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ČERVENÁ BARVA PRESS NEWSLETTER

Gloria Mindock, Editor   Issue No. 8   February, 2006

POETRY READINGS

THEATRE

EDITORIAL

Welcome to the February Newsletter. I want to thank Richard Kostelanetz for his review of the Postcard Series: One in the Small Press Review. It will be added to the website soon. It was really nice of him to do this. It was great exposure for the press but also for the contributors.

RANTS AND RAVES…

Raves... for Michael Burkard. He has 8 poems forthcoming in the March/April issue of American Poetry Review. His poetry is very powerful. Please buy this issue of APR.

WHAT'S HAPPENING SOON

Judy Ray's chapbook "Fishing in Green Waters" will be coming out the end of February.

Červená Barva Press will celebrate its one year anniversary in April. A poetry reading will take place at McIntyre & Moore Bookstore, April 27th at 7:30PM. Mark your calendars and come join us in Davis Square, Somerville, MA. Readers will be announced soon.

GALLERY HOPPING

Harry Callahan
Women Lost in Thought
Photographs taken in Chicago in 1950

Danziger
521 W. 26th St.
NYC
212/629-6778

NEED HELP WITH YOUR MANUSCRIPT?

Not sure what order your manuscript should go in? I can help you with that for a reasonable rate. Manuscripts will not be critiqued but I will help you place your poems in the best order for your collection.

Contact me for information at: workshop@cervenabarvapress.com

NEW LITERARY MAGAZINE ANNOUNCEMENT

I will be renting a P.O. Box, but until I do, submissions can and should be sent to
PHOENIX, c/o Michael Graves
1426 71st Street
Brooklyn, NY 11228.

They can also be given to me in person at The Phoenix Reading Series @ Socrates Restaurant, cor. of Franklin and Hudson on the dates the readings take place. I am now accepting submissions in any genre. It will include one short story of 8-10 pages in each issue. Most of the rest will probably be poetry, but if something in another genre or form wins enough of my admiration, it might push out some of the poems I will otherwise publish. Writers published in PHOENIX will receive at least two contributor's copies. The first issue should be available March 15, 2006.

PHOENIX will appear at least once a year and perhaps quarterly. Most likely, it will appear two to four times a year. It will be a minimum of twenty-five pages and will include art work, criticism, both literary and social-cultural and contributors' notes. Submissions cannot be returned and should be sent both hard copy and disk. The initial run will be at least two hundred copies.

The final format of the magazine is still to be determined. However, it will be clean, well-designed, very readable and feel good to hold. It will not, however, be slick, and if that quality is important to you PHOENIX is not for you.

If you or anyone you know is interested in submitting, please do. And please feel free to make me aware of any questions you might have.

Sincerely,
Michael Graves

MY NEW CHAPBOOK OH ANGEL

My New chapbook "Oh Angel" was just published in January by U ŠOKU ŠTAMPA.

WILD

Oh angel, at dawn
I get up and sit in the nicest room.
I pour a cup of coffee and listen
to the birds.

The thing I love most
at this time: I feel life shivering
for life.
It knows at the slightest stroke, death
will take its friskiness and spit it out.

I can't imagine not seeing the
fullness of the sun.
If the day does darken, can I
still sit in the nicest room?
I have an ugly room-quite messy.
Should I sit there and let
months pass?-
My stomach hungers for wind.
Feeling dust, I pack it
into my intestines.

INTERVIEW WITH FLAVIA COSMA

Write a bio of yourself.

As time passes by, my bio seems more and more like a tale I've invented, in collaboration with natural elements such as weather, calamities, missed earthquakes, etc. and man made disasters such as a totalitarian society, destructions, suppression of Human Rights, disregard for the laws. And amid those, the rare moments of pure joy such as the birth of my son, the illusions of love, freedom as I imagined it. And, as I state at the end of the poem REMOTENESS:

"And meanwhile life, flowing downstream,
In parallel, indifferent courses."

What is really lasting and worth of mentioning are the books that I've written so far and the ones that I hope to write from now on.

Describe the room you write in?

I have no particular place where I retire to write. It is more of an interior space, where I can find, without effort, the right word, the simplest sentence to clarify and appease my mind. This can happen in the middle of a glorious sunset, a snowy December day, a limpid morning. Then I feel secure in the midst of so much divine beauty. I do believe that "inspiration" is one of the sure channels between our Creator and us, a moment of Grace in the Universe.

Talk about your move from Romania to Canada in 1976. Was this to escape oppression, censorship and the dictatorship of Ceausescu?

I left Romania in December 1974 after trying for a time to get an exit Visa, without success. It took me almost two years to reach Canada, spending some of this time in different Refugees Camps. It was obvious to me that my writings were not welcomed in the literature of the day, that, on the contrary, insisting on this front would only land me in jail. So, I kept my poems in drawers and published just children stories.

Talk about the writing scene at that time.

Compromise was the word most apt to describe the situation. Writers would compromise their integrity for the reward of being published and having some privileges. There were a few "fools" who tried something different, they ended up in jails or even dead. I was not so brave.

Since the fall of Ceausescu in 1989, do you visit home now? Are family and friends still there?

As soon as I heard the news of the so called "Romanian Revolution", me working in a TV Station in Toronto at the time, I organized "The Association for Democracy in Romania", a charity that over the years transformed itself in "Romanian Children's Relief", that to this day sends goods and medicine to 11 selected orphanages across the country. This gave me access to Romania as early as the spring and summer of 1990. Unfortunately by that time all my immediate family was dead but I had and still have lots of friends in Romania.

What are some of your documentaries about that you've done for TV?

My first documentary "Romania, a Country at the Crossroads" 1990, was awarded The Canadian Scene Prize for Television Documentaries, and dealt as the title suggests, with Romania, immediately after the change of regime. I followed it with "Freedom, Sweet Dream" 1992, dealing with the further changes in the Romanian Society. Social themes and social justice interest me, be it in Romania or Canada or anywhere in the world.

You have published numerous books. Talk about your publishing experience.

My first published book was "Fairy Tales by Flavia Cosma." This came about thanks to the Canadian multicultural policy at the time. My angels (particularly Saint Anthony) protected me and guided my literary steps from the very beginnings. I was blessed to find an American English Professor, Dr. Don Wilson, dead in a traffic accident since, interested in translating from different languages and cultures. Our first collaboration resulted in "47 Poems" Texas Tech University Press 1992, winner of the Richard Wilbur Poetry in Translation Prize. This was followed by "The Fire that Burns Us"-Singular Speech Press 1996, a novel dealing with escaping communist countries and the terrible consequences of such an act for everyone involved, the one who leaves and the one that's left behind. Later on "Wormwood Wine" Mellen Poetry Press 2001, 2004, and "Fata Morgana", same publishing house, 2003. The Romanian publishing houses started taking notice and in 1997 I was published for the first time in my country of origin. Four more books followed, the latest "Rhodos, Rhodes sau Rodi, a diary of my stay in Rhodes, March 2005.

You have a new book that just was published in Romania, a diary about your stay at Rhodes last March. Please talk about your stay there.

I had the privilege to spend the whole month of March 2005 at the International Writers' and Translators' Centre of Rhodes. Extensively visited by tourists during the summer months, the island was quiet at that time of the year. The weather was perfect, with the occasional morning rain and the strong gales, sometimes flapping the window shutters all night long. But this only added to the unique charm of the old, lovingly restored villa built as an observatory post in 1894 by the Governor Smith on the mountain that bears his name. Given the fact that the Turkish shores lay just 11 km. in front of the island, the post was a necessity at the time. The Italians added a new wing to the building in 1936.

My windows were facing the fabulous Aegean Sea. I have spent hours at that window, mesmerized by the sea's constant changing of colors. From the most innocent blue to the menacing navy gray, the Sea stunned and amazed me. I cannot forget the spectacular sunsets, or the nights when a full moon was tracing a wide silvery path on the perfectly still waters. I have rolls and rolls of film to remind me of the natural beauty of Rhodes.

The old town, a jewel in itself, is a unique phenomenon in Europe, due to the fact that is still very much inhabited. Within its tall, double walls, one can visit the famous castle of the Knights of St. John, now housing the ancient and medieval museum, incredibly rich in old, old, treasures. Byzantine churches, dating from the ten century on, are open for mass to this day.

I immediately fell in love with my surroundings. I had to put aside other work I intended to do, and I wrote instead the book about my stay in Rhodes.

But, I was impressed most of all by the warmth and friendliness of the locals, who were trying hard to make you feel at home in their country.

Given a chance, I would certainly go back and revisit Rhodes, which stays in my memory as one of the closest places to Paradise on earth.

I find your work to be so beautifully written and powerful. I am curious as to what you are working on now?

I have different projects on the table right now. I had just finished to roughly translate the book about Rhodes into English, and now we have to give it an English literary form, I am in the middle of translating into Romanian a book of poetry by a famous Canadian poet George Elliott Clarke, and I work on a new collection of my poems, tentatively named "Deceptive Seas". I intend to expand my collection of Fairy Tales from three to seven and to adapt some of them for a marionettes' theatre.

You have spoken about Human Rights recently to children. What sort of questions do the children ask you about Human Rights? With all your experiences, how does this find its way into your writing?

It was very interesting to see the major interest children of a democratic country like Canada have in Human Rights and the lack of them in a totalitarian state. Seems that every one of them had a question or a suggestion on the subject. Personal experiences such as mine fascinate them. They wanted to know about the Secret Police, devising various ways of escaping them, about the liberties of children such as "were they allowed to have pets?" The lives of old people. Very touching.

I draw strength and trust in the human race when I see their innocence and their willingness to correct the society's ills. Next week I am going to speak to older kids (grade 12) about life in the Refugee Camps. I am sure that these almost adults will participate fully in discussions and I am looking forward to talk to them.

What writers that you read inspire you?

Different writers from different epochs and cultures influenced me my entire life. I started of course with some Romanian classic poets, Eminescu, Bacovia, Cosbuc. Arghezi. Later on, the Romantic French poets were my favorites. Baudelaire went hand in hand with Edgar Allan Poe. I had some years of Homer and Greek Tragedies, Ovid, Virgil and so on. Dante has his place in my heart. The list is long.

Out of all the books you published, is there one you feel more partial to than the others?

No. It is always all of them, but especially the next one, the one I can hardly wait to write.

POETRY READINGS

MASSACHUSETTS READINGS:

Thursday, February 9, 2006 - 6:30 P.M. -FREE
Find Out… BORDERS
Presents A Tapestry of Voices
Hosted by Harris Gardner
(617-723-3716)
With an OPEN MIC’ to follow

FEATURED POETS:
CLARA DIEBOLD has published poems and prose pieces in various periodicals including Ibbetson Street, Spare Change, Somerville News (Lyrical Somerville), and Sojourner: A Women’s Forum. She has been a featured reader at Stone Soup and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology arts series. She is a teacher of young children.

NATHAN GRAZIANO teaches high school English at Pembroke Academy. He is the Author of a hardcover collection of short fiction, Frostbite, (Greenbean Press, 2002), A full collection of new and selected poems, Not So Profound (GBP, 2003) and eight chapbooks of fiction and poetry. His latest collection of poetry is titled, Honey, I’m Home (Sunnyoutside, 2005) Some of his publications include The Owen Wister Review; The Louisiana Review; Main Street Rag; The Dublin Quarterly, and Controlled Burn; he was nominated for four Pushcart Prizes. He has been featured extensively at numerous venues in many states.

DOUG HOLDER is the well-known founder of The Ibbetson Street Press of Somerville, , and the Arts Editor of The Somerville News. His poems have been widely published in the small press and the not-so-small press including The Harvard Mosaic, Arts Around Boston, The Boston Globe, 96, Inc., Small Press Review , Midwest Poetry Review, American Poetry Monthly, and many more both on-line and print. He is currently the director of The Newton Free Library Poetry Series and is on the faculty board of The Wilderness House Literary Retreat and heavily involved with the new on-line zine The WHL Review. He has several chapbooks published. His current full collection, Wrestling With My Father (Yellow Pepper Press, 2005).

TOMAS O’LEARY- Author of two books of poetry: Fool at the Funeral; and Devil Take a Crooked House, both from Lynx House Press. His poems have appeared in numerous publications including Ploughshares, Poiesis, and Colorado Review. The working title of his next full collection is A Prayer for Everyone.

Borders Boston -Downtown Crossing
Corner of Washington and School Streets
617-557-7188

THE NEW ENGLAND POETRY CLUB WINTER 2005 CALENDAR
founded in 1915 by Amy Lowell, Robert Frost, Conrad Aiken
* Unless otherwise noted, all events are free and open to the public*
PLEASE NOTE! The LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI GOLDEN ROSE READING is postponed until April,2006

PREVIEW OF 2006

January: [no meeting]

February 6th: Monday Feb 6th at 7 p.m. DENISE BERGMAN reading from "Seeing Annie Sullivan" followed by members reading.
Yenching Library, Common Room,
Harvard University,
2 Divinity Ave
Cambridge, MA.
Free and Open to the Public.

February 14th: Tuesday Feb 14th at 7p.m. LOVE POEMS by members. Bring love poems and read with music in the background.
Cambridge Public Library
44 Pearl Street
Central Square
Cambridge, MA.

March 14th: Tuesday March 14th at 7p.m. JORIE GRAHAM
Cambridge Library
44 Pearl Street
Central Square
Cambridge, MA.

April: Golden Rose Award to, and reading by, LAWRENCE FERLINGHETTI

Quale Press is going to have an event celebrating
some new titles being issued from Quale Press --

Date: March 3 at 8 p.m. at Amherst Books, Amherst, MA. Refreshments.

In Search of Emily: Journeys from Japan to Amherst by Masako Takeda
Precise Machine by Dennis Barone
Irregular Numbers of Beasts and Birds by Cecil Helman
Mid-American Chants by Sherwood Anderson
nothing fictional but the accuracy or arrangement (she by Sawako Nakayasu).

Present, past and future Quale Press authors will be in attendance to sign books: Dennis Barone, David Giannini, Brian Clements, Holly Iglesias, Mary A. Koncel, and Peter Johnson.

Quale Press: http://www.quale.com

NEW YORK READINGS:

Cornelia Street Café
February 8, Wednesday 6 pm
INTERCULTURAL POETRY
Angelo Verga, host
Andrey Gritsman; Michele Battiste
two poets, two mics, a dialogue of poems.

with participation by Angelo Verga:
poets MICHELLE BATTISTE & ANDREY GRITSMAN
INTERCULTURAL (Inter-Gender) POETIC DIALOGUE
A “surprise” guest from Paris, France (“back by neurotic demand”) Thierry Marignac

Michele Battiste’s work has appeared in Rattle, 5 AM, Nimrod and The Laurel Review, among other journals. Her chapbook, Mapping the Spaces Between, was published by Snark Publishing. A former MFA poetry fellow at Wichita State University, she recently relocated to New York. She is a poet and a dancer and runs a reading series in the Waltz-ASORIA Club in Queens.

Thierry Marignac, born in Paris, in 1958, worked for various papers and magazines. He is the author of four novels including the most recent Fuyards (Rivages-Noir, 2003). He is a prolific translator of contemporary American fiction and Russian poetry into French. Thierry lives in Paris with his wife, who is a literary editor.

Feb. 12, Sunday, 5 p.m.
Hosted by Elise Miller
East Side Oral, The Living Room
154 Ludlow Street, (at Stanton Street)
Manhattan
Donation
www.eastsideoral.com or www.elisemiller.com

The next Sunday Salon will be on Feb.19th at Stain Bar in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Our readers include: Honor Moore, Brett Berk, Tara McCarthy, and Ericka Lutz.
For more info, check the website: www.sundaysalon.com.
We'll be updating the bios soon.

Thursday, February 23 at 7:30 p.m.
FilmAtMakor NY Premiere of MR.RIGHT - Makor (92nd Street Y) - NYC
Laurie Graff is featured in Mr. Right, director Dree Andrea's third documentary
about the search for sanity and a soulmate in New York City.
Cost: $15
35 West 67th Street
NY, NY
212-601-1000

More more info, please go to: www.makor.org/film

DRIVE MEN CRAZY
(a reading from selected fictions along this topic)

Sunday, February 26 @ 6 p.m.

Cornelia Street Cafe
on Cornelia Street (off Bleecker) in NYC West Village
directions & information www.corneliastreetcafe.com

Readings by Jamie Callan, Susan Tepper, Mary Kelly, Lisa Rubisch, Dennis Dwyer and Dorothy Simon. Hosted by Jamie Callan.
$6 cover (includes one drink)

Thad Rutkowski will be the featured reader in all these readings:

UPCOMING READINGS
Jan. 8, Sunday, 6 p.m., Quetzal Quill reading. Cornelia Street Cafe, 29 Cornelia Street, Manhattan. With Paolo Javier, Sarah Gambito. Hosted by Rigoberto Gonzalez. $6, includes drink. Info: (212) 989-9319.

Jan. 15, Sunday, 6 p.m., Beat Night reading. With Larry Simon's groovy band, Alice B. Talkless, Iris Schwartz. $6, includes drink. Info: (212) 989-9319.

Feb. 3, Friday, 10:30 p.m. Book party for In the Arms of Words: Poems for Disaster Relief, edited by Amy Ouzoonian. St. Mark's Church, 131 E. 10th St. (at Second Avenue), Manhattan. $8.

Feb. 12, Sunday, 5 p.m. East Side Oral, The Living Room, 154 Ludlow Street (at Stanton Street), Manhattan. Hosted by Elise Miller. Donation. www.eastsideoral.com or www.elisemiller.com.

Feb. 14, Tuesday, 8 p.m. Wife of Bath Valentine's Day reading, Bowery Poetry Club, 308 The Bowery (at Bleecker). $6. www.bowerypoetry.com. I'll read as Baron Thundertwig.

Feb. 16, Thursday, 8 p.m. Reading for art opening. Fusion Arts, 57 Stanton Street (between Forsythe & Eldridge), Manhattan. Hosted by Tsaurah Litzky. Free

Feb. 21, Tuesday, 7 p.m., Poets for Oxfam, Oxfam Books & Music, 91 Marylebone High Street, London W1, England. Hosted by Todd Swift.

March 15, Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. World's End Books & Music, 474 Main Street, Beacon, NY. $3. Plus open reading. Contact: rnrcurmudgeon@yahoo.com.

April 3, Monday, 8 p.m.? Reading at Telephone Bar, Second Avenue at East 10th Street, Manhattan.

April 17, Monday. Reading at University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, Colorado

April 30, Sunday, 7 p.m. Hosting NYSCA-funded reading by David Kirschenbaum, Dan Wilcox and Wanda Phipps, in celebration of Boog City magazine. ABC No Rio, 156 Rivington Street (between Suffolk and Clinton, 2 blocks below Houston). Manhattan. $5 donation. (212) 254-3697 or www.abcnorio.org

May 16, Tuesday, all day. Poetry in Performance, Aaron Davis Hall, City College of New York, 133 Street and Convent Avenue. Hosted by Barry Wallenstein. I'll read at about 4 p.m.

Hope to see you! --Thad Rutkowski

PHILADELPHIA & PENNSYLVANIA READINGS:

InterAct Theatre Company

Date: Monday, February 6
Time: 7p.m.
Place: Writing Aloud
InterAct Theatre Company

Susan Tepper's story "Deer" has been selected by InterAct Theatre Company for their "Writing Aloud" series. Along with 4 other short stories, to be performed onstage by professional actors.

For Tickets and more information:
InterAct Theatre Company
2030 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: (215) 568-8077
Fax: (215) 568-8095
www.InterActTheatre.org (Writing Aloud)

MANAYUNK ART CENTER POETRY AND HUMANITIES SERIES 2005-2006

All Manayunk Art Center (MAC) literary events are on Sundays from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. Requested donation fee is $4.00. Refreshments are provided. The MAC is in Philadelphia at 419 Green Lane (rear). Zip code is 19128. Peter Krok is Humanities/Poetry Director of the MAC. His email address is macpoet1@aol.com. MAC Web site address is www.manayunkartcenter.org. The MAC phone number is ( 215) 482-3363. The goal, as E. M. Forster wrote, is "Only Connect." Please contact the MAC if you have any program suggestions.

The Schuylkill Valley Journal of the Arts,
The Magazine of the Manayunk Art Center,
just published issue # 21, Fall 2005, $6.00
To order: Manayunk Art Center
419 Green Lane (rear)
Philadelphia, PA 19128
For submission guidelines: www.manayunkartcenter.org

NOTRE DAME, INDIANA:

February 15, 2006 7:00PM
Poetry Reading by Rane Arroyo
Notre Dame Student Union
Notre Dame, Indiana

WILMETTE, ILLINOIS:

Wilmette Public Library, Wilmette, IL on Sunday, April 2, 2006 at 2 p.m. Allison Joseph, editor of the literary journal Crab Orchard Review, will read her poetry at the Wilmette Public Library, Wilmette, IL on Sunday, April 2, 2006 at 2 p.m. She is the first poet featured in the 2006 series of free poetry readings hosted by the library at 1242 Wilmette Ave. The series, now in its third year, is produced by Free Lunch: A Poetry Miscellany, the Glenview-based poetry magazine. For more information call (847) 256-5025.

Joseph, of Carbondale, Illinois is a faculty member at Southern Illinois University, where she is also Director of that institution's Young Writers Workshop for high school students. Her work and her five volumes of poetry have won numerous awards, including those from the Illinois Arts Council; Plowshares, a literary journal; and So to Speak: A Feminist Journal of Language and Literature.

The poet's reading will be preceded by presentations of poems from American or world literature by five audience members, who will sign up to read one of their favorite poems. The most effective audience reader will receive a $25 gift certificate from Alibi Books of Glenview, Illinois. The other readers will be given one-year subscriptions to Free Lunch. Ron Offen, editor of Free Lunch, notes, "All the audience readers will be winners." After the event, free refreshments and book sales and signings by Joseph will be offered.

Funding for the series is provided by the Wilmette Public Library; the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; and Free Lunch Arts Alliance, the publisher of Free Lunch, which has been published since 1989. Among the notable poets it has published are Billy Collins, Donald Hall, and Lisel Mueller. Find more information about Free Lunch at poetsfreelunch.org.

TAOS, NEW MEXICO:

February 23rd, Thursday, 7:00 p.m.
Reading at The Harwood Museum of Art
238 Ledoux Street
Taos, New Mexico.

Katie Kingston will read from and sign copies of her chapbook, In My Dreams Neruda, published as an editor’s choice by Main Street Rag, 2005. The event is sponsored by the Harwood Museum of Art (University of New Mexico) and SOMOS (Society of the Muse of the Southwest).

GREELEY, COLORADO:

April 17, Monday.
Thad Rutkowski reading at University of Northern Colorado
Greeley, Colorado

University of Michigan:

Queer Latina/o America Lecture Series 2006 Calendar of Events:

Tuesday, January 9 Denilson Lopes (University of Brasília), “In Search of Queer Invisibility,” 4:00 p.m. (2609 SSWB/International Institute).

Thursday, February 16 Achy Obejas (author), “Identity and Dislocation”, 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. (1528 CC Little).

Friday, March 10 Javier Laureano (University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras), “Historia, política y performatividad: El rompecabezas inicial de la parada de orgullo LGBT en Puerto Rico", 12:00 – 2:00 p.m. (3512 Haven Hall).

Friday, March 10 Rubén Ríos Avila (University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras), “The End of Gay Culture?” 2:30 p.m. (Hussey Room, in the Michigan League).

Tuesday, March 28 Rane Arroyo (poet), How to Name a Hurricane (reading), 2:30 – 4:00 p.m. (1636 International Institute/SSWB).

Tuesday, April 4 Carmelita Tropicana (Alina Troyano, performer), I, Carmelita Tropicana (performance). 7:00-9:00 p.m. (Film and Video Studio, Duderstadt Center, N. Campus).

Wednesday, April 5 Carmelita Tropicana (American Culture Workshop lunch presentation), 11:30 am – 1:00 p.m. (3512 Haven Hall).

Thursday, April 6 Carmelita Tropicana: Your Kunst Is Your Waffen (film screening and discussion with artist), 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. (1528 CC Little).

The Queer Latina/o America Lecture Series is sponsored by the UM Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program, the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, LGQR Initiative, American Culture Program; Latino Studies Program, Romance Languages and Literatures Department, Arts at Michigan, Rackham Graduate School, and University Libraries.

University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

LONDON, ENGLAND READINGS:

Feb. 21, Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Poets for Oxfam
Reading Thaddeus Rutkowski
Oxfam Books & Music,
91 Marylebone High Street, London W1, England
Hosted by Todd Swift

Feb. 23, Thursday, doors 8:30 p.m.
Shortfuse series
Reading Thaddeus Rutkowski
The Camden Head pub, Camden Walk,
Islington, London N1, England
Hosted by Nathan Penlington.
www.20six.co.uk/shortfuse

THEATRE

UNDER THE RADAR 2006
The Public Theatre
Festival of cutting-edge international productions
Jan. 19-23
www.publictheatre.org
212/260-2400 NYC

Philadelphia, PA - On Monday, February 6, 2006, InterAct Theatre Company continues its seventh Writing Aloud season with Hope and Glory, an evening of new, short fiction about ordinary people and their dreams, both realized and unattained.

ABOUT THE DAY TO DAY

Presented on Monday, February 6, Hope and Glory is composed of five stories read by professional actors that feature characters, whether early or late in life, that wrestle with how to define the meaning and significance of their lives and how those lives fit within the wider world around them. Hope and Glory is the third program in the 2005/2006 season of InterAct Theatre Company's award-winning series Writing Aloud, featuring works by contemporary writers read aloud by Philadelphia's best actors. Tickets for the performance, held at 7:00 p.m. at The Adrienne at 2030 Sansom Street, are $12.00 for general admission or $6.00 for InterAct subscribers. Seating is limited, so advance reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 215-568-8079. Discount subscriptions and group rates are also available.

The Feb. 6 Writing Aloud opens with "Hope Is Dawning For Peace In the Congo." Written by Anndee Hochman (of Philadelphia, PA) and read by Eric Kramer, "Hope Is Dawning For Peace In the Congo" follows a father who watches in wonder as his two children grow up, and reflects on the uncertain state of the changing world around them, particularly the world they have been exposed during the collapse of his marriage.

"Deer," written by Susan Tepper (of Upper Montclair, NJ) and read by Amanda Schoonover, is about a high school girl whose boyfriend takes her for a drive in his father's convertible, but becomes increasingly temperamental as she suspects he has sights set on another girl.

"What We Love," written by Debra Leigh Scott (of Bala Cynwyd) and read by Cheryl Williams, tells the tale of a young college-aged girl and her two friends as they travel to the south to visit one of the girls' fiancé at his army base. The weekend trip brings her to a personal crossroad, forcing her to wonder anew about her true desire and passion, and what she eventually wants from her life.

"Skylark," written by Allison Whittenberg (of Philadelphia, PA) and read by Karen Vicks, is a fast-paced, attitude-injected, candid story about the difficulties a soul group encounters in looking for a new lead singer - and the surprise in store for them when they finally find the perfect voice.

Closing out the evening, is "Cardiff-by-the-Sea," written by Beth Goldner (of Naberth, PA) and read by Buck Schirner. "Cardiff-by-the-Sea" is the story of an aging blind man, whose grown daughter visits him for a summer after having grown up with her mother in England. The emotional meeting leads him to examine his past, attempt to comprehend the present, and contemplate the new chapter he is starting with the daughter he loves, but has never been able to see.

ABOUT THE WRITING ALOUD PROGRAM

Directed by David Sanders, Writing Aloud was established in 1999 to present diverse voices in contemporary fiction by the region's best writers, read on stage by professional actors. Quickly establishing itself as the region's premiere reading series, Writing Aloud has attracted sold-out audiences, has been featured in special broadcasts on WHYY-FM public radio, and is a recipient of Philadelphia Magazine's 2001 "Best of Philly" award.

ABOUT INTERACT THEATRE COMPANY

InterAct Theatre Company, lead by Producing Artistic Director Seth Rozin, is one of the nation's leading centers for new writing in theatre, introducing important contemporary writers to audiences through its world premiere stage productions, developmental residencies, and Showcase of New Plays. The Writing Aloud program extends InterAct's mission of cultivating and presenting diverse artistic voices into the realm of short fiction.

UPCOMING WRITING ALOUD EVENTS

On Monday, April 10, 2006, InterAct Theatre Company continues its 05/06 Writing Aloud Season with Lost Souls and Wild Spirits; on Monday, May 8, 2006 with Family Secrets; and concludes on Monday, June 12, 2006 with Adrift.

SCHEDULE:
*** ONE NIGHT ONLY! ***
Monday, February 6, 2006 at 7:00 p.m.
THEATRE:
InterAct Theatre Company - 2030 Sansom Street at The Adrienne
BOX OFFICE:
InterAct Theatre Company, 215-568-8079
TICKET PRICES:
$12 general admission seating
$6 for InterAct Theatre subscribers
Discounts available for seniors, students and groups
WRITERS:
Anndee Hochman: "Hope Is Dawning For Peace In the Congo"
Susan Tepper: "Deer"
Debra Leigh Scott: "What We Love"
Allison Whittenberg: "Skylark"
Beth Goldner: "Cardiff-by-the-Sea"
DIRECTOR:
David Sanders
READERS:
Eric Kramer: "Hope Is Dawning For Peace In the Congo"
Amanda Schoonover: "Deer"
Cheryl Williams: "What We Love"
Karen Vicks: "Skylark"
Buck Schirner: "Cardiff-by-the-Sea"
PRESS INFORMATION:
David Golston, Director of Marketing & PR, 215-568-8077
TICKET INFORMATION:
InterAct Theatre Company, 215-568-8079
www.InterActTheatre.org (Writing Aloud)

SYNOPSIS:
An evening of five, noteworthy short stories read by professional actors features characters, whether early or late in life, that wrestle with how to define the meaning and significance of their lives and how those lives fit within the wider world around them. Hope and Glory is the third program in the 2005/2006 season of InterAct Theatre Company's award-winning series Writing Aloud, featuring works by contemporary writers read aloud by Philadelphia's best actors. Tickets for the performance, held at 7:00 p.m. at The Adrienne at 2030 Sansom Street, are $12.00 for general admission or $6.00 for InterAct subscribers. Seating is limited, so advance reservations are recommended and can be made by calling 215-568-8079.

Philadelphia, PA - On Wednesday, January 25, InterAct Theatre Company marks Opening Night of its World Premiere production of AMERICAN SUBLIME by Patricia Lynch, a subtle, human drama that questions whether or not patriotism can go too far.

Left to Right: Hayden Saunier (as Constance), Jefferson Haynes (as The Museum Guard), and Steve Hatzai (as Todd) star in InterAct Theatre Company’s World Premiere production of AMERICAN SUBLIME, a subtle, human drama by Patricia Lynch that questions whether or not patriotism can go too far. Directed by Seth Rozin, AMERICAN SUBLIME runs January 20 - February 19, 2006, on InterAct Theatre's mainstage at The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., Philadelphia. Photo by Shannon Zura and courtesy of InterAct Theatre Company.

Left to Right: Steve Hatzai (as Todd) and Hayden Saunier (as Constance) star as a couple, whose only son died in the attacks on September 11, 2001, who now view their favorite Albert Bierstadt landscape of the Rocky Mountains as a panoramic vision of an America that no longer exists, in InterAct Theatre Company’s World Premiere production of AMERICAN SUBLIME by Patricia Lynch. Directed by Seth Rozin, AMERICAN SUBLIME runs January 20 - February 19, 2006, on InterAct Theatre's mainstage at The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom St., Philadelphia. Photo by Shannon Zura and courtesy of InterAct Theatre Company.

ABOUT THE PLAY

Once the picture perfect family, Todd and Constance have been searching for solace ever since they lost their son in the attacks of September 11, 2001. After years of being stuck in a tragic inertia, they feel, at last, it’s time to take action. They need to find a way to reconcile their frustration and pain. Some how peel away years of oppressive fear and hidden personal guilt. Some way of abating the daily deluge of political rhetoric and patriotic pep-talks. They need to find a solution… and they need a "messenger" to deliver their response to the world.

Today, Todd and Constance find themselves in the American Wing of a cosmopolitan art museum. Sitting in front of their favorite Albert Bierstadt landscape of the Rocky Mountains, the view is majestic - a panoramic vision of America itself: dignified, sprawling and free. With the sorrow of their son's death ever present, it's now just a glimpse of an America that no longer exists. But once they become acquainted with one of the museum’s rookie security guards, they're convinced they've found the perfect person. He’s a one-time aspiring comic book writer who hasn’t aspired to too much of anything lately. He is someone passionate about living, but disillusioned with life. He’s just the type Todd and Constance are looking for to aid in their quest for an ultimate act of “patriotism” - an act that will bring purpose to his life, while resolving the helplessness in their own. Now, all that’s left for them to do is convince him to join them...

In a recent interview with InterAct Dramaturg, Larry Loebell, playwright Patricia Lynch described writing AMERICAN SUBLIME, “It was very important to me in this play that the characters be everyday sort of people. ...not a play about intellectuals. This is a play about the vast middle of us, ...who believed ...that we would find WMDs in Iraq and that Saddam was responsible for the World Trade Towers. ...AMERICAN SUBLIME is not a 9/11 play. It is a play about who we have become after 9/11. When I first began working on the play I was gripped by a sense of loss, and angry on almost an intuitive level at what I dimly perceived to be an emerging effort to wrap the flag in fear around a series of national and international manipulations. ...But as I continued to work on the play ...[it] grew far less mysterious to me and to audiences, because reality was rapidly mirroring the play, to the point that it now seemed not a metaphor any longer but something that could happen, and was happening our culture right now; that in a rush for revenge, for safety, we traded the truth, and became the very thing we feared."

At once intriguing and unsettling, AMERICAN SUBLIME examines the insidious ways in which political ideas take hold of ordinary Americans; what recourse we have in voicing our disappointment, hurt and anger; and what surprising thoughts may lurk beneath the surface of our "Norman Rockwell" neighbors. Forcing audiences to question how much they should be willing to sacrifice for the sake of their livelihoods, their ideals, their country, AMERICAN SUBLIME paints an introspective portrait of life in a highly politically-charged world.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT

Patricia Lynch (playwright) is the author of COTTAGE, HOUSE OF BALLS, and MRS. MACKENZIE'S BEGINNERS' GUIDE TO THE BLUES (co-written with Kent Stephens). Her plays have been produced by Stage Left Theatre, First Stage Theater, Illusion Theater, the Tony-Award winning Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis, Great American History Theater, 7 Stages, Horizon Theater, Georgia Repertory, Brass Tacks Theatre, Stepping Stone, and Stages Theater. She also has participated in play development programs with staged readings and workshop productions at the Jungle Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Circle Repertory, Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater Projects, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Madison Repertory, PlayLabs, Williamstown Theater Festival, The Women's Project, and the New York Theater Workshop. Lynch has been an artist in residence at the Williamstown Theater Festival, Iowa Writers Workshop, and the University of Georgia at Athens. Lynch's most recent play, AMERICAN SUBLIME was part of the Playwright's Center Hothouse Festival Spring 04. She has won numerous awards and grants, including the Kennedy Center's Fund for New American Plays, Roger L. Stevens Award, two national Jerome Playwriting Fellowships, a TCG artist fellowship, two Minnesota State Arts Board grants, and multiple Dayton-Hudson/Jerome/General Mills Travel Study Grants. Her play, BECAUSE PRETTY GIRLS AREN'T THAT SMART is part of the Contemporary Script Series and HOUSE OF BALLS is in the Los Angeles Library's New Play Collection. She has had essays and articles printed in American Theater Magazine, Parabasis, and Subtext.

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

InterAct Theatre's World Premiere production of AMERICAN SUBLIME will be directed by Seth Rozin (InterAct Theatre's Producing Artistic Director). The cast features Steve Hatzai (as Todd) and Hayden Saunier (as Constance), along with Jefferson Haynes (as The Museum Guard). The design team for AMERICAN SUBLIME will include sets by Marka Suber, lighting and sound by Shannon Zura, and costumes by Susan Smythe.

AMERICAN SUBLIME runs for 27 performances, January 20 - February 19, 2006,
with Opening Night on Wednesday, January 25.
Performances are Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m.,
Thursday through Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m.,
and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.

Single tickets (previews - $15, weekdays - $22, weekends - $25)
are available through InterAct's box office
by phoning 215-568-8079,
by emailing Tickets@InterActTheatre.org,
or online at www.InterActTheatre.org.

3-show subscriptions to InterAct's 2005/2006 Season, which range from $26 - $45, can also be purchased by calling 215-568-8079. InterAct offers discounts for seniors, students (with valid I.D.), and groups. All performances take place at The Adrienne, 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia.

MORE ON THE ISSUES

During the run of AMERICAN SUBLIME, InterAct will host several post-performance talk-backs to encourage further discussion on the issues raised. Speaker Sundays, a series featuring invited scholars, community leaders and artists, are scheduled to follow matinee performances on January 29, February 5 and 12, and will feature Salman Akhtar, psychiatrist from Jefferson University, and a special guest from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Coffee Conversations, an informal discussion with the production's artists and designers, sponsored by Whole Foods, are scheduled to follow performances on January 31, February 1, 7 and 8.

AMERICAN SUBLIME
FAST FACTS / CALENDAR LISTING

PREVIEWS: Friday, January 20 at 8:00 PM; Saturday, January 21 at 8:00 PM; Sunday, January 22 at 2:00 PM; Tuesday, January 24 at 7:00 PM

OPENING: Wednesday, January 25 at 7:00 PM

SCHEDULE: Tuesdays & Wednesdays at 7:00 PM; Thursdays - Saturdays at 8:00 PM; Sunday matinees at 2:00 PM

CLOSING: Sunday, February 19 at 2:00 PM

PRESENTED BY: InterAct Theatre Company - 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA

BOX OFFICE: InterAct Theatre Company - 215-568-8079 or www.InterActTheatre.org

TICKET PRICES: $15 - Previews, $22 - Weekdays, $25 – Weekends; Discounts available for seniors, students and groups

SPECIAL PERFORMANCES: Speaker Sundays follow the 2:00 PM matinee performances on Sunday, January 29; Sunday, February 5; and Sunday, February 12, and will feature Salman Akhtar, Jefferson University psychiatrist, and a special guest from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Coffee Conversations follow the 7:00 PM performances on Tuesday, January 31; Wednesday, February 1; Tuesday, February 7; and Wednesday, February 8.

PLAYWRIGHT: Patricia Lynch

DIRECTOR Seth Rozin

CAST Todd - Steve Hatzai; Constance - Hayden Saunier; The Museum Guard - Jefferson Haynes

SET DESIGNER: Marka Suber

LIGHTING & SOUND DESIGNER: Shannon Zura

COSTUME DESIGNER: Susan Smythe

STAGE MANAGER: Sara May

PRESS INFORMATION: David Golston, Director of Marketing & PR, 215-568-8077, dgolston@interacttheatre.org

TICKET INFORMATION: InterAct Theatre Company, 215-568-8079, www.InterActTheatre.org

SYNOPSIS: Once the picture perfect family, Todd and Constance have been searching for solace ever since they lost their son in the attacks of September 11, 2001. After years being stuck in a tragic inertia, they feel, at last, they must take action. They must do something to help reconcile their frustration and pain. Some how peel away years of oppressive fear and hidden personal guilt. Some way of abating the daily deluge of terrorism rhetoric and patriotic pep-talks. They need to find a solution… and they need a "messenger" to deliver their response to the world. At once intriguing and unsettling, AMERICAN SUBLIME examines the insidious ways in which political ideas take hold of ordinary Americans; what recourse we have in voicing our disappointment, hurt and anger; and what surprising thoughts may lurk beneath the surface of our "Norman Rockwell" neighbors.

A NEW VISION FOR POETRY, THEATRE, AND OPERA
AMERICAN OPERA PROJECTS EXPLORES THE OUTER BOUNDARIES OF POETRY AS MUSIC THEATRE
ANNA RABINOWITZ'S BOOK-LENGTH POEM
DARKLING
Premieres on February 28, 2006
at the East 13th Street Theatre

NEW YORK, NY January 20, 2006 - DARKLING: A Poem, Anna Rabinowitz's book-length acrostic poem (Tupelo Press, 2001) will move from page to stage to inhabit a new realm as an experimental opera-theatre work produced by American Opera Projects (AOP). This innovative production of DARKLING blurs distinctions between poetry, theater, and music and challenges conventional modes of narrative as well as familiar approaches to opera and theater. It stretches the boundaries of opera and transforms Rabinowitz's poem into a new form of theatre art, establishing poetry as a genre that can have a vital life off the page and on the stage.

DARKLING brings to the stage award-winning New York poet Anna Rabinowitz's acclaimed book of the same name-a work that burrows through history by way of an "inheritance of truncated histories" and "sketchy memories" derived from old letters and unidentified photos the poet found in a shoebox neglected for decades on a shelf in her parents' home.

DARKLING assembles narratives of the Holocaust not through the convention of narrative details but through the turbulence of multiple voices in the act of finding themselves. The American Opera Projects production, conceived and directed by Michael Comlish, recasts opera in an innovative, contemporary form by creating a landscape that interweaves the poetry with original live music, projected films and images, collages of spoken text and pre-recorded soundscapes.

Rabinowitz has garnered ongoing praise for Darkling since its publication in 2001. Darkling has been hailed by Booklist as "...a piercing and powerful incantation" of the voices of her family's Holocaust victims and acclaimed as "a daring masterpiece," a work that makes "a unique contribution to Holocaust literature," and as one of the "ineradicable Twin Towers of Holocaust poetry in English." Audiences reacted with similar praise when excerpts from AOP's theatrical adaptation of DARKLING were presented to sold-out houses by The Guggenheim Museum as part of the Works & Process series on November 13 and 14, 2005.

DARKLING is a work that speaks for those who did not survive to tell their stories or write their memoirs. It is a poetry of accumulation that is a profound processing of loss and aftermath, affirming memory, ceremony, and life itself. Timothy Donnelly, in his introduction of Rabinowitz at the Poetry Center of the 92nd Street Y, asserted that the poet presents the reader with "a new form of remembering,"

Original music has been composed by Stefan Weisman and Lee Hoiby. Music direction is by J. David Jackson, with instrumental accompaniment by members of the FLUX Quartet. The cast of performers includes five world-class singers and seven actors.

Performances of DARKLING will begin Sunday, February 26th at the East 13th Street Theatre, 136 East 13th Street (at 3rd Avenue) and run through Saturday, March 18th. Opening Night is Tuesday, February 28, 2006. Tickets can be purchased through Ticket Central, www.TicketCentral.com and by phone 212-279- 4200,12-8 PM, daily. Tickets are priced at $30-$45, and are discounted for students and seniors.

Michael Comlish, an AOP veteran since 1999, has spearheaded the development of DARKLING at AOP in workshops held over the last 2 years. His work has been praised by the press as "high-style," "unorthodox," "wickedly uproarious," and "anti-Romantic," and he was featured in the New Yorker's "Talk of the Town" for his casting of pundit Andrew Sullivan as Benedick in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. Comlish has worked with Richard Foreman, David Herskovits (director of AOP's TONE TEST, '04), and Anne Bogart (whom he assistant directed for AOP's MARINA, '03). Within the largely bleak world of DARKLING, Comlish continues to explore a style that has been called "absurd, surreal, while playfully shifting among levels of reality."

Adaptor-Director Michael Comlish and Charles Jarden (AOP Executive Director and Producer) have put together an exceptional creative team for DARKLING. Three composers contribute music: Stefan Weisman (American Composers Orchestra, Sequitur) has written for the voice and for the instrumental ensemble; Thomas Hamilton (long- time Robert Ashley collaborator) has created a pre- recorded soundscape; and song composer Lee Hoiby has contributed a new commission, "The Darkling Thrush," based on the famous poem by Thomas Hardy. Music Director J. David Jackson (MET Opera, conductor of AOP's premiere of MARINA starring Lauren Flanigan), and Brian DeMaris (New York City and Ash Lawn Operas), who will conduct DARKLING, complete this outstanding group of creative artists.

Lead singers include tenor Jon Garrison (MET Opera, NY Philharmonic) and baritone Marcus DeLoach (NYC Opera, Central City Opera) and ensemble members Jody Sheinbaum, Hai-Ting Chinn and Mark Uhlemann. Featured actors include Sid Williams (Actor's Studio, "The Sopranos"), Polish film star Elzbieta Czycewska, Hillary Spector, Carol Monda, Julie Lockhart and Perri Yaniv.

Production elements: Set Design by Glenn Reed; Lighting Design by Brian Scott; Hair and Costume Design by Anna Kiraly; Projection and Video Editing by Gregory King; Sound Design by Zachary Williamson; Production Management by Scott Schneider; Instrumental Ensemble contracted by FLUX Quartet's Tom Chiu.

With DARKLING, American Opera Projects continues its exploration and remembrance of the horrors of World War II and the Holocaust. AOP has returned to the subject frequently because, AOP Executive Director Charles Jarden states, "the Holocaust remains a story that wants to be told. Over the last several years we have received more submissions concerning this theme than in any other category. I think that world disasters, natural ones such Hurricane Katrina and the Tsunami, and especially man-made ones, like the war in Iraq and 9/11, resonate to such a degree with creative artists that they are led back to collective memories, like the Holocaust, and to lessons about humanity and compassion that we learned, or did not learn."

Founded in 1988, American Opera Projects has gained international recognition as an arts organization devoted to creating, developing, and presenting new American opera, opera projects and experimental music theatre. Additional press material is available at: www.operaprojects.org/press.

American Opera Projects' DARKLING runs February 26 through March 18, 2006 at the East 13th Street Theater, Tuesdays & Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 pm; Sunday Feb 26 at 3 PM, Monday Feb 27 at 8 PM with opening night at 8 PM on Tuesday, Feb 28th. The performance lasts approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes with no intermission. Panel discussions with the creators will follow performances on 26 Feb; 4, 7 & 14 March 2006.

American Opera Projects:
138 S. Oxford Street,
Brooklyn, New York 11217
Tel: (718) 398-4024/Fax: (718) 398-3489

DARKLING: A POEM by Anna Rabinowitz (© Tupelo Press, 2001). www.tupelopress.org

COMING IN MARCH

• Short Story Chapbook Contest information will be posted on the website
• Judy Ray's chapbook, Fishing in Green Waters, will be available for sale
• More poetry readings
• Two Interviews: Russian Poet Natalia Zaretsky and Poet Judy Ray

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