news

Good News: March

Allison Adair, poetry editor of A Mighty Blaze, continues to host Poets in Conversation, most recently Tishani Doshi and Zeina Hashem Beck.

Kathleen Aguero will read with Julia Lisella, at Gibson’s Bookstore, 45 South Main St.,Concord,
NH, on Wed Mar 15, 2023, 4:30-6pm as part of the Poetry Society of New Hampshire’s reading
series
.

Kathleen Aguero and Eileen Cleary will read in person with Jeanette de Beauvoir and Krysten Hill
on Saturday, March 11 at 2 pm at Bread & Roses Bookstore & Café as part of the Voices of
Poetry Reading Series.

Ellen Austin-Li‘s poem “Mountain Song for My Nephew” was published in the Summer 2022 issue of Lily Poetry Review.

M. Soledad Caballero contributed the post “Basement Memories” to the Sundress Publications blog. Her book, “I Was a Bell,” was included in CLMP’s “A Reading List for National Hispanic Heritage Month 2022.

Jessica Cuello‘s new book of epistolary poems, Yours, Creature, is now available for pre-sale by Jackleg Press.

Jennifer Martelli will teach a class at the Hudson Valley Writers Center on March 4 via Zoom. Here’s the link to register. Her chapbook, ALL THINGS ARE BORN TO CHANGE THEIR SHAPES, which won the Small Harbor Press Open Reading, was just released in January.

Anniversary Post!

Official Year Two

About two years ago, Lisa & I discussed what it would be like to create a space where we could do community events, readings, classes, lectures, and create community while we were all struggling with the pandemic.

When we first launched the Notebooks Collective on February 11, 2021, we asked our guests to read a poem they wrote and a poem they love. Our guests, Eileen Cleary, Ellen Austin-Li, and Ashley Monet Johnson then chatted with Lisa & me about what they look for in a love poem. It was our intention to open our space with love of the written word. We collected those poems in a little anthology you can read here (pdf).

Looking forward, we are exploring events with fiction writers, more poets, and creators of other spaces. Classes (short sessions and longer workshops) are on the horizon too.

Lisa & I have full time jobs, do our own writing, take care of our families, as well as deal with the unexpected emergencies — and sometimes we can’t make this as much as the priority we want it to be. Yet, the Notebooks Collective is our balm. It’s our heart and we’re so happy to go into official year two with you.

We so appreciate the writers we have met through this and who have shared their precious time with us. We are indebted to those folks who email us and say, “I have this idea for an event…” And we are grateful to all of you who support our work with your donations.

Please remember that you can purchase books from all of our visiting guests at our bookshop. We’d especially love to know what you’re adding to your TBR pile for 2023; tweet us and tag the poet!

With gratitude,
Becca & Lisa

Good News: September

When we started thinking about forming an online literary community, one of the things we talked about was that word: community. What does it mean to us, and what do we hope to accomplish?

There is no us without the friends and colleagues who trust us enough to hold their book launches or read from their work or join in conversation with another creative.

And we want to celebrate past contributors, supporters, and friends as they publish new work, win awards, and otherwise continue to do what matters to us all: the work.

So, please, check this space each month for updates from the incredibly talented people we get to work with and celebrate with us by sharing their successes on social media or reaching out to tell them what you love about their work!

Allison Adair, poetry editor of A Mighty Blaze, continues to host Poets in Conversation, most recently Tishani Doshi and Zeina Hashem Beck. She was also interviewed in September by Rob Mclennan for his blog, “12 or 20 (second series) questions with Allison Adair.”

José Angel Araguz‘s lyric memoir, Ruin and Want, was the winning selection of Sundress Publications’ 2022 Prose Open Reading Period. The memoir is scheduled for release in 2023. José also published two poems, “On Touch” and “Listening,” in the journal Talking Writing; the poem “Pen” in The Shore, “Mexican” in Thrush Poetry Journal, and “Certain Rivers,” “Conditioning (City Study),” and “Four Dirges” in Poetry is Currency. He wrote a blog post titled “Finding Your People” for Grubstreet and, as editor of Salamander, published the magazine’s 53rd issue.

Ellen Austin-Li published several poems: “The Rainstorm” was published in the August issue of Anti-Heroin Chic; “Anam Cara” was published in Sheila-Na-Gig; “Wound City Diptych” was published in Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices; “In Which Little Red Riding Hood Learns a Lesson” was published in the spring 2022 issue of Words, the literary arts magazine of Thomas More University; “House of Trees” and “The Katsura at 4249,” will be in Poetry Contests for a Cause’s anthology Whispering Willow: Tree Poems, with book proceeds to benefit the Arbor Day Foundation; “Spring Morning at Bryce Canyon” and “The Miracle Between My Mother and Me” were published in The Well as part of its “Mindful Poetry Moments” in conjunction with NPR’s “The On-Being Project;” “Incidental Pollen,” “Monarch,” and “Magicicada, 2021” were published in Stone Canoe, issue 16; “Visible Woman” was published in the March issue of Masque & Spectacle; “Found Poem of War” was published in New Verse News in March; “If a Woman’s Eggs Had No Expiration Date,” “Means Freedom in Hebrew,” “At Home in the World,” and “To Save My Sister from Drowning” were published in Pink Panther Magazine.

M. Soledad Caballero‘s collection I Was a Bell won a gold medal in the Juan Felipe Herrera Best Poetry Book Award from the International Latino Book Awards and was a Silver Winner in the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Book Award. Her poem, “Someday I Will Visit Hawk Mountain, was featured in the podcast Poetry Unbound from OnBeing.

Eileen Cleary published the Summer 2022 volume of The Lily Poetry Review (Volume 8). She also interviewed Robbie Gamble about his poetry chapbook A Can of Pinto Beans for the spring 2022 issue of Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices.

Quintin Collins‘ poems “Terror Management Theory,” “Elegy as a Room for My Dead,” and “etymology ft. urban dictionary,” from his second collection of poetry, Claim Tickets for Stolen People, were published in the spring 2022 issue of Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices. Quintin was also named a poetry editor at Salamander.

Jessica Cuello‘s most recent book, Liar, was a long-list finalist for the Julie Suk Award from Jacar Press. Her translation of “Pendant que Perceval tombait,” by Tania Langlais, was published in Plume.

Randall Horton was in conversation with student Deniqua Campbell at Writer’s Foundry Review.

Marcia Karp‘s collection If By Song was a finalist for the Sheila Margaret Motton Book Prize.

Daniel B. Summerhill was named a Baldwin Fellow for the 2022-23 Baldwin For the Arts Residency. His poem “Pimu” was published in Tikkun, and he was commissioned by The Wall Street Journal to write a poem (“In Praise of Floating“) for its section “An Ode to the Home Office and 5 More Poems About Life in 2022.”  Daniel will also be a featured poet at this year’s Dodge Poetry Festival.


Co-founder and director Lisa Allen‘s poem “Bragging Rights” was published by Anti-Heroin Chic; her poem “And Now That I Am 51” was published by The Normal School; and her poem “Prolapse: Etymology” was published by South 85 Journal and nominated for the Best of the Net anthology.

Co-founder and director Rebecca Connors‘ poem “Womb Weary” was published in the April issue of Anti-Heroin Chic



Happenings in September

Ahhhh…..September!

Does anyone else have a love/hate relationship with this month? It’s not that we don’t love it. We do. But….to love September requires a willingness to roll with things, to embrace the uncertain. Sure, it’s partly the weather: (some) mornings require a sweater but afternoons can creep back up into sweltering temps. Our air conditioners are confused, at least here in Kansas!

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Even so, there’s something wonderful about this month. Thoughts of new school supplies (fun new notebooks & journals to try!), the beginning of classes, and the promise that leaves will soon begin to turn and drop are all welcome signs that the world keeps turning, despite it all.

We’re feeling that renewed fervor here at The Notebooks Collective, too, and we’re giddy to share our list of upcoming events and plans.

In the meantime, tell us what you’re reading and writing! We’d also love to know what you’re listening to. Is there a podcast you love? A playlist? Hook us up!

In Conversation: Anne-Marie Oomen and Patricia Ann McNair

In Conversation: Anne-Marie Oomen & Patricia Ann McNair

Join us for the virtual book launch of Anne-Marie Oomen’s new book, As Long as I Know You: The Mom Book. Published by University of Georgia Press, this book was selected by Aimee Nezhukumatathil for the Sue William Silverman Prize for Creative Nonfiction. Anne-Marie will be in conversation with Patricia Ann McNair, author (most recently) of Responsible Adults.

Anne-Marie and Patricia are longtime friends who have supported one another throughout their respective writing careers. This event will be a celebration of Anne-Marie’s newest memoir, but it will also be a conversation between working creatives who have written their way through life and all its iterations. We are certain you don’t want to miss it! RSVP here.

September Write-Together

Please join us at our next community gathering — the September Write-Together. We will meet, say hello and set intentions, and then get to work! Set aside some time for your work — join us! If you can’t make it on the 15th, we’ll have another on October 11th.

Other Notes

This month we are revisiting one of our first events: the launch of Randall Horton’s newest memoir, Dead Weight: A Memoir in Essays. Randall and event moderator Ashley M. Johnson talked, via email, about the questions Ashley had for the launch, but we didn’t have time to include.

One always wonders which story to tell, which narrative to give when an adequate explanation of why you were locked up would really be complicated. 

Randall Horton

Read the interview here, and watch the recording of the launch event if you missed it in real-time.

Looking Ahead

Here are the events headed your way in October and November.

October Write-Together
Tuesday, October 11, 2022

In Conversation: Amy Hoffman & Meg Kearney
October 18, 2022
7:30 PM EST

In Conversation: Kathleen Aguero & Jennifer Martelli
November 13, 2022
6:00 PM EST

Happenings in July

Hello and happy July! While we continue to watch the world unfold in infuriating and unsettling ways, we’re grateful for the reprieve that poetry—indeed, all good writing—brings. We’ve thought about how to reach out to you lately, especially via social media. It seems wrong, somehow, to promote events and books and writers when so many harrowing events are in the news. But we also know that joy is a form of protest and that now, more than ever, the world needs poets and poetry. So onward we go! We’re so glad you’re with us.

Poet Marcia Karp (top) and Poet George Kalogeris (bottom) discussing their work and their decades-long friendship.

If you missed June’s In Conversation event with Marcia Karp and George Kalogeris, we’ll have the recording up on our YouTube channel soon. We hope you’ll take the time to listen in on their reading and conversation. It was a lovely confluence of friendship, respect for each other’s work, and the importance of language in our everyday lives.

Marcia and George’s books are available for purchase here. We hope you’ll support these authors by purchasing their books!

July Write-Together

Please join us at our next community gathering — the July Write-Together. We will meet, say hello and set intentions, and then get to work! Set aside some time for your work — join us! If you can’t make it on the 16th, we’ll have a second July Write-Together on July 27th.

In Conversation: Jessica Cuello & Jan Beatty

Poets Jessica Cuello and Jan Beatty will join The Notebooks Collective on July 21, at 7:30 PM EST to read and discuss their work. Jessica’s most recent collection, Liar, was selected by Dorianne Laux for the 2020 Barrow Street Book Prize and was published in 2021. Jan’s seventh book, American Bastard, won the Red Hen Nonfiction Award, 2021. Her new chapbook, Skydog, was released in May, 2022, by Lefty Blondie Press. Purchase their books here.

RSVP to Join

The Sealey Challenge: A Mid-August Jump-Start

We are thinking about our reading lists for The Sealey Challenge! We’re also excited to offer a class that will help you take a much-deserved deep breathe mid-August to both reflect on the challenge itself and help you develop strategies to jump-start your own writing, using what you’ve read during the challenge as inspiration.

RSVP to Join

Work with Us!

We are interested in hearing from you! Do you have a suggestion for an event or workshop or class? Please pitch us your ideas. We are scheduling for Fall 2022 right now and would love to hear what you. And as always, if there is programming you would like to see, we love suggestions.

Happenings in June

Hello and welcome to June! We’re in a bit of denial that we’ve hit 2022’s half-birthday; and since we’re honest, we’ll also admit that we’ve been on a teeter-totter of sorts. We suspect the same is true for you. It’s a strange reality to watch world events shake our foundation while we celebrate joy and triumph in poetry and the folks who write it.

We’re thinking especially of Allison Adair and Eileen Cleary, whose reading and conversation was like a coffee date with the smartest, most engaged friends we could imagine. There’s something magical when poets know and admire other poets’ work, and we’re pretty sure that’s where the magic started for Allison and Eileen’s event. Not only did they talk about craft, but they sunk into the work of what it means to witness each other’s lives as we move in this most untenable world.

Poet Allison Adair (top) listens while poet Eileen Cleary (bottom) reads from her book, 2 A.M. With Keats.

If you weren’t able to join us, that’s ok! This reading will be available on our website very soon. We hope you will support these authors by buying their books!

June Write-Together

Please join us at our next community gathering — the June Write-Together. We will meet, say hello and set intentions, and then get to work! Set aside some time for your work — join us!

In Conversation: Marcia Karp & George Kalogeris

Poets Marcia Karp and George Kalogeris will join The Notebooks Collective on June 28, at 7:30 PM EST to read and discuss their work. Marcia’s collection If By Song was published by Lily Poetry Press. George’s most recent collection is Winthropos, published by Louisiana State University.

Work with Us!

We are interested in hearing from you! Do you have a suggestion for an event or workshop or class? Please pitch us your ideas. We are scheduling for Fall 2022 right now and would love to hear what you. And as always, if there is programming you would like to see, we love suggestions.

We Have Notes…

We’re excited to have a new section on our website. It’s titled Notes and is a space for micro-reviews of poetry collections and books we love, fun updates from past guests, and other exciting tidbits we want to share with you. We’d love to hear what you’re interested in reading about and/or seeing in this new section. If you have suggestions or thoughts, feel free to share them!

Happenings in May

Hello and welcome to May! Horrible world news aside, we have some wonderful events coming up this month and we hope that you can join us.

Three Poets

First, we want to take a moment to bask in the beauty that was the language of the three poets who joined us in conversation: José Angel Araguz, Quintin Collins, and Daniel Summerhill. The poets read new work and discussed poetry of witness, of the moment. They discussed how we make do with what we have, how the language of hip-hop is as relevant and important as the language of the “canon.”

Poet Daniel B. Summerhill (upper left) and Quintin Collins (below) listen while José Angel Araguz (upper right) reads from his new book, Rotura.

If you weren’t able to join us, that’s ok! This reading will be available on our website very soon. We hope you will support these authors by buying their books!

May Write-Together

Please join us at our next community gathering — the May Write-Together. We will meet, say hello and set intentions, and then get to work! Set aside some time for your work — join us! RSVP to Join.

In Conversation: Allison Adair & Eileen Cleary

Poets Eileen Cleary and Allison Adair will join The Notebooks Collective on May 22, at 3:00 PM EST to read and discuss how they write, work, and support the literary community. Aside from being accomplished poets, these two are also engaged literary citizens. Allison is the poetry host for A Mighty Blaze, which seeks to promote local authors. Eileen heads The Lily Poetry Review, a journal and press with an impressive catalog. RSVP to Join!

Work with Us!

We are interested in hearing from you! Do you have a suggestion for an event or workshop or class? Please pitch us your ideas. We are scheduling for Fall 2022 right now and would love to hear what you. And as always, if there is programming you would like to see, we love suggestions.