The Washington Post writes:

“I took it,” Thomas Sayers Ellis told us Tuesday. The Washington native…said he grabbed the lifesize photo of Hughes as a protest — because he doesn’t think the restaurant/performance space pays poets fairly for their public readings.

Should Busboys pay poets more than they do now?

“You would think that an establishment that makes as much money as Busboys would have set in place a reading series with a respectful pay scale for writers,” said Ellis. The restaurant gives poets a venue, but also profits from their talent. The literary community, he says, doesn’t know if Busboys is the “good guys or the bad guys.”

Although the lesser known poets are probably happy to appear on the stage at Busboys, more established poets expect large fees for their appearance. If the writer is bringing in audience (and the audience is spending money), wouldn’t it make sense to share a percentage of the revenue with the writers who drew the crowd in the first place?

Weather
Our weather is unpredictable, but one thing you can be sure of is that it will be unbearable. Be sure to pack the following:

Sweaters
Umbrellas (2–1 will fail due to high winds and/or be stolen)
A swimming suit or board shorts
A parka
A light cardigan/tank top set
A warm hat
Sunscreen
Crocs (just kidding–are you even reading this?)

Socializing with the locals
You can identify most DC residents easily, as they begin conversations this way:

“Hello! I am [DC Resident's name].”
“Hi, nice to meet you.”
“Yes, it is. What do you do?”

Recommendation: do not reveal you work in the arts, are an artist, enjoy art, or advocate for arts funding. Instead, say, “I am a lobbyist.” This will make most people vanish into thin air.

Be sure to visit Charlie’s blog.

Roofwalkers played music and everyone tried their best to stay in their seats as opposed to dancing like maniacs. Suzanne Frischkorn, whose recap is below, read poetry from Lit Windowpane.

Chad Clark invented this brilliant idea. As Suzanne says in her blog post, poetry seriously needs someone and something in order to increase audience. Charlie Jensen, Chad Clark and Matt Byar are actually doing something about it.
Afterwards several people who purchased Lit Windowpane mentioned that they had never attended a poetry reading before and how much they enjoyed themselves. That’s when it struck me that Story/Stereo and its innovative concept to feature literature and music is exactly what poetry needs. Now more than ever we need to bring people to poetry who have never been to poetry before, people who have never even considered poetry before. Kudos to the consummate host, Charles Jensen! Kudos to Matt Byars and Chad Clark who helped curate the musical component! Kudos to the Writers’ Center! I hope Charles’ vision is imitated far and wide.

Joaquin Miller Poetry Series is Sponsored by the Word Works

I felt fortunate to be in the audience tonight to listen to these talented writers. In April, the directors of the reading series had the difficult job of choosing which people to read. Seeing the series come to life with poetry I’d formerly only read on the page was a rare pleasure.

Bernhardt read the majority of her poems from her book Echolalia and the audience laughed in all the right places and even applauded. Sulak read a number of food poems — “Chipotle” was a favorite of mine — and fascinated the audience (and probably made them hungry) with her personification of food.

About Deborah Bernhardt:
She received a BA in English/Art History/Photography from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona. She has received fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center/Provincetown, the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, Summer Literary Seminars/St. Petersburg, Russia, and the Wisconsin Arts Board. Her work appears in recent issues of Court Green, Cue, and Fence. Her first poetry collection, Echolalia, was published by Four Way Books.

About Marcela Sulak:
Sulak teaches courses in poetics, world poetry, world literature and translation. Her collections of poetry include Immigrant (forthcoming) and the chapbook Of All The Things That Don’t Exist, I Love You Best (2008). Her three book-length translations include 19th-century Czech poetry and contemporary poetry from Zaire (Congo). She is currently completing a scholarly study called “1920s New York as a Construction Site for American Identity” which examines book-length poems about New York written by immigrant, migrant and foreign poets.

POETRY READING SERIES SCHEDULE —SUMMER 2009

Tuesday evenings at 7:30 at the Joaquin Miller Cabin in Rock Creek Park, Picnic Area #6, Beach Drive at Military Road Overpass. Sign up for opening reading at 7:15 pm. For more information and rain location, call Kathi Morrison-Taylor at 703-820-8113.

* June 16 —Tyler Caroline Mills with Jacklyn Potter Young Poets:
Katherine Casey & Baobao Zhang
* June 23 —Chris Goodrich & Nancy Krygowski
* June 30 —Melanie Henderson & Luke Johnson
* July 7 — April Linder & Bonnie Naradzay
* July 14 — George Drew & W. Luther Jett
* July 21 — Cynthia Atkins & Dan Vera
* July 28 — January Gill O’Neil, Joseph O. Legaspi & Joseph Ross

Deborah Ager, Danika Paige Myers and Marisa Plumb read at Cheryl's Gone reading series

I’m reading from my book, Midnight Voices, and you can read more about that at deborahager.com.

WHERE:
Big Bear Cafe
1st & R Streets, NW
Washington, DC

WHEN:
May 21, 2009

TIME:
8 p.m.

On Sunday, I visited the National Museum of Women in the Arts to read from the Wom-Po (women’s poetry) listserv anthology. I read a poem by Paula Bohince; we read together on April 13 in Arlington, VA.

In transit to the Sunday reading, a Slumdog Millionaire situation happened. I ran into a friend on the train platform. What is the big deal, you might ask. 1) She lives in California. 2) We missed each other by one day at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA). 3) She was staying in the far-far-far-out suburbs and happened to be in DC this one particular afternoon on a side trip from the VCCA.

Monday night led me to Chevy Chase where I listened to Rosemary Winslow and Barbara Crooker read from their poetry books. I took my secret way through the city to get there and arrived at just the right time to nab the all-important parking space.

I took Tuesday off. On Wednesday, I saw Neko Case. She talked about National Poetry Month and her lyrics are poetic. Does that count as poetry?

The living room/dining room only fit so many people, and attendees were mellow about having to stand or sit on the floor. Perhaps they were mellow because those standing had the best view of the Washington Monument. How can anyone complain when there are twinkly lights to be seen?

Thank you, Dan Albergotti. Thank you, kind poetry hostess. Thank you, attendees.

On the plane, I ran into a friend (not associated with the Association W.P.) and the two hours passed quickly. We shared a taxi to the Palmer House, and her business paid. Thanks!

Then, I found out my reservation was not at the Palmer House. Lesson Learned: Chicago has two Hiltons within a few blocks of each other. At least, I was not the only one to make this mistake.

Another taxi ride later, I was inside the Chicago Hilton and eagerly wanting my room and a comfy bed. I’d been up since 0600.

The next morning, I worked the 32 Poems table and chatted with my table neighbors from New Sin Press. Jake Ricafrente showed up in the afternoon to help out.

After the day came to a close, I met some friends for dinner at a local bar. I had to get away from the mob of writers, so we went a secret location no one else seemed to know about. One friend regaled us with hilarious stories, and I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. My other friend and I continued the conversation in her room for another hour or so and then met one of her friends from California in the Palmer House lobby.

The lobby is gorgeous, no? They just re-did all the gold.

When my room produced near-Arctic temperatures, I thought it was just me. By the next day, I realized that the room temperature was NOT normal and dialed magic 5-0 (no, not the police) for help. An engineer confirmed the heater’s fan was broken. He said they’d see if a room change was possible. This took about 40 minutes to resolve and time was ticking. I had a party I wanted to attend, and I worked hard not to be cranky.

The room change was possible. I then lugged my heavy-as-heck luggage up to the 23rd floor.

Reaching the 23rd floor required going from floor 9 to floor 8 and then switching to an elevator that took me to 23. I wish I had a video to show you how silly it all was. You can’t switch at certain floors. Bizarre.

For freezing to death the night before, I was rewarded with lake views and a view of Grant Park and Q-tips and a phone in the bathroom. Ah, heavenly.

See the room.

I then headed off to a poet’s birthday party — having to take three elevators to reach the proper floor — and bumped into many poets I wanted to see. I drank bourbon and talked poetry. Good times.

32 Poems Table Visitors: Rebecca Wee, Kathleen Winter, Cheri Peters from Sewanee, Moira Egan, Traci O’Dea, Randall Mann (I heard they sold out of his book!), Reb Livingston, Judy Kerman, and many others. I visited some people I know from a poetry listserv and also some DC-area writers. It was great to meet some of these people in person after all these years!

Well, three office/studio spaces are still available for writers, architects, web artists, and most other creative sorts.

This charming building is located in the Hyattsville Arts District. It’s two blocks from Baltimore Avenue (Route 1) and not far from East West Highway, the DC border and the Riverdale MARC train station and is walking distance to the post office, Hyattsville City Hall, and bus lines to Metro. Two miles from the University of Maryland. Rents vary per office size from 200-420 SqFt, $300 to $650 ea.

You will receive:

. Your choice of three partially furnished workspaces
. 24/7 availability
. Free hi-speed internet access
. Flexible lease terms
. Rent includes electricity, water/sewer
. Large foyer serves as a small gallery featuring changing exhibitions

CONTACT: studio4214@yahoo.com or 301-454-0433

If you’re attending the AWP Conference, be sure to look for the 32 Poems table. We’re giving away a free issue of 32 Poems. Free is good.

—————-

Are you going to the AWP Conference in Chicago next week? DC authors will be well represented there–show your support!

DC involvement includes the following (not a complete list!):

Book Fair Displays:
American University
Barrelhouse
Gival Press
National Endowment for the Arts
Orchises Press
Phoebe
Poet Lore
Potomac Review
Split This Rock Poetry Festival
So To Speak
32 Poems!
University of Maryland
The Word Works, Inc.

Panels:
Many former and current authors from DC participating. Look for panels featuring: Kim Addonizio, Rosellen Brown, Carole Burns, Regie Cabico, Cornelius Eady, Carolyn Forche, JoAnne Growney, David Kipen, Toni Asante Lightfoot, Haki R. Madhubuti, Mark McMorris, Honor Moore, Lisa C. Moore, Valzhyna Mort, Linda Pastan, Minnie Bruce Pratt, Carly Sachs, Ravi Shankar, Susan Richards Shreve, Joshua Weiner, Mary Kay Zuravleff.

Readings:
February 12 at 1:30 pm, “Another World Instead: Readings from The Early Poems of William Stafford, 1937-1947.” (Fred Marchant, Linda Pastan, Kim Stafford, Jennifer Barber, Kevin Bowen, Mary Szybist)

February 12 at 7:00 pm (off-site)
“From Chocolate to Chi: DC Poets in Chicago”: Poetry reading by Kim Roberts, Sarah Browning, Regie Cabico, Sage Morgan Hubbard, John Murillo, and Melissa Tuckey
Insight Arts, 1545 W. Morse Ave., Roger’s Park neighborhood, Chicago, IL (773) 973-1521. Half a block from the Morse station on the Red Line. Free.

February 12 at 7:30 (off-site)
TinFish Press & friends with Tom Orange, Craig Santos Perez, Ric Royer, Tyrone Williams, Meg Withers
Links Hall, 3435 N. Sheffield Ave., near the Belmont station on the Red and Brown lines. $5 admission.

February 13 at 4:30 pm, West Chester University Poetry Conference 15th Anniversary Reading. (David Yezzi, Molly Peacock, David Mason, Kim Addonizio, Andrew Hudgins)

February 13 at 4:30 pm, Pitt Poetry Series Reading. (Ed Ochester, Stephanie Brown, Nancy Krygowski, Jeffrey McDaniel, Afaa Michael Weaver)

February 13 at 4:30 pm, “The Country They Come From: Polish-American Writers Read about the Midwest and Poland.” (John Guzlowski, Anthony Bukoski, Linda Foster, John Minczeski, Leslie Pietrzyk)

February 13 at 8:00 pm (off-site)
Red Rover Series “Experiment #26: A Small Press Showcase” with Action Books, Effing Press, Flood Editions, Futurepoem books, Les Figues Press, Slack Buddha Press, Switchback Books, Ugly Duckling Presse. Readings by: Jessica Bozek, Amina Cain, Marcella Durand, Gloria Frym, Bill Fuller, Kim Hyesoon, Alta Ifland, Nancy Kuhl, Dan Machlin, Don Mee, Hoa Nguyen, Mel Nichols, Kathleen Rooney, Susan Schultz, John Tipton, Ronaldo V. Wilson
Links Hall, 3435 N. Sheffield Ave., near the Belmont station on the Red and Brown lines. $5 admission.

February 14 at Noon, “WritersCorps: A Reading from a New City Lights Anthology Celebrating 15 Years.” (Chad Sweeney, Jeffrey McDaniel, Thomas Centolella, Elissa Perry, Ishle Yi Park)

Book Signings:
February 12 at 10:30 am
Sarah Browning signs Whiskey in the Garden of Eden at the Word Works table (#792)

February 12 at 11:30 am
Patricia Gray signs Rupture at the Red Hen Press tables (#522-526)

February 13 at 10:00 am
Elizabeth Oness signs her novel set in DC, Twelve Rivers of the Body at the Gival Press table (#514)

February 13 at 1:00 pm
J.D. Smith signs Settling for Beauty at the Word Works table (#792)

February 13 at 3:00 pm
JoAnne Growney signs Strange Attractors: Poems of Love and Mathematics at the Word Works table (#792)

February 13 at 4:00 pm
Patricia Gray signs Rupture at the Red Hen Press tables (#522-526)

February 14 at 10:00 am
Gregg Shapiro signs Protection (poems set in Chicago, Boston, and DC) at the Gival Press table (#514)

February 14 at 10:00 am
Karren L. Alenier signs Winners, A Retrospective of the Washington Prize at the Word Works table (#792)

February 14 at 10:30 am
Kim Roberts signs The Kimnama at the Split This Rock table (#309).

Poet Lore, celebrating its 120th year in print, invites all poets published in the magazine to stop by Book Fair Table #238 to sign issues for their archives. They will be serving birthday cake, too.