Sandra Marchetti speaks at Naperville Writers Group

Dear Poets,

Come out to Nichols Library, 200 West Jefferson Ave., Naperville, this Wednesday evening, April 2, from 6:30 to 8:45 p.m. for a special presentation of poetry, sponsored by the Naperville Writers Group.  The event, moderated by Ray Simon, will feature keynote speaker Sandra Marchetti, along with other poets.

Please read the attached flyer for more information.

Caroline Johnson
http://jupiter-caroline.blogspot.com

CRADLE OF AMERICAN HAIKU FESTIVAL 4

There is going to be a CRADLE OF AMERICAN HAIKU FESTIVAL 4, July 25-27, 2014 in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. We have lots of good, interesting workshops and presentations, lots of good haiku, lots of food, and lots of good fun planned. I hope you can all come.
 The history and purpose of the Festival has been to honor famous Midwest Haikuists. THE CRADLE OF AMERICAN HAIKU FESTIVAL 1 honored Raymond Roseliep, the second FESTIVAL honored Robert Spiess, the third honored Don Eulert and Jim Bull. This one is honoring Randy Brooks, Lee Gurga and Charlie Trumbull.
Some of the workshops and presentations we are planning are: Photographic Haiga; Editing Your Haiku for Publication; Teaching Haiku (this will be directed towards workshops rather than the classroom); Oral Interpretation of Haiku; Kukai (stressing the various types of kukai); Haibun;
“Between Basho and Ban’ya (Bypassing Barthes: A New Brand of Haiku); Jun Fujita – the first Tanka Poet Published in the US; a panel discussion by our honored guests on where haiku has been and where it is going followed by a short critique session; a ginko walk; open readings both Friday and Saturday nights; and hopefully a renku party.
If you have a presentation you would like to make or an idea for a workshop, please let me know – at this point, nothing has been set in stone and the schedule has not been set.
As in the past, THE FOUNDRY BOOKS will sell your books for you during the Festival. We will take 1.00 per book to cover our expenses. Please bring 2 copies of the list of the books you are selling (one for the customers to use and one for the desk so that Kelly has a master list to help her).
The FESTIVAL will also include the quarterly meeting of the HAIKU SOCIETY OF AMERICA.
The fee for the FESTIVAL will be $45.00 which includes the opening reception, all workshops and presentations, snacks and beverages during the weekend, and Saturday night dinner at the Walker House.
Check www.mineralpoint.com for accommodations and to make your reservations. The Walker House will give us a lower rate on meeting rooms, etc. if several stay there. Places are filling up fast, so I suggest you make your reservations soon.
I’d also appreciate it if you can let me know if you plan to attend so I have a general idea of how much food, how many dinner reservations and how much meeting space we will need. If I know by mid-July that will be good.
If you have any questions, please email and I’ll do my best to answer.
Thanks, and I’ll see you in July!
Gayle Bull
THE FOUNDRY BOOKS
105 Commerce Street
Mineral Point, WI 53565
info@foundrybooks.com
608-987-4363

Chicago Haiku Workshop

The next meeting of the Chicago Haiku Workshop will take place on Saturday, March 29th from 2-4pm at

D&Z Bookstore
5507 W. Belmont Ave.
Chicago, IL 60641

Lee Gurga will make a brief report on the HSA meeting this past weekend in Atlanta, Georgia. Following this the group will critique individual haiku. If you would like your haiku critiqued, please bring 10 copies of up to 6 unpublished haiku. We will also discuss possible future programs. For further information, contact Lee Gurga at gurgalee@gmail.com

Poetry Month is Coming

Tom Roby and Jenene Ravesloot are proud to announce a very exciting set of writing workshops as part of the Chicago Public Libraries’ 2014 Poetry Fest.  The workshops will explore and discuss writing skills and poetic techniques, including often overlooked

ones like the use of effective titles and vocalization.  Three of the four workshops are scheduled from 1-3 pm for the first three Saturdays in April at Sulzer Regional Library.  Each will focus on one of the basic activities in creating poems: inspiration, formulation, and presentation, using an aspect of the general topic of Spring in Chicago.  These workshops will culminate in a performance in which the poets will read their completed poems from 12-1 pm in the Harold Washington Library Center as part of the Poetry Fest events on the final Saturday of National Poetry Month.  The performances will be backed by the improvised sounds and music of Omniphonic’s Lem Roby on his synth guitar. Since the workshops are dialogic and cumulative we are asking for a commitment to all four workshops from the participants, if possible.  These are open workshops.  We look forward to seeing you there. 

Poetry Workshop Series
Engaging the Muse in Spring I
Tom Roby & Jenene Ravesloot

Saturday, April 5, 1 PM
Sulzer Regional Library
4455 North Lincoln Avenue
Free Admission

Poetry Workshop Series
Engaging the Muse in Spring II
Tom Roby & Jenene Ravesloot

Saturday, April 12, 1 PM
Sulzer Regional Library
4455 North Lincoln Avenue
Free Admission

Poetry Workshop Series
Engaging the Muse in Spring III
Tom Roby & Jenene Ravesloot

Saturday, April 19, 1 PM
Sulzer Regional Library
4455 North Lincoln Avenue
Free Admission

Poetry Workshop Performance
Engaging the Muse in Spring IV
Workshop Participants

Saturday, April 26, 12 PM
Harold Washington Library Center

400 South State Street

Free Admission

Another Poetry Event

Antler & Jeff Poniewaz, Two Milwaukee Poet Laureates in one day?
Saturday May 3, 2014; Unity Temple, 875 Lake St. (Kenilworth & Lake) Oak Park, IL (2-4 pm & 8 pm).
Antler Workshop, 2-4 p.m.--(Tickets $15 now available - order now as space is limited)
Jeff Poniewaz Reading?doors open 7:30, open mic 8; Feature at 9

Open Mic Saturday, March 8

Monthly Open Mic beginning March 8, 2014 - sponsored by Naperville Writers Group (NWG), Illinois State Poetry Society (ISPS), and Poets and Patrons of Chicago.

Time: Second Saturdays, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Location: Wicked Good Café, 790 Royal St George Dr #140, Naperville, IL 60563
(331) 457-5566. The café is easily accessible from Ogden Avenue and there is a big parking lot.

Authors and poets are encouraged to present their short works for eight minutes or less. Poetry, reflections, flash fictions and excerpts from longer stories are ideal for this event. Since children might be present at the venue, readers are requested to be considerate. The event will be mildly moderated.