Month: September 2017

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SoCalPoFest to Feature “Poetry of Presence” Ensemble Reading

The second annual Southern California Poetry Festival (SoCalPoFest) will be held on October 28th and 29th on the campus of Mt. San Antonio College, one of the largest junior colleges in Southern California.

Some highlights of this year’s event include readings by out-of-towners Kaveh Akbar, Rachel McKibbens, and Maggie Smith; a reading under the canned stars in the Randall Planetarium featuring local luminaries; professors and students reading from the grad programs at USC, Chapman, Cal State Long Beach, and UC Irvine; an ensemble reading of poets featured in the new anthology Poetry of Presence, including special out-of-town guest, Barbara Crooker; and so, so much more. There are approximately sixty local and visiting poets participating in this year’s event. Read the full schedule, or learn more bout this year’s participants.

Tickets for the event are free to the public; however, the planetarium reading includes a $3 admission fee, which goes towards its upkeep as well as their public outreach events. The most direct way to order your tickets is to visit our Facebook page, which you can do by clicking here. We’d love it if you could spread the word to the poetry lovers in your circle.

–submitted by Sonia Greenfield
Editor, Rise Up Review
Co-Director, Southern California Poetry Festival

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Poet Spotlight: Carolyn Locke

This is part of a series highlighting some of the poets anthologized in Poetry of Presence. We thank the poets for providing the material. Today we shine the spotlight on Carolyn Locke.

POP Spotlight Locke

Short bio: I live in Maine and am a graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Goddard College. I am the author of Always This Falling (2010), Not One Thing: Following Matsuo Basho’s Journey to the Interior (2013), and The Place We Become (2015).

Thoughts on mindfulness and poetry: Mindfulness poetry offers the gift of grounding, gratitude, and inspiration for living and writing. It reminds me of what’s important.

Website and social media:

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Where are you reading?

Lucie A., from Sydney, Australia, sent us these lovely photos with a delightful message: “Your beautiful book made it all the way to Sydney, Australia. I absolutely love it. I read it very slowly … and the poems give me lots of peace, inspiration and joy. Thank you so much. Sending you a few photos from the places where I have been reading….”

Thanks so much, Lucie, for your support of the book and for your beautiful message and photos.

Now we’re wondering: Where are you reading Poetry of Presence? Drop us a note or send us a photo or video. We know you’re reading all over the U.S., and also in Dubai, India, South Africa, Ireland, England, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Belgium….

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Contributing Poet Named Berkeley Poet Laureate

Image result for Raphael Jesús González

We’re proud to share the news that contributing poet Raphael Jesús González has been selected as the first Poet Laureate of Berkeley, CA. Congratulations, Raphael!

“I will not wear my laurels lightly
in honor of the belovèd city
to praise when it serves justice,
to protest when it does not.”

You can read Raphael’s acceptance poem in its entirety, in both Spanish and English, on his blog.

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Beware of Ebook Distributors

ebook violationPlease avoid any book distributor illegally offering Poetry of Presence as an ebook. For various reasons, we and our publisher chose not to make this book available in ebook format, yet certain parties are now peddling it as such. This unlawful practice hurts both publishers and poets. It is a form of stealing. We’ll trust you to do the right thing.
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Hooray, and Whew!

ruby with books
Ruby opening the first box of books

A note from Phyllis Cole-Dai:

A huge shout-out to my friend and co-editor Ruby R. Wilson and her husband Jim for handling all our anthology business while I was on extended “family leave” in North Carolina. The day my parents began their move into a different assisted living facility, Poetry of Presence was officially released. Such timing! Book orders have been pouring in ever since. As you can see below, the Wilson living room has turned into a shipping department.

Thanks, too, to all of you customers who have ordered books directly from us instead of, say, Amazon. We’re doing our best to fill your orders in timely fashion, though we keep running out of inventory. A good problem to have! Please bear with us….

In case you’re still wondering where to buy your copy of Poetry of Presence, please do consider purchasing through our website. We receive more proceeds from each book that way than if you purchase elsewhere. We then reinvest the proceeds in permission fees so that our publisher can produce more books. Your direct purchase will help this book stay in print!

shipping department
The “shipping department” in the Wilson home
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The Book’s Finally Out! Are You In?

smallest cover for web

Poetry of Presence
has officially been released!

$21.95 USD
248 pp.
6″ x 9” Quality Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-9982588-3-6
Publisher: Grayson Books
Release date: TODAY (September 5, 2017)

Here’s how to get yours:

U.S. customers:
✓ To buy up to four copies
via PayPal or credit card, click here
✓ To pay by cash or check, please contact us directly

International customers:
✓ Please contact us directly

Other Details:

✓ Shipping & handling: $3/book,
for up to four books within the U.S.
✓ Bulk orders (5+ copies): Contact us directly for a 10% discount
✓ Custom orders: Contact us regarding
international orders, expedited shipping or other special requests

Other Sellers:

✓ Grayson Books
✓ Amazon
✓ Barnes & Noble

 

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