Tuesday, November 22, 2011

YellowJacket Press Annual Chapbook Contest

Tampa, FL--- YellowJacket Press announces the Eighth Annual Chapbook Contest for Florida Poets. All entrants must be permanent adult residents of Florida. Poetry manuscripts should be no longer than 24 pages, including title page, table of contents and acknowledgments. Include a brief bio, date you became a Florida resident, and SASE, along with $10 reading fee (check or money order made payable to Gianna Russo). Include notice of previous publications of specific poems, if applicable.

Postmark deadline is December 1, 2011. Manuscripts will not be returned. The winner(s) will be announced by March 15, 2011 and will receive $100 and 30 copies. All entrants receive a copy of the winning book.

Send submissions to: Yellow Jacket Press Chapbook Competition, c/o Gianna Russo
1410 E. Paris Street, Tampa, Fl. 33604. No e-mail submissions.

Previous winners of the contest include: A Tiny Hunger, by Laura Sobbott Ross of Sorrento (2010); My Grandfather Singing by Jesse Millner of Fort Myers (2009); Better Accidents, by Kate Sweeney of Tampa (2008); Our Keen Blue House, by Michael Trammell of Tallahassee (2007); Many Loves, by Michael Hettich of Miami (2006); Message on a Branch, by Sharon Scholl of Jacksonville (2006); Night Windows, by Susan Lilley of Orlando (2005); Music in Arabic, by Mary Jane Ryals of Tallahassee (2005); Florida Straits, by Gregory Byrd of Clearwater (2004). To purchase one of the above, send an additional $6.50 along with your submission.

YellowJacket Press is a non-profit, independent literary press. The mission of YellowJacket Press is to support emerging and established poets in Florida with an annual chapbook contest, chapbook publications, and public readings. YellowJacket Press creates a means for poets to share and promote their work, and nurtures a sense of community among poets and audiences across the state.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Special Thanks, Kudos, and Praise!

Special Thanks, Kudos, and Praise!

Based on all the early indications and surveys, this year’s Other Words Conference was a thoroughgoing success. Thanks to all of you for attending! You gave memorable, inspiring readings. Your panels brought fresh ideas and insights. You made us glad to be there and to be part of such a strong, creative independent literary community.

Special thanks are due to Jim Wilson, Tamara Wilson, and the great group of Flagler College students, who were generous and gracious hosts. They made us feel welcome and at ease. The time and attention they devoted to pre-conference planning and arrangements, as well as the nonstop work they did during the time we were on campus kept everything running smoothly. Rick Campbell also earns our thanks for putting together an outstanding schedule. His “Renga” Reading concept opened up the Friday night festival event to fresh new expressions of “Other Words.” The creative writing workshop faculty—Mark Powell, Ira Sukruangruang, and Terri Witek—reminded us of the imagination and craftsmanship at the heart of our work. This year’s workshops had record enrollments, and continue as sources for conversation and influence afterwards.

In short, let’s share a final round of applause and compliments for all concerned—and extend sincere appreciation to Flagler College for the use of their wonderful campus in the heart of the nation’s oldest city.

Over the next few weeks, we hope to post some notes and comments from students—and from any of you who would like to share your thoughts on Other Words 2011.

With thanks and Happy Thanksgiving to all on behalf of all the FLAC Board Members . . .

Richard

Help Contemporary Literature at USF

A message from FLAC Member the University of South Florida:

Dear Friends,

Since 2006, the University of South Florida has been celebrating National Poetry Month by sponsoring poetry readings, workshops, craft talks, seminars, Q&A sessions, lectures and panel discussions that have featured some of the finest poets in the world including Louise Glück, Robert Pinsky, Billy Collins, Galway Kinnell, Natasha Trethewey, Carol Frost, Michael Waters and Dana Levin. And we in USF’s new MFA program are already hard at work making sure that the celebrations for National Poetry Month 2012 (April 1-30, 2012) will be the biggest and best ever. NPM@USF 2012 will feature readings and workshops by Erica Dawson, Helen Wallace, James Kimbrell, Jennifer Clarvoe and Sasenarine Persaud as well as a Spoken Word Showcase, a Best-of-the-Bay Showcase, a poetry movie night and a one-of-a-kind event (“The Future is Sustainable: Art & Food”) to be held in USF’s new Poetry Garden.

But we need your help.

It costs money to make great contemporary literature and the artists who created it available not only to USF students, but also to those living in and around the Tampa Bay area. Sadly, due to the devastating budget cuts the University of South Florida has sustained in recent years, we don’t have any. The members of the all-star lineup we have scheduled for National Poetry Month 2012 have all agreed to visit USF and provide their services free of charge (not one honorarium will be paid); even so, we still have their expenses to cover (gas for those who will be driving, airfare for those flying in, hotels, food, etc.), the venues to rent, the advertising and promotional materials to produce. Organizations like the Florida Book Awards, the University of South Florida Humanities Institute and the University of South Florida English Department have all pledged to help as much as they can, but we still need people like you—people who value the literary arts—to get involved.

In short: we need you to donate money. And now, making a donation to support USF’s National Poetry Month celebrations is easier than ever. All you have to do is:

1. Go to: https://usfweb2.usf.edu/foundation/asp/ssl/adfdn/funds.asp?dept=HUI&group=TA

2. Select “420019 Humanities Institute Fund” and click “continue”3.

Fill out the brief form and next to “This gift is made in memory/honor of,” type: This Gift is For National Poetry MonthAnd that’s it; follow the prompts and you’re done. If you would like to verify that your gift has been received and is correctly earmarked, you can drop Elizabeth Kicak a line at ekicak@usf.edu.

And if you don’t have a lot of extra cash lying around, don’t worry about it. No one does, not these days. If you want to give thousands of dollars, please do; but your donation can be as little as $1.00. In these economic times, there is no such thing as a small donation. Every little bit helps; in fact, I just made a $25.00 donation!

Finally, I ask that you forward this email to as many people as you can and please ask them to forward it to their friends, family members and colleagues. If you have a website, please post this email to your website. If you have a blog, please post this email to your blog. If you have a Facebook account, please post this email to your Facebook account.

Please, we need your help. Help us make NPM@USF 2012 a reality. You can make a difference.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jay Hopler
Associate Professor
Department of English
University of South Florida