To the Success of Our Reading at Grass Roots!

Hey there!

Do these look like happy women writers, or what?

We at CALYX are very excited about the way our reading in Corvallis turned out. Many people came, and we listened to some beautiful poetry and prose. CALYX gave me my first opportunity to organize readings and I’m glad that one of these took place here in Corvallis because I was able to attend. It was a real pleasure for me to see the actual event that I had organized. I ended up introducing the readers to the audience, and although I’m not the best at public speaking, I was excited to push myself out of my comfort zone and participate. After all, I am here to try new things, and I love it.

It was really neat to meet the authors themselves and to exchange a few words with them. Actually, part of what I like about small publishers is that they work closely with authors. The atmosphere was friendly, and the editors and the writers were all there to support each other during this event. I learned that it was Dionisia’s first time reading to an audience and I could feel how happy she and the CALYX staff were about it. It was also very nice to hear her read the piece of creative non-fiction that I had been familiar with for a while since I had participated in the copy editing process.

I also enjoyed listening to the authors read because it always gives the writing a new dimension. This is especially true for poetry, I think, as you can feel the power of the words when you actually hear them (since poetry revolves a lot around voice, intonation, and sounds). This is why, although I don’t read much poetry myself, I do enjoy listening to authors share theirs. Last Saturday, our readers were really good at communicating the emotions of their poems. They read with both talent and humor, which made it an interesting and fun experience for everyone.

I’m grateful that everyone was helpful in helping me organize this reading, from the CALYX staff to the authors and the people at Grass Roots. I want to thank them, as well as all the members of the audience for coming and supporting women writers and independent publishers!

Until next time,

Sophie,

CALYX intern.

Upcoming CALYX Events

Dear CALYX friends,

September will be a busy time for CALYX! We have been working with our authors to organize readings and activities in which you, lovers of literature by women, can get involved.

First, let me give you more information about our next CALYX reading, which will take place here in Corvallis. For this reading, we will have three poetry writers and one prose writer.

Marianne Klekacz’s poetry, fiction and non-fiction are published in The Oregonian and numerous literary journals and anthologies, including Oregon Literary Review, Windfall, and Manzanita Quarterly. Marianne’s first chapbook, Life Science, won the 2003 Edna Meudt Memorial Award. A full-length collection, When Words Fail, was published in 2009 by Dancing Moon Press. Marianne earned a BA in English/creative writing from Marylhurst University and an MFA in writing from Pacific University. She has served on the boards of the Mountain Writers’ Series in Portland and of Writers on the Edge in Newport. She is a past president of the Oregon State Poetry Association.

 

Dionisia Morales earned her MFA in creative writing from Oregon State University. Her creative nonfiction essays are published in Blue Earth Review and Blue Mesa Review, and are forthcoming in Brevity, upstreet, and South Dakota Review. Originally from New York City, she now lives, writes, and rock climbs in the Pacific Northwest.

Lois Rosen’s first poetry book, Pigeons, was published by Traprock Books. Her writing is also published in many magazines, including Willow Springs, Raven Chronicles, and Northwest Review. A 2010 MFA in fiction graduate from the Rainier Writing Program, she teaches creative writing at Willamette University in Salem (OR).

Penelope Scambly Schott’s verse biography A is for Anne: Mistress Hutchinson Disturbs the Commonwealth, received the 2008 Oregon Book Award for Poetry. Her newest book, Crow Mercies (2010), was awarded the Sarah Lantz Memorial Award from Calyx Press. She is the author of a novel, eight full-length books of poetry, and five chapbooks. She has received fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center and the Wurlitzer Foundation, and her work is published in many journals. Penelope teaches an annual poetry workshop in Dufur (OR).

The reading will take place on September 17 at Grass Roots Books and Music at 2pm. Mark your calendar!

CALYX is also organizing a writing workshop with Oregon poet laureate Paulann Petersen on September 28 at the Corvallis Arts Center from 10am to 4pm.

Cost is $85 and all proceeds benefit CALYX. Registration is limited to 15, so sign up here now: http://www.calyxpress.org/writingworkshop.htm

The workshop will be followed by a free reading with Paulann Petersen on the same day at 7pm at the Corvallis Public Library.

Hope you enjoy these exciting events!

Until next time,

Sophie,

CALYX intern.

A CALYX Reading in New York City

Dear poetry lovers,

A few days ago, I was very excited to hear confirmation that the reading I was trying to arrange in New York City was going to happen! I was not sure I was going to be able to contact the venue, but I had some help from the writers themselves, and together, we made it happen! Let me give you more information about the authors who will participate in this reading.

Elana Bell was selected by Fanny Howe as the winner of the Walt Whitman Award for 2011. Her first collection of poetry, Eyes, Stones, will be published by Louisiana State University Press in 2012. Elana is the recipient of grants and fellowships from the Jerome Foundation, the Edward Albee Foundation, and the Drisha Institute. Her work is published or is forthcoming in Harvard Review, Bellevue Literary Review, and Storyscape, among others. Elana has led creative writing workshops for women in prison, for educators, and for high school students in Israel, Palestine, and throughout the five boroughs of New York City. She currently serves as the writer-in-residence for the Bronx Academy of Letters.

Claudia Cortese is a recipient of the Stan and Tom Wick Poetry Scholarship and a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College’s MFA program. She was the poetry editor for Lumina Magazine and a featured reader at the Sarah Lawrence Poetry Festival. Her poems are published or are forthcoming in numerous journals, including Crazyhorse, Bellevue Literary Review, RATTLE, and Pank. She lives and teaches in New Jersey, and never tires of Buffy the Vampire Slayer re-runs.

Janlori Goldman is a poet, teacher, and civil liberties advocate. She received an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College, and teaches at Columbia University. She lives in New York City with her teenage daughter and sweetheart. Her poems have been published in The Cortland Review, Mudlark, The Sow’s Ear, Connotation Press, The Mom Egg, and she co-edited an anthology, For the Crowns of Your Heads: Poems for Haiti.

The reading will take place on August 24, 2011 at Bluestockings (172 Allen Street, New York City, NY 10002). It will start at at 7 p.m.

Join us to enjoy some great poetry!

Until next time,

Sophie,

CALYX intern.

 

Rediscovering Literature by Women: A CALYX Reading in Chicago

As most of you probably know if you read our facebook page, CALYX is organizing readings in different parts of the country. We interns are working on setting up these events, which includes finding available writers and venues as well as dates and times that work for everyone. We also take care of promoting the readings.

Today, I’d like to give you a bit more information about one of these readings that will take place in Chicago.

Let me introduce the writers to you.

First, Ruth Goring will be there to read some of her poetry.

Her poems are published or forthcoming not only in CALYX Journal, but also in Pilgrimage, Comstock Review, RHINO, New Madrid, Off the Coast, Raving Dove, Alligator Juniper, Verse Wisconsin, Chicago Quarterly Review, the Goodreads newsletter, and elsewhere. She published a poetry collection, Yellow Doors (WordFarm 2004) and is currently finishing her second manuscript, a collection of poems set in Colombia, where she grew up. Ruth has facilitated workshops at the Rhino Poetry Forum and the Poetry Center of Chicago’s Big Table. She is a senior manuscript editor in the Books Division of the University of Chicago Press and teaches advanced editing in the University of Chicago’s Graham School of General Studies.

Then, Ellen Savage who will read from her poetry as well.

She is a Poets and Patrons award winner. Her poems are published in CALYX Journal, East on Central, Avocet, Poetry Cram, Moulin Review, and others. She attended Illinois State University before graduating in 1976 from the University of Illinois with a nursing degree. She has worked in obstetrical nursing through much of her career and began to devote serious time to writing in 2007 when her son left for college. Being a bird watcher, she incorporates her love of the natural world in much of her poetry. She lives in Highland Park, Illinois with her husband, Sean.

And finally, Jacqueline Taylor will have some prose to share with you.

She is dean of DePaul University’s College of Communication. Her memoir, Waiting for the Call: From Preacher’s Daughter to Lesbian Mom, was published by University of Michigan Press in 2007. She lives in Chicago with Carol, her partner of twenty-seven years. Their two daughters, both college students, live nearby.

I was very happy when the Chicago Public Library said they were interested in hosting this reading.

It will take place on July 28, 2011 at 6 p.m.

In case you’re not sure, here is the library’s address:

400 S. State Street, Chicago, IL60605.

We would love for you to attend this reading and support literature by women. It is a great opportunity to meet three talented women and check out some of what will be featured in our next issue (26:3). Also, it is always nice to be introduced to / to rediscover literature through readings done by the authors themselves!

Until next time,

Sophie,

CALYX intern.

My views do not necessarily represent those of CALYX.

Don’t Miss “Looking Back; Facing Forward”!

Not convinced!?  I present you with this top ten list as exhibit A in my case in favor of your attendance!!!

 

10.) Haven’t you been meaning to get to Cloud 9?  All I ever hear about this place are rave reviews.  Odds are you’re either like me and you are dying to go, or you already love it and you’re looking for an excuse to go again!

9.) Thursday night event doesn’t conflict with your weekend plans!  Success!

8.) The Jubilate women’s choir is going to be performing!  Have you heard of them?  There’s more info here:  http://www.jubilatechoir.org/

7.) A March 10th event is perfectly situated between fat Tuesday and St. Patrick’s day so that you can keep the festive-ball rolling and beat out the “in like a lion” mix of rain and wind that March likes to bring to the Willamette Valley.

6.) Sometimes I deny myself that glass of fancy wine or that lovely-sounding cocktail because I feel that my money could be better spent… but that excuse is gone for this event!  Cloud 9 is donating 15% of the proceeds from food and drink for the night straight to CALYX!  Bottoms up!

5.) Did you know that this is CALYX’s 35th year!?  Sit back and think about how much women’s art and literature has been shared with the public during those 35 years.  That definitely warrants a festive night of celebrations

4.) On that same note, did you know that this is Margarita’s 35th year as the director as CALYX?  Her hard work and tenacity has been pivotal in making CALYX the amazing source of women’s lit and art that it is today.  Part of the night is about celebrating her awesomeness.

3.) You should probably get to know assistant editor, Rebecca Olson, and the assistant director Kelsey Connell a little better.  Both are newish and definitely a big part of the “Facing Our Future” part of the event.  They’re wonderful young women who have a lot of love and passion for CALYX, so you’re all sure to have a lot in common.

2.) Fellowship with like-minded people:  CALYX readers are awesome; that’s a fact.  I often find myself wishing I could spend more time in the presence of really cool people and I am really looking forward to a night of good conversation, which I always end up stumbling into at CALYX events.

1.) Whoa there, now.  I just checked out the Cloud 9 menu.  They’ve got a cheese plate.  Also, a drink called a “Frisky Dingo.”  Also, mocktails.  http://dinecloud9.com/c9/menus/ Decision made

Official Glitterati poster here!

We have the official information and poster for the Glitterati! Look for it around town and order your tickets now! Delectable desserts? Dancing? Fantastic music? Frida Kahlo? Silent auction? You know we’ll be there having a blast! Click on the poster to order tickets online.

 

 

 

Save the Date: Glitterati

Feminism Friday: A Little CALYX History

The Fall CALYX Glitterati is celebrating Frida Kahlo’s art and Dia de los muertos (October 21^st, Corvallis Arts Center), and as I was looking through old files searching for extra copies of the artist Frida Kahlo’s color plates that we published in the International Anthology I was digging through dusty files in the back room. This resulted in an impromptu lesson to staff and interns on the history of publication layout. I actually don’t remember the exact date we switched to laying out publications completely on the computer. But as I pulled out the complicated cover layouts—hand done in the days before art was handled from computer images—the layers of plastic and instructions for each layer of color were a surprise for the younger staff and interns—particularly the mathematical computations that had to be done for each piece of art. Most surprising was recognizing my handwriting on some of the covers, having forgotten I often had to lay out covers myself.

Kelsey (Assistant Director) and Meghan (intern) with Women and Aging publication layout

Life is so much easier with computerized cover design. As we finalized the cover art and design for the new book Crow Mercies (by Penelope Schott), Cheryl McLean (of Imprint Service who does our production and design) sent 4 variations on 3 different pieces of art for our final consideration. Our Senior Editor watched Cheryl do the magical design and said some of the variations took place in minutes. What a difference from the days we did all those mathematical computations, cut out the red gelatin borders, and wrote instructions to the printer on each page of the layout.

Different alternatives for the cover of Crow Mercies

~Margarita Donnelly, Director

Let the Journal Readings Begin!

We are excited to announce Modern Times Bookstore in San Francisco is hosting a reading for 26.1 Journal on August 25^th at 7pm.

The writers participating in the reading are poets Lisa Rizzo, Edythe Haendel Schwartz, Michelle Brittan and prose writer Anna Belle Kaufman.

The reading is free and all are welcome!

Lisa Rizzo is a poet and middle school teacher living in San Carlos (CA). Her work is published in journals such as The Lucid Stone, 13^th Moon, Writing for Our Lives, Earth’s Daughters, and Bellowing Ark.

Edythe Haendel Schwartz lives in Davis (CA) and is retired from the faculty of California State University, Sacramento. She is published in CALYX Journal, Cider Press Review, Earth’s Daughters, Kaleidoscope, and Runes, among others. Her chapbook, Exposure, was a finalist in Finishing Line Press’ New Women’s Voices competition and was selected for publication.

Michelle Brittan can trace her lineage on her father’s side back to the Gold Rush and her mother was a British subject in what was once known as Borneo. Michelle tries to write poems that ask her readers to locate selfhood in relation to others, without expecting clean answers.

Anna Belle Kaufman is an artist and an art psychotherapist in Sebastopol (CA). She has essays published in The Sun and The Psychotherapy Networker and professional essays in The Arts in Psychotherapy. She has poetry forthcoming in The Sun.

Airlie Winery Fundraiser Raises Some Fun

This past Sunday, CALYX celebrated 34 years of publishing at Airlie Winery in Monmouth, Oregon. We enjoyed a great reading from poet Donna Henderson (published in CALYX Books anthology A Fierce Brightness) while tasting each and every darn delicious wine from Airlie Winery (the reisling was just perfect for the hot, sunny day).  Winery owner Mary Olson was kind enough to donate a portion of all wine sales to CALYX to support women’s art and literature. Although my pasty shoulders didn’t escape a sunburn, I sure had fun.

For those of you who couldn’t make it, it’s not too late to support CALYX.  I suggest that you  donate online, buy yourself a nice bottle of wine, and settle down with a book of poems in the sun. Cheers!