THE STORY SPOT

We’re sure, being the literary wunderkinds that you are, you already knew that April is National Poetry Month, the month when “publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the country band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture.” That’s from the official website of National Poetry Month, www.poets.org, presented by the Academy of American Poets.

While poetry’s “vital place” may sometimes be questionable in these times but you wordsmiths and lovers of lyrical artistry know the value poetry has for your own work…don’t you? (Hint: if not, it’s time you found out.)

National Poetry Month(2009 poster)

• Re-discover your favourite national, international, living, and historically significant poets.

• Find new poems to enjoy.

• Marvel at your state’s poetic history & current happenings.
(Californians, click here!)

• And, if that’s not enough, here’s your free Poem Flow iPhone app.

Now go write some haiku or something.

I am honoured to have been asked to be a part of Wendy C. Ortiz and Andrea Quaid’s five-year literary triumph, the Rhapsodomancy Reading Series. If you happen to be in Los Angeles in December, come relax to some original contemporary fiction, a few inventive cocktails, and good company.

Rhapsodomancy Announces the Writers Reading on Sunday, December 13th, 2009:

SUSAN TAYLOR CHEHAK
STEVE ABEE
DIANE J. WRIGHT
MEEHAN RASCH

Sunday, December 13, 2009
Doors open at 7:00 – Reading begins at 7:30pm
The Good Luck Bar, 1514 Hillhurst Ave., Los Angeles, 90027
21 and over only.
RSVP at rhapsodomancyla at gmail dot com (RSVP not required, but appreciated)
$3 suggested donation at door.
Proceeds will benefit The Bridge Program at Antioch University Los Angeles.

The Rhapsodomancy Reading Series at The Good Luck Bar, Hollywood

We’re not big on promoting contests and pitch festivals in general but this one is noteworthy if for no other reason than for good use of technology to collaborate.

FADE IN Magazine is hosting their first online pitch fest. Essentially, you register, get your webcam warmed up, wait for your list of preferred execs to be confirmed then, for 10 minutes, you go to town pitching your project. The event is capped at 100 participants and boy would we love to hear from some of them post-fest.

Don’t call us, people. We’ll call you.

FADE IN Magazine’s 1st Annual Online Hollywood Pitch Festival
When: February 13, 14 & 15
Quanto: $325.00 or save $50 by registering by Jan. 10, 2009
Where: Wherever you are
How: Register at FADE IN or 800-646-3896

Blisfully oblivious to the fact that neighbours south of the border are increasingly estranged from the written word, Canadians continue to devour books–fiction, especially!–as a cultural norm.
Evidence: CANADA READS 2009.
Read on »

That’s right, book lovers. It’s that time of year once again when the City of West Hollywood throws open its ever-lovin’ arms to welcome readers, writers, and aficionados of all things literary. It’s the 7th annual West Hollywood Book Fair and it’s going to be another beautiful Sunday afternoon in the California sunshine.

More intimate than the splendiferous LA Times Festival of Books, the WeHo Book Fair allows plenty of time and space to leisurely peruse works of local and international authors, chat up your favorites (Bradbury!), take in a spoken word performance or two, nosh and people-watch. All that plus free parking, free shuttle service, and free everything else.

Stop by. Your presence alone shows you care and supports the literary arts in your city.

The West Hollywood Book Fair
Sunday, September 28, 2008
10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
West Hollywood Park
647 North San Vicente Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA

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