiar with Alan Dugan's forty-year
career, take a look at this master poet's book. Los
Angeles poet Wanda Coleman's Mercurochrome was also
nominated for the national honor.
Two Northern California poets were chosen for
the National Poetry Series; 2001 winners included
Elizabeth Robinson's The Tunnel, chosen by
Fanny Howe, to be published by Sun & Moon Press
and Ruth L. Schwartz's Edgewater (see "New
& Noted," backpage), chosen by Jane Hirshfield,
to be published by HarperCollins. Other winners
were Betsy Brown of Minneapolis, Year of
Morphines, chosen by George Garrett; David
Groff, New York City, Theory of Devolution,
chosen by Mark Doty; and Terrance Hayes of
Pittsburgh, Hip Logic, chosen by Cornelius
Eady.
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