Phillis Levin, of New York, and Kate Gleason, of New Hampshire, will visit Austin Peay State University that day for a 7 p.m. poetry reading at the Morgan University Center.

Both women share a talent for the written word, but they recently forged a new connection. Levin, in her role as contest judge, selected Gleason’s poetry collection, “Measuring the Dark,” as the winner of the First Book Award at Zone 3 Press.

Zone 3 Press is a nonprofit literary press supported by the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts at Austin Peay State University.

Finding someone as esteemed as Levin to select the winning manuscript for the 2008 award ensured the press would produce a book noted for its high artistic and literary attributes. Levin is currently a professor of English and poet-in-residence at Hofstra University, and she also teaches in the graduate creative writing program at New York University.

She attended Sarah Lawrence College and the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author of the poetry collections “Temples and Fields,” “The Afterimage,” “Mercury” and “May Day.”

Her poems have appeared in numerous publications, such as The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Grand Street, Poetry, The Nation, Agni, The New Republic, The Kenyon Review, Poetry London, Literary Imagination and the Paris Review.

After combing through numerous manuscripts submitted to Zone 3, Levin chose Gleason’s “Measuring the Dark” to win the press’ coveted prize. Gleason is the former editor of Peregrine literary journal. She earned a Bachelor or Arts from The University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and attended writing workshops at Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, the New Hampshire Writers’ Project and Amherst Writers and Artists.

Gleason is the recipient of several writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the Vermont Studio Center. She also won the Outstanding Emerging Writer Award from the New Hampshire Writers’ Project and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Her poems have appeared in Best American Poetry, Boomer Girls, Claiming the Spirit Within, Crab Orchard Review, Ekphrasis, Green Mountains Review, Lost Angeles Times Book Review, Sonora Review, The Spoon River Poetry Review and Zone 3.

The poetry reading, which brings these two talented poets together, is free and open to the public.

For more information, contact Susan Wallace with the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts at 931-221-7031 or .

Blas Falconer

Blas Falconer, a professor at Austin Peay State University, has been named a recipient of the Maureen Egan Writers Exchange Award, according to Poets and Writers magazine.

Falconer, along with fellow Tennessee fiction writer, Jeanne McDonald, were selected for the award.

The Maureen Egan Writers Exchange Award gives emerging writers the opportunity to interact with the literary community in New York City. Writers of poetry and fiction are annually chosen from one state to participate in the competition. To be eligible, writers must not have more than one full-length book in publication.

Since its inception in 1984, 78 writers from 31 states have received the award. Many recipients have gone on to receive other awards, teaching positions and publishing contracts.

Falconer earned his Ph.D. in creative writing and literature at the University of Houston and has taught at APSU since 2003. Falconer has won numerous honors and is the author of “A Question of Gravity and Light,” a collection of poems published by the University of Arizona Press in 2007.

The election on Nov 4th will be one of the most important elections to a lot of people, a Tour of Wurdz spokesman said, adding that on election night at the Icehouse Café on University Drive art works by some of the regions finest artists, including Brandt Hardin, will be on display to augment both poetry and prose offered during an open mic.

Enjoy the music performed by those who’s willing to get on stage and share themselves while also watching the election unfold on the wide screen T.V. The theme of this event is “Reality Check.”

With the mantra of being the “most open open mic on the planet, it is necessary to create  an atmosphere in events that is open to any and all people, not only on the mics but also on the walls as well. Our venues are diverse: three dozen events, and event including art shows, baby showers, political shows, heavy metal shows, and a Mother’s Day event in a park. Within the past two years the focus has been on giving benefits for various organizations that are beneficial to the community including a food drive for Centerstone, a benefit for the Ovarian Coalition for Middle Tennessee, several fund raising events for the Army Emergency Relief Fund, including a fund raiser for a Christian family center in rural Tennesee. With every event three things are always present: words, arts and music. Having all three present at each event gives it the wholeness that is needed to provide our commitment to contribute.

Barry Kitterman: Editor, playwright, professor of literature and author of The Baker’s Boy

Always exposing Clarksville to creative writing through his classes at APSU and the visiting writers series is Barry Kitterman. He told us the background of and read a passage in his book, The Baker’s Boy. It is a story set in Belize where we explore the world of a school teacher Tanner Johnson, who is in the Peace Corp. Taking the first steps into the school Tanner saw two boys fighting and it wasn’t even breakfast yet. He sees a boy disciplined by being beaten with a rope. The 15 boys in his class are wild birds suddenly in a cage when they are indoors. Out doors they re-energized as if fingers were in sockets. Tanner is a man who is painfully aware of his personal limitations and who, in present time, is incapable of being very responsible because of the doubt in himself. This is his story of how the past follows him.

Barry’s poetry writing shapes his choice of words and one imagines a second meaning to many phrases. Each part of the story makes a vivid scene in my mind. Barry was in the Peace Corp in Belize. He taught at a school for children.

Barry said that what you may think is absolutely ridiculous in this story is probably completely true and what seems true is probably made up. This book was a ten year writing process. When asked if it has to be difficult to write a book, Barry said he believes that poets put a lot of thought into each word and that should be true of fiction writers too.

Barry admitted that part of the time working on a historical novel like this is sorting out the emotions and affect the experiences had on him. Also I found out that Barry’s main character does a lot of things that Barry never did. In the main character, Tanner, Barry is working out not only his experiences in Belize but why other people did what they did. He puts himself in their shoes.

Like the ghost that haunts main character Tanner, Barry’s well chosen words paint haunting images.

Besides teaching at APSU and having an active family life, Barry has hosted Bread and Words at APSU for 14 years running to raise money for Loaves and Fishes. He is a Blues musician and writer. He will be in the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville this October.

Sonny Brewer: Author of The Poet of Tolstoy Park and editor of Stories from the Blue Moon Cafe: An Anthology of Southern Writers.

Known to be quite a character and an easy talker (tells a two day story that could have been told in four hours), lively Sonny told us the story of how he fell into writing The Poet of Tolstoy Park. He became fascinated with a Henry Stewart, a man who died several years before Sonny was born. Sonny writes Henry’s story which starts when Henry is told by his doctor that he has a short time to live. Henry abandons wearing shoes and moves to warm Alabama. One thing he does there is build a round house out of cement blocks.

Sonny’s research of Henry Stewart gives up interesting and bizarre things about Henry. Sonny was able to lease the still existing round house so he could restore and study it. From newspaper articles, writings and dates of the cement blocks made by Henry, Sonny surmised that Henry had a major transformation (wake-up) which changed his life.

Listening to the story of how Sonny researched and wrote about Henry, one can’t help feeling they are made of similar stuff. Sonny sees the beauty in this human spirit who transformed religious studies to a love of nature. The book quotes Chief Seattle several times. He would have known about him, says Sonny, and he was a lover of Tolstoy, who was a fan of Henry George. You can google it, says Sonny to most questions. Sonny has had similar transformations in his life and people have even told him that maybe he is the reincarnation of Henry Stewart. Sonny won’t go that far but cannot explain his fascination with Henry’s life.“Takes one to recognize one”, I surmise.

In another session Sonny talked about a nonfiction book he wrote about his dog being lost. It was such an involved episode in his life that Sonny’s editor told him to write a book about it. Sonny says that writing nonfiction is more difficult than fiction and you still have to be careful about changing the names and such.

Sonny’s trouble these days is that his editor is waiting for him to “get to” his writing. Sonny’s editor is ready to promote a book that Sonny hasn’t written yet. Knowing that most writers are struggling to get noticed, Sonny knows he is living well. Having a deadline helps him get ‘er done. He tells us to believe in saying “I’m going to write a masterpiece and I’m going to do it in 6 weeks.” Just do it. On cue from his editor, he rewrote his Cormac book in a month. He got his start in writing when a college teacher told him that what he had written was sweetness and light. That convinced him to change his major to journalism. Getting together with other writers has fueled him tremendously. While speaking at lunch he said his writing group had just picked a better title to another book he is writing.

Suzanne Hudson: In the Dark of the Moon

Suzanne Hudson said she started writing books because Sonny bugged her into it. While at college together, she had won prizes for her writing including first place in a Hackney Literary award with 3,000 entries. Winning scared her out of writing and 30 years later Sonny talked her into writing again. Her books have a dark side, she said. She cannot write sweet stories, even when she tries. Her mom begged her to write a nice story and it started out that way, but then the dark side moved in. Coming from a profession of being a guidance counselor at a Middle School, Suzanne starts writing and the story takes over.

It sounded to me as if she asks a question of the character and the answers come to her. Suzanne has written In the Dark of the Moon (Secrets and Lies Exploring the Cross Generational Darkness) and In a Temple of Trees. She says her books are not for the faint hearted. There’s even (bad) language. In a Temple of Trees involves a boy witnessing a murder.

Most of her stories involve big secrets. We all have secrets Suzanne says. It’s a fun exercise to just start writing about that.

Suzanne’s secret now is that she hates to present her books to the public. It makes her very nervous. Though that may have been true for her, none of her audience suffered. We laughed with her and followed her every word.

Suzanne has another writing name of Ruby Pearl Sapphire. Ruby is everything free that I secretly want to be, says Suzanne. Ruby has a low brow humor and insists that she knows what is best for her and for us. Ruby plans on writing such books as a child raising book titled: If you Insist on Having Little Monsters, at Least Raise Them Like This. And Pros and Cons of Thongs. Suzanne Hudson is the author of In a Temple of Trees, In the Dark of the Moon, and Opposable Thumbs.

Tracy Barrett: Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators; author of nine plus books.

Tracy Barrett started us off with an energized talk about writing for young adults and children. She was prepared with handouts, rapid fire information, and list of frequently asked questions with answers about this avenue of writing. She has an intense love of history and has written fiction and nonfiction. The handout listed essential bookshelf books like Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market by Writers Digest. Everything she said was so useful so we listened intently and I wrote furiously.

Is it easy or difficult to get published in this area?  She said it’s not impossible but it’s difficult. Between five and six thousand books are published a year, no one can estimate how many submissions are sent in. Even so, don’t worry so much about that number because editors have good quick judgment to sort out the “bad” stuff. Editors read submissions looking for reasons to title you an amateur, throw your letter out and get on to the next one. So don’t give them a reason. For example, in a submission letter do not say your children or grandma liked your book. Unless you are an educator, editors do not want to hear who liked it and saying that screams amateur.

Do you need an agent in this field? In the adult market, yes, definitely, she said. Any time you have contract questions an agent is so helpful. Her agent got her bigger advances and percentage of book sales, so she was worth that 15%. Agents are also drowning in submissions but when your agent sends in a submission to an editor, that editor may feel that there is a reason to be more interested. Submissions without an agent are also accepted all the time.

Tracy said that editors cannot tell us exactly what they want, but they do know what they do not want. For the 2- to 5-year-old group books are usually 200-500 words. If you are not an author/illustrator do not, in your submission, suggest an illustrator. If your submission is accepted, then you can suggest to your editor someone you know. Editors have files of illustrators just waiting to be picked. You do not have to worry about or pick your own illustrator.

Do not do rhyming picture books unless they are perfect rhymes. Read them out loud to make sure it reads well. Have someone else read it and every place they stumble, circle that and change it.

Editors do not like talking animals unless there is a reason for it. Peter Rabbit, for example, has to be a rabbit. If it can be a child instead of an animal, then it should be.

No talking body parts. Tracy laughed at this one; she didn’t know why it was such a problem.

The Middle Grade readers have two levels: early readers and middle grade. Know your audience. Young adult age 12 to college is the biggest category and has the most readers. Fifteen-year-olds have dilemmas that don’t match 10-year-olds. Don’t talk down to them. You can stretch the vocabulary. There is no topic you cannot touch. Murder, abuse, anything that is life experience. Length can be 30,000 words or twice that.

Barrett suggests having a critique group; nothing beats it. Share chapters with each other and get honest opinions back. In this field is it best to query editors first before writing? Tracy’s answer was straight: Write the Damn Book (WTDB)

Tracy filled us up with valuable information. She is a dynamic writer and speaker and she balances her writing and teaching Italian at Vanderbilt University by leaving her work at work and keeping her office and home completely organized. She said she is not naturally neat but she has no choice. Here is a list of books she has published: Anna of Byzantium; The 100-Year-Old Secret (Book I of “The Sherlock Files”); The Ancient Chinese World; On Etruscan Time; Growing Up in Colonial America; Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky in the series Celebrate the States; The Trail of Tears: An American Tragedy; “The Children’s Crusade”; and Cold in Summer.

Tracy is Advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators and organizes their fall conference in Nashville (this September 20 and 21) and she hopes to see all of us there.

I was once told by a mentor that if I needed to learn something, I should go to the children’s section of the library and get a book on it there. Children’s books are written to be understood and applied to life. I have never had a disagreement with that.

Poet Leigh Anne Couch: Managing editor of The Sewanee Review and author of Houses Fly Away

It was said earlier that poets are the masters of words. Using the least amount possible they describe feelings in a most powerful way. That is certainly true of Leigh Anne Couch. Her words and images flowed like fondue chocolate.

In Beast, she describes the pretty bird in his mouth that he would like to let go, let tongue out of its cage.

In Nest she describes a woman in the hospital who is hiding. Her tests show nothing. Outside the window is a hornet’s nest, the color of something dying for years.

Opposite of Helium (for Milton the beloved dog)

…Love was a helium balloon, in a room with open windows.

Leigh Anne told us that she used to have a thesaurus next to her at all times, looking for better words to use. But she wrote awful poetry and now instead she uses a dictionary, looking up the meanings and roots of words and finding satisfaction in their use.

Palm Reader

…See the crows hammering inside her chest?

To Be Fire

…I wanted the stones to wear me like a blouse.

Camel Stamp

…This camel has a very long neck to feel the shiver of words for a very long time.

Blas Falconer: Creative writing teacher at APSU and author of The Perfect Hour and A Question of Gravity and Light

Blas had the chairs arranged in a square and asked each one of us why we were there. It immediately loosened us up. He gave us a handout of several types of poetry and we read each one. His point was that we don’t have to relate to or like every type of poem, but like looking at fine art, there is a style that we can relate to. And just like fine art where we don’t know the exact meaning that the artist is trying to convey, so it is with poetry. We did a writing exercise, taking a poem and changing the words to be our own. Blas does this type of writing when he hits a wall and can’t write anything.

He asked each of us what we thought of the poems that he handed out.

Rita Read, who taught English for 27 years, noticed that no matter what people said about the poems, Blas was sure to validate their opinion. He wasn’t threatened if someone didn’t like a poem. He maintained that they could find some poetry that they would like. Rita said that if she were a college student she would take his class. When you have a teacher who loves what they do, it makes you want to love it too.

Blas commented that a good poem is someone having an epiphany. If you know where you are going when you start out, then you’re probably not going to do well. He said to let your insides speak. The mind makes amazing leaps and associations when we don’t try to control it. Bernis Terhune gave us a chuckle when she said that in her writing group they try to make everything perfect, and it drives her crazy.

Writers and readers are encouraged to attend this three-day event which addresses a wide variety of literature, including historical fiction, journalism, poetry, biography, short stories, storytelling, writing for young adults and children, fiction and nonfiction.

Conference holders are honored to have as this year’s keynote speaker John Seigenthaler, Sr. (at left), renowned journalist, editor, publisher, political figure and current host of WNPT’s book-review program “Word on Words.”The conference banquet, held on the evening of July 11 at the Clarksville Country Club, will feature Seigenthaler and include a “Meet the Authors” reception and book signing.

Conference participants can also take part in sixteen different workshops/presentations given by such talented authors as young-adult author Tracy Barrett (Anna of Byzantium), editor and novelist Sonny Brewer (Stories from the Blue Moon Cafe, The Poet of Tolstoy Park), poet and editor Leigh Anne Couch (Houses Fly Away), poet Blas Falconer (The Perfect Hour, A Question of Gravity and Light), fiction and nonfiction author Joe Formichella (Here’s to You, Jackie Robinson), novelist and short story writer Suzanne Hudson (In a Temple of Trees, In the Dark of the Moon), novelist and creative writing instructor Barry Kitterman (The Baker’s Boy), professor of philosophy and religious scholar Bert Randall (Holy Scriptures as Justification for War) and journalist/author Karen Spears Zacharias ().

In addition, this year’s conference features the premiere of John McDonald’s play Headin’ South, Goin’ North, based on the story of lost Clarksville Civil War Confederate hero Charlie Lurton. Preceding the play at the historic Roxy Regional Theatre, participants will be taken on a tour of beautiful downtown Clarksville churches and other historic sites mentioned in the play.

The complete conference schedule and registration forms can be found online at www.artsandheritage.us/writers. Conference costs vary by package, and discounted prices are offered to those who register by June 25, 2008. Late registration ends July 3.

Packages offered include (along with early and late registration prices): Complete (all workshops/presentations, two luncheons, banquet, tour and play) – $250/$270; Two-Day Workshops/Presentations (Friday and Saturday Workshops/Presentations, two luncheons) – $165/$175; One-Day Workshops/Presentations (Friday or Saturday Workshops/Presentations, one lunch eon) – $85/$95; Banquet Only – $40/$50; Tour and Play Only – $50/$55.

On an inspired whim, moved by the beauty of a single piece of writing, Mr. Knight and his daughter, Virginia, recently completed a slide show and his reading of Hail October.

We offer no fanfare; just an invitation to pause, watch and enjoy the breathtaking beauty of New England in Autumn and the gentle flow of words from a master commentator.

Click here to view the embedded video.

He continues to attend Heritage Big Band dances and occasionally emcee summer and holiday concerts and dances, enjoying every moment on and off stage with 16 orchestra playing ballroom, swing, and those wonderful tangos, rhumbas and waltzes choreographed by practiced dancers over a huge floor. They’ve taped a few concerts. And there’s always a Polka or two for him in recognition of the many years he spent hosting the TV show Polka! Mr. Knight, a Boston native, traveled extensively in Europe with legendary Polka musician, the late Gene Wisniewski, introducing hundreds of travelers on their tours to the unexpected beauty and colorful heritage of the Poland that is his heritage.

More recently, Mr. Knight has turned 17 years of accumulated travel video into a multi-part series of half-hour shows, A Knight in Poland, now broadcast on many access stations in the northeast. The show offers glimpses of folk music and dance, vistas of cities like Krakow, tours of the home of composer Frederick Chopin, somber and solemn walks through Auschwitz and the death camps with their sidewalks made from gravestones, or simple reverence at the Shrine of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa– all revisited on film.

As with travel, he’s spent hours, weeks, months reviewing, editing and splicing together the music and sound from the best of his Polka! show. The show was so popular and so extensively aired that even today, Mr. Knight remains recognized for his affiliation with both Polka and the Music Of Your Life. Music, food and fine friends fuel the exuberance of his life and his work.

Three

Three magi searching for the Christ child
Bearing gifts of frankincense, and myrrh
Three in one – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
On a lonely hill, three wooden crosses
Three men, two thieves and one of innocence
A nail for each hand and a nail for the feet, a total of three
Three days later, Christ rising from the grave
Faith, hope, and love – the way it had to be