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“I would LOVE to imagine / being alive in five / years but I have these bones u know? / and just like that I’m writing / a poem / a poem / a poem / again.” In this 2018 video from the Poetry Center at San Francisco State University, Tommy Pico reads an excerpt from Feed (Tin House Books, 2019), the fourth book in the Teebs tetralogy of book-length poems.
There are so many writers in Detroit that I am discovering. This week I want to share a conversation I recently had with local poet and editor Jeni De La O.
Jeni founded Relato:Detroit, a bilingual community storytelling series, and Poems in the Park, an acoustic poetry reading series in historic Lafayette Park. A first-generation Cuban American who grew up in Miami, Jeni came to writing from humble beginnings. “My mom grabbed some scraps of fabric from a dress she’d made me, cut up a cereal box and went at it with her hot glue gun to make me a journal,” she says about what drove her to write as a youngster.
Jeni moved from Miami to Detroit about ten years ago. “When I got to Detroit, the people felt like home, and that feeling of home lets you breathe,” says Jeni. “This city puts life and movement and connection into your writing in a way I haven’t felt or seen elsewhere.” Some of her favorite venues and events in Detroit include the Secret Society of Twisted Storytellers, the Brain Candy series held at Green Brain Comics, and the East Side Reading Series
I asked Jeni if she could put out a call to action to Detroit writers, what would it be? In chorus with many of the local writers I have spoken with, Jeni suggested a large gathering of literary artists or a citywide poetry festival. I truly think that there are already writers beginning to lay the groundwork for something of that magnitude in years to come. I am glad to have a voice and to highlight voices in this growing conversation.
Jeni De La O. Justin Rogers is the literary outreach coordinator for Poets & Writers in Detroit. Contact him at Detroit@pw.org or on Twitter, @Detroitpworg.
Cameron Awkward-Rich discusses turning archival research—traces of the past—into poems.
The Orion in the Wilderness retreat, cosponsored by the Omega Institute, was held from March 8 to March 14 at the American Museum of Natural History’s Southwestern Research Station in Cave Creek Canyon in Portal, Arizona, surrounded by the Chiricahua Mountains, known for their abundant bird life and hiking trails. The retreat included workshops, readings, lectures, manuscript consultations with faculty, presentations on local ecology and lore, and optional birding and hikes for poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers.
Orion in the Wilderness, Orion Magazine, 187 Main Street, Great Barrington, MA 01230.
As we enter the last month of 2019, the time is right to submit to contests with a deadline of December 15. These poetry, fiction, and nonfiction awards include opportunities to attend a residency in upstate New York and to have your work reviewed by a literary agency. Most offer a prize of $1,000 or more.
Center for Book Arts Letterpress Poetry Chapbook Competition: A prize of $500 and letterpress publication by the Center for Book Arts is given annually for a poetry chapbook. The winner will also receive an additional $500 to give a reading with the contest judge at the Center for Book Arts in New York City in fall 2020, and a weeklong residency at the Winter Shakers program at the Millay Colony for the Arts in Austerlitz, New York. Entry fee: $30.
Commonwealth Club of California Book Awards: Five prizes are given annually for a poetry collection, a book of fiction, a first book of fiction, a book of creative nonfiction, and a book of fiction or nonfiction that relates to California published during the previous year. Books written by authors residing in California are eligible. Entry fee: none.
F(r)iction Short Story Contest: A prize of $1,000 is given three times a year for a short story. Entry fee: $15.
LitMag Virginia Woolf Award for Short Fiction: A prize of $3,500 and publication in LitMag is given annually for a short story. A second-place prize of $1,000 will also be given. The winners will have their work reviewed by Sobel Weber Associates literary agency. The editors will judge. Entry fee: $20.
Mid-American Review Poetry and Fiction Contests: Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication in Mid-American Review are given annually for a poem (the James Wright Poetry Award) and a short story (the Sherwood Anderson Fiction Award). Entry fee: $10.
Silverfish Review Press Gerald Cable Book Award: A prize of $1,000, publication by Silverfish Review Press, and 25 author copies is given annually for a first poetry collection. Entry fee: $25, which includes a copy of the winning book.
Willow Books Literature Awards: Two prizes of $1,000 each and publication by Willow Books are given annually for a book of fiction and a book of creative nonfiction by writers of color. Entry fee: $25.
Visit the contest websites for complete guidelines, and check out the Grants & Awards database and Submission Calendar for more contests in poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.
“Elephant on an orange line, underneath a yellow circle / meaning sun. / 6 green, vertical lines, with color all from the top / meaning flowers.” In this animated short film for the TED-Ed “There’s a Poem for That” series, Aracelis Girmay reads her poem “For Estefani Lora, Third Grade, Who Made Me a Card” from her collection Teeth (Curbstone Press, 2007).
Submissions are currently open for Columbia Journal’s 2019 Winter Contest, which features awards for poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. One winner in each genre will receive a $1,000 cash prize and publication in Columbia Journal in spring 2020. At least two runners-up will also be selected and announced for each category.
Using only the online submission system, submit a cover letter and up to five poems totaling no more than five pages or a piece of prose of up to 5,000 words with a $15 entry fee by December 15. Ruth Madievsky, Ottessa Moshfegh, and Ada Calhoun will judge for poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, respectively. Visit the website for complete guidelines.
Founded in 1977, Columbia Journal is edited by students in the Columbia University School of the Arts MFA program. The journal, which publishes a print edition every spring and online content throughout the year, seeks to “showcase the best poetry, nonfiction, fiction, translation, and visual art.” Previous issues have featured Raymond Carver, Joyce Carol Oates, and Sharon Olds, among others.
On November 22, I attended “Poets Respond to Gentrification,” a reading cosponsored by the Readings & Workshops program that was part of the 2019 Words & Music Festival.
The sold-out reading was held at the Community Book Center, the only remaining Black-owned bookstore in New Orleans. There was a large, diverse crowd of attendees which included local poets. The evening began with youth jazz musicians playing classic songs including “Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans.” Veteran poet Peteh Muhammad Haroon emceed the reading which featured Skye Jackson, Michael Quess Moore, Sha’Condria iCon Sibley, and Akilah Toney.
Seventeen-year-old Akilah Toney started the evening with a poem containing the refrain: “You not from here, you don’t know how it feel. You love the culture, not the people—the love not real.” Skye Jackson wore a long, black velvet, off-the-shoulder dress and delivered a poem about being born and raised in New Orleans and the tension she feels from watching the neighborhoods change. Michael Quess Moore, a former teacher and now a full-time artist, addressed colonization and the global impact of white supremacy in his poems. Moore has been on the front line of the removal of Confederate monuments in New Orleans. Sha’Condria iCon Sibley opened with a poem exploring the current political climate and questioned what her poem should be called suggesting, “We’re Living Between Barack and a Hard Place.”
It was great to know that these four engaging readers were able to receive mini-grants from the R&W program. The reading was followed by an open mic and drinks at nearby Whiskey & Sticks, a wonderful way to wrap up a night about community.
The flyer for the “Poets Respond to Gentrification” reading. Kelly Harris is the literary outreach coordinator for Poets & Writers in New Orleans. Contact her at NOLA@pw.org or on Twitter, @NOLApworg.I would like to take time to focus some attention on a few of the literary organizations helping Houston shine bright. Houston VIP Slam, currently led by Houston’s poet laureate Deborah D.E.E.P. Mouton, is a slam team that provides community for writers who want to take their stories to the stage. Houston VIP has just celebrated ten years of their program and they show no signs of stopping.
I have been a big fan of their work and dedication for quite a while and the format for their monthly slam is so inclusive and so necessary for community building. Each slam is scheduled for the last Saturday of the month and begins with a writing workshop, a unique structure that provides time and inspiration for new work to be created. Local poets and anyone in attendance for the slam are invited to participate in a series of writing exercises led by the night’s emcee. The workshop usually takes place between 7:00 PM and 8:00 PM. The slam begins at 8:00 PM and concludes with a featured poet taking the stage to wow the crowd.
Houston VIP holds twelve slam events for the year, with one poet winning each slam. The winning twelve poets then move on to compete in the Grand Slam at the end of the season for a spot on the Houston VIP National Poetry Slam Team. The top five poets from the Grand Slam represent Houston at the annual National Poetry Slam.
The next workshop and slam will be on December 14 featuring Rudy Francisco. If you’re in the Houston area and looking for something to do on a Saturday night, go by. It is truly a beautiful experience.
“Child, we move through graves / like eels, delicious with our heads first, our mouths / agape.” In this Ours Poetica video, Jane Wong reads her poem “After Preparing the Altar, the Ghosts Feast Feverishly” published in the November 2018 issue of Poetry magazine. Wong’s second poetry collection, How to Not Be Afraid of Everything, is forthcoming from Alice James Books in 2021.
