Jack Cooper on August 24, with Summer Poetry Reports - Watermelon Festival, Animal Poetry, Bread...

Village Poets of Sunland Tujunga are thrilled to announce that the wonderful, one and only Jack Cooper will be the Featured Poet at Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga on Sunday, August 24, at 4:30 p.m.   The Reading will include Two Open Mike Segments, before and after the Featured Poets, and refreshments prepared by the Village Poets.

ABOUT JACK COOPER

Jack Cooper's first poetry collection, Across My Silence, was published by World Audience, Inc., 2007.  His work has been nominated three times for a Pushcart Prize, as a finalist in North American Review's 2011 James Hearst Poetry Prize, and currently as a finalist in the 2014 Eco Arts Award in Creative Excellence. 

His poetry has also appeared in Connecticut River Review, The South Dakota Review, The Evansville Review, The Santa Fe Literary Review and many other publications. He can be contacted at www.jcooperpoetry.com - his poetry website with more information about his work.

VILLAGE POETS' KIDS BOOK CORNER AT THE WATERMELON FESTIVAL

The mission of Village Poets includes bringing poetry to diverse audiences everywhere. Since 2011, the poets have organized a Kids Poetry Corner or Kids Book Corner at the Watermelon Festivals in Sunland Park. This year, the Watermelon Festival  moved to Santa Anita Park, on the back of the Racetrack, but the tradition continued.  The Village Poets partnered with youth from Phoenix House Academy of Los Angeles  that volunteered to assist with the setup and managing the Kids Book Corner. 

On Saturday and Sunday, July 19-20, 2014, Maja Trochimczyk was joined by counselors and  students from the Academy - six girls on Saturday and six boys on Sunday - in presenting an assortment of children's books to kids that might want to take a break from all the rides and attraction of the Festival, giving out balloons, and making origami.  In addition to giving out 50 balloons to kids small and large, the students read books and tongue-twisters and made origami by themselves, producing a swan, crane, frog, and a ninja star. 

Lemur from Wildlife Waystation.

The site was located next to an exciting stand managed by the Wildlife Waystation, and presenting live animals - such as llamas, anteaters, lemur, barn owl, snakes, and more.  The kind folks from the Wildlife Waystation allowed the poets to keep their books and toys overnight in their enclosure, and a new collaboration was born. 

Maja Trochimczyk with a book display for Kids Book Corner. 

The Phoenix House students, in addition to volunteering with books, origami and balloons, also had a chance of walking around the spacious grounds of the Watermelon Festival and tasting some of the treats - to which they were "treated" by the poets, on condition that they read at least one book in return. This they did, laughing at the simple childhood stories.

The enjoyable weekend was filled with excitement and fun - which was as important to the students of the Phoenix House Academy as their community service. The Academy is a residential treatment facility providing high school education and therapeutic services to youth suffering from substance abuse and mental health issues. They helped kids and enjoyed their day at the Festival at the same time (For those who need help with their youth affected by substance abuse, the phone number for Call Center is 1 800 378 4435).

VILLAGE POETS AND FRIENDS READ ANIMAL POETRY IN LA CRESCENTA

The group reading of "Paws for Poetry" at the La Crescenta Public Library on Saturday, July 19, 2014, was a great success and showed a true diversity of poems inspired by the animal world - from the favorite dog - family friend, to proud cats, alluring birds of various sorts and sizes, and snakes changing their skin. The following poets contributed their reflections on the animal world to the event: Becky Mate; Peter Larsen; 

Marlene Hitt*; Mira Mataric; Mina Kirby; Joe DeCenzo*; Jessica Wilson Cardenas (with percussionist and flutist Juan Cardenas); Maja Trochimczyk*; Sam Graham; Beverly Collins; Jill Meunier; and Dorothy Skiles*. Stars indicate names of Village Poets Planning Group. 

Dorothy Skiles addresses the audience.

Gene Schultz took a lot of pictures and we will be posting an album in the future. For now, we have a  group shot from Mira Mataric, and some illustrations - photographs by Bill Skiles and Maja Trochimczyk that were framed and displayed by the La Crescenta Library staff. Well done, everyone!

Two photos of animal mosaics from the Sainte Chapelle in Paris by Maja Trochimczyk

MAJA TROCHIMCZYK'S SLICING THE BREAD

If all goes well, the Finishing Line Press will publish Maja Trochimczyk chapbook, "Slicing the Bread" on October 25, 2014.  This third poetry book by Maja Trochimczyk can be ordered now and will be printed and shipped in October. The limited edition’s pre-publication sales will determine the press run, so please reserve your copy now. 

The books cost $14 each plus $2.99 for shipping for the first book in a package and $1.99 for each additional book. You can order your copy of Slicing the Bread on Finishing Line Press website at www.finishinglinepress.com (look for new releases). Read more about this book, highly praised by poets Lois P. Jones, Georgia Jones Davis, John Z. Guzlowski, Sharon Chmielarz, and Linda Nemec Foster,  on Maja's blog! http://poetrylaurels.blogspot.com/2014/07/finishing-line-press-to-publish-slicing.html

Village Poets Celebrate the National Poetry Month at the La Crescenta Library on April 20 at 2 p.m.



Marlene Hitt, Joe DeCenzo, Dorothy Skiles and Maja Trochimczyk at Village
Poets Reading from Meditations on Divine Names (Moonrise Press, 2013)

 In celebration of National Poetry Month, the Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga will be featured at Los Angeles County Public Library in La Crescenta (2809 Foothill Blvd., CA 91214) on Saturday, April 20, 2013 at 2:00pm to 4:00pm.  The reading's program includes poetry by Dorothy Skiles, Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, as well as fellow past poets Marlene Hitt, Joe DeCenzo, Maja Trochimczyk, Mari Werner and Beverly M. Collins. There is no open reading.

 PROGRAM

• "Sensations" by Marlene Hitt, Dorothy Skiles and Joe DeCenzo read by Village Poets 
• Dorothy Skiles 
• Mari Werner 
• Beverly M. Collins 
• Group Reading of "Enrollment" by Joe DeCenzo 
• Joe DeCenzo 
• Marlene Hitt 
• "Remembering" by Marlene Hitt, read by Lloyd and Marlene Hitt
• Maja Trochimczyk 
• Group Reading of "The Veil, The Weave" by Maja Trochimczyk 

VILLAGE POETS

Village Poets of Sunland Tujunga is a group of former Poets Laureate of Sunland Tujunga who organize poetry readings in their community, write poetry, and publish books, making sure that poetry life is rich and vibrant in the foothills. Every two years Village Poets organize a competition for the Poet-Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga and, in order to involve the local community in the selection of its Poet-Laureate, establish a Poetry and Literature Committee of Sunland-Tujunga which selects the next Poet. Dorothy Skiles is the current Poet-Laureate in our community (2012-2014). Another important project of Village Poets is the Monthly Village Poets Reading at Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga, CA. You can read about past and future featured poets on the Village Poets Blog. The upcoming readings are also announced in local "good news" paper - The Voice of the Village.

ABOUT THE POETS

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BEVERLY M. COLLINS was born in the small town of Milford, DE. She is the next to the youngest daughter in a family of five girls and grew up being absorbed by a love of music. Her family relocated to Central New Jersey ( Rahway, Plainfield, and Westfield). Having survived an uncertain early childhood which included losing two brothers in their infancy, the families frequent relocations, and witnessing her mother's turbulent marriage of repeated break-ups and reconciliations. Collins drew many conclusions about life that were later torn up and re-accessed. Using her love of music as medicine, she has arrived at a place of tender determination to brew a new stew of carefully selected life ingredients. She is one of the Prize Winners of the 2012 California State Poetry Society and her work appeared in the California Quarterly and Poetry Letter and Literary Review. Her work, "Child of Summer" is included in the Poetry Speaks! Year of great Poems and Poets 2009 Calendar and her poem "By Chance" appears in the July 2009 issue of Bits & Pieces, The magazine the motivates the world both are included in Quiet Observations, a collection of whimsical and thought-provoking poems that will lead readers to look at themselves and question their motives deep within. http://www.quietobservations.com/

JOE DECENZO grew up in Los Angeles and majored in theater and English Literature. From 2004-06 he served as poet laureate of Sunland-Tujunga. He produced the “Shouting Coyote” performing arts festival and was a Department of Cultural Affairs grant recipient. His published works include The Ballad of Alley and Hawk and the Study Guide and Poetry Primer for the same collection. He currently serves on the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council, the planning committee for the Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga, and as Chair of Poet Laureate Search Committee.

 MARLENE HITT is a Los Angeles poet, writer and retired educator with local history as an avocation. She has served for many years as Archivist, Museum Director, and Historian at the Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga. She is a graduate of Occidental College, a 26-year member of the Chuparosa writers and a member of the California Federation of Chaparral poets, John Steven McGroarty Chapter. Ms. Hitt served as Poet-Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga 1999-2001. Her poetry has appeared in several journals, three chapbooks and in local newspapers. She has written the book Sunland-Tujunga from Village to City and served as columnist for the Foothill Leader, Glendale News Press, North Valley Reporter and the Voice of the Village newspapers since 1998.

DOROTHY SKILES, who has been writing since her teenage years, graduated from Cal State Northridge and pursued a career as a welfare worker, policy and Human Resources manager and analyst for the County of Los Angeles (retired after 34-years of service). Dorothy published her first chapbook, The Sidewalk Gallery in 1979. Other chapbooks followed: Ear to Earth (1996), Spine Flower Blues (1999) - a collaborative by the Chuparosa Writers - and Riddle in the Rain (2003) - with Marlene Hitt. Over the last 15 years, Dorothy has been involved in the local poetry scene and her poems appeared in a variety of community publications. She is the current (7th) Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga (2012-2014), a member of Chuparosa Writers, the Verdugo Hills YMCA Senior Advisory Board, the 2013 Bolton Hall Centennial Committee, and the Lutheran Church in the Foothills.

MAJA TROCHIMCZYK, Ph.D., is a poet, music historian, and photographer born in Poland and living in California (www.trochimczyk.net). She published four books on music, two volumes of poetry (Rose Always and Miriam’s Iris), and two anthologies (Chopin with Cherries and Meditations on Divine Names). Hundreds of her articles and poems appeared in English, Polish, as well as in German, French, Chinese, Spanish and Serbian translations, in The Loch Raven Review, Angie's Diary, Epiphany Magazine, Lily Review, SVGPQ, Cosmopolitan Review, The Scream Online, Phantom Seed, Sentiment, The Original Van Gogh’s Ear Anthology, Lummox Journal, and other venues. The Sixth Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga, and the founder of Moonrise Press, she taught music history at USC and ethics in jail. She received awards and fellowships from ACLS, SSHRCC, USC, McGill University, Polish American Historical Association, and Poland’s Ministry of Culture.

MARI WERNER grew up in Santa Barbara California. She now lives in Altadena and makes her living as an independent technical writer. Her columns and articles have been published in a number of local and national publications including the Los Angeles Daily News and The Latest. Between paid projects, she’s working on a book that uses humor to make the basics and truths of economics accessible to ordinary people. Poetry and humor are Mari’s true writing loves, and she’s been writing poetry off and on since childhood. She’s been a regular at the Village Poets open readings since she started attending in May 2010. Though she loves nature, she finds most of her poetic inspiration in human life. Her plain-spoken poetry is often laced with a touch of humor or sarcasm, but beneath it is a hope for human kind and the creative energy in us all.