Happy Halloween!

Happy Hallowe'en!

For your spooky poetry pleasure, here's a cat ghost poem by John Philip Johnson:

• Bones and Shadows

And, once again, for those of you who do your ghosting with poets on Hallowe'en night, the annual Hallowe'en show of Ray McNiece and Tongue & Groove is at the Barking Spider, 8pm, at 11310 Juniper.

photo by Geoffrey Landis

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•  this year's SF Poetry Association's Halloween Poetry Podcast.

Billy Collins Gives Ya Tips on How Ta Write Poetry!

Yeah, that's right-- Billy Collins!  And he's talkin' to you!
So you oughta listen.

• Dodge Poetry Festival: 5 tips on writing from former poet laureate Billy Collins (Video)

Dozens of poets performed Friday at the Dodge Poetry Festival at Newark's New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Poet Yusef Komunyakaa and the Tomas Doncker Band were featured performers. (Naomi Nix | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

• Some more tips from the internet

Russell Atkins: Celebrating the Living Legend

Diane Kendig reports from the East Cleveland Public Library event Russell Atkins: Celebrating the Living Legend.

R.A. with Honorary Doctorate

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Note added May 2015: A long (and horrifying) story about Russell Atkin's involuntary move out of his house, and the loss of his manuscripts, letters, and papers, can be found on Diane Kendig's blog: RUSSELL ATKINS: A Cautionary Tale for Aging Poets and Others

A rare pairing of two NorthCentral Ohio poets

A rare pairing of two NorthCentral Ohio poets...Susan Grimm and Larry Smith.
Larry reading a poem from Lake Winds: Poems

Ready for Levyfest?

Friday is Ohio Poetry Day, and here in Cleveland, this year that means one thing: first day of Levyfest

Ready for Levyfest?

• Levyfest Facebook Page
• Who was d.a. levy, anyway?

As an added bonus, if the weekend-long Levyfest isn't enough poetry for one city, on Saturday afternoon the East Cleveland Public Library is sponsoring a celebration of Cleveland legend Russell Atkins, with a reception following for poets to view some of the Atlanta University Center archival materials and share their own memories of Atkins and his work.

Friday, October 24th - 6-9 PM: An intimate reading and publishers' mixer at The Spotted Owl in Tremont - Join us for cocktails, poetry, and the release of the Renegade Flowers anthology! Stick around afterwards for cocktails and conversation!

Saturday, October 25th - 9:30AM - 5PM: Festival events at Cleveland State University's Michael Schwartz Library - Panels, readings, and discussions, including a curated tour of CSU's levy collections, documentary screening, and meet-and-greets!

Saturday, October 25th - 7:00PM - 10:30PM: The community reading series at Lava Lounge in Tremont, including readings hosted by The Writing Knights starting at 7:00pm (Knightmares Halloween show) and hosted by Deep Cleveland's Joshua Gage starting at 8 pm!
 
Saturday, October 25th - 7:00PM - Close: A knock-down, drag-out poetry experience at The Literary Cafe in Tremont hosted by the inimitable Steve Goldberg and Nick Traenkner, featuring several panelists and poets from the festival.

Sunday, October 26th - 10:00AM - 12:00PM: Levy memorial service at Edgewater park by the beach (Weather Permitting.)

On-Campus events at Cleveland State University's Michael Schwartz Library) for Saturday are listed here: http://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/levyfest/2014/campus/
Off-Campus events are listed here: http://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/levyfest/2014/community/

 Not all of the readings have been announced yet, but Joshua Gage has posted the line-up for the readings at Lava Lounge, 2061 West 10th Street, Tremont, on Saturday night.  Watch for:

•  8:10 Mary A. Turzillo
• 8:20 Jill Riga
• 8:30 Geoffrey A. Landis
• 8:40 Marissa Hyde
• 8:50 John Burroughs
• 9:00 Batya Weinbaum
• 9:10 dan smith
• 9:20 Elise Geither
• 9:30 Ryan Sagert
• 9:40 Marie Lillian Vibbert
• 9:50 Vertigo Xi'an Xavier
• 10:00-10:30 Open Mike

See you all there!

Confessions

Laura Moe writes, Confessions of a Failed Poet.

"The title intrigues, the words themselves glitter the page, yet ultimately the poem is vapid; it is a mannequin in the store window wearing a great outfit you want to try on, and the first few lines seduce you, but in the end the zipper is stuck, or the pants are too short. Failed poems do not deliver on their promise... 

Renegade Flowers: LevyFest 2014

www.facebook.com/levyfest

"For the first time since 2006, Cleveland will be host to levyfest, which honors the city’s own alternative publisher and poet d.a. levy, as well as his contemporaries in the Mimeograph Revolution.  This festival will celebrate the history of small press publication and poetry in Cleveland and from around the world. It will include guest panels, readings, community and publishing events, and other programming" [info swiped from the HydeOut Press blog].

Here's the listing of On-Campus events (at Cleveland State University's Michael Schwartz Library) for Saturday, October 25th:
http://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/levyfest/2014/campus/

Information on Off-Campus events can be found at http://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/levyfest/2014/community/

Cleveland Heights, Looking for a Laureate

Want to be poet laureate?  Know somebody who would?  Live in Cleveland Heights?
Now's your chance: Cleveland Heights is looking for nominations for the next poet laureate.
Nominations are due by the end of October.

2011 Poet Laureate Cavana_Faithwalker

• check out the guidelines for nominations

Top 10 tips for being a successful poet

Sir Andrew Motion, Britain's poet laureate from 1999 to 2009, gives the BBC his Top 10 tips for being a successful poet.

(Washing your hair is part of it.)

"I never quite believe it when poets say that they're not writing out of their own feelings, and when that is the case, I tend not to be terribly interested in what they're doing.
I don't mean to say that they are writing bad poems, but those aren't the poems that I like most. The poems I most like are where the engine is a very emotional one, where the warmth of strong feeling is very powerfully present in the thing that is being given to us. I think poetry is a rather emotional form and when it isn't that, I'm not very interested in it."

Fall: Leaves Fall

 

photo by Geoffrey A. Landis

Fall: leaves fall.

Fall leaves fall.

Fall, leaves, fall.