Announcements

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Barbara Morrison to Host Book Launch Party

Little Patuxent Review blog contributor Barbara Morrison, author of Here at Least and Innocent: Confessions of a Welfare Mother, will host a book launch party for her new collection of poems, Terrarium. LPR contributor Shirley Brewer, says of the book, “Morrison’s gift is to create a world that evokes a very strong sense of place. Even in dark moments—both past and present—nature’s comforting arms are never far away.” Friday, May 10, 7 pm, The Ivy Bookshop, 6080 Falls Road, Baltimore, MD. Free. For further information, contact The Ivy Bookshop at 410-377-2966 or info@theivybookshop.com.

Jim Ross To Be Published in Clockhouse Review

LPR blog contributor Jim Ross’ essay “How I Spent My Summer Internship” will be published in an upcoming issue of Clockhouse Review. The essay is a look back at his 1987 summer reporting internship at the St. Petersburg Times, an experience also mentioned in his LPR piece “After Midnight.” Jim will return to Ashland, Ohio in May to attend the second annual River Teeth Nonfiction Conference. He was part of the inaugural class last year.

Clarinda Harriss to Participate in Poetry and Conversation Series

LPR contributor Clarinda Harriss and Karen Garthe will work in tandem at an iteration of the Enoch Pratt Free Library Poetry and Conversation series. Harriss is a professor emerita of English at Towson University and the prize-winning author of five poetry collections. She directs BrickHouse Books. Garthe, now an NYC resident, grew up in Baltimore. She won the 2005 Colorado Prize for Poetry for Frayed Escort. Her The Banjo Clock was published in 2012. Tuesday, March 5, 6:30-8:00 pm, Central Library, 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD.

Jen Grow to Read at Anonymous Requiem

LPR fiction editor Jen Grow will be reading a short piece as part of Bruun Studios’ Anonymous Requiem. Other participants include Clarence Brown, Navasha Daya, Lionel Foster, Violaine Melançon, Bill Schmidt and Kirk Wulf. This event is free, although donations are appreciated in support of Roberta’s House Grief & Loss Center, a nonprofit organization with the focus of restoring children and families to a place of wholeness as they experience grieving the loss of a loved one. Sunday, January 13, 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. Bruun Studios, 302 E. Federal Street, Baltimore, MD 21202. NOTE: RSVP required by January 10th.

Truth Thomas Nominated for an NAACP Image Award

Nominees for the 44th NAACP Image Awards were announced on December 11, 2012 in Beverly Hills, CA. LPR Contributing Editor Truth Thomas was nominated in the Poetry category for his latest poetry collection, Speak Water, put out by Cherry Castle Publishing. Winners will be announced during a two-hour star-studded event that will air live on Friday, February 1 (8:00 pm ET live/PT tape-delayed) on NBC.  Other nominees in the category are Arisa White, Marcus Wicker, Rowan Ricardo Phillips and Natasha Trethewey.

Naomi Thiers’ New Poetry Book Available for Pre-order

LPR contributor Naomi Thiers’ new poetry book In Yolo County is based on her grandparents’ odd courtship. Yolo County is in central California, where her grandparents were farmworkers. The book will be published by Finishing Line Press this coming March and is currently available at $12.00 a copy for online pre-order. Reserve a copy today, and it will ship March 9, 2013.

Ann Bracken Selected for Anthology, Nominated for Pushcart Prize

Ann Bracken, LPR Review Committee member and contributor, will have her poem “Marital Privilege” featured in the 2013 anthology Women Write Resistance: Poets Resist Gender Violence, published by Blue Light Press. Editor Laura Madeline Wiseman said this about the poets selected for the anthology: “…poets of resistance claim the power to name and talk about gender violence in and on their own terms. Indeed, these poets fight for change by revising justice and framing poetry as action.” Ann’s poem “Mrs. S,” recently published in the Reckless Writing Anthology, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Jen Grow Offers Fiction Dialogue Workshop

LPR fiction editor Jen Grow will lead an hour-long workshop on how to write great dialogue in fiction. She’s got several easy techniques to share that will make the dialogue you write believable, engaging and lively. Come prepared to participate in writing exercises and to interact with other writers. This workshop is free. Wednesday, November 7, 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm at the central branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, MD.

Danuta Hinc to Talk at The Writer’s Center

LPR editorial board member Danuta Hinc will read excerpts from the fictionalized memoir Angels in the Forest that she is currently writing and discuss her process. The book is about her grandfather and a story about angels that he told her. Because she was too young to hear about World War II atrocities, he used the story to both concealed the truth and, through metaphor, tell her exactly what happened. It took her 11 years to unravel the truth, and her fictionalized memoir is about that unraveling. November 15, 12:00 noon to 2:00 pm, The Writer’s Center, Bethesda, MD.

Ron Capps Announces New Veterans Writing Project Seminars

Ron Capps, Veterans Writing Project founder and director and LPR blog contributor, tells us that the VWP will hold Fall 2012 Open Seminars October 20-21 at The George Washington University in Washington, DC. The seminars are free for veterans, service members and military family members and cover elements of craft such as scene, setting, dialogue, narrative structure and plot. VWP instructors are combat veterans who are working writers holding MAs or MFAs in writing. For more information or registration, visit the website and check the calendar. Also check out the new journal, O-Dark-Thirty.

Ann Bracken’s Poems Selected for Reckless Writing Anthology

Ann Bracken, LPR Review Committee member and contributor, will have two poems featured in the upcoming 2012 Reckless Writing Anthology: The Modernization of Poetry by Emerging Writers of the 21^st Century from Chatter House Press. Ann’s poems were selected along with the work of 39 other poets from across the United States. The anthology will be available in November, 2012 from Amazon and Chatter House Press. Penny Lewis, the editor of the anthology, had this to say about the selected poems: “Taken together, the poems demonstrate a noteworthy breadth of styles and views upon universal experience.”

Michael Salcman to Participate in Science Café Reading and Discussion

Michael Salcman, Little Patuxent Review Consulting Editor for Art, will give a joint poetry reading with Myra Sklarew on the topic of Science and Technology. Their reading will be followed by a panel discussion with brief readings by other poets and writers. This event is the 12th in an annual series of Science Café readings and discussions sponsored by the DC Science Writers Association and supported by Busboys and Poets. Wednesday, September 19, 6:30 to 8:30 pm, Busboys and Poets, 5th and K Street, Washington, DC. For further information, contact host Ivan Amato at DCScienceCafe@dcswa.org.

Shirley Brewer Starts a New Service

If you want to move forward with your writing goals but need some professional assistance, consider The Poet’s Coach. Through this service, Little Patuxent Review contributor Shirley Brewer offers help with particular poems, the craft of poetry in general as well as practical matters such as manuscript organization and journal submissions. Shirley has an MA in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts from the University of Baltimore, is the author of a chapbook and will have a poetry collection published early next year. Contact Shirley by email (shirleybrewer09@comcast.net) or phone (410-279-5487).

Truth Thomas Featured at Busboys and Poets Open Mic

August’s Nine on the Ninth Open Mic will be hosted by Little Patuxent Review contributor Derrick Weston Brown and feature LPR contributing editor Truth Thomas. Truth has a new poetry collection out and has contributed to numerous publications, including the anthology The 100 Best African American Poems.  August 9, 9:00 pm, Busboys and Poets, 14th & V, Washington, DC, $5 (buy tickets online on the day of the event).

Linda Joy Burke to Appear at the Pratt

Join poets Michelle Antoinette Nelson, better known as LOVE the poet, and Little Patuxent Review Contributing Editor Linda Joy Burke as they perform their own work and discuss the differences between poems on the page and poems performed onstage. August 8, 2012, 6:30 pm, Enoch Pratt Free Library Central Branch, 400 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD.

Laura Shovan to Speak at MWA Carroll County Chapter Meeting

At the next Carroll County chapter meeting, Laura Shovan, editor of Little Patuxent Review, will be “giving us an editor’s perspective on opportunities to hone submission skills and increase acceptance rates, says Regina Sokas, chapter president. Join Laura and chapter members on Saturday, August 11 at 1:00 pm at the Mt. Airy Public Library, Large Conference Room, 705 Ridge Avenue in Mt. Airy, MD.