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Celebrating 70 YearsSummer 2016June-July-AugustSign up for email updates at eblast@stlouispoetrycenter.orgMission StatementOur passion for poetry guides us toencourage people of all ages andbackgrounds to participate in theinfinite possibilities of the writtenand spoken word.We conduct workshops, contests,outreach programs, and readings topromote poetry in the community.Outreach SpotlightSt. Louis Poetry Center has conducted outreach programs for veterans, prisoners, women’s shelters, mental health groups, and youth.Poetry Summer CampsTABLE OF CONTENTS:Locations:Barr Branch and Cabanne Branch LibrariesOutreach Spotlightp. 1Date:Summer 2016 (photos and comments from 2015)Poetry at the Point Second Friday Notesp. 2Sponsors:The St. Louis Poetry CenterCity of St. Louis Parks & RecreationNew Board Members p. 3Contest Winnersp. 4Kudos Communityp. 5SLPC April Benefit p. 6MembershipSunday Workshopsresume Sept 11Observable Readingsresume Sept 12Teaching Poets: Glendal Wallace, Meru Muad’Dib,Jason Vasser, and Brit BlasingameTeaching Poet Report: “The summer poetry campswere a success. We had a few students from previous summers inattendance and some who had never written poetry before.”“All of the students engaged daily, writing more than they wereprompted to. On Fridays, they each chose a poem to deliver before their parents andguardians. The students warmed up nicely in front of the microphone.”“The goals of the poetry camps include exposing children to the possibilities of poetry,improving their vocabulary and broadening their understanding of figurative language.(And having fun!) In our opinion, these goals were definitely met, and perhapsexceeded.” - Brit Blasingame, teaching artist with Center for Creative Arts (COCA)-Poetry Camp Daily Activities: Visit ourNew Websitewww.stlouispoetrycenter.orgTHE SLPC NEWSLETTEREditor and Layout: Mazaré RogersThe newsletter is a quarterly publication ofthe St. Louis Poetry Center, 567 North andSouth, #8, St. Louis, Mo 63130-3938, 314973-0616, info@stlouispoetrycenter.org.Member events, readings and kudos areprinted as a benefit of Membership. Joinusing the back of this newsletter, or usingpaypal at stlouispoetrycenter.org/membership.Discuss figurative language Free writing Poetry prompts Vocabulary, Discuss word choice Reading work aloud Editing, revision, proofreading*The poetry camps, which are made possible by agrant from the St. Louis Parks & Recreation, willcontinue this summer, led by the teaching poets above.Starbucks PartnershipSt. Louis Poetry Center is in the process of securing a partnership with St. Louis’ newestStarbucks, located at 10776 West Florissant Ave., Ferguson, MO. 63136. Open mics andother outreach initiatives are being considered for coming months. SLPC members willhave opportunities to suggest and participate in events as they become available. JasonN. Vasser is the newly appointed SLPC Community Outreach Coordinator. Vasser isworking to make this collaboration a reality.

Poetry at the PointThe Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd. St. Louis, M0 63143.The fourth Tuesday of every monthDoors 7 pm, Reading at 7:30 pm.PoetryPoint@stlouispoetrycenter.orgsecond friday notesDierbergs Market in Des Per es.Manchester Road at Lindemann, between Lindbergh and I-270.Readings on Mezzanine level. Elevator access from covered parking garagebelow the store. Begins at 7 p.m. Free.!June 10, 2016Summer 2016 Update for Poetry at the Point:There will be some new experiences and opportunities atPoetry at the Point this summer. In addition to fine, localpoets, there will be a 30-minute open mic period at the endof each night’s readings. (Arrive before 7:30 to sign up forone of the six five-minute time slots).Long-time curator Drucilla Wall has retired from Poetry atthe Point. This summer, there will be three guest curators.Most of the curators will read in addition to recruiting acouple of additional poets to read.On June 28, Matthew Freeman will lead and poetsJulia Gordon-Bramer, Megan Hudgins, and DenaMolen will r ead. On July 26, Jennifer Adams will leadand read. Nancy Pritchard will host on August 23.Past winners of SLPC contests will be featured.Poetry at the Point is held on the fourth Tuesday of everymonth at Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd. in Maplewood(63143). Poetry begins at 7:30 pm.June 28, 2016Matthew Freeman discover ed hewas a poet when as a teenager heawoke to the sensation of falling.His fifth book Everything I LoveRestored was recently published byCoffeetown Press.July 26, 2016Jennifer Adams is a gr aduate of theUniversity of Missouri – St. Louis inEnglish and a graduate of IndianaUniversity in Modern Language. She hasbeen writing and performing for morethan 15 years. Her work has beenpublished in Maize, Apt, The BelleriveReview, and others. She has publishedtwo chapbooks Prayer, Like a Pilgrimageand Matter and Form.August 23, 2016Nancy Pritchard holds an MFA inCreative Writing from UMSL. Herpublished works are featured in NaturalBridge, The Poetic Bond, Main ChannelVoices, Fugue, and others. She is a twotime Wednesday Club Poetry Contestwinner and a SLPC contest winner on twooccasions. Her interest in supporting the artof poetry in the community and the long and augusthistory of the SLPC were the driving forces in her decisionto join the board.Ben Moeller-Gaa is a haiku poet andauthor of two chapbooks, W asp Shadowsand Blowing on a Hot Soup Spoon. Hisfirst full length collection of haiku, TheHere and There of Fireflies, is forthcomingin 2017.Mark Shaw is of Ir ish and Amer icanIndian descent. He is an award-winningjournalist with the Native AmericanJournalist Association and has read hisfiction at the Native American LiteratureSymposium, the Westside ArtsFestival in Galway, Ireland, andhere in St. Louis.Sharon Hall is a singer and songwr iterwho grew up in the Missouri Ozarkssurrounded by the music of Americana. She isactive in St. Louis folk and bluegrass circles.July 8, 2016Glenn Boothe ear ned an MFA in Cr eativeWriting at UMSL in 2015. Glenn enjoyssculpting, gardening, and cooking. He liveswith his family in St. Louis, and when he isnot pursuing his artistic endeavors he works inInformation Technology.Mary Feagan is a poet, ar tteacher, and author of severalbooks of poetry. A former Catholic sister,Mary's poetry often expresses her journeyto more freedom, honesty, self-acceptanceand mercy.Marion Berktold, bor n in Ger many,started performing in a cathedral choirwhen she was 10 years old and later sangwith the Michelsen choir. Berktold was apart of the “Momentary girls” band, andshe now plays with “Pik n Lik n.”August 12, 2016Abigail Matthews wor ks as a LicensedProfessional Counselor in St. Louis and isalso pursuing an MFA in Poetry at UMSL.Lucy Novario r emember swriting poetry as one of thefirst internally-motivatedactions she took and shenow occasionally writespoems in her sleep.Catching the Westbound is a duet(Emily and Andy) that weaves togethersyncopated string rhythms of countryblues guitar with vocal melodies thatevoke the hardships and hopefulness ofAppalachian Mountain gospel.

New SLPC Board MembersRon Fredman- Treasurer- Fredman has been writing poetry for forty years, despite his 9th grade Englishteacher’s declaration that he would never be a poet. He is the co-founder of two 501c3's: Minds of Peace andThru A Child's Eyes. As a new board member, Fredman brings the experience of his professional career insales, marketing, and operations to the SLPC efforts to expand the reach and depth of the love of beautifullycreated thoughts in the poetic realm. “Through my role as treasurer, I intend to grow the relationshipbetween St. Louis Poetry Center and metro St. Louis,” said Fredman. “There are many ways to do this, butthere are a handful of ways to measure it. For SLPC it will be in the growth of a sustainable base ofmembers and supporters. Through poetry, our Center hopes to be a growing source of inspiration for metroSt. Louis, to help grow our hopes and dreams into the better tomorrow.”Note: Edward Kindley is retiring June 30 from his three years of diligent volunteer services as treasurer of St. LouisPoetry Center.Glenn Boothe- Secretary- Boothe earned an MFA in Creative Writing from UMSL in May 2015. Whilepursuing his degree, he served as Treasurer for the Graduate Writers Association, and Technical Advisor forthe Siemens PLM Regional Users Group. Glenn now works with FoxPaw- a company that fixes cell phonesand tablets. Boothe is also a sculptor and culinary artist. He muses that he would like to open a pizzeria-pubart gallery-studio-open mic venue for pizza lovers, artists, writers and musicians alike.Alison C. Rollins, bor n and r aised in St. Louis city, cur r ently wor ks as a YouthSpecialist with the St. Louis County Library system. Alison holds a BS in Psychology from HowardUniversity where she studied poetry under Professor Tony Medina. She is currently pursuing a Masterin Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois—Urbana Champaign. Rollins is afounding member of the St. Louis City Reading Series “South Grand Lost Poets.” Her poems haveappeared or are forthcoming in Poetry, River Styx, V inyl, and elsewhere.Joshua Kryah is the author of two collections of poetr y, W e A re Starved and Glean. He r eceivedhis MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and his PhD from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas,where he was a Black Mountain Fellow in poetry. The recipient of a 2013 NEA fellowship, he has beenthe Thornton Writer-in-Residence at Lynchburg College and the Summer Poet in Residence at theUniversity of Mississippi. He lives in St. Louis and teaches at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.Ted Mathys is the author of The Spoils, Forge, and Null Set. The recipient of fellowships and awardsfrom the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the PoetrySociety of America, his poetry and criticism have appeared in American Poetry Review, BOMB,Boston Review, and Conjunctions. He holds an MFA in poetry from the Iowa Writers' Workshop andcurrently lives in Saint Louis, where he is Creative Writer in Residence at Saint Louis University andco-curator of the Fort Gondo Poetry Series.Other Standing Board MembersDwight BitikoferPresidentMary Ruth DonnellyIm m ediate Past PresidentLoy LedbetterPresident Em eritusVincent CasaregolaMary Ann deGrandpre KellyJennifer GoldringJeff HamiltonNancy Powers PritchardGlendal WallaceJason N. VasserMazaré RogersStaffNewsletter Editor