Elma Stuckey Liberal Arts and Sciences Emerging Poet-in-Residence

Elma StuckeyColumbia College Chicago is an urban institution of over 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students emphasizing arts, media, and communications in a liberal arts setting. The Department of English is seeking applications for an annual, one-year, non-renewable position to start in August 2010. Poets from underrepresented communities and/or those who bring diverse cultural, ethnic, theoretical, and national perspectives to their writing and teaching are particularly encouraged to apply.

Position is named for Elma Stuckey, a poet born in Memphis who lived in Chicago for more than 40 years. Author of The Big Gate (1976) and The Collected Poems of Elma Stuckey (1987), she has been described as "the A.E. Housman of slavery"-a poet who recast for contemporary readers "those things that were kept from the ears of the unknowing slavemasters."

The Creative Writing, Poetry Program has a commitment to excellence in teaching and is founded upon strong ties between the study of literature and the practice of creative expression. An active reading series brings well-known poets to campus monthly; faculty and students also produce two national literary magazines: Court Green and Columbia Poetry Review.

Successful candidate will teach one course per semester (undergraduate workshop, craft, and/or literature seminars), give a public reading, and possibly supervise a small number of graduate theses. Qualified candidates will have received an MFA in poetry or PhD in English (with creative dissertation) or other relevant terminal degree in past five years, demonstrate experience and excellence in college-level teaching, and have strong record of publication in national literary magazines.

Columbia College Chicago encourages female, Deaf, LGBTQ, disabled, international, and minority individuals to apply for all positions. Position is contingent on funding. Salary: $30,000, benefits not included. Application deadline: 02/05/10. To be considered, please send cover letter, CV, 5-page sample of published poetry, sample syllabus for undergraduate or graduate-level poetry workshop or literature course, three letters of recommendation (at least one should address teaching), and statement of teaching philosophy as Word or PDF files to Dr. Lisa Fishman at: EnglishPoet@colum.edu.

E-mail to Post feature now live!

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Fellowship: Stadler Center for Poetry


Bucknell University
. Stadler Center for Poetry. The 2010-11 Emerging Writer Fellowship offers professional training in arts administration & literary editing in a thriving, university-based poetry center, while also providing the Fellow time to pursue his or her own writing. The Emerging Writer Fellow assists for 20 hours each week in the administration of the Stadler Center for Poetry &/or in the editing of West Branch, a nationally distinguished literary journal. The Fellow also serves as an instructor in the Bucknell Seminar for Younger Poets in June. The Fellowship stipend is $20,000. Unlike the related Stadler Fellowship, the Emerging Writer Fellowship currently does not include housing or health insurance. All campus academic, cultural, & recreational facilities are available to the Emerging Writer Fellow. To be eligible, an applicant must be at least 21 years of age, must have received an advanced degree in creative writing with an emphasis in poetry (i.e. MFA, MA, PhD) no earlier than spring 2005, & must not be enrolled as a student during the period of the Fellowship. (Persons enrolled in a college or university at the time of application are eligible.) The Emerging Writer Fellowship is potentially renewable for a second year pending funding. Submit the following items by postal mail: letter of application, curriculum vita, three letters of recommendation, a poetry sample of no more than 10 pp., to: Emerging Writer Fellowship, Stadler Center for Poetry, Bucknell Hall, Bucknell University, Lewisburg, PA 17837. No materials will be returned; please do not send originals. Postmark deadline: Wednesday, February 10. Notification: late spring 2010. For more information on the Stadler Center for Poetry, see our website: www.bucknell.edu/stadlercenter (AWP)

Lantern Review interviews Joseph Legaspi

A Conversation with Joseph Legaspi

From the Lantern Review posted November 19, 2009 by Ada.

Joseph O. Legaspi is the author of Imago (CavanKerry Press), winner of a Global Filipino Literary Award. He lives in New York City and works at Columbia University. A graduate of New York University’s Creative Writing Program, his poems appeared and/or are forthcoming in American Life in Poetry, World Literature Today, PEN International, North American Review, Callaloo, Bloomsbury Review, Poets & Writers, Gulf Coast, Gay & Lesbian Review, and the anthologies Language for a New Century (W.W. Norton) and Tilting the Continent (New Rivers Press). A recipient of a poetry fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts, he co-founded Kundiman (www.kundiman.org), a non-profit organization serving Asian American poets.  Visit him at www.josepholegaspi.com.

* * *

LR: So where did the idea for Kundiman come from, and what unique purpose does it have in the Asian American writing community?

JL: It really started off as kind of the infamous BBQ story. [Co-founder] Sara Gambito had invited me to an aunt’s place—the term of endearment, no blood relation—and we were sitting on hammocks, eating charred meat, amazed how this group of people was so comfortable together, like family. It just hit us. We had both struggled upon graduating from MFAs: we had tried finding communities but were both at a loss. I told her about Cave Canem, which is a home for African American writers. We thought, why not do this for ourselves, for Asian American poets?

Unlike umbrella organizations for a lot of different writing, Kundiman is more focused towards poetry. Because the Asian American umbrella is very complicated, we try to vary the retreat ethnically, by age, and stylistically: we’ve had Myung Mi Kim, who is a very experimental poet; Rick Barot, who is a formalist and narrative poet; and Staceyann Chin, who is a spoken word poet. We don’t want to shun anyone. Remember that Sarah and my initial experience was that we felt excluded. So that’s what we try to do–create a space.

LR: Kundiman’s main event is its workshop, to which fellows apply, and where they meet other Asian American writers. What effect have you seen on the writers who go through it?

JL: From the six years we’ve done the workshop, we’ve seen our emerging poets not only develop as writers, but become successful at pursuing academic careers. A high percentage of them have been getting into MFA programs. Others are pursuing Ph.D.s.

But we are seeing other kinds of development. We will sometimes have 20-year-old undergraduates, and I think having a community like this, they know that there are people like them, this is not some unicorn, not something mystical: this is something they can do and they can love poetry and it’s okay.

LR: Can joining a community tangibly change someone’s writing style?

JL: I have one person in mind, whose work was very unstructured. When we review applications, we look not only at craft, but process and potential. This person came to the retreat and was just how we imagined—great person, but very out there. By the end of the retreat, this person’s work was much more reflective, just in those four or five days. Not only did this person manage to make use of form, but for the first time, used images that hearkened from his background as a Filipino American, which I didn’t see before. There were a couple of other Filipino Americans there, and seeing how those other Filipino poets handled and carried themselves I think caused this person to tone down.

LR: So there is a tangible change–it does have an effect to be around other Asian American poets.

JL: It really does have an effect. A lot of people will say, “When I’m here, I don’t have to explain myself.” I think that speaks volumes.

LR: It seems at this point in time there have been many Asian American poets that have been successful—you bring many of them into your workshop. Even with these role models, are there more ways to go for Asian American writers?

JL: I think we’re at this juncture where there are Asian American poets that are second or third generation, and willing to take a risk and pursue something creatively–something marginalized, like poetry. But I also think a lot of Asian Americans are writing, and we’re so thankful for those individuals who led the way. There are those who have struggled in ways probably far more complicated than I myself can even really understand, establishing identity. For example, for [former Kundiman faculty] Lawson Inada, just being visible was such a struggle: being of Japanese American descent, a young lad interned with his family. I feel Kundiman creates a space where young emerging American Asian poets can have access to these amazing individuals who have a lot to give.

LR: Earlier you talked about the diversity of the Asian American community. Is there anything unifying it? Is there a way to define Asian American poetics?

JL: Poetry with a capital “P” is definitely what unifies us. Is there any unifying style? No. We’re not writing about our grandmother’s anymore, or not solely that.

LR: Moving a little into your own work. In your book Imago, you wrote about your childhood. Why did you decide to start there for your first book?

JL: I don’t think I did. I feel it was kind of inevitable that I would write about my childhood. I came to America when I was twelve, and I think the transition—I can even call it the shock—of immigrating from the motherland was really character building, I think. I was also the first person in my household to have left home for college. I felt I lost some part of me, so it was an active reclaiming. I felt that I needed to chronicle what happened.

I also feel like every life is worthy of being mythologized, and so this was an active self-mythologizing. I think poetry is just such a great medium for that.

LR: What do you mean by mythologizing?

JL: I’ve always been fascinated by creationist myths. It was my childhood literature; I loved Genesis. In a way, I’m poking fun at myself. But in a way every life is important. Now, once its transferred to paper, it is your life but its not your life anymore. Its art now, or so you hope.

LR: Or you’re hoping other people will access it and relate to it.

JL: Exactly. When it’s published, its out of your hands, and you’re hoping people can get something out of what you’ve done. The whole self-mythologizing is how I can make my life, in a way, “better”–more magical than it really is. In a way that makes it literature and not journalism.

LR: Do you think that writing about the past and our personal histories is in any way more important to Asian Americans, immigrants or minorities?

JL: Yes and no. I’m leaning towards yes, because I feel like at this point, Asian American writers are still very much underrepresented in the media, in literature, in publishing. Publishing is hard for Asian American poets: once you have the Jhumpa Lahiris, publishers don’t want to go beyond the Jhumpa Lahiris. In a way there is still plenty of room to be filled by our stories, by the Asian American diaspora.

But then again, why do we always have to write about Asian American issues? We don’t.

LR: Do you have advice for young Asian American writers, how they can promote Asian American community?

JL: Just persist on writing. I know so many talented writers across cultural lines who just stop writing. In a way, it becomes an endurance game. So just continue writing our stories.

Support other Asian American writers. Buy their books, go to their readings, teach Asian American literature. Be community leaders, be in academia, be community activists. The more of us out there, the better.

But definitely, the root of it is, just keep writing. Sit down at that desk, and tackle that blank page.

LR: Any upcoming Kundiman events to mention?

JL: The only thing brewing is the Kundiman Prize. It is such an amazing opportunity for an Asian American writer. It’s the first one, and we want to make it a success. We need to mobilize and support one another in this venture.

Call for Submissions: Storyscape

Dear Storyscape Fans,

We are writing to announce that:

1. we're open to it

We are now once again reading, listening to, and viewing: submissions, this time for the highly anticipated and much-rumored-about-in-dark-bars  ISSUE 5!  

Please visit the site for submission guidelines, and pass along the news to your friends. 
As usual we are looking for the unusual.  Please send us your craftiest.

www.storyscapejournal.com/submit.html


2. everybody just be cool

For those of you who made it to the ISSUE 3 journal launch party and remember Ken Cormier's fabulous performance of "Everybody Just Be Cool" alongside his Storyscape piece "The Sounds of Lunch" will be thrilled to know that this song (among others) is now available from Itunes.  His CD of hits is called Nowhere is Nowhere.

That's all for now!

happy storytelling,
Storyscape Journal
 

Announcing Kavad

In launching the Kavad program in 2010, Kundiman is combining two important aspects of its mission – giving voice to the past and fostering the next generation of poets. Kavad will not only preserve the personal histories of Asian American immigrants, but also re-invigorate them through the power of creative writing. 

Through the program, Asian Americans poets will conduct oral history interviews, usually with family members or senior Asian American literary figures. They then, through poetry, will add their voices to complement these personal stories. The interviews and the poems will be recorded and archived in audio and visual form to be made available to the public over the internet and on the Kundiman website.

The filmed segments and poetry will be featured in public presentations and enriched through historical and cultural context provided by humanities scholars. The schedule of presentations will be listed on the website in Fall 2010.

Kundiman, Inc & Fordham University announce Partnership Agreement

NEW YORK, NY (November 9, 2009)—Kundiman, Inc. is pleased to announce a partnership
agreement with Fordham University that will enhance the outreach of Fordham’s English
Department and provide a new home in New York City for Kundiman’s seminal work to
support the development of the next generation of outstanding Asian American poets.
As a result of this agreement, the Kundiman Poetry Retreat will be held on Fordham’s Rose Hill
campus beginning in 2010 and Kundiman-sponsored readings and events will be held at the
Lincoln Center Campus. Fordham will provide a total of $60,000 over three years in financial
support for Kundiman’s programs.


Kundiman was founded in 2004 by poets Sarah Gambito and Joseph O. Legaspi to provide
opportunities for Asian American poets to perfect their skills through education and
performance and to promote Asian American literature as an undeniable part of American
letters.


The annual poetry retreat has provided 68 emerging poets with a distinguished faculty and
writing environment. Its public readings bring the work of emerging and established Asian
American poets and writers to new audiences. Through presentations at conferences, faculty
and fellows raise the visibility of diverse literary voices. The Kundiman Poetry Prize, in
partnership with Alice James Press, is the only poetry prize dedicated to Asian American poets
in the country. Kavad, an oral history project based on the stories and poetry of first and
second generation Asian American immigrants, captures an critical cultural legacy.
Through the stature of its faculty and the growing evidence of publication, writing awards and
acceptance to MFA programs by its fellows, Kundiman is regarded as one of the most important
poetry workshops for people of color in the country.


Founded in 1841, Fordham is the Jesuit University of New York, offering exceptional education
distinguished by the Jesuit tradition to approximately 14,700 students in its four undergraduate
colleges and its six graduate and professional schools. It has residential campuses in the Bronx
and Manhattan. Fordham’s English Department is a central part of the University's intellectual
life, with an undergraduate major and minors and graduate degree programs including the
literature M.A., M.A. with a writing concentration, and a fully funded Ph.D. Fordham’s Lincoln
Center Campus is home to Poets Out Loud, which has fostered the appreciation, creation, and
study of poetry since its inception in 1992.

Kundiman's May 2020 #WikiWeek for APAHM

This past May, Kundiman again partnered with Wikimedia NYC to run a Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon for Asian American literature. We began these Edit-a-Thons in 2018 as a way to address what we saw as the incompleteness and inaccuracies of Wikipedia pages for Asian American writers. Wikimedia NYC showed us how to turn those grievances into action, and we have done at least one Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon each May in honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month each year since!

This year, we took the opportunity to take our Edit-a-Thon virtual, and extend it into a two-week-long event. We held three trainings on Wikipedia editing on Zoom, started a Slack channel where anyone could ask questions, and had everyone join our Wikipedia team before editing to gauge impact. We are thrilled that so many in our community, far and wide, came out to help make a difference online!

Prior to this year's event, we had added about 42,000 words to Wikipedia at our previous four in-person events. We're so proud that this past month, our community added 45,000 words on Asian American literature to Wikipedia! This total includes 34 new pages, 128 edited articles, 8 uploaded photos, and changes that have already garnered 880,000 views. You can see the data from this year's Edit-a-Thon here. Even in times of turmoil, we are so warmed by the way our community came together as literary activists to make Asian American writers more visible online. Thank you to all who participated, and to Wikimedia NYC for making this #wikiweek possible.