Visiting Poet (March 29th)

Jenny Yang Cropp

will read from her work

March 29

@

7 pm


CETES Conference Room B

This is what she looks like:

She is a Lawton native, a former Cameron student and the author of the chapbook, Hanging the Moon (RockSaw Press, 2010).

Click on these links to read her work at Poetry Southeast, Boxcar Poetry Review, and Superstition Review.

Her poems have also appeared in Hayden's Ferry Review, Ecotone, Eclipse and others. In 2009, her work was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She received her MFA from Minnesota State University-Mankato and is currently pursuing a PhD in creative writing at the University of South Dakota where she also works as the circulation manager and an editorial assistant for South Dakota Review.

So. . . wow!

Re-Verse Recap (March 11, 2010)

The first annual Re-Verse is completed. I use the word "annual" because we're definitely doing this again. It was too much fun to let it fade away into the Lawton fog. We had about 25 people show up and Amber Harrington, Sigma Tau Delta's president, said it was the best attended event STD has hosted all year.

I wish I didn't ramble on so much at the beginning with introductions, but no one ran away screaming. Anyway, we had both faculty and students read. Next year, we hope to increase our presenters to 30, with people participating from both Cameron and the Lawton/Southwerstern OK community.

Highlights... Drs. John Morris, William Carney, Ginette Baillergeon, and Vivian Tomlinson all gave us great poems performed passionately. Dr. Baillergeon, in particular, wowed us with two poems, one in French. She recited a longer poem by Carl Sandburg and reminded us that not all Sanburg poems are four lines long. Both of her poems were long ones and I don't think she faltered once.

Several students read, both English majors and students from other disciplines. All together, eleven people read a poem each and not one person had a difficult time reciting their work. Not one. I've been to recitation events before, and I've never seen one without a few long pauses. Long pauses are perfectly fine in such a difficult situation, but the fact that there was not one at our event is very impressive.

Also, we contributed lots of food to the Lawton Food Bank. This was Amber's idea and it is a good one. Future events only mean further donations. We are considering a fall date for next year's even (maybe a bi-annual thing) simply because we don't want to wait twelve months to do this again.

Highlights from the Last Open Mic

Things We Know and Love

Peanut Princesses
Lawton Municipal "Airport."
William Butler Yeats

Things We Didn't Expect

Steamy, sexy slash
Three very surprised giraffes
Stars fallen to ash.

Submit to OKIE

OKIE Magazine posted this to their Facebook page the other day:

Photographers, artists, musicians, writers ...OKIE is currently seeking submissions for inclusion in upcoming issues of our publication. Please click the link below for details on submitting your works. Want to help out with the magazine on a regular basis and be part of a great group of volunteers - drop me a line at editor@okiemagazine.com .

OKIE Magazine Submission Guidelines

I may have mentioned in another post or four that I write for the OKIE, and I can tell you ... they might be trying to find people who are more punctual and less pirate-talky.

Seriously, though. I love writing for OKIE Mag or even thinking of things to write for it. The process always introduces me to new ways of appreciating the things that are happening right around me. I've interviewed people for a couple of the articles I've written, and now I find that I am always thinking of interview questions I want to ask the people I meet. I now notice interesting places around town that I might have passed by before. Because I'm looking for them. I'm beginning to think about Lawton as a story I want to tell people. So that's why I like writing for OKIE Mag.

I believe at some point I will also be given a free t-shirt or something like that.

Anyway, I hope you'll check out the latest issue and consider contributing to a future issue. Occasionally, OKIE Magazine will consider poetry and fiction as well as non-fiction, though they are not a literary magazine.