C E L E B R A T I N G 7 0 Y E A R S

WINTER

NewsletterJanuary – February, 2017

MISSION STATEMENTOur passion for poetry guides us to encourage people of all ages and backgrounds to participate in the infinite possibilities of the written and spoken word.

We conduct workshops, contests, outreach programs, and readings to promote poetry in the community.

RememberingLoy LedbetterThe St. Louis Poetry Center lost a great friend with the passing of Loy Ledbetter on September 17, 2016, at age 91.

He was a tall, goateed Texan from Fort Worth and a Missouri transplant who set such a high standard of leadership and service in our poetry community that we created the Loy Ledbetter

Award. Every year, we give it to someone whose contributions to the Poetry Center are as vital and generous as his were for more than three decades.

A graduate of John Burroughs School, Loy worked 36 years for Ralston Purina of breakfast cereal and dog food fame, at one time managing a plant in North Carolina. He and his late wife Peggy raised their three children — Stephen, Edith, and Michael — to love the arts. Stephen says he inherited his father’s passion for photography and poetry.

“My father was a Renaissance man,” says Stephen. “It’s a very rare combination to be interested in the arts and completely savvy in business.” Loy served for many years as president of the Poetry Center and a member of its board. He also emceed monthly poetry workshops where he would share his own work and remind participants to “trust the tale, not the teller.”

Mary Ruth Donnelly, our immediate past president, credits Loy with pushing the organization to “be diverse and invite people from other poetry communities.” She remembers him as an upbeat leader who supported the presidents who followed him. “Loy had such grace,” Mary Ruth says about his later service on the board. “He didn’t resist change. When a new idea came in, he was often its biggest proponent.”

Every year, Loy would give his friends a new calendar featuring his photos of people and cityscapes. Going forward, we won’t need those calendars to remind us of a beautiful man who gave of himself so freely. We have a storehouse of memories.

— Bob Lowes

Visit our websitestlouispoetrycenter.org

INSIDE

In Memoriam ...........................1

Membership Program Updates + Board Members .....................2

Observable Readings ...............3

Sunday Workshops ..................4

Poetry at the Point ...................5

Second Friday Notes ................6

Kudos + Community ................7

SLPC Membership ....................8

THE ST. LOUIS POETRY CENTER NEWSLETTERThe newsletter is a quarterly publication of the St. Louis Poetry Center, P.O. Box 300167, St. Louis, MO 63130, 314-973-0616, newsletter@stlouispoetrycenter.org

Member events, readings and kudos are printed as a benefit of Membership. Join using the back of this newsletter, or using paypal at stlouispoetrycenter.org/membership

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ST. LOUIS POETRY CENTER BOARD MEMBERS

Dwight Bitikofer President

Mary Ruth Donnelly Immediate Past President

Loy Ledbetter President Emeritus (dec. 9-17-16)

Glenn Boothe Secretary

Ron Fredman Treasurer

Vincent Casaregola

Mary Ann deGrandpre Kelly

Jeff Hamilton

Joshua Kryah

Ted Mathys

Nancy Powers Pritchard

Alison C. Rollins

Jason N. Vasser

Glendal Wallace

Amanda Wells

STAFF

Erin Quick Executive Director

Coming February 1st

Introducing exciting changes to our membership program!

YOU, AS A MEMBER are a part of a vibrant literary community, and integral to the St. Louis Poetry Center.• You attend events

• You take workshops

• You bring your friends and family

• You share and support our mission

We are pleased to offer the following enhancements in 2017:

• New Young Friends and Professional Poet membership levels

• New Loy Ledbetter Society membership level in honor of our late President Emeritus

• More opportunities to have a voice in the St. Louis Poetry Center community

• Membership names that more accurately reflect your benefits

• Invitation to New Members Dinner or President’s Society Dinner (depending on membership level)

MEMBERS ARE CRITICAL TO SECURING ST. LOUIS POETRY CENTER’S FUTUREAt St. Louis Poetry Center, we are always working to improve each member’s experience and celebrate the role you play in our success. Through a new, expanded membership program that includes a convenient monthly giving option, we are encouraging new levels of financial commitment.

As a member of St. Louis Poetry Center, you are a part of our history. You are also a part of our future. You help us maintain our poetry readings and workshops, and ensure we provide quality education and outreach programming in our community. At the same time, you help us grow.

For more info, visit stlouispoetrycenter.org/membership or see the membership form on the back cover of the newsletter.

St. Louis Poetry Center celebrated 70 years in 2016. We are primarily a volunteer and membership driven organization. We need to grow our membership numbers and build our capacity. Especially, we need YOU. We are now at an exciting time, ready to emerge as a strong, seasoned leader to strengthen the voice of poetry in St. Louis. While our mission and vision remain the same, the opportunity to grow poetry’s impact in the community has never been greater.

Poetry is here and now. It is time to put its volume and substance back into the national dialogue. St. Louis Poetry Center is here to elevate the conversation and ennoble this discourse, and we are asking for your help. Please consider joining or upgrading your SLPC membership today!

Q: WHEN DO THESE CHANGES HAPPEN?A: February 1, 2017

Q: WHAT DO I NEED TO DO?A: Nothing! Your membership will automatically adjust on February 1, 2017.

Q: CAN I STILL PAY MONTHLY THROUGH THE MONTHLY GIVING PROGRAM?A: Yes, we highly encourage monthly giving! Monthly, automatic payments are available at any membership level through Paypal via our website: stlouispoetrycenter.org/membership

Q: CAN I STILL MATCH MY GIFT?A: Yes, please! Matching gifts are a great way to increase the impact of your membership. Contact your company to learn about their matching-gift policies.

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January 9, 7:30 p.m.

JANICE N. HARRINGTONJanice N. Harrington writes poetry and children’s books. Her first book of poetry, Even the Hollow My Body Made Is Gone (2007), won the A. Poulin, Jr. Poetry

Prize from BOA Editions and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award. Her second book of poetry, The Hands of Strangers: Poems from the Nursing Home, came out in 2011, and her third book, Primitive: The Art and Life of Horace H. Pippin, was published by BOA Editions in 2016. She is the winner of a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship for Poetry and a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers’ Award for emerging women writers. Harrington’s poetry appears regularly in American literary magazines. She has worked as a public librarian and now teaches in the creative writing program at the University of Illinois.

JASON N. VASSERJason N. Vasser is a poet, essayist, and lover of the performing arts that was born and raised in Saint Louis but has roots in Cameroon, Central Africa. He earned a Master of

Fine Arts degree in creative writing from the University of Missouri – St. Louis (UMSL) after studying anthropology and publishing his ethnographic thesis Rhyme and Reason: Poetics as Societal Dialogue. His poetry has appeared in many local publications and currently has an essay “Treading the Atlantic” under peer review in the special edition of the Canadian Journal of Netherlandic Studies – Netherlandic Migrations: Narratives from North America.

RYAN PATRICK SMITHRyan Patrick Smith was born in Georgetown, Kentucky. He received his BA in English from Transylvania University and MFA in poetry from the University of Missouri

– St. Louis. He has worked as an editor for River Styx, Natural Bridge, and WomenArts Quarterly, and served as a community writing instructor and volunteer visiting writer in the schools. His poetry was runner-up in the 2015 Boston Review Poetry Contest and semi-finalist in the 2015 92Y “Discovery” Poetry Contest. His poems appear or are forthcoming in the Kenyon Review, DIAGRAM, Boston Review, and Salt Hill, among others. Currently, Ryan lives with his partner and a dog named Hudson in St. Louis, where he teaches in the MFA program at Lindenwood University.

February 6, 7:30 p.m.

SUZANNE BUFFAMSuzanne Buffam was born and raised in Montreal, Canada. She earned an MA in English from Concordia University and an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. Her poetry

collections include Past Imperfect (2005) and The Irrationalist (2010). She has received the CBC Literary Award for Poetry and the Gerald Lampert Memorial Award. Buffam teaches at the University of Chicago.

SRIKANTH REDDYSrikanth Reddy grew up in Chicago. He earned an AB from Harvard College, an MFA in creative writing from the University of Iowa, and a PhD in English literature from Harvard

University. He is the author of the collection of poems Facts for Visitors (2004). Reddy’s awards include fellowships from the Whiting Foundation, the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, and the Mellon Foundation. His poems have appeared in the anthologies Asian American Poetry: The Next Generation (2004) and Isn’t It Romantic: 100 Love Poems by Younger American Poets (2004). Reddy is the literacy director for the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Trust in Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh, India. He teaches in the creative writing program at the University of Chicago.

Observable Readings Winter Season

Dressel’s Public House

2nd floor 419 N. Euclid, 63108 in the Central West End

Curators: Jeff Hamilton and Joshua Kryah

Donations of $5 welcome

Please note: no elevator accessWith support from the

Regional Arts Commission

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January 8 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Facilitated by Sally Van Doren (submissions due January 2)

JEFF HAMILTON

Jeff Hamilton is a poet and scholar teaching at Washington University in St. Louis. Educated at Denison, the University of Iowa and Washington University (PhD

2001), his recent poems are in December, Zocalo Square, and Natural Bridge. Essays on poetry are in VOLTA, Natural Bridge, and the Chicago Review. For many years he worked at bookstores in the Loop, and published Delmar.

February 12 1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Facilitated by Erin Quick (submissions due February 5)

JENNY MUELLER

Jenny Mueller is the author of two books of poetry, State Park (forthcoming in 2017) and Bonneville, both published by Elixir Press. She has also published two chapbooks.

Jenny will be working on her third book this summer during residencies at PLAYA (Oregon) and in the town of Banff, Canada. A graduate of the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the University of Utah creative writing Ph.D, she lives in St. Louis and is a professor of English at McKendree University.

St. Louis Poetry Center’s signature program, the Sunday Workshops are held the second Sunday of each month, September through April, except for December. The guest poet critic will lead the workshop and provide critique on a selection of pre-submitted poems. All poems submitted will receive written comments.

To submit poems by mail:Workshop Submission St. Louis Poetry Center P.O. Box 300167 St. Louis, MO 63130

To submit poems by email:sunday.workshop@stlouispoetrycenter.org “Workshop Submission” in subject line Attachment as Microsoft Word document

Sunday WorkshopsLocation University City Public Library, Auditorium

6701 Delmar, 63130

Curator: Sally Van Doren

Criteria: Submit only one poem, one page in length, vertical format and one column of text. Provide name, mailing address, and email address. Email submissions will be acknowledged within 48 hours of receipt. Submissions due by 12 midnight Sunday one week prior to the workshop. Those submitting poems are expected to attend the workshop.

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January 24, 7:30 p.m.

ANGELA MANSON

TERI LYRIC GREEN

DAVID CROUCH

February 28, 7:30 p.m.

WANITA ZUMBRUNNEN

PAUL STROBLE

ALEX BALOGH

Poetry at the Point

The Focal Point 2720 Sutton Blvd. St. Louis MO 63143

Doors 7 p.m., Reading at 7:30 p.m. Curator: Jennifer Adams

The fourth Tuesday of every month

poetry.point@ stlouispoetrycenter.org

POETRY AT THE POINT IS GENEROUSLY UNDERWRITTEN BY WEBSTER-KIRKWOOD TIMES AND WEST END WORD.

THANK YOU!

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January 13Jessica Freeman has been published in Tinderbox Magazine, River Bluff Review, Floodstage: An Anthology, and has poems forthcoming in UCity Review. She currently attends SIUE, where she will graduate May 2017 with a Master’s degree in English, specialization in poetry.

Christopher Alex Chable’ is a poet and father of a three-year-old boy. He graduated with an MFA from the University of Missouri, Saint Louis. His work has been published in Sunset Liminal and San Pedro River Review. Currently he serves as the editor of Corazon Land Review.

Matt Freeman has travelled the country writing his poems and songs and has three books out there with Coffeetown Press and a CD for sale and loves St. Louis and is going to make a real record with his band, The Letters.

February 10Rita Rouvalis Chapman’s poetry has appeared in a number of journals, including Fourth & Sycamore, and Poetry Quarterly, with work forthcoming in Bellingham Review. She has edited several journals, including The Lowell Offering, The Lowell Review,

and CORE, which was the first literary ‘zine on the internet, and currently reads poetry for december. She serves as the English Department Chair at Webster Groves High School. When not grading student papers and writing poetry, she can usually be found riding her ex-racehorse, Metaphor.

Sarah YoungHee Pitt is pursuing an MFA in poetry at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. She works in the publishing industry and is also an associate editor for december magazine.

Brad Ellebrecht is a piano performer, composer, educator, and songwriter in the St. Louis area. He graduated from Webster University with a B.M. in jazz studies-piano performance. In addition to other various freelance performing work,

Brad is currently accompanying vocalists Diane Vaughn and Wendy Gordon in various settings, playing some classic jazz. Last year he traveled to New York City two times to perform at open mics with a songwriting collaborator and also sat in at jazz jam sessions in the jazz scene there. He appreciates many kinds of music and has played in a wide variety of musical settings, including rock bands, jazz groups, choral ensembles, and church music ensembles.

second friday notes

SECOND FRIDAY NOTES IS GENEROUSLY UNDERWRITTEN BY DIERBERGS - THANK YOU!

Dierbergs Market in Des PeresManchester Road at Lindemann, between Lindbergh and I-270Readings on Mezzanine levelElevator access from covered parking garage below the storeBegins at 7 p.m. - FreeCurators: Dwight Bitikofer & Glenn Boothe

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Rebecca Ellis’s poem “The Castle” appeared in Bellevue Literary Review in its Fall 2016 issue, on the theme of “Reconstructions: The Art of Memory.”

Dwight Bitikofer’s poem “A Kansas Harvest” was published in Oberon Poetry, Fourteenth Annual Issue, 2016.

Nancy Pritchard’s poem “Weekenders,” the genesis of which was a SLPC Fee Workshop led by Devin Johnston (“The Poetry of Place”), is forthcoming in Natural Bridge.

Jenny Mueller’s second book of poetry, State Park, is forthcoming from Elixir Press in February 2017.

Congratulations to SLPC board member Ted Mathys, the recipient of not one, but two prestigious fellowships! Both the St. Louis Regional Arts Commission (RAC) Artist Fellowship and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Literature Fellowship for Poetry are intended to allow for the development and advancement of the individual artist’s career, providing the necessary time and space to write, research, travel, reflect, experiment, explore and create.

Ted Mathys is the author of three books of poetry, Null Set (2015), The Spoils (2009) and Forge (2005), all from Coffee House Press. He is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, New York Foundation for the Arts, and St. Louis Regional Arts Commission, and was selected by Alice Notley for the Poetry Society of America’s 2013 Cecil Hemley Memorial Award. His poetry and criticism have appeared in American Poetry Review, BOMB, Boston Review, Conjunctions, Critical Quarterly, Denver Quarterly, jubilat, Fence, Verse, The Volta, and other publications. Originally from Ohio, he holds an MFA in Poetry from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and an MA in international environmental policy from Tufts University. He lives in Saint Louis, where he teaches at Saint Louis University and co-curates the 100 Boots Poetry Series at Pulitzer Arts Foundation.

Every Monday - Venice Café, 1903 Pestalozzi. 9 p.m.

Every Tuesday - Acoustic music and spoken word open mic at The Wolf, 15480 Clayton Road, Ballwin. 7:00 p.m.

Every 2nd Tuesday - St. Louis Writers Guild has a poetry and prose open mic at Kirkwood train station, Argonne Drive and Kirkwood Road. 7 p.m.

Every Wednesday - Stone Spiral Coffee & Curios. Poetry and music in Maplewood at 2500 Sutton Blvd. 8:00 p.m.

Every Wednesday - Shameless Grounds, 1901 Withnell Ave. 63118 in Benton Park. 7-10 p.m.

Every Friday - URB Poetry Open Mic at Legacy Books & Café, 5249 Delmar Blvd. Doors open at 8 p.m. Admission after 9 p.m. $7. Slam competition the last Friday of each month.

Community Readings and Events 100 Boots Poetry Series at Pulitzer Arts Foundation - formerly fort gondo reading series. Jan. 27, Mar. 3, and Apr. 21, 7 p.m. at Pulitzer Arts Foundation, 3716 Washington Blvd. Reading on Jan. 27: Lyn Hejinian & Alison C. Rollins. Reading on Mar. 3: Rae Armantrout & Evie Shockley. Reading on Apr. 21: Anselm Berrigan & Kaveh Akbar.

KDHX Literature for the Halibut. A long running show highlighting St. Louis Poets is now on Podcast. Show hosts are Nicky Rainey, Ann Haubrich and M.K. Stallings. http://literatureforthehalibut.kdhxtra.org/

Prose/Poem continues its season. 7 p.m. Stone Spiral Art Gallery, 2500 Sutton Blvd, Maplewood, MO 63143, Free. For more info, www.prosepoemevent.com.

River Styx Reading Series - moved to CAM! Jan. 16, Feb. 20, and Mar. 20, 7:30 p.m. Contemporary Art Museum, 3750 Washington Blvd., Admission $5. Reading on Jan. 16: Allison Cundiff and Ted Mathys. Reading on Feb. 20: Edward McPherson and francine j. harris. Reading on Mar. 20: Laura Benedict and Matthew Olzmann.

Left Bank Books presents Jennifer Tappenden. Feb. 2, 7 p.m. Left Bank Books, 399 N. Euclid Ave. Tappenden will sign and read from her new chapbook, Independent City.

Kudos

Ted Mathys Named a 2016 RAC Fellow and a 2017 NEA Fellow

Open Mics

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St. Louis Poetry Center P.O. Box 300167 St. Louis, MO 63130 www.stlouispoetrycenter.org

J O I N S T. L O U I S P O E T R Y C E N T E R !SLPC Membership benefits include:

• submit to the James Nash Annual Members’ Contest and its Annual Concert

• receive online and newsletter professional event promotions

• receive reduced registration rates for fee workshops

• other benefits vary depending on membership level

Joining the SLPC helps fund our various readings, workshops and outreach programs. Help us grow by mailing this form and a check payable to the SLPC to: St. Louis Poetry Center, P.O. Box 300167, St. Louis, MO 63130, or visit www.stlouispoetrycenter.org/membership and use your credit card or paypal account. Your donations are tax deductible to the full extent allowed by law.

This year, St. Louis Poetry Center celebrated its platinum anniversary! In honor of this, we hope you will consider making a recurring donation to our Monthly Giving Program. Our goal is to reach 70 supporters at the $70 monthly giving level - help us get there!

Student $15 (available to full-time students)

Young Friend $30 (available to ages 18-35)

Individual/Senior $50/$45

Professional Poet $75

Benefactor $100 - $499

Laureate $500 - $999

President’s Society $1000 - $2,499

Loy Ledbetter Society $2,500+

I would like to provide additional support to this historic organization. Please receive my tax-deductible contribution of $ .

Please receive my tax-deductible donation of $ in (memory of / honor of) .

* See new monthly giving options at stlouispoetrycenter.org/membership

Monthly Giving Program $70/month*

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