When my dear friend and colleague Anastasia Nikolova invited me to contribute an article about poetry for The Opera Stage’s Guest Artist Blog, of course I had to say yes. I led a few workshop discussions on this topic in the past, and I have ambitions of writing a book about it in the future. (Thank you, Anastasia and Stephen, for the opportunity to share my ideas with all the Opera Stage followers!)
One of my manuscripts, Simple as a Sonnet, was chosen as a finalist in the Paper Nautilus Debut Series Chapbook Contest! Although this recognition does not include publication by the press, it nevertheless is a boost to my confidence. I feel more encouraged now to continue submitting this particular manuscript elsewhere. And the editor, Lisa Mangini, sent me a personal e-mail with the kind comment “Out of almost 90 submissions, your writing was some of the most memorable.”
For the past five years, September has been the month when I participated in the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition’s “Break the Silence” 5K walk/run, to honor the memory of my mother. But this year, the NOCC event happens to fall on a day when I’ll be out of town. So in lieu of that race, I’ve decided to run a different type of marathon: by participating, for the second time, in the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project. The challenge is to write thirty poems in thirty days (one per day) and to seek sponsorship along the way.
When I did this marathon before (April 2013) my goal was to write in a different form each day, and some of my best inspiration came from friends suggesting themes or words for me to use. This time, I’m attempting a series of acrostic poems, and once again I’m taking requests. Send me a name (person, place, or thing) and I’ll use it to compose a poem!
Read all of this month’s poems—mine and those of my eight fellow September marathoners—on the Tupelo Press blog: https://tupelopress.wordpress.com/3030-project/
One of the joys for me as a poet/musician is collaborating with composers. I’ve had the good fortune to work with wonderful and talented individuals in this capacity. One such is Heather Gilligan, my friend and former classmate at the Longy School of Music. Heather and soprano Margot Rood are currently recording a debut CD titled Living in Light — on which 8 of the 20 tracks feature poems of mine. Exciting! Margot and Heather have launched a fundraising campaign through Indiegogo. Take a look, listen to their video, and consider making a donation so that their voices (and my words) can be shared with the world. Thanks!
I received the news yesterday that my full-length manuscript wasn’t chosen as a finalist for The Washington Prize. Naturally, I feel some disappointment. (Who doesn’t want to be the winner??) But it’s still an honor to have been selected as a semi-finalist, especially my first time out (i.e., first press to whom I submitted the book). Knowing that people at The Word Works read and (presumably) liked my poems encourages me. I’ll be sending the same manuscript out to several more presses this fall. Avanti!
I was thrilled to receive the news earlier this month that my full-length manuscript was selected as a semi-finalist for The Word Works Washington Prize. Now I go on (along with about 60 other poets) to be considered for the final round, from which one winner will be chosen. Stay tuned…
The Poet Pianist 