Phoebe Newman, Three Poems from Ruby

Phoebe Newman

The poet Phoebe Newman reads three pomes from her book "Ruby".   These three poems were written when Phoebe lived in New Mexico.  In these pomes she gives voice to three rural women. There is abuse, there is endurance, there is a justice in first poem "Solidade".  There is the selective loss of memory from aging, the loss if independence of the old and there is dignity in the poem "Terraphellia".  The last poem she read is "Ruby" who calls her alter ego or her evil twin, there is the cattiness of a gossip with a begrudging admiration.

Phoebe Newman mixes humor, pathos, observation so clear it can be touched, into voices who speak a truth to themselves and to the rest of us.

Phoebe Newman read from four of her books in April in McMinnville.  Meadowlake Studios filmed her reading and put together a 45 minute show that aired on  McMinnville Community Media in the spring.

Phoebe Newman Four Poems

Phoebe Newman has published four books of Poetry, Ruby, Sugar, Here To Stay and her most recent This Is For You.  She read selected poems in McMinnville, Oregon on April 30, 2012.  The entire show is playing this week on McMinnville Comunity Media Comcast 11 or Frontier 29

Phoebe began a nationally recognized annual radio program called One Poem a Day Won't Kill You, on KRDB that invites people to read a favorite poem or one they have written on the radio during the month of April which is national Poetry Month.   Phoebe produced the program for 10 years until moving from Ketchikan, Alaska to McMinnville, Oregon.  The poetry program continues and during the month of April, 2012, KRDB aired a poem a day for all 30 days.  


Here are four poems Phoebe reading in McMinnville April 30th, "Beautiful Sara Lee", "The Fall", "Sciatica" and "When Bitten By The Crocodile"

Haiku Poetry, Paper Gardens 2012

 Haiku is one of the categories for the Paper Gardens Literary Contest every year.  This year Ann Patton, Margaret Halstead, Emily Cinnamon, Pruette Karl, Kyra Ellen Sieber and David Hallett read their winning Haiku entries.

We filmed the full Paper Gardens Event and the 45 minute TV show "Meadowlake Studios Encounter: Paper Gardens 2012" will began to air on Comcast Channel 11 and Frontier 29 beginning Saturday 5/12.   The schedule from McMinnville Community Media is

Tuesday, 05-15-2012

5:00 PM

Meadowlake Studios Encounter: Paper Gardens

Thursday, 05-17-2012

9:00 PM

Meadowlake Studios Encounter: Paper Gardens

Friday, 05-18-2012

5:00 PM

Meadowlake Studios Encounter: Paper Gardens

Paper Gardens 2012 Free Verse Poetry

Paper Gardens Literary Contest for sponsored by Arts Alliance of Yamhill County publishes a Chapbook of the winning entries in the Adult, Youth and Children groups.  Free Verse Poetry one of the long standing poetry categories.  This year's winners who read their work at the April 13th Awards event at the McMinnville Community Media were  “Undone” by Julie Stubblefield, “My Surgeon” by Jen Jo,  “Lullaby” by Susan Easterly, “Sideways” by Bethan Bonebrake and “Quiet” by Hannah Siepmann.

We filmed the full Paper Gardens Event and the 45 minute TV show "Meadowlake Studios Encounter: Paper Gardens 2012" will begin to air on Comcast Channel 11 and Frontier 29 beginning Saturday 5/12.  Check McMinnville Community Media for the schedule.  The show should run multiple times during the week.

We put the segment on the Free Verse Poetry readings on YouTube.  

For a copy of the Paper Gardens 2012 Chapbook go to Arts Alliance of Yamhill County website.  I do not think you can buy them directly from the site.  They do have Chapbooks available.  Contact them and they will be happy to get you a Chapbook.

Paper Gardens Judge Charles Goodrich reads

Paper Gardens 2012 Literary Contest for Adult, Youth and Children writers is sponsored by Arts Alliance of Yamhill County.  The 19th Paper Gardens celebration was held on April 13th at the McMinnville Community Center.  Contest Chair-person was Kelli Grinich and Judge was Charles Goodrich.

We filmed the event and finally edited it into a 45 minute for TV show.  We delivered Meadowlake Studios Encounter: Paper Gardens 2012 to McMinnville Community Media yesterday.  MCM starts a new weekly schedule on Saturdays.  Our Meadowlake Encounter with Paper Gardens will likely begin on Comcast Channel 11 and Frontier 29 on Saturday the 12th.  It is all there.  Kelli Grinich's introduction, Charles Goodrich's encouragement, his reading of some of his poems and the Adult, Youth and Children categories in Free Verse, Traditional Poetry, Haiku, Poetry of Place and Prose who chose to read their work.

As the evening was wrapping up Charles handed me a copy of his newest book of poems Going to Seed: Dispatches from the Garden.  The poems follow the seasons from Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring and to Summer again.  His voice has an elegant calm, his eye able to see the finest detail of ordinary and not so ordinary things and his humor and humanity are reflected without trying.

Once the TV show is edited it is not much more to edit segments to fit YouTube's limit of 15 minutes or less. 

I liked the "Bubble Bee" poem.  The day before yesterday I watch a bubble bee struggling to work on a tiny blue rosemary flower.  Charles poem is perfect.

Paper Garden Literary Contest Winners Celebration

As the Meadowlake Studios’ camera panned the smiling faces and nervous laughter filled the McMinnville Community Center for the 2012 Paper Gardens Literary Contest award celebration.  For 19 years the Arts Alliance of Yamhill County  has sponsored the County wide creative writing contest for ages 6 and up, children, youth and adult in categories of prose and poetry.  This year there were 300 submissions.

Poet, gardener and essayist Charles Goodrich was the judge for Paper Gardens.   Goodrich is the director of the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word at Oregon State University.  His newest collection of work may be found in his book "Going To Seed"  Dispatches from the Garden” (Silverfish Review Press, 2010).

The celebration was a chance for community members to talk with contest judge Charles Goodrich and meet other writers.  The highlight of Friday evening was hearing almost all of the 2012 winners read their work.

This year’s Chapbooks is dedicated to Ken Myers.  Since 1993 Ken Myers had been involved with the layout and production the Paper Gardens chapbooks.  His dedication and long support is one of the reasons Yamhill County writers have been published by Paper Gardens.  Rachel Burchard, founder of the contest would be proud to know Ken Myers still the literary touch.  The Chapbook cover art is by local paper cut artist Cindy Stinson-Chennell.    Chapbooks are available for sale by contacting the Arts Alliance of Yamhill County. 

Look for Meadowlake Studios Encounters: Paper Gardens 2012 on McMinnville Community Media MeMinnville Community Media.

2012 Winning Entries
Adult Prose
1st Place: “Lesser God” by Dennis Bershaw
2nd Place: “Joys of a Mailbox” by Larry Kurtz
3rd Place: “Runaway” by Loren Willbur

Adult Traditional Poetry
1st Place: “As It Should Be” by Mike Paull
2nd Place: “A Step” by Melissa K. Terrill
Adult Free Verse Poetry
1st Place: “Undone” by Julie Stubblefield
2nd Place: “My Surgeon” by Jen Jo
3rd Place: “Lullaby” by Susan Easterly

Adult Haiku
1st Place: “Small Steps” by David Hallett
2nd Place: “Spring” by Ann E. Patton
3rd Place: “Hovering Over Mt. Shasta” by Brenda Huante

Adult Poetry of Place
1st Place: “Tyler, Age 2, Picks Blackberries” by Fran Hunter

Youth Prose
1st Place: “The Patient” by Erica Keaveney
2nd Place: “The Old Lafayette Estate” by Kristi Thompson

Youth Free Verse Poetry
1st Place: “Sideways” by Bethan Bonebrake
2nd Place: “Short Answer Questions and First Lines” by Natasha Balwit

Youth Haiku
1st Place: “Creative Juices” by Margaret Halstead

Children Prose
1st Place: “The Wreck of the SS Star Liner” by Kiran Sawhney
2nd Place: “Video Adventure” by Lakshmi Austen Sawhney

Children Free Verse Poetry
1st Place: “Quiet” by Hannah Siepmann
2nd Place: “The Ocean” by Tatum Frey
3rd Place: “Orchestra Sparks” by Sara Lin Asada

Children Haiku
1st Place: “Snowball” by Emily Cinnamon
2nd Place: “Fire” by Pruette Karl
3rd Place: “Rain” by Kyra Ellen Sieber

Children Poetry of Place
1st Place: “Our Library” by Juan Hernandez

Increasing the Literary Density of Yamhill County

Barbara Drake was excited about the Terroir Creative Writing Festiva   coming up next Saturday. April 14th at the McMinnville Community Center.  I talked with her this morning at McMinnville Public Market.  She was staffing the Arts Alliance of Yamhill County booth. 

Barbara Drake is the guiding spirit of the Terroir. Writing Festival  It was November of 2008 or 2009, when she, then President of  Arts Alliance, stood before a large Arts Alliance membership gathering and asked for help in realizing her dream of a creative writing festival. 

“What we want to do.”  she said. “We want to increase the literary density in Yamhill County.”   

Barbara has done just that.  The first Terroir Creative Writing Festival in 2010 was a huge success.   The well known Portland writer Ursula LeGuin was a speaker and there were writing workshops by well known Northwest writers.   Terroir 2011 was also successful.  Author of the Earth’s Children’s series Jean Auel  was a speaker and again there were excellent writing workshops by Northwest writers.

This year’s Creative Writing Festival is shaping up to be as good or better than previous years.  The line up of Northwest writers speaking,  writing workshops and readings is impressive.

The musician and writer who opened the recent Oregon Book Awards presentation, Willy Vlautin will talk about finding inspiration in Oregon.  Portland suspense writer, author of “Kill you Twice”, Chelsea Cain will give a work shop on writing a best selling thriller.  There is a Poetry workshop by gardner and poet Charles Goodrich whose new book is ‘Going to Seed: Dispatches from the Garden” and who is the judge for the Arts Alliance’s annual  Paper Gardens Writing Contest .

One of my favorite Northwest writers Matt Love will be doing a work shop on writing creative non-fiction.  Leanne Grabel will have a work shop on writing and producing your own play.   Those who are thinking about a memoir, Evelyn Hess  will give a work shop on writing memoirs. 

There will be readings by novelists and poets.   The poetry journal of place Windfall Journal  editors and authors Bill Siverly and Michael McDowell will read and many other local poets.   There will be an opportunity for writers take a risk and to stand up at an “open mic” and read their work to an appreciative audience.

For those who love the feel and touch of the old fashioned book, you are not forgotten, the founder of Book Arts Center of McMinnville Marilyn Worrix will have a work shop on the handmade book.

If you are a writer the  Terroir Creative Writing Festivalwill give you access to some very good Northwest writers from varied disciplines.  In the workshops you pick up tips to help you improve your craft.  The entire event will introduce you to other local writers.   The registration form is on the website and you can register Saturday morning, April 14th at the Community Center.

As Barbara said. “What we want to do is increase the literary density of Yamhill County.”