In January, Tim and I were thrilled to see we are both on the same page–with haiku accepted for the 2025 celebration sponsored by the Minnesota Sierra Club! A riff on traditional haiku structure, these haiku offer three-line poems with syllable counts of 8-5-4 in order to reflect the 854 cities in our state whose people care about the environment. Alerted to this challenge by D. E. Green and Becky Boling, we were really pleased to see many familiar names under selected haiku, and that our own Winona Street was represented five times: not only Doug and Becky, but also by Susan Jaret McKinstry, Tim, and me.
The North Star Chapter (Minnesota) of the Sierra Club represents 50,000 Minnesotans joined to protect our precious natural resources while enjoying the four distinctive biomes of our state (aspen parklands, deciduous forests, coniferous forests, and prairie grasslands).
Like all issues of the magazine, the North Star Journal contains great articles on what is going on in the state in terms of energy use and resource conservation. It is also responsibly printed and filled with artistic layouts. With a circulation far larger than most forums for poetry, it is also a vehicle for the literary arts that reachs 50,000 people.
Appleton, Wisconsin Skyline with Lawrence Universityin the foregroundAppleton West High School
Once upon a time, I lived in Appleton, WI. It was while I was a student at Appleton West High School that I took my first creative writing class, began reading poetry seriously (thanks to the stacks of the public library). It is also where I published my first poems, in the student-run literary publication, Patterns of Stardust. That was back in the days of construction paper covers, staples, mimeographs, and manual typewriters. (Juvenilia, anyone?) (Sorry, I have glued the pages shut!)
This Thursday, January 23, 2025, from 5:00-6:30 p.m., poet Susan Jaret McKinstry will be reading at a wonderful independent bookstore, The Book Store, located at 801 West College Avenue. This venue offers used and new books and hosts a variety of events, including one for knitters and readers. It opened its doors in 1977, the year I graduated from high school. I am delighted that it has thrived all these years, and even more thrilled to return as an author and to be able to read there with Susan. If you are in the area that evening, please join us!
The Orchards Poetry Journalhas just published its Winter 2024 issue. Paper copies can be purchased from the Kelsay Books website or Amazon, and the issue can be read and downloaded in digital form for free.
This issue is especially welcome because it includes not only my own poem, “Celestial Navigation”, written during National Poetry Month in 2022, but a beautiful and thoughtful poem by my friend and neighbor, Susan Jaret McKinstry, entitled “Seasoning.” There are dozens of other interesting poems in this issue, too. I know that I shall enjoy reading a few each morning once my paper copy arrives. If anything can chase away these December grey clouds, The Orchards will do it.
Wishing you much light and joy this reading season!
Last evening, it was my great pleasure to share the podium with poet Susan Jaret McKinstry at Magers & Quinn Booksellers at 3038 Hennepin Avenue South in Minneapolis–a few blocks from where Tim and I lived before we moved to Northfield. It was a dramatic evening in every respect, including a duet with Venus and the Crescent Moon and over-the-top weather conditions.
Leaving Northfield at Dusk
Despite howling Arctic winds gusting up to 45 miles per hour, dustings of new snow, and wind chill temperatures at nearly 30 below zero, necessitating the prudent cancellation by a dozen or so registrants, nearly 50 people braved the meterological hoopla to attend. We were so glad you did! Your thoughtful questions and audible appreciation made it a night to remember for Susan and me, and we both appreciated the chance for conversations after the reading.
It was my first visit to Magers & Quinn, and it seemed that everywhere I turned there was a book I knew I loved or one I wanted to get to know.
Behind the podium, Ina Garten’s memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens, which I felt very lucky to read last month.
The first thing I saw upon entering Magers & Quinn Booksellers was this calendar with images by Ansel Adams. Because my new book contains the poem, “Motif for Ansel Adams”, I thought it was a good omen–and it was!
HERE is a link the YouTube recording of the evening.
Motif for Ansel Adams
I knew my destiny when I first experienced Yosemite. Ansel Adams (February 20, 1902 to April 22, 1984)
He could see and was able to convey, this keen devotee of Yosemite. We need to hear what he needed to say.
As a boy, he was too sick to play, so he studied each musical key. He could see and was able to convey.
His father’s house, overlooking the bay of San Francisco, framed city and sea. We need to hear what he needed to say.
At fourteen, with family, on holiday, he first glimpsed his artistic destiny. He could see and was able to convey.
Dazzled by the soaring Sierra Madre, he fell headlong into photography. We need to hear what he needed to say.
Using black, white, and shades of grey, He reveals our land’s innate symphony. He could see and was able to convey. We need to hear what he needed to say.
Leslie Schultz
I had a marvellous time reading at this one-of-a-kind independent bookstore, and I shall be heading back to Magers & Quinn as an eager customer early in the new year. With their large inventory of new and used books (and other items) and exceptional staff, I know I will uncover literary gems I do not yet know exist. If I cannot find them on my own, well, I shall ask for ….
Wishing you happy reading over the holidays and into the new year! Hope to see you, too, browsing the shelves!
