West Chester University Poetry Conference 2016
 

This is the first day of my one-year contract as program director of the West Chester Poetry Conference on Form and Narrative. I hope to build on the 20 earlier conferences put together by Mike Peich and Kim Bridgford and offer a 2016 event (June 8-11) that will include old and new workshop leaders, several resident younger poets, and panels that will address exciting topics that haven't been covered before. So far we have faculty members committed--Dick Davis, Caki Wilkinson, Sarah Cortez, William Logan, Pat Myers, and our own John Whitworth; I hope to announce the rest of the faculty soon. Dana Gioia, Timothy Murphy, and Alfred Corn will offer one-day workshops, and there will be two or three critical seminars. I am still working on the keynote speaker.

My first priority is to get the conference website updated and running. Please be patient as we work to restore it. Feel free to email me at rsgwynn1@cs.com or call me at 409-350-9602 (not until this evening, please, as I have medical appointments in Houston today). This is a part-time position, and I will be working primarily from home--circumstances that fit nicely with my plans to retire from full-time teaching after 40 years at Lamar University. Ann Mascherino, also part-time, will be handling the logistics of the conference at West Chester, and her contact information will be posted on the website.

I have been in on the planning of the conference from before the first one, and I have attended 19 of 20 past conferences, serving as faculty member, critical seminar leader, and participant on so many panels (4 of them in 2014) that I can't list them all. One of the many pleasures of past years has been meeting so many eratosphereans in person, and I hope to see many of you there. I hope you'll share my excitement in putting together the best possible conference for next year.

Sam Gwynn

Congrats, Sam. Will there be a call for papers?

Shaun, we aren't an academic conference. There will be panel discussions on craft matters and individual poets, and I'm open to suggestions about possible topics.

Congrats, Sam, and it's great to see this restarted. I'm planning to be there, and looking forward to catching up with old friends, meeting John Whitworth at last, and figuring out how to make a strong (and positive) impression on William Logan. It was also good to see Caki Wilkinson on the faculty list - she was a house guest when she read at Powow a year or so ago, and she's young and talented and the real deal. Looking forward to it.

Sam, this may be outside your jurisdiction as director of the conference, but I would like some answers about why the winners of the Donald Justice Poetry Prize have been utterly abandoned in terms of making their books available. My 2014 winning book is no longer available through Amazon (except used) and for months I could not get my hands on any copies at all, despite repeated attempts. Eventually, once Ann Mascherino was put in charge, I could order some copies for myself. But without the press supplying the book to any of the major vendors, the book is likely to languish. I know that Julie Kane is in the same boat, and Stephen Gibson, the other 2014 winner, has complained of the same treatment. When the conference sponsors a prize such as this, has it no obligations to the authors? Much as I have benefited from the conference in the past, I find it hard to feel the same about it after such experiences.

Susan

They couldn't have chosen a more knowledgeable and simpatico program director! Congratulations, Sam!

I will be on the lookout for more news as it comes out.

Congratulations, Sam! I know you'll do a wonderful job bringing the conference--with its rich history and tradition--back. It looks like you're already have an enticing cast signed up ... including Eratosphereans, such as our very own and notable Tim Murphy and John Whitworth! I look more news and the website.

Cheers,
...Alex

I don't envy you the task of reviving the conference under such mysterious and acrimonious circumstances, but if anyone can do it, it's you, Sam. More power to you.

It's a crying shame that Susan's prize-winning The Whetstone Misses the Knife is unavailable for purchase, except in second-hand copies or via Susan herself. I bought five copies to give as gifts (okay, I'm keeping one), and can attest that the book is definitely worthy of a wider audience. Perhaps she'll post details on how to order it over at The Accomplished Members.

Ditto for the other winners. Good books should be promoted and obtainable, not left in limbo like this.

Julie, I've talked (emailed) with both Susan and Julie Kane. I'm going up to WCUPA in two weeks and will investigate the Justice books situation while there. Solving this problem is one of my priorities but not the highest one right now, as you can well imagine. Getting the website up and finalizing faculty are the two most pressing matters.

Very glad to hear it! Thanks, Sam.

Michael, I shall be delighted to meet you.

Melissa Balmain and Frank Osen have joined the faculty. They will team-teach (with Pat Myers) a workshop on parody and light verse.

Sounds like lots of fun!

Sam is the very person I would have picked for the job.

However, I still have what are called "issues" about the conference, and will have until there is some explanation of its treatment of Kim. (If there is no explanation, I will accept gossip & rumors).

Because several folks have already asked, here's the policy on scholarships to West Chester:

Scholarships--funded by donors, endowments, the NEH, and the conference itself--will be available for 2016. Instructions for applying will appear on the conference website, and scholarships will be awarded, as in the past, on the basis of talent and need.

Chairs and members of panels will receive no compensation for fees or travel reimbursement, but chairs and panel members are eligible to apply for scholarships, which may be either full or partial.

Several guests of the conference will be designated "Resident Poets" and will be available for individual consultation with attendees.

Sam

Now that I know that Melissa, Frank, Pat Myers and my old friend John Whitworth will be there, my mind's made up --- I'll be going too! :D

Jayne

Spectacular news, Sam! It's a daunting task, but I'm sure you are the right one for the job, and confident it will be a rousing success, especially hearing who's on the faculty so far. Very excitedly looking over the possibilities.

Congratulations, Sam. I know you'll be an excellent director.

Meanwhile, I have confidence that all details of past, present, and future conference(s) can be worked out. The world has been very scary lately, and I hope we can all put the question of which poetry conference(s) to attend in its proper perspective. Anyone who attends even one such conference in his or her lifetime is very lucky, in my opinion.

Claudia

Sorry if that was pedantic. I'm irritated by various controversies that took place on Saturday, along with even more awfulness in the world.

Jayne, I am so glad you will be there. Beefs up the Brits, what!

Can I come to the workshop on light verse and parody? As a participant, I mean.

Claudia, in my opinion the world is about as awful as it has always been. Original sin, don't you know? The Romans were very awful, or at least a lot of them were. And the Athenians. Was it at Syracuse? And as for the Christians post- Constantine. Brrr!

Sorry, John, but you'll be busy with your own workshop on rhyme!

Workshop on rhyme eh? That will be fun to compile.

I just wanted to let everyone know that I have heard from Sam that he is looking into ways to make my book and the other Justice Prize winners available through vendors. Meanwhile, if you live in the US and would like to order a copy of The Whetstone Misses the Knife, you can send a check for $17.00 to me at English Dept., Southwest Minnesota State University, 1501 State St., Marshall, MN 56258, and I will send it to you. I am afraid that I don't know how to handle international orders or credit cards.

Susan McLean

Susan, you could set up a Paypal account and receive money that way, either for no fee or a small fee of less than 3%. It's a handy thing to have for many purposes, and not hard to do. I believe they automatically convert currency on international transfers.

Thanks for the tip, Roger. I am not very Internet-savvy, but it sounds doable.

Susan

Emily Moore has agreed to join the faculty. Her first collection is coming out soon, and she is already a legendary teacher at Stuyvesant High School in TriBeCa (NY). Her workshop will be titled "Teaching Poetry to the Young." Some of you may remember Ms. Moore from "Auld Lang Syne," which first appeared in The New Yorker.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...ld-lang-syne-3

Jayne Osborn has agreed to chair a panel titled "Whitworth @ 70." Send a PM to Jayne if you have ideas.

I shall be there scholarshipwilling.

Congratulations
 

Sam,

We haven't met, though I've read some of your work and know of you by reputation. I couldn't be more pleased to hear this news. Though I haven't been on Eratosphere for nearly 3 years, I just had to come back to congratulate you and thank you for taking on such an enormous and sensitive task. I'll look forward to the info you post on the Conference web site, and to meeting you at West Chester in 2016.

Ted Charnley

Thanks, Ted.

To all: Can we keep this thread, for the time being, free for posting news about the conference? As soon as the website is up, I'm move the posting over there. You can contact me at rsgwynn1@cs.com or by phone, and I am setting up a West Chester University Poetry Conference Program Director page on FB.

Sam

https://www.facebook.com/poetryconfe...rogramdirector

This is the new FB page, still under construction.

Does anyone have photos from past conferences that could be used there? If so, email them to me at rsgwynn1@cs.com.

George Green and Quincy Lehr have agreed to serve as two of our four Resident Poets. They will offer individual meetings with attendees of the conference and will serve on a yet-to-be-titled panel, where they will give readings of their work along with the two other RPs. I hope to have the other two in place in a few days.

Rebecca Foust has agreed to be our third Resident Poet.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dean-r...b_8090182.html

Charles Martin has signed on as our first Poet Laureate. His duties are to write a poem of "grace" to be read at the banquet and to be available during the conference to talk with attendees. Among other distinctions, Charles is one of the best contemporary translators of poetry.

Rhina P. Espaillat has agreed to serve as the conference's first Poet Emerita. Her duties include attending the conference and

Sam, your post about Rhina was cut off near the end....

No, not really.

Mark Jarman (narrative poetry) and Shirley Geok-lin Lim (master class) have joined the workshop faculty.

This is my last post here. I am moving all the information over to

https://www.facebook.com/poetryconfe...rector?fref=ts

I believe that everyone of principle might like to reacquaint themselves with the unresolved situation between Kim Bridgford and West Chester before committing either to give money to or accept it from that institution, notwithstanding Sam's own fine reputation.

Charles Martin? Rhina Espaillat? Wonderful! How do I apply to attend?