MahoganyBooks is excited to bring world renowned poet and author, Tara Betts, to Washington, D.C. The event will take place at U-topia on Monday, September 20, 6:30 p.m.– 8:30 p.m. This event celebrates the one year anniversary of Tara Betts’ debut poetry collection, Arc & Hue.

The evening’s highlights will feature Tara Betts and special guest poets, Derrick Weston Brown, Sonya Renee, & Truth Thomas, reading from her acclaimed book in the relaxing, eclectic atmosphere of U-topia.

Guest poets Derrick Weston Brown is a Cave Canem fellow and the poet-in-residence at Busboys & Poets and author of the upcoming collection Wisdom Teeth; Sonya Renee is a National Poetry Slam Champion and author of A Little Truth on Your Shirt (GirlChild Press, 2010); and Truth Thomas, author of A Day of Presence and Bottle of Life (both on flipped eye press), has appeared in: African Voices, Art Times, the anthology Fingernails Across the Chalkboard: Poetry and Prose on HIV/AIDS From the Black Diaspora and many more.

A reading for the landmark anthology Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry edited by Camille T. Dungy. Contributors Tara Betts, Myronn Hardy and Kamilah Aisha Moon read overlooking the Hudson Valley. $5 admission. Co-sponsored with The Hudson Valley Writers’ Center. This venue is accessible by the Metro North train, directly above the Philipse Manor train stop. The Hudson Valley Writers’ Center is located at 300 Riverside Drive,
Sleepy Hollow, NY.

I do not do well in heat. I’ve managed to do some reading today, some writing. Some days that’s the best that you can hope for, but I’ve discovering that temperature extremes break my concentration completely. For the past two days, the only thing that has seemed to help me is water and sleep. This is why I’ve never been excited about bikram yoga (AKA hot yoga) because I am always on the verge of passing out in a bikram class.

I want to write about something sexier like designer bags or my favorite television show, but really, I’m thinking about starting another semester. I plan to turn in the syllabi tomorrow and finish reading some new poems from young sister poets. Today, I read Amy Gerstler’s book Dearest Creature. Since I read her book Bitter Angel and some of her other poems, I’ve been wanting to read Ghost Girl, Medicine, and Crown of Weeds. I’ve often sought out every book by a poet that I can find so I can so I can track their progressions or how they shift from one book to the next. I just appreciate when a poet exercises imagination, which Gerstler does well. I’ve always felt like a poem needs to tell a story and challenge some aspect of how we see poetry or the world, or both.

In the meantime, it seems incongruous with my desire to watch R&B videos or my wish that I had written lines from my favorite poems on the blacktop of our parking spot throughout the summer that is gone all too soon. In spite of my varied acts of pop confection and verse-inspired silly, I’m going to try to finish reading a few books every day and write every day. Some people think writers write every day, and they don’t. Really, there are fallow periods for some of us. I find myself thinking of writing at all these random moments. I even find myself dreaming about it. At other times, I find only music, books, and conversation as a stimuli for when the writing does come.

I used to write every day and do morning pages for a minimum of 30 minutes. I’d usually write in-class with my students, but I’ve found that they write for shorter time periods. Part of me wonders if there’s just so many distractions that make writing seem like a random act that is spurted onto the page without a need for revision. After all, stream of consciousness is genius, right? I’d say no, if the stream isn’t channeled.

So, if you want to share some of your favorite summer readings, I’d like to hear about them. I shared a few of mine on The Basin Blog earlier this summer. I’ll be sharing more with you soon.

I’ll be presenting at AWP in 2011 in D.C.

“African American Writers on Obama”
Lita Hooper, Renee Simms, Tara Betts, Antoinette Brim, Demetrice Worley
44 on 44: Forty-Four African American Writers on the 44th President of the United States is an anthology of poetry, essay, and creative non-fiction based on the election of the first African American president of the U.S. The anthology includes contributors’ reflections of the historic election of Barack Obama. Several contributors will read from the anthology and engage in a discussion with one another and the audience.

“Teaching At-Risk Teen Writers”
Susanna Horng, Maya Nussbaum, Maria Theresa Romano, Nancy Larson Shapiro, Mary Roma, Tara Betts
This panel, composed of veteran mentors & leaders of Girls Write Now, an organization of professional women writers mentoring NYC high school girls since 1998, examines the challenges & joys of nurturing at-risk teen writers. Through their unique, intergenerational community model–mutually exciting for students and teachers–panelists share GWN’s pedagogical approach, multi-genre curriculum, developmental portfolios & writing exercises applicable to a range of populations and skill levels.

One of the things that I enjoy most about writer’s residencies and workshops, even as I publish more, is hearing about other books that I haven’t read. Sometimes, it’s a bit like cracking open a watch to examine its gears, or even better yet, positing another portal or thread in the growing webs of narratives and ideas in my head.

While attending VONA, author Aurora Levins Morales suggested Joanna Russ’ book “How to Suppress Women’s Writing” which is a thinly-veiled science fiction treatise about the “Glotolog” who use various stratagems and threadbare reasons for why another group’s presence and language is faulty. As the book progresses, Russ leans more toward her own voice and struggles in placing women within the canon in terms of getting access to books and dismissal by colleagues who doubt the validity of women writing a variety of texts. Although this book is dated in parts, it has some strong quotes that I’d like share that strike me as resonant decades after the original publication of this particular book.

“The idea that any art is achieved ‘intuitively’ is a dehumanization of the brains, effort, and the traditions of the artist, and a classification of said artists as subhuman.” (p.91)

“When the memory of one’s predecessors is buried, the assumption persists that there were none and each generation of women believes itself to be faced with the burden of doing everything for the first time.” (p.93)

“Without models, it’s hard to work; without a context, difficult to evaluate; without peers, nearly impossible to speak.” (p.95)

“To read the visionary’s blazes of illumination as faulty structure, fantasy as if it were failed realism, to read subversion, as if it were nothing but its surface, is automatically to condemn minority writing, among which is the writing of women. When critics have to deal with a different English, there is also the ploy of reading the difference as if it were failure.”
(p. 127-28)

“There is a false center to ‘literature.’ It’s not only male, white, and middle class (or above) but also European East Coast. Whatever happened to that splendid burst of conscious American-ness which produced people like Willa Cather, Sherwood Anderson, Carl Sandburg, Sinclair Lewis, and (somewhat later) Thomas Wolfe? Criticism seems to find them embarrassing nowadays and prefers the expatriate Hemingway, the expatriate Eliot, and the expatriate Pound. It seems that the ‘universal’ does not include ‘American.’” (p. 128)

“But remember, one can’t get minority work into the canon by pretending it’s about the same things or uses the same techniques as majority work. It probably isn’t and doesn’t. (I would argue it does at times but plays with the constraints.) It may very well look like nothing ever seen before on earth. When science fiction first entered academia, the mistakes made about it by critics were grotesque. They continue to be, from time to time. This was due not only to a lack of scientific background–for example, some critics saw classic alien-background stories as nightmares, being unaware of the accuracy of the background and the delight in this as the story’s point–but also to a lack of any knowledge of the field’s history and conventions (including lack of the knowledge that it had a history and conventions). (p. 130, The first note in parentheses is mine and the italics in the last line are ones that I emphasize here.)

“If you don’t like my book, write your own.” (p. 130 It sounds a bit like teasing, but I think more of us should, whether sanctioned by academia or publishing houses, or not. In any case, it stresses the point that we should be finding as many ways as possible to document our work and our presence.)

Since I’ve gotten some requests to do some more appearances in Chicago, so I wanted to make sure that everyone had the information.

SATURDAY, July 24, 3-5 p.m.
Ricochets, 4644 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago, IL
Tara Betts is one of the featured writers at Paper Machete hosted and created by Christopher Piatt. The Paper Machete is a “live magazine” addressing politics and culture.

SUNDAY, July 25, 6-10 p.m.
Music Lounge, 3017 W. Armitage, Chicago, IL
Laudanum Feminist Open Mic is a product of LGBTQ activist, photographer and booking agent Chelcie S Porter. Laudanum is held every Sunday at Music Lounge in Logan Square. Accompanied by DJ Mr. Mitchell. Tara Betts hosts on July 25. Sign up starts at 6:00pm.

TUESDAY, July 27, 6:30-10 p.m.
Jeffrey Pub, 7041 S. Jeffrey Blvd., Chicago, IL
Chicago’s Pow-Wow Inc. provides a weekly performance space for women artists to present, create, develop and implement artistic performances and writing. Tara Betts is this week’s feature, and she’s leading a writing workshop prior to the show. The workshop is from 6:30-8 p.m. Open-mic sign-up starts at 7:30 p.m. She will be signing copies of her book “Arc & Hue”.

WEDNESDAY, July 28, 9 p.m.
Red Kiva, 1108 W. Randolph, Chicago, IL
“The Revolving Door” organized by Jamie Kazay and Jennifer Steele hosts readersTara Betts, Quraysh Ali Lansana, Toni Asante Lightfoot, Bayi Ogikutu, Keli Stewart, and Timothy Yu as part of a celebration for Another Chicago Magazine.

My friend artist John Sims has asked a host of poets to join him for ongoing installations at Bowery Poetry Club. The next exhibit John will be doing is based on quilts based on mathematics, systemic structures, and John’s experiences with African American and Amish quilters. If you’d like to read more about this work, read his Bomb magazine blog interview about the work. Otherwise, please feel free to swing by the Bowery to check out the current exhibit “Mathematical Graffiti: Poetic Reflection” and chat with John at the next opening on July 30th!

FRIDAY, July 30, 5-7 p.m.
Bowery Poetry Club, 308 Bowery, New York, NY
“Rhythm of Structure: The Hyper Quilt Show”
Tara Betts, Sarah Elisabeth Lewis, Kate Rushin, and Adam Falkner read the opening reception for John Sims’ final installation for “Rhythm of Structure: Mathematics, Art, and Poetic Reflection”. The finale is August 21, 2010, 2 p.m.
facebook.com/RhythmofStructure

I’ve been meaning to blog about Carolyn Rodgers since I sadly heard about her death back in April. I’ve watched a video of Carolyn Rodgers at Northwestern a couple of times and picked up one of her books that I wasn’t familiar with, but the one that most people know her for is How I Got Ovah-an emblematic collection of the Black Arts Movement that again points to the resilience of black women. The book was released in 1975 and was nominated for the National Book Award.

It was a nice surprise to come home to my husband and hear The Roots’ latest album, How I Got Over. The title reminded me of what The Roots did with Things Fall Apart (taken from Chinua Achebe’s novel of the same title) and Common’s Like Water for Chocolate (from Laura Esquivel’s novel that was adapted for a film). We heard so much of what we need to feel in music and what we need to resist now. I felt so moved by what I heard that I wrote a poem that summarizes what all the songs become in my listening head. I think I could make it longer and add more, but I wanted to capture this feeling of immediacy of writing right away that always changes with more listening and time. In any case, here’s the poem:

After Hearing How I Got Over
for The Roots & Carolyn Rodgers

Always start the piece with three Black women
harmonizing like honey buzz. Cymbals, kick drum
escalate into husky shadowed rhymes.
An epistle appeals to higher powers in skeptical
verse in chorus when the drum brings back cadences
of a morning’s start because all strive for illumination
when the world presses insistent as piano keys,
but everything changes, and change keeps us alive.
Drum steady as metronome clap carved from ancient
metals and marble, but even the frequency makes space
for the nostalgia of streets familiar as Marvin Gaye
or Curtis Mayfield asking Who’s worrying about you baby?
Someone needs to keep asking questions in this timber.
The elders cannot carry shields forever, and everyone
is growing older. Return to finger snap, soul clap.
Keyboards echoing flute open canvas of the day
that begins like fresh breath. Cascades fall into cycles
of shining light into corners where Thought stands
treading over the smack of beats familiar and fierce
as all contemplation could be. A studio speaker voice
requests a snare roll, then the pleas of doin’ it again
call to keep notes and lyrics breeding, multiplying
a brood of well-loved children who march toward fire
or is it residing in their rib cage, their well-lit eyes,
their quick feet, their quicker minds, their knife tongues,
or their palms hidden in the relentless knuckles of fists.
The band softens the volley of syncopation, reminiscent
of house parties with rhythm swinging until the break
marks flawless herk-jerk of bodies and head nods.
An infant cries, and a horn warns its listeners of lives
to come. A life consumed by consumption if absence
of thought exists. A tambourine rattles because who
always wants to be a customer? Create. Conclude. Silence.

Mike Geffner presents The Inspired Word, featuring Tara Betts, Dasha Kelly, Rich Villar, and a 10-slot open mic!
Where: One and One Bar & Restaurant (Nexus Lounge)
76 East 1st Street (corner of 1st Avenue)
Manhattan, NYC

http://www.oneandoneny.com/

Phone: (212) 598-9126

http://inspiredwordnyc.blogspot.com/

Time: 7 p.m. (open mic signup starts at 6:30pm; ask for Adrian or Marvin)
Cover Charge: $10
Must be 21 years of age or older. Please make sure to bring ID.

Recently named one of Essence magazine’s 40 favorite poets, Tara Betts is the author of Arc and Hue. She teaches at Rutgers University. She represented Chicago twice at the National Poetry Slam, coached youth who went on to Brave New Voices, and appeared on HBO’s “Def Poetry Jam”. Her writing has also been dramatized for the stage in several productions, including Steppenwolf Theater’s “Words On Fire” and “Fingernails Across the Chalkboard”. Her work has been published in Essence, Bum Rush the Page, Gathering Ground and both Spoken Word Revolution anthologies.

Dasha Kelly believes in words. All of them. In her outreach work, Dasha uses words to bolster the confidences of youth, artists, college students, inmates, executives, community leaders and, of course, writers. An accomplished writer herself, Dasha has scripted successes in a number of areas: a published novel, several poetry recordings, a collection of works released with Penmanship Books, feature articles for national magazines such as Upscale and Black Enterprise, online commentaries and blogs, and even collateral copy for regional advertising firms. Dasha performed on the season six premiere of HBO presents Russell Simmons’ Def Poetry Jam; and her one-woman show, Anthems for Grown Folks, is being developed into a traveling production.

Rich Villar’s poetry and prose have appeared in the journals MiPoesias: The American Cuban Issue, OCHO 15, Rattapallax, and the first edition of the chapbook series Achiote Seeds (Achiote Press, Spring 2007). He is a co-founder and director of the Acentos Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to the development and publication of Latino/a poetry. He lives and writes en la madre tierra de New Jersey.

Mike Geffner, Founder/Producer
Marvin Mendlinger, Assistant Director
Erik “Advocate of Wordz” Maldonado, MC
Eliel Lucero, DJ
Adrian Wyatt, Open Mic Mistress
Marron Cox,Hostess Extraordinaire

I wanted to make some bread to go with the leftovers from the last recipe and the Spinach Bread from the Indian Vegan Kitchen cookbook sounded perfect. Here’s my take on the recipe:

2 cups of whole wheat flour (plus a little extra for rolling & flattening the dough)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups fresh spinach, chopped and loosely packed It came out to about a handful for me.)
3/4 cups water
2 tbsp OVOO (plus a little extra while cooking, but not much!)

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, cayenne pepper, and spinach. Make a well in the center of the flour and gradually add the water while mixing. (The moisture of the spinach and the type of flour may vary the amount of water needed.) The dough should be soft and easily roll into a ball. Knead the dough for 1-2 minutes until smooth and elastic. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes or longer. (I messed up a bit and almost forgot to add the spinach, so it was a little bit sticky for me.

Dough meet rolling pin...

When I added just a teeny bit of flour to the cooking panel and the rolling pin, I was able to roll out some nice pieces. One looked like this:

A small palak paratha

Heat tava (iron griddle or a pancake griddle). Adjust the heat and add a little oil. Take each ball and gently roll with a rolling pin (Good for shaking at husbands-to-be and chasing them).
As you gently roll the dough into a flat blob of bread, take your time, then gently brush them with a little oil and pop them on the griddle. Let them them get a little brown with a few dark spots on both sides and it will look like you got them from a good Indian restaurant.

You can serves this bread with any curry dish or eat it plain. JOY!

When I was finished, the flavorful spinach bread looked like this:

A plate full of palak paratha with a teeny bit of dough on the side.