Saturday, August 28, 2010

Oct. 7 Celebrate Dead Poets Remembrance Day

1st Annual Dead Poets Remembrance Day, Nationwide Poetry Readings at the Gravesites of American Poets, October 7th, 2010. http://deadpoes.org/DiaDead.html  
The holiday Dead Poets Remembrance Day will be held in locations around the nation October 7th. Fittingly, October 7th is the day that Edgar Allan Poe died. “We are launching this tour in order to encourage groups of people in every state to get together on October 7th to honor our dead poets by reading at their graves,” said Walter Skold, the founder of the Dead Poets Society of America. Among the reading sites are the graves of some of the most and least-well known poets in the US, including Robert Lowell, Donald Justice, James Whitcomb Riley, Lydia Sigourney, John Trumball, Henry Timrod, Abram Ryan, and Sarah Whitman. Denise Low, the former poet laureate of Kansas, is number 18 on the list of state poets laureate who are endorsing the celebration of Dead Poets Remembrance Day.

Great Bend, Kansas, Poetry Rendezvous: Take a Trip Sept. 17-19

I attended this a couple years ago, and it was memorable: great company, great poetry, great food. Great Bend has pure Great Plains air and many people who really care about literature. September 17-18-19, Poetry Rendezvous XXIII, A continuing tradition of the Art of Metaphor. Words crafted for listening, causing thought, exciting emotions. This year they are featuring "Everypoet." Come join the poets, wordsmiths and friends at the Barton Arts Gallery, 1401 Main St., Great Bend. E-mail editor@chironreview.com  for more info about the Rendezvous or lodging, restaurants and airports. Contact George Martin or Michael Hathaway, editor of Chiron, 522 E. South Ave. , St. John, KS 67576-2212.

Sunday, August 8, 2010

"Summer" by Michael Poage

For most people this is
the final destination, only
a few continue on. The cat

spends all of each scorching day
in the empty bathtub. The dog
stretches out in front of

the fan and his fur moves
like a field of wheat in the summer
breeze. I lead a group of student

writers at the medresa through Berry’s,
“The Peace of Wild Things.” I ask:
What does ‘forethought of

grief’ mean? A young woman,
head covered, replies that to
her it is the anticipation

of something sad or a mishap.
Another student says, like falling
in love. Only a few continue on.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Call for Poems: Kansas History's "Kansas at 150" Special Issue

Deadline: November 1, 2010 In commemoration of Kansas's sesquicentennial in 2011, the magazine Kansas History will offer its readers a special "Kansas at 150" issue next spring. The essays in this issue will explore the theme of historical or collective memory as it relates to the identity and imagery of Kansas and/or the plains. To open this special issue the editors of Kansas History will select and publish the poem they feel best speaks to the issue's theme.

Submission Guidelines: Submit up to five (5) poems that explore the theme of Kansas and/or plains identity and imagery through historical or collective memory, either:

• by attaching a Word or RTF file to mtubbsloya@kshs.org. Identify your submission in the email subject line as "Poetry Submission": plus your full name;
• or by post, along with a self addressed stamped envelope, to:

Kansas Historical Society Attn: Kansas History, 6425 SW 6th Street, Topeka, KS 66615

Include your name, address, and email address on each page submitted by email or post. Cover letters are accepted but not necessary.

Simultaneous submissions will be accepted if they are identified as such and with the understanding that the author will notify Kansas History of acceptance elsewhere at the earliest possibly opportunity. We will not accept previously published material.

Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains, issued quarterly by the Kansas Historical Society, Inc., publishes new research on Kansas and central plains history and offers interesting, well-illustrated articles that appeal to both the serious student and the general reader.