Wishbones, a collection of haiku and senryu by PSNH member Ben Moeller-Gaa, recently won the Haiku Foundation’s 2018 Touchstone Distinguished Books Award. The judges also commended PSNH member Jessi Graustein for her calligraphic treatment of Ben’s poems. Two poems from the book were reprinted in the Autumn 2018 issue of The Poets’ Touchstone (pg. 16-17). You may also read samples and the judges’ comments at the Folded Word website.
On May 22nd, the 4TH WEDNESDAY of the month, the Poetry Society of New Hampshire will feature two special poets in a rare reading. Anders Carlson-Wee and Mark DeCarteret will be at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord NH from 5:30 to 7:00. There will be a Q & A time and an open mic at the end. Come early and meet the poets. Stay late and chat with them. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to hear these two highly popular poets at the same time.
Anders Carlson-Wee is the author of The Low Passions (W.W. Norton, 2019). His work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Ploughshares, Virginia Quarterly Review, New England Review, Poetry Daily, The Sun, Best New Poets, and The Best American Nonrequired Reading. The recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the McKnight Foundation, Bread Loaf, Sewanee, and the Napa Valley Writers’ Conference, he is the winner of Ninth Letter’s Poetry Award as well as the 2017 Poetry International Prize. His work has been translated into Chinese. Anders holds an MFA from Vanderbilt University and lives in Minneapolis.
Mark DeCarteret, a former Portsmouth NH Poet Laureate, has appeared next to Charles Bukowski in a lo-fi fold out, Pope John Paul II in a hi-test collection of Catholic poetry, Billy Collins in an Italian fashion coffee table book and Mary Oliver in a 3785 page pirated anthology. His sixth book For Lack of a Calling was released last summer by Nixes Mate Books. Read more about Mark here in the announcement of his latest book launch last September: https://www.waterstreetbooks.com/event/book-launch-mark-decarteret-author-lack-calling
Hope to see many of you there.
In April, the Portsmouth Poet Laureate Program announced that PSNH member Tammi J. Truax would serve as their 12th Poet Laureate of Portsmouth. Her term will span 2019-2021. Truax works with young readers and writers at a Portsmouth elementary school and as a Connections program facilitator for the NH Humanities Council teaching new adult readers. She is an MEd candidate in school librarianship. She is also serving as the Maine Beat Poet Laureate for 2018-2020.
Her latest novel in verse, For to See the Elephant (Piscataqua Press, 2019), tells the story of an enslaved boy tasked with caring for the first elephant brought to America. Upon arrival in the city of New York, he and the elephant are sold together and spend decades walking through the country until the day they can be together no longer. The realities of William’s life and the lives of elephants forced to live away from their herd and home are realistically portrayed. The novel, based on real events, is told in a series of poems and incorporates songs, news clippings and diary entries from the period. Much of the story is set in Maine and New Hampshire. A book launch will be held at the Portsmouth Public Library on June 29 at 2 PM.
New Hampshire Poetry Festival’s call for proposals is now open from March 1 through
May 15May 31. Please see details and consider submitting.
Call for Proposals: New Hampshire Poetry Fest
The 5th Annual NH Poetry Fest will be held Saturday, September 14, 2019, on the New England College campus in Henniker, New Hampshire. Proposals may be emailed to newhampshirepoetryfestival@gmail.com in the format outlined on the festival’s “Speakers” page:
https://nhpoetryfest.org/speakers/
Folded Word (a small press run by PSNH member Jessi Graustein) invites you to participate in Folded Field Notes, their new literary ecology initiative. Each month, they will post a new concept with a lab-style activity that doubles as a writing prompt. Four submissions per topic will be chosen for editorial development and inclusion in a print anthology.
For complete details, please click here to read the posting for the first concept: microplastics.
The Poetry Society of New Hampshire wishes to announce that Jimmy Pappas has been selected as one of three winners of the Rattle Chapbook Contest. For the 2019 Rattle Chapbook Prize, editors received 1,404 entries, then selected three winners. Each winning poet will receive $2000. Each of their chapbooks will be distributed to all 7000 subscribers, beginning with the Fall 2019 issue of Rattle. Jimmy’s chapbook will be sent out next March 2020. To read the full announcement at Rattle, including profiles of all three winners, click here.
Here is how our reading series looks for the next section of 2019. As a reminder, this monthly reading series has returned to Gibson’s Bookstore but the time has shifted to 5:30-7:00 p.m.
Depending on the featured readers, there will not always be an open mic. However audience participation is always encouraged, so please feel free to discuss and ask questions about the featured poems.
Jimmy Pappas (organizer) is also encouraging the featured readers to bring writing prompts or other ways for the audience to participate. For example, reading with an acoustic musician. Please contact Jimmy if you have further questions:
jpappas235@gmail.com
603.798.3410
Tentative List : Subject to Change
We have a few bits and pieces to finalize for the Spring 2019 issue of The Poets’ Touchstone, so it is running just a touch late. But to reassure you that it is moving forward, we thought we’d give a you a sneak peek at the cover.
We also wanted to let you know that we were thrilled with the response to our Fortnight Frenzy call for submissions. So many of you sent in haibun, prose poems, and limericks that our submissions response time is slower than we’d like. If you don’t hear whether or not your Fortnight Frenzy submission will be included by Sunday, 5 May 2019, please email Jessi at FoldedEditors [at] gmail [dot] com to ask about your poem’s status.
The New Hampshire Youth Poet Laureate (NHYPL) is an honorary one-year position held by a NH high school student who has shown a dedication to and excellence in writing, and who demonstrates the enthusiasm to share it with the public. The NHYPL serves as an ambassador who will heighten the visibility and value of poetry by and for young people in New Hampshire.
The program is coordinated by the Poetry Society of NH, NH State Council on the Arts, and the New Hampshire Writers’ Project, in collaboration with the NH Poet Laureate.
The NH Youth Poet Laureate is an honorary, unpaid position. Each Youth Poet Laureate can serve a maximum of one term which will run from September 1 to August 31 each school year. The NHYPL will have an opportunity to release a chapbook of poems during his or her tenure.
To enter, go to NH State Council on the Arts / NH Youth Poet Laureate at Submittable. Good luck!
To be eligible the student must be:
Requirements of NHYPL
Participate in at least four events, readings, or school visits of their choosing during the year of their appointment. Events should focus on supporting and increasing opportunities for young people to read and write poetry.
Key Dates:
posted at the request of Jimmy Pappas
From PSNH President, Don Kimball
Dear PSNH Members, pass the word around! Our quarterly meeting will be on Saturday, April 27th at the Epsom Public Library, 1606 Dover Road (Rt. 4), Epsom NH 03234.
This quarter’s featured reader is Christopher Clauss.
Please note:
HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!
