Jan Steckel's Blog: Horizontal Poet Sings Bidyke Blues, page 4

National Poetry Month & a Great Review

A terrific review of my book The Horizontal Poet just got posted by Marie Lecrivain, editor and publisher of the Los Angeles litzine poeticdiversity and a fine poet and writer.

http://alkhemiapoetica.blogspot.com/2...

I love the image of her reading the title poem aloud at a poetry reading in Los Angeles. Wish I could have been there!

April, National Poetry Month, is a whirlwind. Had a terrific time reading the other night at the 10th Anniversary of Poetry Express in Berkeley with my friend Al Averbach. I'll be the featured reader on April 14 at The Poetry Zone, a collegial open mic hosted by Suzanne Frost at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum in Santa Barbara. Then it's back up to Berkeley for a reading with excellent poet Jeanne Wagner at Expressions Gallery, hosted by Steve Arntson, on the evening of April 20, with an open mic, 7-9 PM. Finally, I'll read on April 24 at the Lambda Literary Finalists reading at 6 PM at the main San Francisco Public Library. I'll try to post details about each reading here a few days beforehand.

How are you celebrating National Poetry Month?

I'm a Lambda Literary Finalist!

I've been flying all day because the Lambda Literary Awards announced their finalists, and my poetry book The Horizontal Poet made the cut! I've been invited to read on June 3 at Bi Lines in New York City and to attend the 24th Annual Lambda Literary Awards Ceremony on June 4 at the CUNY Graduate Center (365 Fifth Avenue) with an after-party at Slate (54 West 21st Street).

The Lammies are the most prestigious LGBT writing awards in the U.S.A. I would love to go to the ceremony, but I'm a disabled woman with a small pension, so it's going to be tricky. If I can sell enough copies of my book between now and May, I think I can afford the trip. If you would like to help me get there, you can order signed copies of my poetry book *The Horizontal Poet* (Zeitgeist Press, 2011), one of this year's finalists, by sending $14 + $2 shipping (in U.S.) per copy via PayPal to Jmsteckel at aol dot com, or via check to Jan Steckel, PO Box 18797/Oakland, CA 94619. :)

For more details about the awards and a complete list of categories and finalists, including a lot of great reads, see
http://www.lambdaliterary.org/foundat...

Video of Anger Management

Anger Management in San Francisco, hosted by H.K. Rainey and Paul Corman-Roberts, was one of the most fun readings I've been to. We descended through a beautiful antique store called Viricocha in the Mission district of San Francisco into the red light of a basement speakeasy. Chairs clustered around small tables, and the bar in the back sold beer and wine. The acts and the audience were equally picturesque, and everyone seemed to have talent spurting out their ears.

Thanks to Evan Karp of Litseen.com for the footage below of me reading "Don't Tell Me" and "The Horizontal Poet."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fyna8v...

Cherise Wyneken Reviews *The Horizontal Poet*

Thanks to poet and columnist Cherise Wyneken for her review of The Horizontal Poet in the Albany Poetry Examiner at
http://www.examiner.com/poetry-in-oak...

Cherise sees the love in my poems because she herself shines with it. You can find out more about Cherise at
http://www.authorsden.com/cherisewyneken

Cherise Wyneken writes fiction and nonfiction as well as poetry and her Examiner.com poetry column. She has five books on Goodreads at http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

Impressions of a Reader

Thank you to Hilcia Suarez for her very thoughtful and kind review of my poetry book The Horizontal Poet on her blog, Impressions of a Reader, at
http://www.impressionsofareader.com/2...

I had a great time last night at a Mind/Body poetry reading in Santa Barbara. It was hosted by a friend, Ron Alexander, who organized the first Whitman-Stein Memorial LGBT Reading in which I took part last year. Among the readers were Suzanne Frost, who will be hosting me at The Poetry Zone at the Karpeles Manuscript Museum in Santa Barbara on April 14. Phil Taggart was there, and very kindly offered to host me at his reading in Ventura in July.

One of the things I love about Ron's readings is that he has each reader read poems of their own AND poems by a famous poet they admire. The result is that the quality of poetry at his readings is extremely high. The setting, the Wall Space Gallery in a beautifully restored Victorian house, couldn't be more lovely. Add delicious refreshments and the friendly presence of Ron himself, as well as the very appreciative Santa Barbara audience, and you've got a great reading series.

Tonight I'm reading for the first time at the Santa Barbara Poetry Series in the Contemporary Arts Forum at the Paseo Nuevo Mall on State Street in Santa Barbara from 7 to 9 PM. I'll be reading with Dean Rader, a writing professor from the University of San Francisco, and Elijah Imlay, a poet from Ventura. Again, it's a beautiful space, with great acoustics. Can't wait.

Upcoming Readings

I'll be doing up to two poetry readings a month this year to promote my new poetry book The Horizontal Poet. Below is the schedule so far. As you can see, I'll be doing at least two readings this year in Santa Barbara as well as several in the San Francisco Bay Area.

If I can raise the money for travel, I'd like to do readings in any of the following towns where I have relatives and friends: Chicago IL, Seattle WA(especially Bellevue), Santa Cruz CA, Santa Monica CA, Sacramento CA, Ft. Bragg or Mendocino CA, Costa Mesa or Newport Beach CA, Sonoma CA. Secretly I dream of making it to NYC in June.

If you have poetry contacts in any of the above towns and could arrange a reading for me there, please message me on Goodreads or email me at Jmsteckel at AOL dot com.

February 4 Santa Barbara Poetry Series, Contemporary Arts Forum, Paseo Nuevo Mall, Santa Barbara, CA

February 11 Book Launch Party, Plymouth United Church of Christ, Fireside Room, Oakland, CA

March 16 Expressions Gallery, Berkeley, CA

April 2 Poetry Express, Priya Indian Restaurant, Berkeley, CA

April 14 The Poetry Zone, Karpeles Manuscript Museum, Santa Barbara, CA

July 14 All Women's Poetry Potluck and Salon Reading at Lakeview Library, Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA

September 8 Frank Bette Center for the Arts, Alameda, CA

October 27 Women's Poetry Potluck and Salon, featured reader, Frank Bette Center for the Arts, Alameda, CA

Want me to come to your town? (I'm looking at you, San Franciscans.) Email me at Jmsteckel at AOL dot com or message me here on Goodreads to discuss the possibility.

Authors Weigh In on The Horizontal Poet

Thanks to author Nina Bennett (Forgotten Tears: A Grandmother's Journey Through Grief) for her lovely review of my new poetry book The Horizontal Poet at
http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
and to author David Linden (The Compass of Pleasure and The Accidental Mind) for his short and sweet review on his blog at
http://compassofpleasure.org/the-hori...

You can order unsigned copies from Zeitgeist Press at http://www.zeitgeist-press.com or signed copies from
Jan Steckel/PO Box 18797/Oakland, CA 94619 (with a check for $14 plus $2 postage).

Female, Bi, and Under 25?

(From editor Robyn Ochs of Bi Women):

The theme for the Spring 2012 issue of Bi Women Newsletter will be "Voices of Youth." If you are 25 or under, here's a chance to share your story.

What is it like to be you? How did you come to identify as bisexual (pansexual, fluid, et. al. or otherwise non-monosexual queer-identified)? Where did you learn about bisexuality? Was there a Gay-Straight Alliances in your high school? Are your friends accepting of your identity? What about your family? Do you have any role models? Are you a role model? Where do you get support? Are you an activist? What advice would you give to other young people who think they might be bisexual (pansexual, fluid, et. al. or otherwise non-monosexual queer-identified)?

Send your submissions by February 1st to biwomeneditor@gmail.com.

And PLEASE re-post this, share this, spread the word!

Bi Women Newsletter
* https://www.facebook.com/groups/12621...
* http://biwomenboston.org

I'm bi-lingual!

Happy Boxing Day, y'all. Here's what my dear Dad has to say about Sheela Lambert's wonderful review of my first full-length poetry book, The Horizontal Poet, on the Lambda Literary website at http://www.lambdaliterary.org/categor...

All these allusions to "bi-ness" call forth even more possiblities: You could truly (and in several ways) characterize yourself as a "bi-pedal horizontal poet", and a biographical movie about you and/or friends could be promoted as a "bi-opic", while poetry readings by the committed could henceforth be characterized as bi-lingual events! You missed the fertile occasion of our nation's bi-centennial", being only in your mid-teens at the time, but I only need to point out to you the notable emergence of several new bi-cameral legislatures in the recent Arab Spring, to emphasize a wave of additional opportunities that may be far from over! Love, Dad

Under 30? Submit by this Tuesday!

Forwarded CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS for writers under 30 -- Meet Your Monster's debut issue of work by and for young people has a deadline of this Tuesday, the day after Labor Day, 2011. Oldsters making cameo appearances include me, former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass, and Allen Ginsberg. So if your kid or younger cousin can create, have them submit their poems, stories, essays, and visual art to editor Allen Isaacson at meetyourmonster@cox.net, and cc bruce.isaacson@cox.net.

Thanks to all who voted for my finalist poem "Kol Nidre" in the Goodreads Newsletter Poetry Contest, and congratulations to my Goodreads friend Jane Ellen Glasser, whose poem about Li Po won this month!