Recently in Poetry Category

From the Associated Press:

NEW YORK -- The 60th annual National Book Awards was a night to celebrate literature and to wonder about its future.

Lifetime achievement winner Gore Vidal envisioned only pulp and dust Wednesday as he contemplated the state of books, while fellow honorary winner Dave Eggers declared that we live in a golden age. The evening's host, Andy Borowitz, joked that the meaning of publishing was "a lot of hard work. Then nothing."

As the e-book march advances, both Eggers and fiction winner Colum McCann insisted that paper texts were stronger than ever. McCann won the fiction prize for "Let the Great World Spin," a novel about daring, luck and mortality in the pre-digital world of 1970s New York.

Timothy Ward of York will read from his book of poetry, "Last Words: A Portrait of Gay Lust, Love and Loss," at 8 p.m. Dec. 1 at Sparky's Café at Martin Library, 159 E. Market St.

Books will be for sale and signing following the reading. Proceeds will go to Family First Health in York for Caring Together/AIDS service.

From the Associated Press:

STOCKHOLM -- Romanian-born German writer Herta Mueller won the 2009 Nobel Prize in literature Thursday, honored for work that "with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed."

The 56-year-old author, who emigrated to Germany from then-communist Romania in 1987, made her debut in 1982 with a collection of short stories titled "Niederungen," which was promptly censored by the Romanian government. In 1984 an uncensored version was published in Germany and her work depicting life in a small, German-speaking village in Romania was devoured by readers.

That work was followed by "Oppresive Tango" in Romania.

Because of her vocal criticism of Romania's government, and its feared secret police, she and her husband left the country.

The prize includes a 10 million kronor ($1.4 million) prize and will be handed out Dec. 10 in the Swedish capital.

From the Associated Press:

NEW YORK -- A critical work on black intellectuals and an anthology of the late Chicano poet Jose Antonio Burciaga are among this year's winners of American Book Awards.

The awards, now in their 30th year, are given for outstanding work of multicultural literature and are sponsored by the nonprofit educational organization, the Before Columbus Foundation.

Recipients announced Tuesday included Houston A. Baker's "Betrayal: How Black Intellectuals Have Abandoned the Ideals of the Civil Right Era," "The Last Supper of Chicano Heroes: Selected Works of Jose Antonio Burciaga" and Claire Hope Cummings' "Uncertain Peril: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Seeds."

York resident Noel Sloboda has a poem featured in the new book "Poems
on the Hungry and the Homeless." Published by Popcorn Press, this anthology
features 151 poems about hunger and homelessness from 80 poets. All profits
from this book go to programs helping the hungry and homeless. It is available
from Amazon and directly from the publisher.

More information about the volume
can be found here:
http://www.popcornpress.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=14".

Over the summer two Christian School of York students submitted poetry and were chosen to be published in "A Celebration of Poets -- Summer 2009." Justine Keener submitted a poem entitled "Wake Me When January Ends" and Nick Lay submitted "Meltdown."

From the Associated Press:

NEW YORK -- Three poets, two fiction writers and a nonfiction writer have won $25,000 prizes given annually to emerging women authors.

Poets Vievee Francis, Janice Harrington and Heidy Steidlymayer; fiction writers Lori Ostlund and Helen Phillips; and nonfiction writer Krista Bremer are this year's recipients of the Rona Jaffe Foundation Writers' Awards. The awards were announced Wednesday.

Previous winners of the award, founded in 1995, include ZZ Packer and Lan Samantha Chang.

Hanover YWCA is accepting used books for its annual used book sale Nov. 6, 7 and 8. Books can be brought to the YW at 23 W. Chestnut St. and placed in the "book box" located in front of the building. Please no encyclopedias, Readers Digest condensed books or magazines. Books should be in good condition and placed in bags or boxes.

Sasha Obama, daughter of President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama takes her seat at the start of "an evening of poetry, music and the spoken word" in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.

From the Associated Press:

First lady Michelle Obama says the White House is a place where people should feel free to speak their minds. To that end, she and President Barack Obama welcomed actors, poets and writers to the East Room on Tuesday.

Just in from the Associated Press:

LONDON -- British poet Carol Ann Duffy says she has been chosen as the country's first female poet laureate.

Previous holders of the honored post include William Wordsworth, Alfred Tennyson and Ted Hughes.

Tedd Unger of Dover has self-published a volume of poetry, "Thinking of You: A Collection of Poetry about Women." A portion of the proceeds will be donated to a women's shelter. Priced at $11, the book is available at Borders Books & Music, 3000 Whiteford Road, Springettsbury Township.

From the Associated Press:

Poet Fanny Howe has received a $100,000 prize for lifetime achievement.

The 68-year-old Howe, whose collections include "On the Ground" and "The Lyrics," won the Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize.

The award, which is "given to a living U.S. poet whose lifetime accomplishments warrant extraordinary recognition," was announced Tuesday by the Chicago-based Poetry Foundation.

The foundation also awarded a $10,000 prize for criticism, the Randall Jarrell Award, to 39-year-old Ange Mlinko, whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Nation and on the Poetry Foundation Web site.

Timothy Ward will read from his self-published book of poetry, "Last Words: A Portrait of Gay Lust, Love & Loss," March 27 at YorkArts Gallery, 10 N. Beaver St., York.

Doors open at 7 p.m. and the poetry reading begins at 8. A book signing and social hour will follow from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Refreshments will be served.

The book sells for $11 and most of the proceeds go to AIDS research. For details, call 659-6034.

and that definitely applies to book lovers.

The following Web sites offer used books for purchase or exchange, some for as little as the postage to ship them.

Check them out, and if you know of any others, please let us know.

www.bookmooch.com

www.bookins.com

www.swaptree.com

www.paperbackswap.com

This just in from the Associated Press:

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- W.D. Snodgrass, a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet who had a nearly 40-year teaching career, died at his upstate New York home after a four-month battle with inoperable lung cancer. He was 83.

His family said he died today at his home in Madison County, just east of Syracuse.

Snodgrass won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1960 for his first book, "Heart's Needle," which grew from heartbreak at losing custody of his daughter in a bitter divorce.

Although widely credited as a founding member of the "confessional" school of poetry, Snodgrass himself dismissed the label.

Snodgrass was the author of more than 30 books of poetry and translations.

It's wonderful to receive books, but sometimes a gift is all about the presentation.
Christmas morning our oldest son, Mike, gave my husband and me a slim volume of poetry by Billy Collins. Then he proceeded to read one of the poems, "The Lanyard," about the love between mother and child. By the end we were laughing and crying and my husband was rushing for the box of tissues. That reading was the true gift.
Not to be outdone, our youngest son, Peter, opened his backpack and explained that he hadn't wrapped our gift, another book. But he didn't think that the cover was good enough and so, late on Christmas Eve, he rummaged through the old toy closet, found some ancient, but still usable tempera paints, and fashioned his own cover for "The Color Purple." He eloquently explained all of this, then brought out a book with a simple, beautiful cover.
I'm sure I'll enjoy both books. But the giving is what I'll remember.

By JEFF FRANTZ
Daily Record/Sunday News

As he lay in bed at York Hospital on Tuesday battling leukemia, Gerry Meisenhelder turned to a grandson and began dictating verse.
One more connection with the world to be recorded.
Since he began writing poetry in high school, Meisenhelder found and explored one avenue after another for these connections.

From the Associated Press:

Poets & Writers, a nonprofit literary organization, has received a $2 million donation to support its Jackson Poetry Prize, a $50,000 award founded in 2007 for emerging American poets.

"Receiving this generous gift during such a challenging time reminds us of the importance of literature," Elliot Figman, executive director of Poets & Writers, said in a statement Monday.

The money comes from the Liana Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in Far Hills, N.J., and co-managed by poet Susan Jackson.

that books make great gifts, but now we can listen to famous authors tell us why.

Book award winners, announced Nov. 19, from left: Mark Doty, poetry; Annette Gordon-Reed, nonfiction; Judy Blundell, young people's literature and Peter Matthiessen, fiction.

Judges for the National Book Award honored a comeback, giving the fiction award to Peter Matthiessen's "Shadow Country," a thorough revision of a trilogy of novels from the 1990s.
The nonfiction prize went to Annette Gordon-Reed for "The Hemingses of Monticello," while the poetry category was won by Mark Doty's "Fire to Fire." Former genre writer-for-hire Judy Blundell won in young people's literature, for "What I Saw and How I Lied."
For more on book awards http://features.csmonitor.com/books/2008/11/20/national-book-award-prizes-announced/

Noel Sloboda, a teacher at Penn State York and Harrisburg Shakespeare Festival dramaturge, will have his first paperback of poetry released July by Buffalo small press sunnyoutside. "Shell Games" feaures 35 new poems and will sell for $10.

Go here to order.

Barnes&Noble.com has added three new features to its Barnes & Noble Studio multimedia site that are well worth a look.

In Guest Books, found out what writers read as authors talk about their top three favorite books. David Sedaris is featured this week.

5 Books selects five titles that will help readers sharpen their skills on a particular topic. Read all about wine.

The Book Files tells the story behind the book. This week’s featured book is James Joyce’s “The Dubliners.” Upcoming are Jerzy Kosinski’s “The Steps” and Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham.”

Visit http://www.barnesandnoble.com/bn-studio/videos-podcasts/index.asp?.

Those of you of a certain age (and you know who you are) who are members of AARP will want to check out Borders’ latest promotion.

Just go to www.borders.com and click on “Exclusive offer for AARP members.”

You can save from 10 to 35 percent on books purchased both online and at the store. And if you’re not a member, they will sign you up on the spot.

Occasionally getting older has its advantages.

Readers would rather curl up with a printed book than go online or read an e-book, a new Random House/Zogby poll finds.

Winners of the Your Voice contest that was part of Street Lit, Hip-Hop, Reading and Writing @ Martin Library are:

Keyona Bennett, 15, Hannah Penn Middle School, for “Starting Pains.”

Joshua Pagan, 16, William Penn Senior High School, for “Like a Cloud.”

Jarayssa Johnson Punter, 18, William Penn Senior High School, “My Angel.”

Cateisha Fells, 16, West York Area High School, “You Don’t Know Me.”

Latisha Murray, 17, William Penn Senior High School, “To Those Who Love Not.”

The book: “Sonata for Rain” (Iris G. Press, $10)

What it’s about: The 64-page book is a collection of Gonzalez’s poetry, accompanied by her artwork.

Sometimes, as much as we hate it, we have to part with our books.

What else can we do when there just isn't enough shelf space for all our recent purchases?

Have you just finished reading a book you couldn't put down, or one that kept putting you to sleep?

We want to hear about it, good or bad.

Send your book review to gfogal@ydr.com and we will post it here.

York County poet Rebecca Gonzalez has published her first book of poetry. "Sonata for Rain" sells for $10. For details and ordering information, visit www.irisgpress.org.

By JOSEPH MALDONADO
For the Daily Record/Sunday News

A book is like a warm quilt comprised of many threads, colors, textures and images. And like any quilt, a book takes tremendous know-how to transform it from an idea to something people curl up with in their favorite chair.

In May, the literary group Pennwriters will host its 21st annual conference, “A Writer’s smorgasbord.” The three-day event will feature scores of publishing experts, including many pub
lished authors.

Have you just finished reading a book you couldn't put down, or one that kept putting you to sleep?

We want to hear about it, good or bad.

Send your book review to gfogal@ydr.com and we will post it here.

Have you just finished reading a book you couldn't put down, or one that kept putting you to sleep?

We want to hear about it, good or bad.

Send your book review to gfogal@ydr.com and we will post it here.

Denis Johnson, author of the Vietnam novel, “Tree of Smoke,” won the National Book Award for fiction Wednesday night.

According to the Associated Press:

New York Times reporter Tim Weiner won the nonfiction award for “Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA.” Robert Hass won the poetry award for “Time and Materials.”

Sherman Alexie won the award for young people’s literature, for “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.”

“Tree of Smoke” was widely considered the front-runner for the fiction award. Lauding Johnson’s novel as a “conventionally satisfying but formally daring masterpiece,” Harper’s reviewer John Jeremiah Sullivan described it as “a 614-page multigenerational, transnational, braided morality saga about Westerners in Southeast Asia and the Southeast Asians who have to figure out how to stay alive around them.”

Have you just finished reading a book you couldn't put down, or one that kept putting you to sleep?

We want to hear about it, good or bad.

Send your book review to gfogal@ydr.com and we will post it here.