Asian American Poetry Unbound
Of note this weekend: Sandra Lim in Chicago, Jason Koo in Cleveland, Marilyn Chin in San Jose, Fay Chiang in NYC. Also: Hyphen #19 release party in SF. Please note that this weekend’s roundup only covers through February 28th — as we’ll be transitioning into a new format for our events listings starting on March 1st. Look out for an announcement at the beginning of next week!
Continue reading “Friends & Neighbors: Weekend Roundup (Feb. 24-28, 2010)”
Lots going on this week. Especially interesting this week: Kundiman & Verlaine Reading Series in NYC, Vincent Who? Documentary Screening at the AAWW, poet Truong Tran’s “Lost & Found” exhibit opening. Don’t forget to also check out the beginnings of Lunar New Year festivities, which are starting in some cities this week (The New Year itself is on Feb. 14th). The Museum of Chinese in America has a great list of New Year’s events going on in NYC and in Boston, DC, San Francisco, and Honolulu.
Continue reading “Friends & Neighbors: Weekend Roundup (Feb 4-10, 2010)”
A couple of readings, 2 ASL Open Mic’s, some book release events, a panel, plays — this week’s roundup is really quite a mix. Of particular interest: poet Michael Leong at Dartmouth, Diane DiPrima’s Inaugural Address as SF Poet Laureate, and the BECOMING AMERICANS Anthology reading in NYC. And of course, don’t forget to tune in to President Obama’s first State of the Union Address tonight at 9 PM EST.
Continue reading “Friends & Neighbors: Weekend Roundup (Jan 28-Feb 3, 2010)”
It’s the first Weekend Events Roundup of the New Year! (And of the decade, we might add). There’s a lot of things going on this weekend in the literary arts world. Monday (January 18th) is also Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We hope that, in addition to considering what arts events you’d like to check out, you’ll also consider attending a celebratory event or participating in service or activism this weekend in honor of his work and legacy.
Continue reading “Friends & Neighbors: Weekend Roundup (Jan. 12-20, 2010)”
Things in the literary scene are winding down for the year, and the LR staff is going to be taking some time off from the blog for the holidays starting tomorrow (December 23), and ending on January 8th. It’s been a great last few months, and we’ve been bowled over again and again by your support and enthusiasm as this community has begun to take root. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be taking time to rest, spend time with friends and family, attend to personal matters, and prepare for LR’s next steps in 2010. In light of the fact that we’ll be taking such a long span of time off, we’ve decided that four our events roundup this week, we will cover a longer time period than usual. The Holiday Roundup below covers events happening from December 23rd until January 11th, and, since there are several contests and festivals with deadlines coming up in the next month or so, we’ve also included a list of calls for entries. As always, please let us know of any corrections that need to be made, or if you have an event that you’d like to add. Happy Holidays!
Continue reading “Friends & Neighbors: Holiday Events Roundup (Dec. 23, 2009 – Jan. 11, 2010)”
This week, in addition to readings, open mic’s & performances, we’ve also included a couple of local book sale events. And be sure to check out your local independent bookseller or a university or small press’s online shop this week if you’re looking for holiday gifts; help support the dedicated small businesses that make the publication and promotion of contemporary poetry possible!
Continue reading “Friends & Neighbors: Weekend Roundup (Dec. 17-21, 2009)”
Over Thanksgiving weekend, I went into Chicago with a few friends, and decided to use the opportunity to try out the downtown portion of the Poetry Foundation’s Chicago Poetry Tour. My companions very graciously agreed to take the tour with me—no small feat, considering that it’s a 45-minute walking tour, and a few of them were dragging rolling luggage with them the whole time! Much to our delight, it ended up being a very pleasant experience for all of us. In particular, one of our number had never been to Chicago before, so it was a perfect way to show him pieces of the Loop. But even for those of us who were more familiar with the city, it was wonderful to see the neighborhood around Millennium Park from a different perspective. The downtown portion of the tour (which is the main tour listed on the web site) takes you almost straight down Michigan Avenue (perfect for us, since our train into the city disembarked at Randolph Station), and then turns west and ends a bit more inland. It works like this: before going to Chicago, you download the audio file containing the guide, and a map (not necessary, but interesting/helpful if you’re one of those directionally challenged people like me who needs to know exactly where you are in reference to the rest of the neighborhood at every minute) from the Poetry Foundation’s website. The audio is a single track, and is available in either mp3 or mp4. You then put the audio file on your portable music device, and turn it on whenever you reach the tour’s start point (The Chicago Cultural Center, at 78 E. Washington). From there, you follow the audio as it guides you through six different stops of interest (pausing whenever you want to explore a shop, get food, or look at something else along the way— the audio even recommends doing this at several points in the narration), and end up at the Harold Washington Library (400 S. State St), which is conveniently located next to a CTA stop.
Continue reading “Editors’ Picks: Downtown Chicago Poetry Tour Review”