Village Poets presents Katerina Canyon poet and Karen Winters, artist, November 13, 2022 at 4:30pm

Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga are pleased to return to the Bolton Hall Museum for a first in-person reading in three years, featuring Katerina Canyon, our Poet Laureate No. 2 (2001-2004) and presenting California landscape artist Karen Winters of La Canada Flintridge.  The reading will take place on Sunday, November 13, 2022, at 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm.  The Bolton Hall Museum is located at 10110 Commerce Ave, Tujunga, Los Angeles, CA 91042-2313.

Two segments of open mic will be available and refreshments will be served. Suggested donation $5 per person for the cost of refreshments and to donate to the Little Landers Society that manages the Bolton Hall Museum,  a Los Angeles Historical Landmark built in 1913.

KATERINA CANYON

Katerina Canyon is a 2020 and 2019 Pushcart Prize Nominee. Her stories have been published in the New York Times and Huffington Post. From 2000 to 2003, she served as the Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga. During that time, she started a poetry festival and ran several poetry readings. She was featured in the Los Angeles Times and was awarded the Montesi Award from Saint Louis University in 2011, 2012, and 2013. She has published multiple chapbooks and an album.

While living in Sunland-Tujunga, she was active in the local community, coaching girls basketball, teaching writing classes through the McGroarty Arts Center, and organizing both the Sunland-Tujunga Poetry Festival and local poetry slams. She also hosted the Eccentric Moon Poetry Reading Series at Tujunga Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library.

She has been a featured poet in multiple venues across the country, including Beyond Baroque, Nuyorican, The Bowery Poetry Club and Chance Operations. She teaches poetry workshops to children and at universities. Her latest book, Surviving Home, was a Heartland Review finalist. She currently lives in Seattle, Washington, where she can often be found writing poetry near Pier 55. 

More information on her website: https://www.poetickat.com/

Village Poets presented Canyon on zoom in November 2021: 

https://villagepoets.blogspot.com/2021/10/village-poets-present-katerina-canyon.html 

Link to Video from the  reading  https://youtu.be/E0oN1CvHNGY

Staring Across the Atlantic

My people were born underwater

In the hulls of slave ships.

My people were pulled from farms in Nigeria

From trade ships along the Nile river

From the rainforests of Cameroon.

My people were tossed in cages

With people who didn’t speak their language,

But we learned to speak a new tongue

From the end of the whip’s lash.

We learned the mood of the ocean.

We learned to read the stars through knot holes,

And to sing songs in tune with the waves.

That’s when we became American.

We were slaves to the British, the Dutch, the Portuguese,

We were even slaves to the Cherokee.

We not only marched the Trail of Tears

We carried their bags, their homes,

Their children on our backs.

We have fought in every single war

Since the American Revolution.

We are not America, but we are American.

As the years passed, we forgot the Baka, the Nok, the Hyksos 

But in our songs, our jazz, our blues,

We can hear their ghosts.

That’s why we are Africa but not African.

We are cultural orphans

Grasping for the hem of our mother’s dress. 

Sudden Sparkle, 11 x 14 oil painting, Ca. Northern coast

After poetry it will be the time for art: Karen Winters will show six of her landscape paintings and discuss her artistic interests and technique. 

KAREN WINTERS

 Karen Winters is a native Californian, for whom "art and the love of nature have been lifelong passions."  She received my BA from UCLA, with a minor in Art History. A subsequent masters in journalism (also from UCLA) led to an award-winning career in advertising, followed by new ventures in broadcast news and documentary film making. Through all the years and all the travels, a sketchbook has been her steady companion, recording Egyptian archaeological digs, the movements of killer whales, or the dances of Tibetan monks. Now a full-time artist, she actively travels and paints on location throughout California and the western United States. 

She writes: "My work is inspired by the natural world, whether the medium I choose is watercolor, oil, acrylic or pastel. I am most interested in capturing the quality of light as it defines a landscape, a still life or floral portrait. I make a practice of painting daily, either in studio or, my preference, in the beautiful California landscape. I would characterize my style as borrowing from the best of impressionism and realism. Among my historical influences have been tonalist George Inness, Edgar Payne, J Bond Francisco, and many of the other early California impressionists."

Through group and solo shows, her work has been exhibited at the Autry National Museum, the Pasadena Museum of California Art, the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, the Riverside Museum of Art, the San Luis Obispo Art Museum, the Santa Paula Art Museum, the Riverside Museum of Art, The Pasadena Museum of History, the Long Beach Museum of Art, the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History, the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in LA,  and is in the collection of the Huntington Library. Her paintings have been in National Watercolor Society shows, and won awards at Bowers Museum invitational events.

Affiliations: Artist member, California Art Club; American Impressionist Society; Pasadena Society of Artists.

The Oak on the Hill, 11 x 14 oil painting, Central California

Selected Recent Juried Exhibitions and Awards

2021

Art Tehachapi Plein Air Invitational

Mars: An Artistic Mission - "NASA and JPL, Bringing worlds together" - California Art Club

Welcome to California -"Palms of Dawn" - California Art Club

"Aqua Activated" show, Pasadena Society of Artists

2020

U.S. Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan, "Upper Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park" On loan to the embassy until 2022 as part of the "Art in Embassies" program of the U.S. Dept. of State.

Pasadena Museum of History - Art Night exhibition and demonstration

"The Golden State" - Old Mill, California Art Club

"Wildflower Springtime - Central California" 14 x 18 inches oil painting

2019

Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History "Magnificent Migrations" "Red Fox"

Gold Medal Show, California Art Club "California Roll Sushi" - Pasadena Museum of California Art

Spring Show - "Quiet Spring Reflections" Old Mill, California Art Club

Summer Show - "Calafia Cliffs, San Clemente" Old Mill, California Art Club

Autumn Impressions: Painting the American Landscape, Muckenthaler Cultural Center, Fullerton, CA "Cottonwood Breezes"

Los Osos Autumn, 18 x 30 inches, oil painting

Ca. Central Coast, Los Osos Valley Road

2018

Yosemite Renaissance 34 - Yosemite Museum and Gallery, Yosemite National Park "Yosemite Awakening"

Art Matters - Huntington Museum and Botanical Gardens "Delphinium Dance"

Signs of Spring - A Day in the Garden - Old Mill, California Art Club "Blue Heron Lake"

Canyons to Coves - Old Mill, California Art Club - "Sculpted by Time"

SLOPOKE Fine Art of the West, Juried Exhibition and Sale (October 2018), Solvang, CA

2017

Descanso Gardens - Sturt Haaga Gallery juried "Bloom" show "Clivias" and "Descanso Sunflowers"

"Idyllic Impressions" - Old Mill, California Art Club

"Journey down the California Coast" - Old Mill, California Art Club

Central Coast Fields, 12 x 12 inches, oil painting

Central California

 

2021 Pushcart Prize Nominations from the "We Are Here: Village Poets Anthology"

                                      

We are pleased to inform you that the editors of "We Are Here: Village Poets Anthology" - Maja Trochimczyk and Marlene Hitt - nominated to the Pushcart Prize 2021 the following poems included in the anthology:  

• Sharon Alexander, “Wheatfield with Crows” -p.8
• Katerina Canyon, “Feet” -p. 171
• Joe DeCenzo, “Conversing with Shadows” p. 181
• Georgia Jones Davis, “Monumental Dog” – p. 63
• Rick Lupert, “Heat” – p. 87
• Mariano Zaro, “Synapse” – p. 157

Given the choice of 80 poets included in the anthology and the incredibly high artistic level of all their creations, the editor decided to follow their hearts and select poems that "resonated" with them in a personal way, and represented the diversity of poems and poets in the volume.  Congratulations to all! 

Marlene Hitt writes about her choices: "No one knows whether a poem is 'good.' The response of the reader is the important judgement. I chose Wheatfield With Crows because, at first, I was reminded, with emotion, of my own father's death. Upon reading I found enjoyment the dreamlike inward journey of the author. Sharon Alexander's language is more than pleasing and her images inspiring. Rick Lupert in Heat brings the reader into his world on a hot, hot day as he exaggerates a bit, then teases and pleases us as with a tall tale. Joe DeCenzo, with Conversing With the Shadows points toward the mystery of one woman' state of frailty in a memoir of her life as it has encapsulized in her failing memory as that memory then failed. It renders a kind and loving tribute to all life as it begins to end.  Poetry is for the poet, yes, but more for the reader and the connection of thought and emotion between the two. A poem speaks to each person with the beauty and passion which only words can do."

Maja Trochimczyk explains her selections: "I was really perplexed about the nominations from our anthology. I know it is a service to poets, and should be done, but in We Are Here there are so many amazing poems by incredibly talented poets that I was at a loss, wondering, what to do? In poetry, I am not interested in competitions and awards, but rather in expressing the infinity of human experience. When Marlene sent me her three titles, I realized I could simply pick poems that I love and that resonate with me at this particular time. I've always loved Georgia Jones Davis's Monumental Dog - the compassion for the hapless animal, sent by her trusted caretaker into the orbit, to certain death; the vivid portrait of a communist country, where life is not valued at all. I'm from Poland and I remember stories about this dog on our national news; though, back then, nobody eulogized her sacrifice. There was just praise for the technological triumph of Soviets over Americans in the space race... Katerina Canyon's Feet is another perennial favorite, perhaps because my Mom had not washed my feet like that, and neither did I wash hers. I guess it was through the longing of an abandoned child that found such intense beauty in filial love and devotion, captured so vividly by Canyon. Finally, Mariano Zaro's Synapse about the poignant last days of his father, expertly weaves personal emotion with scientific descriptions of the mystery of the brain at the end of life." 

Village Poets at the Passing of the Laurels Ceremony in 2017.

ABOUT THE ANTHOLOGY

Edited by Marlene Hitt and Maja Trochimczyk, and entitled We Are Here: Village Poetry Anthology, this collection celebrates the 10th anniversary of Village Poets Monthly Poetry Readings. The volume presents 80 poets featured during the monthly readings at Bolton Hall Museum in Tujunga, CA as well as the group of current and former Poets Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga who organize the readings. 

 

 In addition to its home base at the Bolton Hall Museum, the Village Poets have also had occasional visits to the McGroarty Arts Center, the former home of the California Poet-Laureate in 1933-1944, John Steven McGroarty. His Poet-Laureate title inspired the local Poet-Laureate program, established in 1999. The anthology's editors are both former Poets-Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga: Marlene Hitt was the First, in 1999-2001 and Dr. Maja Trochimczyk served as the Sixth in 2010-2012 when the readings were initiated.  

The volume includes work by: 15 Poets Laureate from California; 20 Pushcart Prize nominees – Accardi, Askew, Byrne, Canyon, Collins, Dobreer, Dove, Ford, Fancher, Luza,  Leland-St. John, O’Brien, Jones, Pero, Reyna, Rinne, Rogers, Rummel, Skiles, and Terzi; 12 current and former college professors – Campbell, Kirby, Dove, Lipkin, Lummis,  Peterson, Rummel, Rizk, Talwar, Trochimczyk, Saine, and Zaro; and eight poets with doctoral degrees – Dove, Lipkin, Mataric, Meyer (honorary), Peterson, Reyna, Saine, and Trochimczyk. Poets from the states of California, Illinois, New York, New Mexico, Texas, and Washington are represented along with those who have roots in 18 different countries: Argentina, Armenia, Chile, China, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, the U.K., the U.S. and Vietnam.    

The colorful cover, designed by Maja Trochimczyk, features artwork by Polish American poet and painter, Andrew Kolo, who appeared at the readings to present both his art and his poetry. The painting, entitled “Landscape with the Palm Tree” (oil on canvas), is a mosaic of vivid, saturated colors, contrasting, yet somehow in harmony with each other. This is a great metaphor for a poetry reading filled with numerous, distinct poetic voices.  

The book consists of two parts: Guests and Featured Poets, represented by 1-3 poems each; and PoetsLaureate, with 10 local poets, represented by 6-8 poems each. A list of Village Poets Readings, a brief history of the program, and biographies of the poets are included as well. The 290-page anthology is published in two versions, as a paperback and an e-book in ePub format.  More information and list of poems: moonrisepress.com/village-poets-anthology.html 

 

ABOUT PUSHCART PRIZE XLV

Edited by Bill Henderson, with the Pushcart Prize Editors, "the 45th edition of the most celebrated literary series in America, Pushcart Prize XLV is continuing evidence that much of today’s vibrant writing appears only in small journals and book presses. The series has been selected for Publishers Weekly Carey Thomas Award, the National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof citation, and the Poets and Writers/Barnes and Noble “Writers For Writers” award among others.  The current issue includes 70 authors from more than 50 presses, selected from the nominations of 220 distinguished Contributing Editors and 800 participating presses."

SHARON ALEXANDER - Nominated for "Wheatfield with Crows"

SHARON ALEXANDER recently relocated to Benissa Costa, Spain overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Her chapbook, Instructions in My Absence, won first place in the Palettes & Quills 5th Biennial Chapbook Contest and was released May 2017. Voodoo Trombone, Sharon’s previous chapbook, was published by Finishing Line Press, 2014. Her poetry appears in several publications including Barbaric Yawp; Caliban On-line; Idyllwild Life Magazine; Naugatuck River Review; Pearl; Pinyon; Redheaded Stepchild; Santa Ana River Review; Slipstream; Subprimal Poetry Art; and Tiger’s Eye. You can also find her work in the following anthologies: Beyond the Lyric Moment (Tebot Bach, 2014); In the News (The Poetry Box, Summer 2018); Poeming Pigeons (The Poetry Box, 2015); and Spectrum: 140 SoCal Poets ( 2015). 

KATERINA CANYON -  Nominated for "Feet"

KATERINA CANYON is a 2020 Pushcart Prize Nominee. Her stories have been published in New York Times and Huffington Post. From 2000 to 2003, she served as the Poet Laureate of Sunland-Tujunga. During that time, she started a poetry festival called “Shouting Coyote Poetry Festival” and ran several poetry readings. She was featured in the Los Angeles Times and was awarded the Montesi Award from Saint Louis University in 2011, 2012, and 2013. She has published multiple chapbooks and an album. Her recent books include Changing the Lines, a volume of poetry, and Los Angeles Nomad, a novel.  She hosts weekly readings on Zoom, called Canyon Poets. You can find more information about her on her website, poetickat.com. 

JOE DECENZO -  Nominated for "Conversing with Shadows"

JOE DECENZO grew up in Los Angeles and majored in theater and English Literature.  From 2004-06 he served as the 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. His poetry appeared also in Meditations on Divine Names anthology (Moonrise Press, 2012). He currently serves on the planning committee for the Village Poets of Sunland-Tujunga, as Chair of the Poet Laureate Search Committee, and as Chair of the Arts and Recreation Committee of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council.

GEORGIA JONES DAVIS - Nominated for "Monumental Dog"

GEORGIA JONES-DAVIS grew up in Northern New Mexico and Southern California. A former Los Angeles Herald Examiner editor, Los Angeles Times Assistant Book Editor and former free-lance journalist, Georgia’s poetry has appeared in various publications including West Wind, The California Quarterly, Brevities, The Bicycle Review, Nebo, Eclipse, poethicdiversity, Ascend Aspiration and South Bank Poetry, London. She served as a board member of Valley Contemporary Poets for three years.  Georgia was honored as one of the 2010 Newer Poets by the Los Angeles Poetry Festival and the Los Angeles Public Library ALOUD series. She is the author of two chapbooks, Blue Poodle (2011)  and Night School (2015), by Finishing Line Press. 

RICK LUPERT - Nominated for "Heat"

RICK LUPERT has been involved in the Los Angeles poetry community since 1990. He served for two years as a co-director of the Valley Contemporary Poets. He created the Poetry Super Highway ( http://poetrysuperhighway.com ) and hosted the Cobalt Cafe reading for almost 21 years. He’s authored 25 collections of poetry, including “God Wrestler” and “ The Tokyo-Van Nuys Express!”, and edited  “A Poet’s Siddur”, “A Poet’ s Haggadah”, the Noir anthology “ The Night Goes on All Night.” and “Ekphrastia Gone Wild” under his imprint Ain’t Got No Press. His poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and literary journals, including The Los Angeles Times, Rattle, Chiron Review, Zuzu’s Petals, Caffeine Magazine, Blue Satellite and others. He edited A Poet’s Haggadah: Passover through the Eyes of Poets anthology and is the author of thirteen books: Sinzibuckwud!, We Put Things In Our Mouths, Paris: It’s The Cheese, I Am My Own Orange County, Mowing Fargo, I’m a Jew. Are You?, Feeding Holy Cats, Stolen Mummies, I’d Like to Bake Your Goods, A Man With No Teeth Serves Us Breakfast (Ain’t Got No Press), Lizard King of the Laundromat, Brendan Constantine is My Kind of Town (Inevitable Press) and Up Liberty’s Skirt (Cassowary Press). . He is regularly featured at venues throughout Southern California and works as a music teacher and graphic designer for anyone who would like to help pay his mortgage.

MARIANO ZARO - Nominated for "Synapse"

MARIANO ZARO is the author of six books of poetry, most recently Decoding Sparrows (What Books Press, Los Angeles, CA) and Padre Tierra (Olifante, Zaragoza, Spain). His poems have been published in anthologies and literary journals in USA, Mexico and Spain. His translations into Spanish include Poemas de las Misiones de California by Philomene Long, Buda en llamas by Tony Barnstone and Cómo escribir una canción de amor by Sholeh Wolpé. He is the winner of the 2004 Roanoke Review Short Fiction Prize and the 2018 Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing Short Fiction Prize. Since 2010, he has been hosting a series of video-interviews with prominent American poets as part of the literary project Poetry.LA. (More information here: www.Poetry.LA). He is a professor of Spanish at Rio Hondo Community College (Whittier, California).  Website: www.marianozaro.com.