Maria Mazziotti Gillan

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Upcoming Events

Saturday, May 11

Louis Jenkins

M. L. Liebler

The Distinguished Poets Series

of the Poetry Center at

Passaic County Community College

(Poetry writing workshop

with Louis Jenkins or BJ Ward at

10 AM. Fee $15.

Pre-registration required.)

Hamilton Club Building

32 Church St. (corner of Ellison St.)

Paterson

1 PM Free

Open Reading

Contact: Maria Mazziotti Gillan

973-684-6555

http://www.pccc.edu/poetry

Sunday, May 19
POETRY FESTIVAL: A CELEBRATION
OF LITERARY JOURNALS
12 journals and their editors:
Adanna
Edison Literary Review
Exit 13
Journal of New Jersey Poets
Lips
Painted Bride Quarterly
Paterson Literary Review
Raintown Review
Schuylkill Valley Journal
Stillwater Review
Tiferet
US 1 Worksheets
Journals will be available along with
subscription and submission information.
Editors will answer questions
about publishing.
24 poets will read
throughout the afternoon.
Robert Carnevale
Mike Cohen
Lorraine Doran
Juditha Dowd
Sandra Duguid
Martin Farawell
Andrew "Ink" Feindt
Jim Gwyn
Miriam Haier
Eric Heller
Ernest Hilbert
Linda Hillringhouse
Janet Kirchheimer
David Kozinski
Francesca MaximE
Kathy Nelson
Kathe Palka
Wanda Praisner
Ed Romond
Linda Stern
Chuck Tripi
Emily Vogel
Joe Weil
Edytta Wojnar
Books by the poets will be available
for sale and signing.
West Caldwell Public Library
30 Clinton Ave., West Caldwell
1-5 PM Free
Contact library: 973-226-5441
Or dslockward@gmail.com
For full schedule and directions:

http://www.dianelockward.com/fest.html

Tuesday, May 21

MARIA MAZZIOTTI GILLAN

LESLIE HEYWOOD

Carriage House Poetry Series

Kuran Arts Center

Watson Rd. (GPS Use 75 N. Martine Ave.)

Fanwood

8PM Free

Contact: Adele Kenny

908-889-7223

carriagehousepoetryseries.blogspot.com

Sunday, June 2

MARIA MAZZIOTTI GILLAN +

“All That Lies Between Us”

A Documentary film

on the Life and Work of

Maria Mazziotti Gillan

Sponsored by Montclair UNICO

Montclair Salvation Army Building

13 Trinity Place, Montclair

3 PM $15

$10 Seniors/students

Contact: Don DiGerinimo

973-809-9586 or

Steve Ruccio

973-610-6161

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Writing Poetry to Save Your Life: How to Find the Courage to Tell Your Stories

MiroLand, Guernica's new imprint, is proud to offer Maria Mazziotti Gillan's newest book, Writing Poetry To Save Your Life: How To Find The Courage To Tell Your Stories, as its first publication.

It is now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Small Press Distributors, and University of Toronto Press Distribution.

Described as "The only book you'll ever need to bring out your inner poet." It combines Maria’s personal story as a writer with her suggestions for writers at all stages of development. The voice in this book is that of a friend who sits with you in a warm kitchen sipping espresso or a cup of herbal tea, while offering support and encouragement. It is designed to help you find the stories you have to tell and the words to tell them. It is based on the belief that when you find the courage to explore your memories, you will find the source for evocative writing. It can be used in classrooms, by writer’s groups, or by an individual while writing at home or in a coffee shop. It will jumpstart your creativity, giving you permission to use the power of words to save your life.

Friday, May 3, 2013

All That Lies Between Us Documentary Showings in Massachusetts and New Jersey

Maria Mazziotti Gillan used poetry as a way out of an urban childhood that was happy but lower class to success in the writing world.

Filmmakers Kevin Carey and Mark Hillringhouse's documentary short on Maria, "All That Lies Between Us" chronicles the deep connections between her life and her writing. It travels from the streets of her hometown Paterson, New Jersey to readings, her home and her work as Director of Creative Writing Program and Professor of Poetry at Binghamton University (SUNY).

“We’re raised to not be honest with anyone outside the home,” she said. “I spent a good portion of my life biting my tongue. The more I taught poetry was the braver I got,” says Gillan.

The film will has two screenings this month.

On Saturday, May 4, it will be shown at the 5th Massachusetts Poetry Festival in Salem where Maria will be reading.(Peabody Essex Museum Morse Auditorium 12:30 PM ― 1:45 PM)

On Friday, May 10, it will be shown at the Cumberland Regional High School Festival in New Jersey. (7PM, free with donations accepted, at Cumberland Regional H.S., 90 Silver Lake Rd., Bridgeton)

The documentary was written, produced and directed by Kevin Carey and Mark Hillringhouse.

To order a DVD of the film, send check or money order for $17.00 ($15.00 plus $2.00 for postage and handling) payable to Kevin Carey at 605 Cabot St., Beverly, MA 01915.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Maria Gillan: Poetry Month Interview

For the final week of National Poetry Month, the Passaic County Community College Writing Center blog interviewed Maria Mazziotti Gillan.

Here's a cross-posting:

PCCC: How did you know or when did you know you were a poet?

Maria Mazziotti Gillan (MMG): I knew I wanted to be a poet when I was very young. I started writing when I was 8 years old, and once I saw my poems published when I was 13 I knew that I would never stop being a poet. In a way you don’t chose [poetry], it chooses you. It grabs you by the back of the neck and says this is it.

PCCC: What topics do you most like to explore in your poetry? What influences you?

MMG: I explore ethnicity, family relationships, place, grief, loss, the environment. My poetry is increasingly concerned with grief over what we’ve done to the earth, but always my poems are narrative and even when I am writing about world issues, I always connect those issues to the personal. I have a new book coming out at the end of April, 2013, Writing Poetry To Save Your Life: How To Find The Courage To Tell Your Stories (Toronto, Canada: Miroland/Guernica, 2013), and it’s part memoir and part a book intended to encourage people to write so it explains in detail how I came to writing, and how to help yourself to find what you need to write about.

PCCC: What other types of writing, genre, and art forms are you interested in?

MMG: I am interested in visual art as well as poetry, and I began to paint again about ten years ago. I was encouraged to do that by Beat poet Diane di Prima when we were on a reading tour in California, and I’ll always be grateful to her for that.

PCCC: What advice can you give to beginning poets and poets dealing with rejection?

MMG: My advice to beginning poets is to read and read and read some more, and also to keep writing even when that writing is not getting published. That’s really why I wrote the book on writing because I thought that people needed to be encouraged to keep on going even when they felt that no one was paying attention to them.

PCCC: What’s next?

MMG: I’ll be touring to publicize the book on writing and later this year I have two new poetry books coming out. One is called The Silence in the Empty House (NYQ books, Fall, 2013) and Ancestor’s Song (Bordighera Press, November 2013). Other than that, I’m still writing and reading in lots of places across the country, and I don’t plan to stop anytime soon.