Good News!

2 Pages/2 Voices

Performance: Monday, February 7, 8 p.m. at Writers & Books.
Free and open to the public

Join us for an entertaining evening of readings of plays written by Rochester-area writers. In honor of our 30th Anniversary each play will include the word “30” at some point. Produced in association with Geva Theatre Center.

Received news: my 2-minute play "Lost Track of Time" was selected for 2Pages/2Voices. Looking forward to the readings on February 7th.

Hope to see you there!

Catching Up

Well, the semester has begun. Back to the paces, which is challenged by winter. Snow and living 45 minutes away from practically everything makes me take a closer look at time management. Lately, I've been hitching a ride to Fisher with my son Nick, who is a senior at Fisher. I must say I like being chauffeured. We're reading/sharing a book. So yesterday, I read aloud as we made our trip. I was an audio-book! Truthfully, I love audio books. I used to listen to books on tape all the time. Even stayed in the car when I arrive home to hear the last bit of a chapter. My family would stare out the kitchen window:"What's she doing out there?"

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Since December 20, 2010, I have been writing every day. It's been a variety of writing: fiction, poetry, critical reviews, plays, and sometimes this blog. Some poems have been taking 2-3 days to finish, while the prose stuff seems to spill quickly onto the page. Inspiration: heavily influenced by the weather and my introspection about these many years. I seem to do this in winter. Have been working with many artists (musicians, visual artists and poets) and classroom teachers on a variety of projects. The planning meetings have been fascinating. I'm certain that this work makes me a better teacher/artist. However, it's a very different energy from creating alone. Both are so necessary, at least for me.

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Took my Encounters with the Arts class to the Dryden Theater on Thursday. We saw Mildred Pierce (1945, noir) Joan Crawford won the Academy Award for her performance. HBO is making a five part mini-series, starring Kate Winslet. I imagine this new version will use more from the "hard-boiled" book. Most of my class enjoyed the movie. I'm sure some were baffled by black and white, and the 40's lingo. (I loved the turn of phrase-- interesting mix of humor with seriousness).


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This weekend I hope to go see The King's Speech. Not much else on my agenda besides
maintenance. It's such a thankless part of living.

Award for Grey Sparrow Press!

I have been fortunate to be included in the print and online editions of Grey Sparrow Journal. Diane Smith, editor-in-chief, graciously emailed me to share this exciting news.
Congratulations, Diane! and to all the poets and writers of Grey Sparrow!

The following is a clip from Duotrope's editor interview:

Today we were honored with the Best New Literary Journal of the Year Award. Three judges, I believe, identified the issues relating to this question and I appreciated their words. "The Council of Editors of Learned Journals (CELJ) is pleased to announce that "Grey Sparrow" has won its Best New Journal Award. Our judges were impressed by the Journal's multimedia and interdisciplinary focus; its bridging of the gap between academia and the arts; the felicity of its design; and the international scope of its coverage. In a time when the print journal is thought to be in danger from economic and technological forces, "Grey Sparrow" has shown there is still room for innovation and excellence in the traditional journal mode." The award will be presented by CELJ Vice-president Alan Rauch at Atrium 2 at the J. W. Marriott Hotel on January 8th at 12 PM, at the Modern Languages Association Convention in Los Angeles. The CELJ annually presents multiple awards in categories ranging from Best Journal design to awards covering certain historical and geographical areas. The CELJ is a consortium of over 200 editors of journals in the humanities and social sciences; its current President is Joycelyn Moody of the University of Texas. Last year, Oxford University was honored with this award, Harvard and Yale have won it in the past as well. There is always room for a bit of nonsense and fun.

—Diane Smith, Editor-in-Chief on 08 January 2011

Auditions: Calling All Actors!

For Immediate Release


Subject: Auditions for Tennessee Williams’ One Act Plays at St. John Fisher College.
Actors: Male & Female, age 17 and up. Be prepared to read from a selection of scripts.

Dates: January 17, 2011 and January 19, 2011

Location: Basil Auditorium on January 17 ; Golisano Gateway on January 19, 2011

Time: 7 p.m. both days

Contact: M.J.Iuppa miuppa@sjfc.edu Or 585-385-8412;
John Barthelmes jbarthelmes@sjfc.edu 585-334-8973.


St. John Fisher College announces a celebration of Tennessee Williams - Auditions for One Acts Performance

Rochester, NY~ St. John Fisher College will be performing a selection of Tennessee Williams one acts March 26-28 and will be holding auditions for local performers.
Performances will be at St. John Fisher College on
Saturday March 26 at 7:30pm
Sunday March 27 at 2pm
Monday March 28 at 8pm
and will be part of a Tennessee Williams celebration on campus, culminating on March 28th, day long conference.
Rehearsals will take place throughout February and March, schedule determined by the individual director.


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Upcoming: Genesee Reading Series Tuesday January 11.

Genesee Reading Series: James Longenbach and Anne Coon

January 11, 7:30 p.m.
Hosted by Wanda Schubmehl
$3 W&B members / $6 general public

Now in its 26th year, the Genesee Reading Series presents writers from the greater Genesee Valley region reading in the W&B Performance Space.

James Longenbach is the author of four books of poems, most recently The Iron Key (W. W. Norton); his poems have also appeared in many magazines, including The New Republic, The New Yorker, and The Paris Review. In addition, his reviews of contemporary poets appear regularly in The Los Angeles Times Book Review, The Nation, and The New York Times Book Review; his most recent book of literary criticism is The Art of the Poetic Line (Graywolf). A longtime member of the English Department at the University of Rochester, he also teaches regularly at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference and the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers.


Anne C. Coon is Professor Emeritus in the College of Liberal Arts at RIT. Her poetry has appeared in numerous journals, including Redactions, Provincetown Arts, Nimrod, and The Baltimore Review. Anne’s books include Henry James Sat Here; Via del Paradiso; Daedalus’ Daughter; and Discovering Patterns in Mathematics and Poetry, co-authored with Marcia Birken. Anne’s poetry has been set to music by composer Daniel Koontz, and she has collaborated with photographer John Retallack on a forthcoming book. She is currently working on her second novel.

Movie Blitz

Movies viewed since 12/19/2010:

Inception: Needs to be seen twice. There's a lot going on. It's a long movie. Not be watched when you're feeling antsy.

Black Swan: Strong acting. Layered metaphor. Every artist needs to watch this one.

An Education: Superb acting. Stunning situation. I know the time and place.

True Grit: Well, what can I say. The Cohen brothers are just the best. Superb acting.

It's Complicated: Silly and, in some ways, poignant. This is the lightest fare on this list. But I enjoyed it.

All Good Things: Again superb acting. Dunst is amazing. This story is quite disturbing.
Based on real events.

Want to see the King's Speech this weekend.


Saw most of these with my family (holiday dates, better than a pair of slippers). It's Complicated, I watched alone, just before Christmas.

I think it's going to be an interesting Oscar year.

Things To Do This Weekend

W&B 30th Anniversary Kick-Off: Poetry, Potluck & Pinot

Saturday, January 8, 3 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Admission: a dish or a bottle of pinot to share.

Join with us as we kick off our 30th Anniversary Year with a special event featuring readings by 30 poets who have been an important part of the W&B community during our first three decades. The afternoon and evening will celebrate our literary community with a sharing of poetry, food and drink (pinot, both noir and grigio.)

Schedule of Readings to date(subject to change)

4 p.m.: Steve Tills, M.J. Iuppa, Sally Bittner-Bonn, Michael Czarnecki, Linda Allardt

5 p.m.: Jim Longenbach, David Michael Nixon, Donna Marbach, Wanda Schubmehl

6 p.m.: Kitty Jospe, Wendy Low, Anne Coon, Vincent F.A. Golphin, Tony Leuzzi

7 p.m.: Pat Schwartz, Sam Abrams, Sarah Freligh, Karen VanMeenen, Norm Davis

8 p.m.: John Roche, Aaron Fagan, Charles Cote

9 p.m.: Henry Padron, Rick Petrie

K.D. Lang sings Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah

Happy New Year!

Today is the anniversary of my father's passing. It's been 12 years.

K.D. Lang has an amazing voice. Listened to several versions of Cohen's song sung by her, but chose to post this one on my blog because of her hands and bare feet.

This year begins with this song. Listen carefully to Cohen's lyrics. Does it get any better?