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Erin Robertson's Poetry Newsletter
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Art & Poetry on Display in October


In this issue:

In April I was lucky enough to be included in the Shared Visions project coordinated by Ars Nova Singers.  Seven Colorado visual artists submitted 23 artworks for Colorado poets to respond to.  Then four composers each selected a poem to arrange for Ars Nova to perform.  Conor Brown selected my poem "Portals:  Pollination" based on Julie Maren's painting, and Daniel Kellogg selected my poem "Prime Prayer" based on Helen Howe Braider's mixed media work (above).  You can listen to clips of both pieces and read the concert review on my website.

Both Helen and Julie are participating in the Open Studios Tour along with over 100 other Boulder area artists.  It continues this weekend, 12-6pm, Saturday and Sunday.  It's an amazing opportunity to see these and other works right where they were created, and to talk with the artists.  And, it's completely free!  You can also visit the Boulder Public Library Canyon Gallery through October 10th to see works by many of the artists involved.

I visited Helen's studio last weekend and plan to visit Julie's this weekend.  I was amazed to see that Helen had added more details to the painting since it was photographed for Shared Visions.  I tend to think of visual art as being static so it really felt like the artwork was alive since it had changed.  She displayed my poem next to it (see above), and also attached it to the back for its new owner (it sold last weekend!).  It was also fascinating to be in the presence of a group of related works, and Helen herself, and her family room/daily life all at the same time.  She said I should have brought the boys because she would have set them up with some stone working (she started out as a sculptor), so we may stop by again this weekend so they can try their hands at that.  She had a good collection of unframed works available for $35 or $45 - very reasonable - and I was honored when she insisted on having me take one home (see below for the one I chose).  I hope you make time to tour these studios this weekend.

I submitted two poems to the City of Lafayette's Art on the Street:  See and Respond contest where poets and 2-D visual artists were invited to create works related to sculptures on South Public Road (of course I chose to write about the heron and otter pictured here!).  My poetry and the rest of the submitted works will be on display at the Lafayette Public Library.  Friday, October 14th from 6-9pm the city is holding an opening reception and Meet the Artists event at the library, with live music, appetizers, desserts, a reading of some of the poems, and awarding of prizes.  They haven't finished the judging yet, but I should find out early next week if I will be invited to read my work, and I'll update you if so.  Tickets cost $10/adults (includes 1 wine or beer ticket), $5/teens, kids are free.  Even if you can't attend the reception, come see my poetry while it's on display!  It should be fun to see how folks responded in very different ways to the same prompts.
reserve tickets
 
Thanks so much to everyone who made it to my reading with the Louisville Vocal Jazz Project.  We had a nice full house with 68 tickets sold, in addition to the singers, and it was wonderful to see so many familiar faces in the crowd.  I sold three copies of MycoEpithalamia:  Mushroom Wedding Poems, the anthology published in August that includes three of my poems; three new people signed up for my email list; and I really had fun reading.  I've posted both poems on my website:  "Rehearsal:  the jazz band works with breath" (including text and video) and "Jazz Riffs".

I'm working my way through the first Kamana Naturalist Training Program book, and using the writing prompts to create new poems.  So far the prompts center around the Mohawk Thanksgiving Address, which I had the privilege of hearing Jake Swamp deliver while I was at Bates College, and which seems similar in spirit to the invocation that Ute Mountain Ute Chairman Manuel Hart gave at the opening of the Ute Pass event I was honored to be part of this summer.  That means I have gradually been making my way through thanking/recognizing people, earth, waters, low growing plants, animals, trees, birds, winds/thunder/rain/clouds, and next I'll be working on thanking the moon - something that comes up often in my poetry anyway.

I've also submitted poems to a few more contests, including the very cool Patricia Dobler contest which is only open to American women over the age of 40 who have never published a full-length book.  Take a moment to read some of the previous award-winning poems, and celebrate risk-taking and new beginnings of all forms.

Feel free to drop me a line any time with a writing challenge, suggestions of other poets you love who I should read, or anything else that's on your mind:  erinelainerobertson@gmail.com.
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