Poets.org: Advice from Queer Poets, Hot Dogs, an Interview & More

	July 2012 Join us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Tumblr		New on Poets.org The Letter Q: Queer Poets' Letters to Their Younger Selves Transport and Transformation: Patricia Spears Jones in Conversation Dog Days of Summer: Poetry and Hot Dogs Poets Forum Update: Participating Poets Announced The Letter Q: Queer Poets' Letters to Their Younger Selves "You'll meet people all over the world in person and through your work who will make it abundantly clear that what sails through your mind delights them, and the adventure of that encounter will bring you love and friendship and even some success but mostly it will bring you this crazy smiling part of yourself .... You will be blown away by who you will grow up into." So writes Eileen Myles in a letter to her teenage self, part of the the newly-released The Letter Q, published by Scholastic—a collection of reflective letters written by queer writers to their younger selves. In the spirit of this moving collection, Poets.org asked queer poets to write their own imaginative journeys into their pasts. Read letters from Ching-In Chen, Timothy Liu, Dawn Lundy Martin, Ely Shipley, and Stacy Szymaszek. On the web at: www.poets.org/letterQ Transport and Transformation: Patricia Spears Jones in Conversation "I was trying to think about what survives complete devastation. The only thing that survives is art." In this conversation with Jenifer Berman, Patricia Spears Jones discusses empowerment among the oppressed, the cyclic nature of weather, and Billie Holiday, among other topics. On the web at: www.poets.org/jones Dog Days of Summer: Poetry and Hot Dogs Poets.org has your cookout covered! Visit our Tumblr for a look at some poetry-related hot dog ephemera, including lines from Langston Hughes, Sandra Cisneros, Nick Demske, and even a description of Charles Olson eating a hot dog at the Black Mountain School. On the web at: www.poetsorg.tumblr.com/tagged/hot+dog Poets Forum Update: Participating Poets Announced Ready to walk the streets of Manhattan with a poet this fall? At the Academy's 6th annual Poets Forum, October 18-20, you'll get the chance to do just that. Poets Jordan Davis, Dante Micheaux, Stacy Szymaszek, and Matthew Thorburn will be leading walking tours in Manhattan's West Village, SoHo, Harlem, and the Museum of Modern Art. If you missed last year's Forum, check out Susan Howe's dynamic Blaney Lecture, The Whispered Rush: Telepathy of Archives. Jorie Graham will be giving this year's Blaney Lecture, titled Bring Your Body: On Reading Poems in the Digital Age. The weekend will also include discussions and readings with the Academy's Chancellors, as well as poets Mary Jo Bang, Mark Bibbins, Timothy Donnelly, Brenda Hillman, Randall Mann, Ben Mirov, D. Nurkse, Brenda Shaughnessy, Patricia Smith, Gary Snyder, and Craig Morgan Teicher. On the web at: www.poets.org/poetsforum Thanks for being a part of the Poets.org community. You may unsubscribe from this newsletter at any time. Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901 New York, NY 10038 212-274-0343