Monday, November 30, 2009

NaNoWriMo Winner


Just wanted to post a little blurb here...I lost all sanity around November 1st when I thought it would be a good idea to participate in NaNoWriMo this year in addition to taking a full course load, working full time, family, etc, etc. So long story short, I pushed myself beyond all reasonable expectations and today, on the last possible day, crossed the NaNoWriMo 50000 word finish line. Woohoo! Of course the novel isn't complete yet, but it's 50000 words closer and now that I've gotten this far I know I can finish it. I've got to say it was an amazing experience and one I intend to do again. So there ya go. Just wanted to share my little accomplishment. Have a great day! ~ Margaret

Saturday, November 28, 2009

REMINDER--Hotel Reservations Close on Dec. 14

The cost for a standard king room or double room for the January 2010 Residency will be $89 per night. This rate will only be available until the end of business December 14th, so be sure to call and make your reservations ASAP. Don't forget to identify yourself as part of the WestConn MFA group. The number is (203) 791-2200. After December 14th, neither the availability nor the rate can be guaranteed.

Please contact Laurel Richards (203) 837-8878 if you have any questions.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Some good news to share

I received a letter from the MacGuffin yesterday that they nominated my poem "Afghani Summer" for a pushcart prize. Now that was a pleasant surprise!!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Registration Guidelines

Dear Intersession/Spring 2010 Students,

I have emailed each of you instructions for registering for your courses. Registration will begin Dec. 2 and must be compelted by Dec. 9. Please let me know if you have questions after reading the email message.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Registration Re-Reminder

Registration will begin on DECEMBER 2 and run through DECEMBER 9. We will be registering online, so you will need your Banner account (new students--grad studies should have sent your banner account info to you. If they have not, please contact me or Graduate Studies).

If you have an outstanding balance, you must contact the Cashier's office before Dec. 2 or you will not be allowed to register!

If you hear anything contrary to these registration dates, it doesn't apply to us. Ignore it.

We will be posting registration instructions on the MFA web site as we near the 2nd.

Poet on Campus, December 2

Poet Christine Boyka Kluge will read from her work in Haas 508 (Midtown Campus) on December 2 at 5:30.

Writing majors and students in the MFA program are also invited to join the WRT519 Topics in Creative Writing: Flash Fiction and Prose Poetry course following the reading for a discussion with Ms. Kluge. RSVP clementsb@wcsu.edu




from “Giving Away Bones”

I stood at the corner giving away my bones. My ribs went to the little girl who needed a cage for her ferret. My toe bones went to a gambler to replace his unlucky dice. My spine went home coiled around the neck of a snake charmer. As I plucked out each one, I felt delightfully emptier, translucent as breath. I simply stepped out of my ivory closet.

The only piece I had trouble leaving was my skull. It stared at me with cavernous sockets like twin black wells.




Christine Boyka Kluge is the author of three books of prose poems: Stirring the Mirror, Teaching Bones to Fly, and Domestic Weather. Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies. She is also a visual artist and she has collaborated on multimedia work. She lives in the Hudson Valley.

Hotel Reservations

In case you missed it--see the info below from November 10 regarding hotel reservations.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Prince of the City To Join Hard Rock Qi @ The Hartford Club


-- Actor Treat Williams With Director Sidney Lumet During Filming of Prince of the City


EDITOR'S NOTE: Rarely do readers get the real story on cops and courts. When the public focuses on corruption in the so-called justice system, virtually all the weight falls on the cops. The lawyers and judges are much more adept at evading justice. Author and former NYPD Detective Bob Leuci knows the score. He lived it. Leuci will be appearing in Connecticut Jan. 15, 2010 as part of the CT Young Writers Triple Knockout event at the Hartford Club. Following are some video excerpts of Prince of the City and links to Leuci books and details about the upcoming event.

VIDEO:
We Know How You Guys Become Judges


  • Scene From Prince Of The City


  • Trailer: IT HAPPENED


  • Undercover Life Gets Complicated


  • Prince of the City Wiki


  • Sidney Lumet Interview



  • THE BOOKS

  • Prince Of The City: The True Story Of A Cop Who Knew Too Much


  • All The Centurions: A New York City Cop Remembers His Life On The Street


  • Captain Butterfly


  • Odessa Beach


  • The Snitch


  • Doyle's Disciples



  • AUTHOR BOB LEUCI AND COMPLETE LINEUP
    POETS & WRITERS JAN. 15, 2010
    @ THE HARTFORD CLUB

    ALSO FEATURING
    THE JEN ALLEN BIG BAND
    WITH VOCALISTS


    USA BOXING BOUTS
    TO CONCLUDE THE EVENING




    Special thanks to our sponsors
    listed as
    heavyweights, middleweights, golden gloves and fans.


    EDITOR'S NOTE:
    Paul "Ding-a-Ling" Doyle has graciously agreed to take handoff from George "The Wolf" Kimball for sports writing workshop. Both guys worked the Dawson fight.

    Doyle has been a sports reporter and columnist at The Hartford Courant for 20 years. A member of the Baseball Writers Association of America, he has been a baseball beat writer and most recently a general assignment reporter. He has also written for the Boston Globe and The Sporting News.


  • Hartford Courant Post On CT Young Writers Triple Knockout Event


  • Gaby Heating Up Miami Beach ...

  • A Punch In The Face From Gaby "She Be Stinging" Calvocoressi


  • Odes To The Champ, Including Shankar Poem On Dawson Victory


  • The Iceman John Scully's Utube


  • Also @ gotpoetry.com


  • Quick Hits
    On More
    Of Our Poets & Writers


  • News Times Features Author Shouhua Qi


  • Retired CT State Trooper Jerry Longo Reviews NYPD Bomb Squad Book


  • Chandra "Bonecrusher" Prasad Featured In CT Mag


  • Iceman John Scully


  • Kate Rushin's Black Back-Ups


  • Franz Douskey


  • Binnie Klein


  • MUSIC
    VIDEOS


  • Jen Allen Big Band @ Twain House May 2009


  • Jen Allen Big Band @ Litchfield Inn June 2008
  • Residency Dates

    It seems that a few people missed it earlier, so here it is again:

    December 28 through January 3

    December 28 is arrival date with the New Student Orientation and the Welcome Dinner the only events scheduled.

    January 3 is the departure date with only the morning wrap-up meeting scheduled.

    We will take off between dinner on New Year's Eve and lunch on New Year's Day.

    Residency schedule and workshop options will be posted soon.

    Call for Articles

    Dear Brian,
    I thought this might be of interest to your students…we’re sending it primarily to environmental organizations, but welcome first-person essays, as well…

    E/The Environmental Magazine is seeking new commentaries for its “Our Planet” weekly newsletter. The commentaries appear on the homepage of our website, and are included in a newsletter sent free via e-mail to tens of thousands of interested people from around the nation. We’re looking for lively essays on your environmental mission, your latest environmental endeavors, or thoughts on nature, and welcome first-person accounts. A length of approximately 800 words is preferable, and accompanying photographs and contact information are welcome. We do not pay for “Our Planet” submissions, but the column would make a good forum to talk about the work you do and reach a new audience.

    You can check it out online here: http://www.emagazine.com/news/archives.php?current

    Please send inquiries or submissions to E Magazine editor Brita Belli at brita@emagazine.com

    Only Two of the Top 30 Grossing Films This Decade Are Original

    [click the link in the title] It's a good time to be a kid.

    Wednesday, November 11, 2009

    Enrichment Projects

    If you would like to present your enrichment project at the winter residency, please let me know as soon as possible--by the end of this week, please.

    Registration Heads Up

    Folks, Registration will be conducted online this year from Dec. 2 through Dec. 9.

    If you are a new student, you will be receiving log-in information from Graduate Studies. I suggest you attempt to log in before Dec. 2 to ensure that your account is activated.

    If you are a returning student who has NOT been in an online workshop this semester, please log in before Dec. 2 to ensure that your password is still active. Students currently in online workshops should have no problems.

    NOTE: If you have an outstanding balance and have not arranged for a payment plan with the Cashier's office, the Registrar will not allow you to register online during the registration period.

    I will provide you with specific, individualized instructions for registration as we near Dec. 2.

    Hope to see some of you at Gian Lombardo's reading this evening.

    Tuesday, November 10, 2009

    Jan 2010 Residency Hotel Reservations**REMINDER

    The cost for a standard king room or double room for the January 2010 Residency will be $89 per night. This rate will only be available until the end of business December 14th, so be sure to call and make your reservations ASAP. Don't forget to identify yourself as part of the WestConn MFA group. The number is (203) 791-2200. After December 14th, neither the availability nor the rate can be guaranteed.

    Please contact me if you have any questions.

    Blog? Facebook?

    That time has come. We have outgrown our blogspace here. While we will continue to maintain the blog through the Winter residency and into next semester, we will be making a move to a space that allows more members/authors in a semi-private setting. I am considering moving to Facebook, but I know that not everyone has a Facebook account. So let me simply ask--how would you feel about moving to Facebook, especially those of you who do not currently have Facebook accounts?

    Friday, November 06, 2009

    Winter Fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA

    For the last forty years, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA, has
    run the largest and longest residency Fellowship in the United States for
    emerging visual artists and writers. Artists who have not had significant
    recognition for their work and writers who have not yet published a book
    with significant distribution are welcome to apply. Fellows receive a seven
    month stay (October 1-May 1) at the Work Center and a $650 monthly stipend.
    Fellows do not pay or work in exchange for their fellowships in any way.
    Fellows are chosen based on the strength and promise of their work. Former
    Visual Arts Fellows include Ellen Gallagher, Jack Pierson, Lisa Yuskavage,
    Angela Dufresne, Geoffrey Chadsey, and Lamar Peterson. Former Writing
    Fellows have won every major national award in writing including the
    National Book Award and six Pulitzer Prizes. The list of former Fellows
    includes Denis Johnson, Louise Glück, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Yusef Komunyakaa.

    The postmark deadline for the 2010-11 Writing Fellowships is December 1,
    2009.

    2010-2011 Visual Arts Fellowship applicants may apply online beginning
    December 1, 2009. Online submissions must be received by midnight February
    1, 2010. FAWC will accept slide applications for one more year. Applicants
    submitting slides, must have their applications postmarked by February 1,
    2010.

    For details, please visit:
    http://www.fawc.org/fellowships/

    Thursday, November 05, 2009

    "The Uncanny Valley" at Escape Pod

    My novelette "The Uncanny Valley" is now live as the latest weekly installment of the online audio magazine Escape Pod.

    Podcasting, as many of you know, is becoming increasingly important. Not only have a number of writers parlayed personal podcasts into book deals, venues such as Escape Pod are gaining a listenership larger than most print literary journals. The the three Escape Artists venues: Escape Pod for science fiction, PodCastle for fantasy, and PseudoPod for horror, have even reawakened the market for reprints. If you're interested at all in short fantastic fiction, you should be tuning in on your iPod or desktop.

    "The Uncanny Valley" originally appeared in a journal called Polyphony and is also available in You Might Sleep...

    AWP Intro Journals Project

    As a member program of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP), our department is invited to participate in AWP’s prestigious Intro Journals Project. The Intro Journals Project is a literary competition for the discovery & publication of the best new works by students currently enrolled in the programs of AWP. All undergraduate writing majors, all MA students with Creative Writing concentration, and all students in the MFA in Creative and Professional Writing are eligible to participate.

    Winners of the WestConn Awards will be entered into AWP’s national competition. Winners at the national level will receive publication in a participating journal and a $100 cash honorarium. Winners will be contacted in the spring of 2010. Participating journals are Hayden’s Ferry Review, Mid-American Review, Colorado Review, Puerto del Sol, Controlled Burn, Quarterly West, Tampa Review, and Artful Dodge.

    Students must follow the guidelines below for submitting nominations.

    • Submissions should be mailed or hand delivered to:

    Laurel Richards
    MFA in Creative and Professional Writing
    Higgins 205
    181 White St.
    Danbury, CT 06810

    • Submissions must be received in the office no later than 8 am, Monday, November 23.

    • Submissions must come with a cover sheet that includes the title of the work, the name of the author, the mailing address of the author, and the genre of the submission (fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry).

    • Translations are acceptable, but the submission must come with evidence of permission to publish the translation.

    • Submissions must be unpublished and may not be under consideration elsewhere.

    • Each student may submit no more than three works of creative nonfiction, three works of fiction, and six poems. Excerpts from novels are acceptable but must not exceed 25 pages.

    • Prose must be double-spaced and typed or printed on a letter-quality printer; dot-matrix is not acceptable. Poetry only may be single-spaced.

    I encourage all MFA students to participate! The AWP Intro Award is one of the most highly visible awards for students, and the participating journals are choice venues.

    Gian Lombardo Reading on Campus


    Wednesday, November 11, 5:30, WARNER HALL ATRIUM
    (on WestConn’s Midtown Campus)



    Gian Lombardo
    is Publisher-in-Residence in the Writing, Literature & Publishing Department at Emerson College. He directs Quale Press, which publishes literary works and which also supplies other publishers with editing, design, consulting, production and project management services. He is also the author of Between Islands, a collection of poems and verse translations; and four other collections of prose poetry – Standing Room, Sky Open Again, Of All the Corners to Forget and Aid & A_Bet. His translation of the first half of Aloysius Bertrand’s Gaspard de la nuit was published in 2000 and his translation of Eugene Savitzkaya’s Rules of Solitude appeared in 2004. He lives in Western Massachusetts where he tends a small orchard and occasionally makes a passable wine.

    I hope all of the MFA-ers in the area, current and recent, will come out for this reading!

    Wednesday, November 04, 2009

    Faith and Art Essay on Liturgical Credo

    Click on the title to go to the essay. I have an essay on Liturgical Credo based on the concept of suspension of disbelief in fiction and in faith. My sincere thanks to editor/publisher Colin Burch for fostering this along. Be well / RON

    Monday, November 02, 2009

    RUMBLE @ THE HARTFORD CLUB: Gaby Versus The Iceman, A CT Young Writers Triple Knockout Event ...



    ANNOUNCEMENT:

    CT Young Writers
    Triple Knockout Event
    At The Hartford Club Jan. 15, 2010


  • CT Young Writers Trust Website



  • Eclectic Hartford Club Event
    Celebrates Young Writers Competition;
    Notes Entry Deadline

    Open Writing Workshops,
    Readings By Poets & Writers,
    Jen Allen Big Band & Live Boxing


    CEU Credits Granted For Teachers



    More Than $182,000 For Teenage Writers Since 1998
    CT Young Writers Trust
    Surges Into 13th Year
    With Strong Grassroots Support


    HARTFORD, Conn. Oct. 31, 2009 -- The Connecticut Young Writers Trust kicks off its 13th year with vigor and pizazz Jan. 15, 2010 at
  • The Hartford Club


  • "GABY VERSUS THE ICEMAN" is a CT Young Writers Triple Knockout Event: Prose, Poetry And Pugilism.

    The day begins at 11 a.m. with open workshops on the teaching and writing of poetry and the teaching and writing of sports stories. Continuing education credits will be granted to teachers for the workshops and other events including dialogue with poets, writers, musicians and boxers.

    The Jen Allen Big Band -- featuring vocalists including DominiQue Rivers and Laura McCabe -- will perform during lunch.

  • Jen Allen Big Band @ Twain House May 2009


  • Jen Allen Big Band @ Litchfield Inn June 2008


  • Well-known and highly-regarded poets and writers enter the ring after lunch.

    In the main event, poet Gabrielle "She Be Stinging" Calvocoressi and "Iceman" John Scully -- the trainer and former light heavyweight contender -- will read from their works. (A complete listing of poets and writers follows.)

    The evening will conclude with the singing of The National Anthem by Rivers -- a student at Hartford Conservatory -- and a boxing exhibition. The bouts are being organized by Scully; Sammy Vega, a seven-time national amateur champion now working as a paralegal; and Mike Mike "Machine Gun" Oliver, a reigning New England and Eastern Boxing Association Junior Featherweight Champion.

    Co-Masters of Ceremonies are: Rand "Blood" Cooper, the novelist and travel writer for Bon Appetit; "Irish" Ravi Shankar, the poet and Central Connecticut State University English professor; and attorney Jeffrey "No Dice" Dressler, a long-time advocate for education and boxing in Hartford and a boxing announcer.

    The Bookworm of West Hartford will serve as vendor for the event and will take advance orders with reasonable notice.

    Since 1998, the Young Writers Trust has awarded more than $182,000 to Connecticut teenagers. More than 5,000 young poets and writers have competed in the program.

    The Connecticut State University System is the primary donor for prize money. Prize money and expenses are also funded by banks, law and real estate firms, the Litchfield-Morris Rotary, numerous businesses including a construction firm, a wine merchant, a publishing firm, restaurants, bookstores, an art gallery, a tree care firm and a printing company. Sponsors are noted via display ads in the annual program.

    Teenage writers, ages 13-18, are being encouraged to submit original entries to the annual literary competition which also offers state champions an opportunity to have their work published in the literary journal of the Connecticut State University System, Connecticut Review.

    Entry forms for the 2010 competition will be handed out at the Hartford Club event. Forms are currently available on line at the Connecticut State University System site, http://www.ct.edu/community/ctyoungwriters.htm

    During this academic year, two young writers from each of Connecticut's eight counties will win cash awards for either prose or poetry writing. Entries must be nominated by a teacher in a public or private school, and postmarked on or before February 1, 2010. Home school entries are also accepted. (In 2009, there were about 580 entries.)

    Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven, and Western Connecticut State University in Danbury will receive the initial entries and host county award ceremonies in April 2010. Entries are sent directly to one of the universities, depending upon the county in which the student lives (see list at CSU System Young Writers website).

    From the select group of county winners, a distinguished panel of judges will select the state's top poet and writer at a dinner and awards ceremony held in late May or early June 2010. The 2009 event was held at the Mark Twain House & Museum. Winners are also interviewed by local media, and have their work highlighted on the website of the Connecticut State University System.

    A home-schooled student from Redding and a student at Westover School in Middlebury were awarded the top statewide prizes in prose and poetry May 31, 2009 in the 12th annual IMPAC-Connecticut State University System Young Writers competition.

    The competition highlights works of poetry and prose submitted by teenagers from throughout the state. A panel of judges selected works submitted by Emma Lowenberg,16, of the Lowenberg Home School in Redding, for her story, "Bernard," and Felicity Sheehy, 16, of Westover School of Middlebury, for her poem, "Evening Conversation."

    At the annual awards celebration, held at Hartford's Mark Twain House & Museum for the first time, both students received $1,000 for their efforts. Lowenberg and Sheehy also were awarded $500 in April after being named, respectively, prose and poetry winners in Fairfield and New Haven counties.

    A complete listing of all county and state champions since 1998 is included in the 2009 program.

    Poets and writers appearing at The Hartford Club Jan. 15, 2010:

    * Robert "The Breeze" Leuci -- Treat Williams played Leuci's character in the movie, "The Prince of the City." The former NYPD detective reveals the full range of his career in the memoir, "All The Centurions." Leuci's novels include "Doyle's Disciples," "Odessa Beach" and "Renegades." Leuci teaches at the University of Rhode Island.

    * "Merciless" Amy Ma -- Ma is the 2001 State Poetry Champion. She currently teaches for the Hartford Public Schools. Ma earned her undergraduate English degree from Wesleyan and a Masters from Central Connecticut State University. Ma has been a keynote speaker for two annual dinners.

    * Binnie "The Demon Barber" Klein -- Klein, a psychotherapist and lecturer at Yale Medical School, is the author of "Blows To The Head: How Boxing Changed My Mind." The book is a memoir including Klein's experiences in the ring and her observations of The Sweet Science. She hosts a weekly music and interview show on WPKN Bridgeport, CT and Montauk, NY.

    * Shouhua "Hard Rock" Qi -- Qi, a professor of English at Western Connecticut State University, is the author of "When the Purple Mountain Burns," "Red Guard Fantasies and Other Stories" and a dozen other books. "Red Guard Fantasies" is dedicated to his father, who was a middle school principal during the Cultural Revolution. Like many other so-called elites, Qi's father suffered intense physical degradation. He was forced to kneel on broken glass with a wooden chalkboard hung around his neck while being denounced by angry mobs. The volume has 14 stories about Chinese society transforming after the Cultural Revolution, including the signature Red Guard Fantasies.

    * Rich "Six Heads" Esposito - Esposito is the author of "Bomb Squad: A Year Inside The Nation's Most Exclusive Police Unit." Esposito is a winner of the George Polk Award for Television Reporting, is a reporter and producer on ABC News. He is the recipient of the Silurian and Deadline Club Awards, two Associated Press Awards, and shares in a Pulitzer Prize.

    * Chandra "Bonecrusher" Prasad -- Prasad is a writer and editor with an established track record in both fiction and nonfiction. Most recently, Prasad completed a novel based on the life of Amelia Earhart. It is called "Breathe the Sky." Wally Lamb, author of The Hour I First Believed," writes that "Breathe the Sky" is, "by turns, an adventure story, a love story, and a cautionary tale about the double-edged sword of modern American celebrity. From lift-off to landing, [it] is a novel that soars." Prasad is also the author of "On Borrowed Wings," a novel set in Depression-era Connecticut. On Borrowed Wings is about a quarryman's daughter who attends a prestigious university in 1936 in the guise of a boy. A graduate of Yale, Prasad is the originator and editor of, and a contributor to, "Mixed: An Anthology of Short Fiction on the Multiracial Experience." Her works have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Week, Teen Voices, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. In addition, her short stories have been printed in numerous literary forums, including Faultline, the University of California at Irvine's Pushcart prize-winning journal.

    * Kate "La Terrible" Rushin -- Rushin is the author of "The Black Back-Ups" (Firebrand Books). Her "The Bridge Poem" appears in "This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color," a ground-breaking feminist anthology edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa. Recipient of the Rose Low Rome Memorial Poetry Prize and the Grolier Poetry Prize, her work is widely anthologized and has been published in such journals as Callaloo. A Connecticut resident, Kate currently teaches creative writing at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. Previously, she taught at Wesleyan University, where she served as Director of the Center of African-American Studies, Associate Professor and Visiting Writer. She has read at Hill-Stead Museum's Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, the Geraldine Dodge Poetry Festival and Smith College Poetry Center, among many other places, and has led workshops for the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies and Cave Canem Foundation. She has served as a judge for the Connecticut Young Writers Award, the Connecticut Poetry Circuit Student Poetry Contest, and the NEA's/Poetry Foundation's Poetry Out Loud. Rushin received her B.A. from Oberlin College and her M.F.A. from Brown University. She is a former Fellow of The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and a graduate fellow of Cave Canem Foundation.

    * Franz "Onions Oregenato" Douskey -- Douskey teaches creative writing at Gateway Community College in New Haven. He has been published in more than 150 journals and magazines including the New Yorker, Rolling Stone and Yankee. A featured guest at New Haven's Festival of Arts &Ideas, Douskey's books include "Rowing Across The Dark" and "Indecent Exposure." He is a founding board member of the Connecticut Young Writers Trust and has served as a judge every year of the competition. Douskey is also the author of the forthcoming biography, "The Unknown Sinatra." He currently produces and co-hosts a weekly radio show with musician Bud Finch on 1220 am, WQUN, Quinnipiac University. The show, "Once Upon a Bandstand," is one of the station's most popular programs.

    * "Iceman" John Scully -- Scully is a prolific writer and a commentator for ESPN classic fights. Excerpts of Scully's manuscript -- The Iceman Diaries -- draw numerous comments in posts at his website IcemanJohnScully.com and on his Facebook page. Scully won numerous amateur championships including the Ohio State Fair in 1987. He defeated a national amateur champion, Darin Allen. Scully turned professional in 1988, just three years after graduating from Windsor High School. He fought for the International Boxing Federation world light heavyweight championship in Leipzig, Germany, in 1996, losing a 12-round decision to Henry Maske. In a controversial bout, Scully connected regularly against two-time world champion Michael Nunn for the World Boxing Organization - North American Boxing Organization super middleweight title, but lost by a decision that was roundly criticized. He racked up wins against Art Baylis, Billy Bridges and Alphonso Bailey in televised fights before retiring in 2001 with a record of 38-11, including 21 knockouts. Scully has served as a sparring partner with world champions including Vinny Pazienza, Roy Jones Jr. and James "Lights Out" Toney. Pros he has trained include Mike Mike "Machine Gun" Oliver, International Boxing Organization light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson, Pito Cardona, Scott "The Sandman" Pemberton, former Olympic team captain Lawrence Clay-Bey, Clay Bey's son Jarin and Matt Remillard, an undefeated featherweight contender.

    * Grabrielle "She Be Stinging" Calvocoressi -- Calvocoressi was born in Central Connecticut. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships including a Stegner fellowship in Poetry, a Jones Lectureship in Poetry at Stanford University and a Rona Jaffe Woman Writers' Award. Her poem "Circus Fire, 1944" received The Paris Review' Bernard F. Conners Prize. Her first collection, "The Last Time I Saw Amelia Earhart," was published by Persea Books in 2005 and won the Connecticut Book Award. It was shortlisted for the Northern California Book Award . Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in numerous journals and online publications including; The Paris Review, The New England Review, Gulf Coast and Guernica. A new multi-media piece is forthcoming online on The Owls. he lives in Los Angeles and teaches in the MFA program at California College of Arts in San Francisco and in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at Warren Wilson College. She is serving as a visiting professor at Bennington College in the fall of 2009. Her second collection, "Apocalyptic Swing," is out now from Persea Books. Garrison Keillor read her poem, "Jubilee," on WNPR in October 2009. Calvocoressi's fight poems, including "Blues For Ruby Goldstein," "Boxers In the Key Of M" and "Prayer in the Name of Saint Thomas Hearns," are highly-regarded by boxers, academics and sports writers.

    Workshop leaders:

    * David "The Body Snatcher " Cappella -- Cappella is a professor of English at Central Connecticut State University. He has co-authored two books on the teaching of poetry with Baron Wormser: "Teaching the Art of Poetry: The Moves" (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2000) and "A Surge of Language: Teaching Poetry Day to Day" (Heinemann, 2004). He is the winner of the 2004 Bright Hill Press Poetry Chapbook Competition, of which the first poem was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He has published poems in The Connecticut Review, The Bryant Literary Review, Diner and other journals.

    * George "The Wolf" Kimball
    -- Kimball (born December 29, 1943 in Grass Valley, California) is an American author and journalist who spent 25 years as a sports columnist for the Boston Herald before retiring in 2005. Considered one of the foremost boxing writers of his era, he is the author of "Four Kings: Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran, and the Last Great Era of Boxing." Since 1997 he has written the weekly 'America at Large' column for The Irish Times in Dublin, Ireland, and has contributed to a number of boxing websites. He lives in New York City. In 1980 he began a columnist for the Herald, and for the next quarter-century covered major sporting events around the world, including Super Bowls and World Series, NBA Finals and the Olympic Games, golf's four majors and Ryder Cups, Wimbledon and the America's Cup yacht races. He covered nearly 400 world title fights, and was the 1985 recipient of the Nat Fleischer Award for Excellence in Boxing Journalism. Kimball also received 'Best Column' awards from the Boxing Writers Association of America, the Golf Writers Association of America, Boston Magazine, and United Press International. Kimball served as a regular co-host for several sports talk radio programs in the Boston area, as a television analyst for boxing broadcasts on the Fox SportsNet and Comcast networks, and as a panelist for several PBS programs produced by WGBH-TV. He appeared (as a boxing writer covering a fight between Woody Harrelson and Antonio Banderas) in Ron Shelton's 1999 film "Play it to the Bone." In a ceremony officiated by former heavyweight champion George Foreman, Kimball married New York psychiatrist Marge Marash in 2004.

    Efforts are being made to keep the price of admission for the Hartford Club event to under $40.

    As we begin our 13th year, we face daunting challenges.

    The Trust incurred a $10,000 shortfall of annual funding for the last cycle. But, we were able to continue the program for youngsters in all eight of Connecticut's counties. Many poets, writers, business people, university administrators and board members stepped up to fill the void.

    Sadly, our founding donor suffered an untimely death last month.

    We are bouncing back with vigor, confidence and a clear focus. The CSU System -- led by the Chancellor, Dr. David Carter, and supported by literally hundreds of volunteers -- has ensured the continuation of the program.

    Our 2010 entry form has been mailed to all public, parochial and private secondary schools in Connecticut. To highlight the entry deadline of Feb. 1, 2010, The Hartford Club has agreed to host the Jan. 15, 2010 event.

    Sponsorships remain available as follows:

    $1,000
    Heavyweight Champion

    $500
    Middleweight Champion

    $250
    Golden Gloves

    $100
    Fan


    Checks should be made out to CT Young Writers Trust and sent to 231 Beach St., Litchfield, CT 06759. Sponsorships are noted on the poster and in the event program. We hope all sponsors can attend this event so they can enjoy all the festivities and accept our thanks and gratitude in person.

    RSVP @ tntcomm82@cs.com or 860-690-0211.


    Connecticut Young Writers Trust
    231 Beach St.
    Litchfield, CT 06759


    * 800-814-6931 * Fax- 860-567-9119
    * tntcomm82@cs.com
    http://www.ct.edu/community/ctyoungwriters.htm

    ANDY THIBAULT
    Chairman
    Cell: 860-690-0211

  • Retired CT State Trooper Jerry Longo Reviews NYPD Bomb Squad Book



  • -- Photo By Bob Thiesfield
    For The Connecticut Young Writers Trust,
    Courtesy Of The Hartford Club


    GABY TUNES UP FOR JOHN ICEMAN SCULLY, 9-24-09, WITH 7-TIME FORMER NATIONAL AMATEUR CHAMPION SAMMY VEGA (left) AND MIKE MACHINE GUN OLIVER, A REIGNING PROFESSIONAL FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPION, AT THE HARTFORD CLUB. Gaby, aka Gabrielle Calvocoressi, the poet / ring enthusiast, and Iceman, the former light heavyweight contender / trainer, also got together.


    -- Photo By Bob Thiesfield
    For The Connecticut Young Writers Trust,
    Courtesy Of The Hartford Club


    GABY LETS ICEMAN KNOW WHO'S THE BOSS



    -- Photo By Bob Thiesfield
    For The Connecticut Young Writers Trust,
    Courtesy Of The Hartford Club


    SHE LETS UP, GIVING ICEMAN
    A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY

    Fundraiser for Veteran's Transitional Housing program


    I am giving a poetry reading on Wednesday, November 11th at Bru Cafe, 141 Orange St New Haven. This is a fundraising event for the Homefront, a transitional Housing program for veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq. The Homefront is run by Columbus House. Also reading with me are the Vietnam veterans whom I worked with for my enrichment project. The event is from 5:30 to 7:00.