Celebrating New Yorker Poetry

On Thursday evening, February 21, an illustrious collection of poets gathered to honor the retirement of The New Yorker's longtime Poetry Editor, with a reading and celebration at The New School's Theresa Lang Center: "Alice Quinn: Twenty Years of Poetry at The New Yorker." The event was co-sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, the New School Graduate Writing Program, and Poets House. The New Yorker poets chosen to toast Alice Quinn included Henri Cole, Deborah Garrison, Eamon Grennan, Major Jackson, D. Nurkse, Sharon Olds, Vijay Seshadri, C.K. Williams, Matthew Zapruder, recently named New York State Poet Jean Valentine—and upstreet's own Poetry Editor, Jessica Greenbaum. Each poet was asked to read a poem of his/her own that Quinn had published, then one or two by other people that she had published. Jessica read Jack Gilbert's "A Brief for the Defense," Wislawa Szymborska's "A Little Girl Tugs at the Tablecloth," and her own poem, "The Yellow Star that Goes with Me," which was requested by Alice Quinn. Here it is:

THE YELLOW STAR THAT GOES WITH ME

Sometimes when I'm thirsty, I mean really dying of thirst
For five minutes
Sometimes when I board a train
Sometimes in December when I'm absolutely freezing

For five minutes
Sometimes when I take a shower
Sometimes in December when I'm absolutely freezing
Sometimes when I reach from steam to towel, when the bed has

soft blue sheets

Sometimes when I take a shower
For twenty minutes, the white tiles dripping with water
Sometimes when I reach from steam to towel, when the bed has

soft blue sheets
Sometimes when I split an apple, or when I'm hungry, painfully

hungry

For twenty minutes, the white tiles dripping with water
As the train passes Chambers Street. We’re all crammed in like laundry
Sometimes when I split an apple, or when I'm hungry, painfully

hungry
For half an hour, sometimes when I’m on a train

As it passes Chambers Street. We’re all crammed in like laundry
It’s August. The only thing to breathe is everybody’s stains
For half an hour. Sometimes when I’m on a train
Or just stand along the empty platform

It’s August. The only thing to breathe is everybody’s stains
Sometimes when I board a train
Or just stand along the empty platform—
Sometimes when I'm thirsty, I mean really dying of thirst

—From Inventing Difficulty, by Jessica Greenbaum (Silverfish, 2000)

Wish you had all been there

Monday night was our night downstairs at the Cornelia Street Cafe in the Village, where the audience enjoyed readings by two creative nonfiction writers from upstreet number three, followed by a short musical program by one of the readers. Frank Tempone read his upstreet story, "Born Again," and Karen D. Taylor a personal narrative, "Not Tina in This Country: Remembering the Things My Grandmother Told Me." Karen, also a jazz vocalist, then performed five musical numbers, beginning with an a cappella rendition of "Dindi." For the subsequent four songs, Karen was accompanied by Marcus Persiani, piano, Andy McCloud, bass, and Jimmy Delgado, percussion. Those numbers were "People Make the World Go Round," "Work Song," "My Favorite Things," and "Angel Eyes." Poet Bill Zavatsky and I were the guest hosts. This was a treat, and I hope we have an opportunity to do something like it again.

More Pushcart nominations

The works in the annual Pushcart Prize anthology are chosen not only from the six nominations allotted to each independent press and literary magazine, but also from nominations by Pushcart's Board of Contributing Editors, a group of 230 distinguished writers and editors. We have just been notified that this Board has nominated three pieces from upstreet number three for inclusion in the 33rd edition of the Pushcart anthology, which will be released in November. The nominated works are two poems by Karen Chase, "The Angel of Lost Things" (p. 22) and "Dusk in the South" (p. 23), and a short story by Lindsay Anne Sproul, "Chariot" (p. 83). We will be notified by May if any of upstreet's nine nominees are chosen for the anthology. Meanwhile, we congratulate Karen and Lindsay, and we are keeping our fingers crossed.

And, yes...we are very, very pleased at the literary community's continuing recognition of upstreet and its authors.

upstreet @ Cornelia Street

Please join us for the final reading in the upstreet number three road tour, at the Cornelia Street Cafe, 29 Cornelia Street, New York City, from 6:00 to 8:30 p.m. on Monday, February 25. The Cornelia Street Cafe is the award-winning Greenwich Village restaurant and jazz club, also well known for its literary readings, which has been called "a culinary as well as a cultural landmark." The hosts for this event will be New York City poet Bill Zavatsky and upstreet Editor/Publisher Vivian Dorsel. The readers, both creative nonfiction writers, will be Frank Tempone ("Born Again," p. 11) and Karen D. Taylor ("The Space between Lucidity and Madness," p. 133). Karen, a professional jazz vocalist, will also give a musical performance, accompanied by Marcus Persiani, piano; Andy McCloud, bass; and Jeff Haynes, percussion.

Stop by and say hello, and enjoy the delicious food and drink, excellent music, and outstanding writing.