Richard Vargas: Poetry Journal Inaugural Publication

The Más Tequila Review, edited by MFA student Richard Vargas, will celebrate its inaugural publication at Albuquerque’s newest independent bookstore in the NE Heights, Alamosa Books, (8810 Holly NE, Ste. D, 505-797-7101.) The event is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 19, 2-5 PM. Free and open to the public.
Poets from throughout New Mexico will be reading, and will include: Lisa Gill, Marilyn Stablein, Mitch Rayes, E.A. “Tony” Mares, Ken Gurney, Dale Harris, Gary Brower, Richard Vargas, John Macker and Mary McGinnis (Santa Fe) and Amalio Madueño (Taos.) There will also be an open mic (subject to time available.)

Los Angeles poet Michael C Ford wrote: “…I paged slowly thru Mas Tequila and assimilated what turned out to be total ambrosia… not a false note in these poems, practically seamless integrity of language… a lesson all who do indie publishing should learn: only print the words which have the ring of truth.”

Poet and retired UNM professor E.A. “Tony” Mares writes: "In the Malpaís Review, the words of poetry turn the badlands of the heart and of the disappearing natural landscape into fertile vistas for a better world, for the good lands we all desire."

Learn more about The Más Tequila Review at the website here.

Carrie Cutler: Poetry Publication

Carrie Cutler's poem, "A Shadowy Socialite," was selected for publication in the anthology, Brainstorms, the second book in the series titled "expressions of depression." The anthology is out of a UK press, Little Episodes. A second poem, "beautiful," has been selected to appear on the Little Episodes website as an editor's pick. The anthology's scheduled release date is October 28th of this year and the web publication should occur around the same time.

Poetry Reading: In Honor of Hector Torres and Stefania Gray

On Tuesday evening, Sept. 28, 7-9 PM, fourteen of Albuquerque's most prominent poets will gather to read in the UNM SUB Old Higher Ground space. The reading is the final event of the Gray-Torres Domestic Violence and Stalking Conference held on Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 27-28.

The poetry reading celebrates the life and scholarship of English Dept. Professor Hector Torres and Englsih Dept. TA, Stefania Gray who were killed last spring in a domestic violence incident.

The reading will feature works by Lisa Gill, Levi Romero, and Margaret
Randall as well as other Albuquerque and New Mexico poets. The reading is to raise money for Professor Torres's UNM Fund and to benefit Stefania Gray's children.

Greg Martin: Publication and Keynote Address

Greg Martin's new essay, "Two True Stories about Breathing" was recently published on Kenyon Review Online.  Visit the website here.

Also, he has been invited to deliver the keynote address in October at The Literature of the American West conference in Vittoria, Spain, and while there, he'll also be participating in the U.S. Embassy's Speaker Series, giving readings and talks in Madrid and Bilbao.

Greg Martin and Sharon Oard Warner: Publication News

Greg Martin and Sharon Oard Warner both contributed short articles to the September 2010 issue of THE WRITER magazine. You can read an online version at The Writer website here.

Gary Harrison: Plenary Lecture

Gary Harrison gave one of the invited plenary lectures at the 40th Anniversary Wordsworth Summer Conference in Grasmere, England, 28 July to 7 August 2010.  Harrison’s lecture, “Wordsworth, Clare, and the (Eco) Poetics of Acknowledgment” develops a way of thinking about how poetic language—specifically in Dorothy Wordsworth’s journals and in John Clare’s poetry—may influence readers’ disposition to the natural world.  Other lecturers at the conference included Wordsworth biographer Kenneth Johnston, University of Indiana; Angela Esterhammer, University of Zurich; Jeffrey Cox, University of Colorado, Boulder; Alan Richardson, Boston College; and Seamus Perry, Balliol College.  One of the conference’s highlights was a poetry reading by Seamus Heaney on Sunday evening at St. Oswald’s church in Grasmere. The conference is unique in combining lectures and research papers with hikes, walks and excursions around the Lake District.

Pat Smith - Memorial Exhibit

An exhibit honoring the memory of Pat Smith may be viewed in the lobby of Zimmerman Library through the third week of fall semester. As one enters from the Plaza and walks toward the stairs, it’s on the right. Many thanks to Steven Harris (Director of Collections & Acquisitions Services), Subject Librarian for English, for pulling books (including one beauty from Special Collection, Pat’s first book of poetry Talking to the Land with a cover to knock your socks off!) and for helping arrange things in the exhibit.