New York, New York!

Photo collage by Lou Iuppa, 2013


Can you feel the energy of the city. . . Background lyrics of Alicia Keyes ( I Heart Her) "New York,"
a theme song if you're living there . . . and here what is the theme song for upstate NY . . .

We had a thunderstorm over the weekend.  Authentic thunder and lightning rolling in, over the lake, for
several hours.  The downpour aided in melting the drifts of snow.  Now creeks swell, cornfields have furrows of brackish water, gray skies are in a mad rush , full of rumpus . . .There's an adage that proclaims a thunderstorm in January  means the end of winter.  Last year, at this time of the first thaw, we had a thunderstorm, and after that storm, winter was nonexistent. Will it happen two years in a row?

The semester has begun and I have been in the thick of planning events for my program and assisting other programs and departments with their events too.  We're going to have a rockin' semester at St. John Fisher.
I'm so excited about it.

In the mail, seed catalogs are arriving in pairs.  I get dreamy looking at all the veggies, imagining what our upcoming garden will look like. We have been enjoying the tomato sauce I put by.  Opening the jars and
smelling the fresh tomatoes and basil and garlic, all at once, transports us back to August. O so good!

I have been diligent, writing a poem a day, then moving on to prose work.  The early office seems to be my best practice . . .  I feel energized and ready to take on the other work I'm doing. 

I have received 13 acceptances (poems, flash fiction, essays) since December 17th, 2012.  Some were received after 100 days, some in a fortnight, and those rare responses in a few hours. I'm so grateful to the editors at Heron Tree, The Prose Poem Project,  The Apeiron Review, The Eunoia Review, Germ, Brevity Poetry Review, Blueline, Curio, About Place Journal,The Great Lake Book Project, The Centrifugal Eye Anthology, Yes, Poetry, who have given my work ascent.

Poetry Reading at SUNY Potsdam 4/4/2012

Traveling to SUNY Potsdam for a poetry reading 4/4/2012 and Workshop on 4/5/2012.

Here's the Publicity:

News from SUNY Potsdam

For more information contact: Alexandra Jacobs, 315-267-2918, relations@potsdam.edu

Blueline Magazine to Host Event with Nationally Acclaimed Poet

M.J. Iuppa Showcases her Works at SUNY Potsdam on April 4

POTSDAM, NY (03/08/2012)(readMedia)-- SUNY Potsdam's Blueline Magazine, a literary magazine dedicated to the spirit of the Adirondacks, will host an event on Wednesday, April 4 at 7 p.m. in the Barrington Student Union Multi-Purpose Room. This event will feature a nationally acclaimed poet and longstanding contributor to the magazine, M. J. Iuppa.

Iuppa will launch the College's celebrations for Poetry Month by reading from her newest work, "Within Reach," published by Cherry Grove Collections in 2010. She has published more than 300 poems in magazines across the country and is the recipient of several awards for teaching and creative writing.

"Within Reach" has been praised for its artistry and power.

As Blueline book reviewer Nancy Berbrich said, "This is nature poetry, poetry of artistic struggle, poignant and profound -- the metamorphosis of a poet."

The editors of Blueline Magazine are delighted to host such an accomplished, respected and talented New York poet.

In addition, the editors are also pleased to feature Maggie Tucker '12, who will open the event by reading from her poetry. She is a senior creative writing major at SUNY Potsdam.

This event is free, and the public is invited to attend. Copies of "Within Reach" will be available for purchase at this event.

About the author:

M.J. Iuppa is the writer-in-residence and director of the arts minor program at St. John Fisher College, where she teaches creative writing and poetry. She also currently serves as the poetry adviser for the New York State Foundation for the Arts. In 1996, she was the recipient of the Writing In Rochester Award and in 2000 she received the Part-Time Faculty Award for Teaching Excellence at St. John Fisher College. More than 300 of her poems have appeared in small press, university and national publications. Iuppa's works include: "Sometimes Simply," "Temptations, Greatest Hits 1986-2001" and "As the Crow Flies." Her first full-length poetry collection is "Night Traveler," and "Within Reach" is her most recent full-length collection. Iuppa earned her Master of Arts degree in creative writing from SUNY Brockport in 2000, and her Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from Pacific Lutheran University in 2006.

Blueline Magazine is published annually by the Department of English and Communication at SUNY Potsdam. To find out more information about SUNY Potsdam's Blueline Magazine, visitwww2.potsdam.edu/blueline.

SUNY Potsdam's Department of English & Communication challenges students to complete a core of courses that explore the varied ways that people speak, write and read, with concentrations available in literature, writing, professional writing and communication. To learn more, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/AAS/Engl.

Founded in 1816, and located on the outskirts of the beautiful Adirondack Park, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of America's first 50 colleges. SUNY Potsdam currently enrolls approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students. Home to the world-renowned Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam is known for its handcrafted education, challenging liberal arts and sciences core, excellence in teacher training and leadership in the performing and visual arts.

-www.potsdam.edu-

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A Glorious Week in Review

Pond
Photo by K. Iuppa.

This was last week's panorama of the pond. Steadily, the days have grown warmer and warmer.
Trees are starting to bud, peepers are singing, a loud shimmering song: alive, alive, alive. First flowers have popped. It was a very busy week. I had the good fortune to read at two events. On Wednesday,March 14th, I read at Hallwalls in Buffalo NY with John Roche in the Earth Daughters' sponsored reading series; Gray Hairs. It's such a great space to read. This theatre space is a warm and intimate black box, with tiered seating. It has a great sound system, and Hallwalls records their readings. I bet they have a fabulous archive. Before the reading we met at a neighborhood restaurant called Betty's for dinner. I enjoyed my end of the table's lively conversations, and wish I could maintain a dialogue with these bright women.

Our reading went well because our audience was so attentive and responsive. I know John knew many of these people because of his Buffalo roots. He earned his PhD at University of Buffalo. So his pleasure was sharing his new Joe Poet poems with all of us. I thoroughly enjoy hearing ( and reading) poetry sequences. It gives a listener a true poetry experience, which I think happens when a poet is given 20-25 minutes to read.

Peter and I arrived home around 11 p.m. or so. I did a few things before calling it a night.
Up early again, back to my residency work and classes and independent study students. The days, like daylight savings time, are leaping forward at a clip. Soon, it will be April 30th and the end of the semester. How does this happen?


On Thursday, Tony Leuzzi read at St. John Fisher. This was my second time hearing poems from his newest collection Fake Book. My students, who read his collection, enjoyed how Tony
presented his work. I have five maybe six English majors is in this class. The rest come from a diversity of majors, education, business, nursing, history, sociology, and so on.
This semester's class is exceptionally bright. I've been enjoying their responses to our encounters with the arts.


Friday afternoon, was another reading at St. John Fisher, this time we had the opportunity to hear Jennifer Egan speak about her writing process and read the first chapter of a visit with the goon squad which, if you haven't read this novel aka linked short stories aka concept album, you need to do so. I've been distilling how it works-- often going back to reread chapters.
Egan was elegant, poised, witty, seemingly honest-- all which made her reading one of the best we've had a Fisher. She was also the keynote speaker for the NeMLA conference that was hosted by St. John Fisher College but held in downtown Rochester at the Hyatt and Riverside Convention Center.

Lastly,Saturday, St. Patrick's Day, with a parade downtown that lasted 3 hours and sunshine to match. Made it tricky to get the NeMLA conference, but with Peter's willingness to drop me off and pick me up later in the day, it turned out well. I read with Sarah Freligh, Steve Huff and B.K.Fischer. Again, we had a warm and attentive audience. I loved the way our sections , spoke back and forth to each other-- all by serendipity. I'm so grateful to Bill Waddell, who has been such a literary supporter and advocate. I'm so lucky to have him as a colleague at Fisher and NeMLA is lucky to have him as their president.

Now it's Sunday. It's another gorgeous headstrong blue sky. Have work to do but plan on getting out there to enjoy some of this weather.


Next reading is in approximately three weeks. I will be traveling to the North country, SUNY Potsdam to celebrate the journal Blueline.