Joy Harjo Appointed 23^rd U.S. Poet Laureate

For Joy Harjo, newly appointed U.S. Poet Laureate, poems are “carriers of dreams, knowledge, and wisdom,” and have the power to change lives.  The author of eight books, including the recently released collection, An American Sunrise, Harjo is the first Native American to serve in the position.  She hails from the Muscogee Creek Nation and lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  In her memoir, Crazy Brave, she recalls growing up in poverty, her alcoholic father, and a first, failed marriage.  Poetry, she believes, “is a kind of music” that can “transform experiences that could potentially destroy people, a family, a person, to experiences that build connections and community.”  “Humanizing” and “healing” are two of her goals as poet laureate, Harjo told Lynn Neary in an interview with NPR   “I really believe that if people sit together and hear their deepest feelings and thoughts beyond political divisiveness, it makes connections,” she said.

In Memoriam

New York poet, performer, and artist John Giorno, 82, whose early poetry broke conventional boundaries and whose recent “text art” features graphic phrases against bold backgrounds, has died.  In 1967, he started Dial-a-Poem, a service that presented callers with short poems by Manhattan poets, and went on to collaborate with artist Brion Gysin and writer William Burroughs, among others.  A gay man, he spearheaded efforts to raise funds for people with HIV/AIDS and, in the 1970s, studied with exiled Tibetan teacher Dudjom Rinpoche in India, converting to Buddhism.  A retrospective of his work, organized by his husband, Ugo Rondinone, opened at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris in 2015, later traveling to venues in New York.  “John was filled with extraordinary generosity, presence, and humor, not to mention a deep drive to be part of conversations and collaborations with artists…we may never see the likes of someone like him again,” commented art dealer Elizabeth Dee to Art News.

Submissions

Reed Magazine, “California’s oldest literary journal” is currently open until November 1^st for submissions of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and visual art.  www.reedmag.org/submit…..Emry’s Journal is open until November 1^st for submissions in poetry, short fiction, and creative nonfiction.  For more information, visit www.emrys.org…..Crazyhorse, out of the College of Charleston, is open for general submissions until December 31^st  and will also be accepting submissions for prizes in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction during the month of January.  www.crazyhorse.cofc.edu…..Allegro Poetry Magazine is currently accepting submissions for poems on the theme of “Home” until October 31.  www.allegropoetry.org   The Haiku Poets of Northern California is sponsoring a contest for haiku, senryu, and tanka (until October 31^st), and rengay (until January 31^st).  Prizes will be awarded and the winning poems will be published in the organization’s journal, Mariposa; for guidelines, visit www.hpnc.org. 

New Poems

Night Song received the grand prize in the TallGrass Writers Guild Contest and will appear in their anthology, Loon Magic and Other Night Sounds, available this month from Outrider Press (www.outriderpress.net).  My sincere gratitude to Editor Whitney Scott and to the judge, Diane Williams, for this award…..Invisible Ocean will appear in the October issue (volume 19) of The Healing Muse, the nonprofit literary and visual arts journal published by SUNY Upstate Medical University’s Center for Bioethics and Humanities (www.upstate.edu).  Founded by the late poet, BA St. Andrews, the journal focuses on themes of medicine, illness, disability, and healing…..White Camellias in November and Walking Among Redwoods will appear in the fall issue of California Quarterly, 45:4.  Edited by Pearl Karrer, it’s published by the California Sate Poetry Society (www.californiastatepoetrysociety.org)…..After Beauty will appear in the December issue of Linden Avenue Journal.  Founded by poet and essayist Athena Dixon in 2012, Linden Avenue offers a venue for “daughters of the diaspora” as well as others, and seeks work “that highlights the intersections between art and everyday life and gifts us with extraordinary imagery.” (www.lindenavelit.com)…..When it Appears will appear in Spiritus, A Journal of Christian Spirituality, Fall, 2019.  Published semi-annually by John Hopkins University Press, the peer-reviewed journal “covers research on Christian spirituality while fostering creative dialogue with non-Christian traditions.”  (www.press.jhu.edu)…..Thinking About Not Thinking will appear in issue #34 of Urthona, A Journal of Buddhism and the Arts, that includes in-depth essays, art features, and interviews (www.urthona.com).  Thanks to the editors and staff of all of these publications!