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NH Book Festival

October 9-23, 2011
Concord and Statewide
 

The NH Book Festival runs October 9-23, 2011 and includes several exciting literary offerings, including "Poetry AND Politics," and other events hosted by the Writers’ Project and its community partners.

Poetry AND Politics

NHWP is honored to bring 15+ state poets laureate to New Hampshire to read, speak, and share their insights. The state poets laureate will arrive in New Hampshire on Thursday, Oct. 13, and read throughout the state on Friday, Oct. 14.

The free readings will follow the format of the 2003 Poetry AND Politics event conceived by then NH poet laureate Marie Harris, and sponsored by the NHWP. At some locations, a local high school student who participated in this year’s Poetry Out Loud program will recite a classic poem and be followed by local poets presenting their work. The visiting state poet laureate will conclude the reading.

On Friday, Oct. 14, the poets will travel throughout the state to host free readings with New Hampshire poets. Full schedule HERE.

Attending state poets laureate, past and present (for more information and bios):

• Dick Allen, Connecticut
• JoAnn Ballingit, Delaware
• Walter E. Butts, New Hampshire
• Bruce Dethlefsen, Wisconsin
• Patricia Fargnoli, New Hampshire
• Marie Harris, New Hampshire
• Julie Kane, Louisiana
• Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, Virginia
• Wesley McNair,  Maine
• Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Kansas
• Karla Morton, Texas [Due to a death in the family, Karla Morton will no longer be attending the conference. Our heartfelt condolences.] 
• David M. Parsons, Texas
• Betsy Sholl, Maine
• Lisa Starr, Rhode Island
• Marjory Wentworth, South Carolina

NHWP will be working with several partners in Concord on book events, including an appearance by best-selling author Dava Sobel, a “poetry on windows” project, and a panel discussion on women and politics.

Saturday’s conference at the New Hampshire Technical Institute in Concord allows attendees to chat with the visiting poets,  hear their poems and be a part of four discussions during the day: Poetry and Community, Poetry and Education, Poetry and Social Justice, and Poetry and Politics.

Due to the receipt of a last minute grant, we are delighted to announce this event is now FREE and OPEN to the public!

State Poet Laureate Walter Butts describes the panel discussions with the poets, as:

9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. – Poetry & Community – with David M. Parsons, JoAnn Balingit, Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Karla Morton, Lisa Starr, Betsy Sholl: What is the role of poetry in the community? What are possible activities that might be undertaken on national, regional, and local levels?  We’ll discuss existing community building programs and examine how they work. Panelists will provide information on programs within their respective states they’ve found particularly effective, followed by questions/answers.

11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. – Poetry & Education – with Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, Julie Kane, JoAnn Balingit, David M. Parsons, Karla Morton: How might poetry be introduced into public school curriculum? We’ll discuss various poets in the schools programs, funding issues, and strategies for effectively integrating poetry within a larger educational context. This panel will include readings of student work from anthologies and other texts, and be followed by a Q&A.

12:15 p.m. – Lunch: Sign up to read your own work during lunch. CLICK HERE for more information and to register. First come, first served, time permitting.

1:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. – Poetry & Social Justice – with Marjory Wentworth, Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, Walter Butts, Lisa Starr, Bruce Dethlefsen: How might poetry provide a discourse for social justice activism and address racism, environmental dangers, poverty and other troubling issues confronting our society?  We’ll read relevant poems, discuss existing programs in prisons, migrant camps, and urban centers, and examine matters of social responsibility, activism, and poetry. Followed by a Q&A.

2:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Poetry & Politcs – with Dick Allen, Marie Harris, Marjory Wentworth, Caryn-Mirrriam-Goldberg, Bruce Dethlefsen: This panel will continue the discussion begun at the 2003 first gathering of State Poets Laureate by then New Hampshire Poet Laureate Marie Harris. Once again we’ll explore poetry’s capacity to bring about social, political, and cultural change during these particularly challenging times. We’ll look at programs and activities that have emerged during the past decade, and consider poetry’s future role. Followed by a Q&A.

The poets will be available during the day to chat with participants and sign their books, which will be offered for sale. This daylong event is FREE and OPEN to the public.

Other Book Festival Events

This first New Hampshire Book Festival begins on Sunday, Oct. 9, with “Writers in the Spotlight,” the Gibson’s Bookstore/Capitol Center for the Arts partner series. Dava Sobel, author of Longitude and Galileo’s Daughter, has been named the winner of “best science book for fall 2011” by Publishers Weekly, for A More Perfect Heaven: How Nicolaus Copernicus Revolutionized the Cosmos.

Throughout the festival, downtown Concord businesses will be displaying a poem on their windows by one of the visiting state poets laureate. The windows project is coordinated by Sarah Chaffee of the McGowan Gallery in Concord.

Also, on Thursday, Oct. 13, Concord Reads will host join Warren St. John, author of Outcast United: An American Town, A Refugee Team and One Woman’s Quest to Make a Difference for a book discussion. On Sunday, Oct. 23, Concord Reads will sponsor an afternoon of soccer at Bishop Brady High School, followed by a potluck with an international flair.

On October 13, the Capitol Center offers two events with Taylor Mali, one of the best-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement. In the morning, students can attend a workshop at Bow High School. In the evening, Mali' will perform at the Spotlight Café at the Capitol Center. Mali is one of the original SlamNation poets and has appeared on the HBO series “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry. “

A Journalism AND Politics conference will be held at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester. The daylong event will feature discussions on state and national coverage of the New Hampshire primary and the annual meeting and awards dinner of the New Hampshire Press Association.

On Friday, a discussion of Women AND Politics will be held at 10:15 a.m. at the Concord Public Library. New Hampshire women long active in New Hampshire politics -- state Sen. Sylvia Larsen, former Speaker of the N.H. House Donna Sytek , including Nashua Mayor Donnalee Lozeau -- will discuss why women choose to run for elected office, campaigning, fund raising and the pitfalls of women for 2012. Discussion will be centered around two books by panel leader Michaeline Della Fera, Women at the Table and Thirteen Women. This event will be followed by poetry readings until noon.

On Friday, October 14 at 6PM, celebrate the launch of the local anthology Live Free and Die, Die, Die, edited by NH Magazine editor Rick Broussard, followed at 8PM by NHWP's signature "Literary Flash" event, an original fiction competition by regional authors. To sign up as a Literary Flash contestant on a first come, first serve basis, please CLICK HERE.

The book festival will conclude on Sunday, Oct. 23 with the presentation of the Donald Hall-Jane Kenyon Prize in American Poetry at St. Paul’s Church in Concord. Former U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan will receive the second annual award, which carries a $5,000 prize, and will read her poems. Last year, the prize honored former U.S. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser. To register and buy your tickets CLICK HERE. Tickets are $10 general admittance and $5 for students.

Ryan, a 65-year-old Californian, is known for her sharp powers of observation and the short, crisp poems that result. Her latest book, The Best of It: New and Selected Poems, was named the winner of this year’s Pulitzer Prize in poetry. Ryan stepped down last year after two terms as poet laureate of the United States, a position in which she succeeded New Hampshire poet Charles Simic.

Wesley McNair, Maine’s  poet laureate, selected Ryan for the Hall-Kenyon Prize. He called her “an American original,” adding: “Her poems are riddles that make us curious about events or experiences we assumed we knew. They start small, with simple, recognizable images, leading us by surprise to the mystery of our existence.”

The Hall-Kenyon prize honors the married poets who wrote together for nearly 20 years at Hall’s family farm in Wilmot. Kenyon died in 1995. Hall lives and writes in the farmhouse and is expected to attend this year’s award presentation.

The prize is cosponsored by the New Hampshire Writers’ Project and the Concord Monitor through a fund originally established in Kenyon’s memory. Donations may be made to the Donald Hall-Jane Kenyon prize fund, c/o New Hampshire Writers’ Project, 2500 North River Road, Manchester, NH 03196.

Sponsors of the New Hampshire Book Festival include Lincoln Financial Foundation, New England College, the Byrne Foundation, Southern New Hampshire University and the New Hampshire State Arts Council.


Those interested in being a part of the event, as a reader or volunteer, may contact NHWP Executive Director George Geers at ggeers@nhwritersproject.org or (603) 314-7980.

The theme of next year’s New Hampshire Book Festival will be “Murder in New Hampshire.” It will be based in Concord in October, 2012.