Wislawa Szmborska Dies at 88.
February 3rd, 2012
Polish poet Wislawa Szymborska, who won the 1996 Nobel Prize in Literature, died of lung cancer on Wednesday in Krakow, Poland.
The next issue of Smartish Pace (#19, April, 2012) includes two poems about Szymborska written by Stephen Dunn.
Frank O'Hara & Jan Cremer in Baltimore
February 1st, 2012
Load of Fun Gallery (LOF/g), in collaboration with the i.e. Reading Series, hosts a silkscreen print exhibition and poetry reading. The exhibition combines silkscreen printed poems of Baltimore native Frank O’Hara, silkscreen illustrations by his associate Jan Cremer, and readings of poems and texts by O’Hara presented by the i.e. Reading Series, curated by Michael Ball and Chris Mason. The exhibition is in the newly renovated LOF/g in February, 2012, and is the first public exposure of these works in the USA. For more details please visit LOF/g.
Frank O'Hara & Jan Cremer; Amsterdam, 1963
Naomi Long Madgett Wins Kresge Eminent Artist Award
January 27th, 2012
Poet Naomi Long Madgett won the $50,000 2012 Kresge Eminent Artist Award funded by The Kresge Foundation. The award is given annually to an exceptional artist who has made a longstanding contribution to metropolitan Detroit in the literary, performing and visual arts. Kresge's press release states that the award "acknowledges Madgett's decades of commitment to originating, illuminating, and preserving poetry by African-Americans, and promoting the study and appreciation of African-American literature in schools and universities. A professor emeritus of English at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Mich., Madgett is the author of 10 books of poetry, a pair of textbooks, and the 2006 memoir, "Pilgrim Journey." She also has edited two anthologies."
Jeanne Wagner Wins Beullah Rose Poetry Prize
December 9th, 2011
Jeanne Wagner's poem "Fanlight" won the 8th Annual Beullah Rose Poetry Prize from Smartish Pace. Here are the complete prize results; all poems will be published in Smartish Pace, Issue 19.
First Prize: "Fanlight" by Jeanne Wagner
Second Prize: "Cognomen" by Erin Radcliffe
Third Prize: "A Girl Gets Sick of a Rose" by Amy Woolard
Finalists:
"Fables" by Patricia Davis
"White Wash" by Deborah Dolittle
"Passerine" by Erin Radcliffe
"Winter Solstice 1983" by Jeanne Wagner
Prize Judges:
Clare Banks, Associate Editor, Smartish Pace
Traci O'Dea, Associate Editor, Smartish Pace
Enter your poems in the next Beullah Rose Poetry Prize!
Alison Pelegrin Wins Erskine J. Poetry Prize
December 1st, 2011
With her poem "Pantoum of the Endless Hurricane Debris," Alison Pelegrin won the 11th Annual Erskine J. Poetry Prize from Smartish Pace. Here are the complete prize results; all poems will be published in Smartish Pace, Issue 19.
First Prize: "Pantoum of the Endless Hurricane Debris" by Alison Pelegrin
Second Prize: "Last November" by Jason Miller
Third Prize: "Button Under the Couch at 20 Maresfield Gardens" by Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé
Finalists:
"This Poem is a Real Bitch" by Anne Barngrover
"Staring Contest" by Noah Falck
"Catharsis" by M.B. McLatchey
Prize Judges:
Stephen Reichert, Editor, Smartish Pace
Dan Todd, Senior Editor, Smartish Pace
Enter your poems in the next Erskine J. Poetry Prize!
Smartish Pace's Pushcart Prize Nominations
November 30th, 2011
Smartish Pace 2011 Pushcart Prize Nominations, made by Editor Stephen Reichert
From Issue 18 (April, 2011)
Anthony DiMatteo: “In Our Place”
Matt Hart: “Beyond and Beyonder”
Amy Pickworth: “The Ohio Poem”
Matthew Rohrer: “What is More Distracting Than Clouds”
Marguerite Thoburn Watkins: “Bitter Berries”
Austin Tremblay: “Lover, Your Stadium Seating”
SP poems have won in the past...best of luck deserving poets!
Mothers' Garden Poetry Prize
November 9th, 2011
In partnership with Smartish Pace, Friends of Mothers’ Garden offers a citywide poetry contest for Baltimore City residents. The winning poem will be engraved on a plaque and displayed in Mothers’ Garden (Baltimore).
Submit one to three poems on the topic of mothers or motherhood. Poems must be previously unpublished and no longer than 15 lines. Deadline: February 15, 2012. Electronic and paper submissions accepted. Contest is open to residents of Baltimore City only.
Email submissions:
Include your name, address, email, telephone number, and “Mothers’ Garden Poetry Prize” on the top right of your entry. Submit poem by attaching a Word or RTF file via email to cbanks@smartishpace.com.
Paper submissions:
Include your name, address, email, telephone number, and “Mothers’ Garden Poetry Prize” on the top right of your entry. Submit poem by mailing your entry to Smartish Pace, Mothers’ Garden Poetry Prize, P.O. Box 22161, Baltimore, MD 21203.
Judge: Clare Banks, Associate Editor of Smartish Pace
Mothers’ Garden is a public park located at the northwest corner of Clifton Park in Baltimore, Md. Created in 1926 to honor all of Baltimore’s mothers, the five-acre garden consisted of a rose-covered pergola, terraced flower beds, shaded walkways, benches, and a Japanese-style bridge spanning a lily pond with ornamental fish. This haven for mothers was presented to then Mayor Howard Jackson at a ceremony that attracted over 6,000 people.
Since 2010, the nonprofit organization Friends of Mothers’ Garden has held a Mothers’ Day event in the garden that is being restored through the work of volunteers.
Tomas Segovia Dies
November 8th, 2011
Poet and essayist Tomas Segovia died in the Mexican capital of complications to the cancer he suffered. He was 84.
The Spanish-born Segovia, who went to Mexico as an exile after his homeland's 1936-1939 civil war, was the recipient of numerous honors including the 2000 Octavio Paz Prize for Poetry and the Essay and the 2005 Juan Rulfo Prize for Latin American and Caribbean Literature. He was also honored in 2008 with the Federico Garcia Lorca International Poetry Prize.
Among his major works were "La Luz Provisional" (The Provisional Light) in 1950, "El Sol y Su Eco" (The Sun and Its Echo) in 1960, "Anagnroisis" in 1967, "Figura y Secuencias" (Figure and Sequences) in 1979, "Cantata a Solas" (Cantata Alone) in 1985, "Casa del Nomada" (Home of the Nomad) in 1994, "Fiel Imagen" (Faithful Image) in 1997 and "Sonetos Votivos" (Votive Sonnets) in 2005 and 2008.
Patricia Frolander, Wyoming Poet Laureate
November 7th, 2011
Wyoming Gov. Mead appointed Patricia Frolander as the state's poet laureate. Patricia's first book, "Grassland Genealogy," was published in 2009. Her poetry has been published in numerous anthologies, including "American Life in Poetry (Column 275)" by Ted Kooser, former U.S. Poet Laureate. She won the 2011 Neltje Blanchan Award through the Wyoming Arts Council, was the winner of the 17th Annual National Senior Poets Laureate Competition sponsored by the Amy Kitchner's Angels Without Wings Foundation among other awards.
Robert Pinsky Receives Lifetime Achievement Award
November 6th, 2011
Former poet laureate Robert Pinsky received a lifetime achievement award from the PEN writers group in California.
Pinsky said the $1,000 award is special because of PEN’s dual role as a literary and human rights organization. “Its mission includes work for freedom of expression and efforts on behalf of imprisoned or threatened writers around the world,” Pinksy said. “That’s a particularly gratifying and, in a way, humbling aspect of this award.”
