Harvesting Pomegranates and Poetry in October

fall hues turn red

pomegranate juice on my fingers - 

I taste the seeds

October is the month of the harvest. Octoberfest in Bavaria. Thanksgiving in Canada. Pomegranates in my one-tree orchard. What does my crop of poetry publications and readings look like?  Exciting and refreshing like the pomegranates off my tree.

LA POETRY HOSTS AT NOHO LIT CRAWL - OCTOBER 22

I must say I love being invited to do things with friends. I also love being invited to do things with new friends. Jessica Wilson included my name in a small group of Los Angeles Poetry Hosts who will be featured together this Wednesday during the NoHo Lit Crawl event at 9 p.m. Live music -drums and flute by Juan Cardenas, and round robin poetry by the guests of Jessica, a dynamo of energy and poetic talent.

Since I could not quite figure out where I'm supposed to be and how to find my way Jessica made us a map with red arrows that make the location  really, really obvious. Come if you have a taste for some poetry on Wednesday night, come if you don't. You never know what you'll find.

WOMAN IN METAPHOR  AT BEYOND BAROQUE - OCTOBER 25 

I'm really honored to have been selected to join an elite group of poets, inspired by the mysterious, mystifying and mystic art of Stephen Linsteadt. My poem came from a fascination with his portrait of a ballet dancer, reflected in a series of mirrors. I melded the Myth of Orpheus losing his Euridice with a Balinese myth of a fish that was a dancing tree... in an altogether surreal set of images... Dance, Euridice, dance. Pas de poisson!

The event's description: "Twenty-seven poets from around the world share their vision of the feminine spirit, inspired by the paintings of Stephen Linsteadt. Editor, Maria Elena B. Mahler, collected twenty-seven poems from twenty-seven accomplished, published, and award winning poets from different parts of the world. She invited them to write a poem based on one of Stephen Linsteadt's paintings; paintings he created over the last thirty-five years. Live music by Adey Bell."

At Beyond Baroque: Saturday, October 25, 2014 at 8 p.m. Regular Admission. 
681 Venice Blvd, Venice, California 90291

GUTTERS & ALLEYWAYS ANTHOLOGY READINGS IN OCT & NOV

I'm very happy to have a poem included in an amazing anthology, Gutters and Alleyways: Perspectives on Poverty and Struggle, published by Lucid Moose Lit Press this fall. There are many readings scheduled in Southern California, as discussed below.  Due to other deadlines I missed the big launch described below, but I hope to make it to at least one reading later - most likely to the November 11 reading in Echo Park. 

The Gutters & Alleyways Anthology and Lucid Moose Lit Press launch was a wonderful success. Thank you to all of you who come out in support of this project release. We’d love to meet even more of you at upcoming readings and events. A few ways to keep up with the latest Lucid Moose news is through the website, LucidMooseLit.com, and through the Facebook page,facebook.com/lucidmooselit. There you will find photos from the big launch event, the latest information about readings, and new submission calls such as our very next anthology, Like a Girl: Perspectives on Feminine Identity and Development. We hope you will consider sending us a new batch of work for this and future projects.

 

For contributors outside of the southern California area, we will be mailing out contributor copies over the next week. For those able to come to an upcoming event, we will give you your copy in person. Here is a list of upcoming readings where you may also sign up to read in an open reading list (email us if you can 100% commit to reading at one of these events and we can possibly add your name to the “mini feature” list):

October 24th 6:30-9 pm at Half Off Books in Whittier (joint Cadence Collective reading)

October 29th 8-10 pm at the Ugly Mug in Orange

November 11th 6:30 pm at Stories in Echo Park

December 8th 7 pm at Gatsby Books in Long Beach

 

Other opportunities to pick up your copy (Please email or message if you can stop by one of these locations on these dates):

November 10th at 7 pm  Gatsby Books in Long Beach

November 18th at Rebel Bite in Long Beach

 

If you’d like to buy additional copies online, the most direct way is through www.createspace.com/4971670. Copies will also be available at local independent bookstores: Gatsby Books in Long Beach, Read On Till Morning in San Pedro, and Half Off Books in Whittier. If you are interested in bulk copies, please email us about price discounts.

 

QUILL AND PARCHMENT - VOL. 160, OCTOBER 2014

The October issue of the Quill and Parchment monthly poetry magazine, edited by Sharmagne Leland St. John is a virtual cornucopia of inspiration.  There is a notice about my book, Slicing the Bread, with the title poem and various statements by other poets.

TITLE PAGE: http://www.quillandparchment.com/archives/Oct2014/vol160.html

MY BOOK PAGE: http://www.quillandparchment.com/archives/Oct2014/new.html

SLICING THE BREAD PUBLICATION - DELAYED TO NOVEMBER 

https://finishinglinepress.com/product_info.php?products_id=2149

All those who had pre-ordered copies of my "Slicing the Bread" chapbook from Finishing Line Press that is supposed to be published on October 25, 2014 will have to wait a little bit longer. I did not get my page proofs yet, so please be patient.  In the meantime, several poems made it to various venues, so they can be found and enjoyed in these locations. You also can read about the book on the various blogs and websites.

The book is starting to get noticed on blogs and in papers, and thanks to Andrena Zawinski, four poems can be read in the Poetry Magazine this fall:

Andrena Zawinski's Featured Poets in Poetry Magazine, Vol. 13 no. 3. www.poetrymagazine.com

John Guzlowski posted about it on his Writing the Polish Diaspora blog:
http://writingpolishdiaspora.blogspot.com/2014/07/slicing-bread-by-maja-trochimczyk.html

Rae wrote about it on her blog: Books for Mom: 
http://booksformom.blogspot.com/2014/10/monday-morning-poetry-slicing-bread.html

Forum Polonia Houston reprinted the notice with links to order copies: Slicing the Bread in Houston

The New Book Journal noticed and reprinted the press release: Slicing the Bread on New Book Journal

Then its editor, Ray K. Alan posted it on Pinterest:  Slicing the Bread Pinned to Interests

Don Kingfisher Campbell put one poem, "The Way to School" in his San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly, Fall 2014. I did not attend the reading, so my poem is not posted on the blog.

And, if you have not seen the previous post about the book on this blog, with all the advanced praise by wonderful poets,  here's the link from Poetry Laurels from July 2014:
 http://poetrylaurels.blogspot.com/2014/07/finishing-line-press-to-publish-slicing.html

And, for all those who read all the way to the end, here's the poetic reward, one poem from the Poetry Magazine set:

THE SPOON

It was made of rough metal, thick and light.

Its grey, unpolished surface looked like
no other spoon she ever saw.

Grandma said: Ah, yes, that spoon 
was made of a plane shot down 
near the Mieleszki forest.
People gathered metal scraps to melt 
into spoons. We used to carve ours
from birch-wood.  Aluminum was better.

What about the pilot? What happened to him? 
Children never stop asking questions. 

Grandma shrugs.  We found his parachute,
cut the silk into squares to filter milk,
make cheese. But the pilot?

I heard the Germans took him, 
came back for the plane. 

We did not get much,
 just some cheesecloth
and this one spoon.

(C) 2014 by Maja Trochimczyk

Poets on Site at Beyond Baroque, December 14 at 7:30 p.m.

On behalf of Kathabela Wilson who is traveling in India, I will host the reading of Poets on Site at

Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center in Venice
(681 Venice Bl. Venice, CA 90291),

on Friday, December 14, 2012 at 7: 30 p.m.

Admission: $7.00 adults, $5.00 students.

http://www.beyondbaroque.org/events.html

The reading will include poetry by Kathabela Wilson, Chris Wesley, Just Kibbe, Kathi Stafford, Millicent Borges Accardi, Alice Pero, Susan Rogers, Taoli-Ambika Talwar and Maja Trochimczyk. The presentation will include slides with the work of Susan Rogers and photos from past Poets on Site Events.

The following Poets on Site books will be represented:
1. Tour of the Arlington Gardens
2. Susan Dobay - Awakening
3. Pacific Asia Museum - Two Tours
4. Henry Fukuhara Plein Air Workshops Poetry Tours (Manzanar books)

POETS ON SITE (Notes by Kathabela Wilson)

Poet Kathabela Wilson created Poets on Site five years ago and since then it has grown to produce over 30 anthologies and performances edited and led by her which have included over 200 poets and artists as well as dancers and musicians. Poets on Site created the MUSE award winning audio tour of Pacific Asia Museum, 2010. Poets are inspired by interesting places and events, which include museums, galleries, gardens, concerts and lectures. They return to the sites of inspiration to perform multi-media programs.

Kathabela and Rick Wilson, who accompanies the poets on flutes from his collection of traditional world flutes will be in India for the month of December. It is a pleasure to introduce Poets on Site to Beyond Baroque in their absence. Maja Trochimczyk, who has been a part of Poets on Site from its inception will host the program and several longtime members, along with a few newer members of the group, will give a sampling of their work, accompanied by poet Chris Wesley on guitar. They group has eight new programs in development and is an organizational member of the Pasadena Arts Council. For history and bibliography of Poets on Site see www.oldflutes.com/poetsonsite which also includes links to their audio tours of the Pacific Asia Museum and many photos.

POETS BIOGRAPHIES

 Maja Trochimczyk, Ph.D. is a poet, music historian and photographer, born in Poland and living in California. She has been an active member of Poets on Site since the group's inception and has published and in all 30 anthologies and all performances by Poets on Site. She published four books of music studies, two books of poetry and two anthologies,Chopin with Cherries (2010) and Meditations on Divine Names (2012). Her poems appeared in Ekphrasis Journal, Epiphany Magazine, Quill and Parchment, Loch Raven Review, poeticdiversity, Phantom Seed, Van Gogh's Ear, San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterly, as well as many other journals. www.trochimczyk.net

 Justin Kibbe is the Associate Publisher and Managing Editor for THE Pasadena Foothills Magazine in Pasadena, California. Justin has been a member of Poets on Site since its conception in 2007. His poetry, essays, short fiction, cartoons and visual art have been published internationally in a plethora of mediums, including many Poets on Site anthologies. He received his MFA from Saint Mary’s College of California, and has taught in California, Colorado and Texas. Justin is a founding board member of Indelible Ink: a literary performance series and one of three founding co-captains of Pirate Pig Press.

Chris Wesley has been a long time participant in Poets On Site. He and 30 other poets contributed to Poets on Site’s MUSE award winning Pacific Asia Museum's Poetry Audio Tour in 2010. Chris Wesley plays guitar, bass and keyboards while writing and records music as the one man rock band, Teragin Mist. He is recipient of a 2012 Global Ebook Award for “Regret In Triptych” and creates multidisciplinary spoken word performances. He will accompany Poets on Site with his sensitive guitar improvisations. Go to www.chriswesley.com 

Susan Rogers has been a longtime Poet on Site and has participated in many of their performances and anthologies. Her work can be found in numerous books, journals and compilations including the San Diego Annual:The Best Poems of San Diego 2011-2012. Her work currently appears online at Saint Julian Press and Pirene’s Fountain. Her poetry is also part of the audio tour for the Pacific Asia Museum in Pasadena, California. She has also been interviewed by Lois P. Jones for KPFK’s Poets Café. She considers poetry a vehicle for light and a tool for the exchange of positive energy.She is a practitioner of Sukyo Mahikari— a spiritual practice that promotes positive thoughts, words and action. www.sukyomahikari.org 

Alice Pero’s book of poetry, Thawed Stars was praised by Kenneth Koch as having “clarity and surprises.” An accomplished flutist and former dancer, she is also the founder and host of the reading series, “Moonday, ” in Pacific Palisades and La Cañada, CA. Pero has created dialogue poems with over 20 poets and teaches poetry to children in public and private schools. Alice is currently in poetic dialogue with Kathabela. India, Kathabela’s current site (for the month of Dec 2012) has crept into their poems. Alice has performed with Poets on Site several times over the years, especially in our book and performance for the Arlington Garden, an in the 2011 celebration of Pacific Asia Museum’s 40th anniversary.

 Millicent Borges Accardi is the author of three poetry books: Injuring Eternity, Woman on a Shaky Bridge andOnly More So (forthcoming). She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, and Los Angeles Cultural Affairs. She's been a participant in Poets on Site for several years and is inspired newly by each intersection between visual art and the written word.

Kathi Stafford is a new member of Poets on Site whose work was recently included in the anthology, On Awakening, celebrating the paintings and creative imagination of Hungarian painter, Susan Dobay. She is a member of the Westside Women Writers group and a contributor to the Portuguese-American Journal. She has previously acted as poetry editor and senior editor for Southern California Review. Her poetry, interviews, and book reviews have appeared in literary journals such as Rattle, Chiron Review, Nerve Cowboy, Connecticut River Review, Southern California Review, and Hiram Poetry Review. Her poetry has been anthologized in Chopin and Cherries, as well as Sea of Change: Poems for Hitchcock. Born and raised in Texas, Stafford has lived in India and contrasting the memories of her childhood with the exotic impressions from her Indian sojourn is a frequent theme in her poetry.

Taoli-Ambika Talwar is an educator, published author and artist, who has written poetry since her teen years. She has authored Creative Resonance: Poetry—Elegant Play, Elegant Change, 4 Stars & 25 Roses (poems for her father) as well as some chapbooks. Her style is largely ecstatic, making her poetry a “bridge to other worlds.” She is published in Kyoto Journal, Inkwater Ink, vol. 3, Chopin with Cherries, among others. She is also published in VIA, in Poets on Site chapbooks, and several other journals; and has won an award for a short film at a festival in Belgium. As a wellness consultant, she practices IE:Intuition-Energetics™, a fusion of the Yuen Method, goddess studies, sacred geometry and creative/energetic principles for wellness. She has taught English at Cypress College, Cypress, California, for several years. Thus far, she has taught about 6,500 students. Sites: goldenmatrixvisions.com; intuition2wellness.com. Twitter: @Luminous Fields.