Readings for Bridges: Poetry by Mature Adults of Northern New Jersey

Thanks to a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College, a series of poetry-writing workshops were held for senior citizens in the Passaic County communities of West Milford, Wanaque, Woodland Park, and Paterson.

Participants met professional poets, discussed inspiration and technique, and submitted their own poetry to an anthology of senior poetry.

To celebrate the publication of Bridges: Poetry by Mature Adults of Northern New Jersey two readings were held.

The first reading was held May 5th at the Hamilton Club at Passaic County Community College located in Paterson, NJ. The distinguished guest poet who will read some of his own poetry is Afaa Michael Weaver, who has been a Pew Fellow of poetry, taught in National Taiwan University and Taipei National University of the Arts in Taiwan as a Fulbright Scholar and currently teaches at Simmons College.

The second reading was held on May 10th at the Wanaque Campus and featured the distinguished guest poet, Vivian Shipley, Pulitzer Prize nominee and professor at Southern Connecticut State University.

The Bridges anthology was edited by Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Susan Amsterdam.

Unsolicited Testimonial

I found this post on an AP Literature and American Voices site by yet another reader who has discovered Maria's poetry.

When I was first told I needed to choose a poet whose works I would analyze and grow familiar with I knew I had a difficult task ahead of me. Furiously, I took to google, searching and searching for what would become my perfect poet. When I read Maria Mazziotti Gillan's poem, Betrayals, I knew I had found my match. As I read this poem, I could understand what Maria was feeling, her regret as she looked back towards the treatment of her father, but also her unconditional love for her family. Such a topic is exactly what makes Maria's poetry is so great...

Read more of her post

Poetry and the Children Day at Binghamton University

Maria Mazziotti Gillan, recipient of the 2011 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award from Poets & Writers and the 2008 American Book Award for her book All That Lies Between Us, hosted Binghamton University's 35th annual Poetry and the Children Day on May 23, at the Osterhout Concert Theater of the Anderson Center on the Vestal campus. Gillan is also director of the Creative Writing Program and professor of poetry at Binghamton University.

More than 400 students from 39 schools and 13 school districts participated. The program, which brings students together for a day of poetry readings, was established as a memorial to Robert Pawlikowski. A published poet, creative writing instructor and campus administrative assistant, Pawlikowski drowned in 1975 while on vacation with his family. Partially underwritten by the Oakdale Mall and Susan Clark-Johnson, an anthology is prepared by the Office of the Dean of Harpur College and distributed to teachers and local libraries. Clark-Johnson is a 1967 Binghamton University graduate and former publisher of the Binghamton Evening Press.

Paterson's Maria Mazziotti Gillan

Maria at the Great Falls of the Passaic River in Paterson
Photo by Mark Hillringhouse

Gillan grew up in an Italian neighborhood in the Riverside section of Paterson, New Jersey. Gillan's parents emigrated to Paterson from rural southern Italy in the 1930s.

The family struggled financially, but her mother scrimped to buy her children games like Parcheesi and Monopoly. Gillan's father worked multiple jobs including as a school custodian, a job that eventually afflicted him with a limp. He was so eager to learn math, he sat in on classes at the Paterson school where he worked. He grew backyard fig trees and saved the fruit for Maria.

Maria spoke Italian at home along with a close-knit, noisy clan of neighbors and family.

But she found shame in her heritage when she entered the city's school system. Teachers used slurs like "spaghetti bender" and insisted that students, "must speak English. We're in America now."

Gillan began writing poetry as a shy elementary school student, but admits she wasn't good at it.

Later, when she was married and a mother, she enrolled in a workshop at Drew University. Like many young poets, she started by imitating other "intellectual" poets and included classical allusions and obscure imagery.

One of her professors told her that it was in the poems about her father that she had a real story that she needed to tell.  She began telling those stories in her poems.

Her first book of poems, Flowers from the Tree of Night, was published in 1980. Around the same time, she started The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College in Paterson.

The Center began with a mimeographed literary review, but in the three decades since it has become one of the most well-respected resources for poetry in the country.

The mimeographed review evolved into the Paterson Literary Review, a literary magazine which contains poetry, fiction, reviews, and artwork by individuals with international, national, and regional reputation as well as work by promising new voices. The journal has published poets such as William Stafford, Ruth Stone, Sonia Sanchez, Laura Boss, Marge Piercy, David Ray, Diane di Prima and Allen Ginsberg.

The Poetry Center also sponsors workshops, readings by distinguished poets and awards.

"This city was just about abandoned by folks in the arts," says Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-8th District-NJ), who has known Gillan for 40 years. "Maria is a non-politician with a vision, of people getting along, of how the material things aren't important in life. The center isn't a sidebar, it's a lifeline in the community."

Here is a poem that chronicles Maria's movement from shamed schoolgirl to proud poet.

PS 18

Public School #18: Paterson, New Jersey


Miss Wilson’s eyes, opaque
as blue glass, fix on me:
"We must speak English.
We’re in America now."
I want to say, "I am American,"
but the evidence is stacked against me.

My mother scrubs my scalp raw, wraps
my shining hair in white rags
to make it curl. Miss Wilson
drags me to the window, checks my hair
for lice. My face wants to hide.

At home, my words smooth in my mouth,
I chatter and am proud. In school,
I am silent, grope for the right English
words, fear the Italian word
will sprout from my mouth like a rose,

fear the progression of teachers
in their sprigged dresses,
their Anglo-Saxon faces.

Without words, they tell me
to be ashamed.
I am.
I deny that booted country
even from myself,
want to be still
and untouchable
as these women
who teach me to hate myself.

Years later, in a white
Kansas City house,
the Psychology professor tells me
I remind him of the Mafia leader
on the cover of Time magazine.

My anger spits
venomous from my mouth:

I am proud of my mother,
dressed all in black,
proud of my father
with his broken tongue,
proud of the laughter
and noise of our house.

Remember me, Ladies,
the silent one?
I have found my voice
and my rage will blow
your house down.

by Maria Mazziotti Gillan
from What We Pass On: Collected Poems: 1980-2009 (Essential Poets Series)

Maria Gillan at the Michigan Literary Walk

Maria Gillan will be participating in the Made In Michigan Literary Walk at Wayne State University on June 30th.

This inaugural Midtown Literary Walk--a strolling afternoon of literature hosted by several venues in our Midtown neighborhood offers a range of authors--from poets to rock 'n roll historians-- who will read from their latest work and books will be available for purchase and signing.

The Made in Michigan Literary Walk at Wayne State University runs from Noon - 5:00pm and will feature Jim Daniels, Anne-Marie Oomen, Maria Mazziotti Gillan, Susan Whitall, Brett Callwood, Bill Harris, Philip Sterling, Melba Joyce Boyd, Doreen O’Brien, Francine Harris, Rev Robert B. Jones with M.L. Liebler, Terry Blackhawk, Teresa Scollon and more.

This free event is sponsored by The WSU Student Senate Budget Committee, The WSU Press, Poets & Writers, Inc. The WSU Motown Learning Community and The Detroit Artists Market.

Visit the event site on Facebook

Gillan and the Paterson Literary Review at Festival

Maria at the 2011 Festival of Literary Journals

9th Annual Celebration of Literary Journals
Sunday, May 20, 2012

West Caldwell Public Library

30 Clinton Rd., West Caldwell, NJ

1-5 PM
Free

This is the ninth year of this event organized by poet Diane Lockward that showcases a dozen literary journals and features readings by two poets who have published from each of those journals. Readings will be held throughout the event in the Library's Community Room.

Maria Mazziotti Gillan will be there as editor of the Paterson Literary Review.  Journals will be available along with subscription and submission information and editors will answer questions about publishing.

24 poets will read throughout the afternoon and books will be available for sale and signing.

Journals and Editors

1. Adanna Literary Journal   Christine Waldeyer
2. Edison Literary Review   Gina Larkin
3. Exit 13   Tom Plante
4. Journal of New Jersey Poets   Sandy Zulauf
5. Lips   Laura Boss
6. Painted Bride Quarterly   Marion Wrenn
7. Paterson Literary Review   Maria Mazziotti Gillan
8. The Raintown Review   Anna Evans
9. Schuykill Valley Journal   Brooke Hoffman
10. The Stillwater Review   Priscilla Orr
11. Tiferet   Donna Baier Stein
12. U.S. 1 Worksheets   Nancy Scott

There is ample parking and refreshments will be available and here are many area restaurants close by.

Contact library: 973-226-5441

Driving directions  (#33 Bus Stop Within Short Walking Distance)

For full schedule and directions: http://dianelockward.com/fest.html

Distinguished Poets Series Features Mark Doty and Aimee Nezhukumatathil

May 2012

Maria Mazziotti Gillan with poets Aimee Nezhukamatathil and Mark Doty at The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College.

On May 5, Mark Doty & Aimee Nezhukumatathil gave morning workshops at the Center and readings in the afternoon.

The readings are part of the Distinguished Poets Series which is a continuing celebration honoring the literary legacy of New Jersey poets Walt Whitman, William Carlos Williams and Allen Ginsberg.

Poetry Retreat June 8-10

Join poets Laura Boss and Maria Mazziotti Gillan on Friday, June 8 through Sunday, June 10, 2012 (Friday dinner through Sunday lunch) in Mendham, NJ for a poetry retreat that gives writers the space and time to focus totally on their own work in a serene and beautiful setting away from the pressures and distractions of daily life.

St. Marguerite's Retreat House is an English manor house situated on 93 acres of wooded land with pathways that lend themselves to the serene contemplation of nature and nurturing of your creative spirit. The retreat is held at the Retreat House which is located at 82 West Main Street, Mendham, NJ. This writing intensive is open to all writers over the age of 18.

Participants arrive before 6 PM on Friday evening, have dinner, settle into their rooms, and begin to retreat from the distractions of the world.

That evening, participants will be led into creating new work. After each workshop, each participant will have the opportunity to read their work in the group.

After Saturday breakfast, participants will move into two groups for morning workshops, followed by free time for socializing and exploring the grounds.

After lunch, writing workshops will take place, followed by time to write. Each participant will have a chance to sign up in advance with Maria or Laura for one-on-one help with revision.

After dinner on Saturday evening, participants will be invited to read their poems to the groups, and the faculty will lead another workshop session on how to get published.

After Sunday breakfast, a final writing workshop and concluding reading by participants will serve as the “closing ceremony” to this inspiring and productive weekend. Lunch will provide a final opportunity for socializing.

The leaders envision this weekend as a retreat from the noise and bustle of daily life and see this retreat as a spiritual and creative break from our usual lives. The setting certainly allows us to take some time to look at life in a new light, to listen for our own voices, and to create in stillness, in quiet, and in community. These are times of contemplation and welcoming the muse.

The workshops will concentrate on "writing your way home" and the way writing can save us, save our stories and our lives. Participants should bring papers, pens, and the willingness to take some risks. Please also bring previously-written work for one-on-one sessions and for the readings.

REGISTRATION

The workshops, room, and meals are all included in the fee of $375.

Late registration will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. Enrollment is limited.  NJ teachers may receive 15 professional development credits for attending.

For further information and to register, contact mariagillan@verizon.net or send SASE to Maria Mazziotti Gillan, 40 Post Ave., Hawthorne, NJ  07506 or call  973-684-6555.

Selected Books by the Poets

Image and Poetry

Young Girl Dreams of Love, after Matisse (Interior with a Young Girl)
by Adel Gorgy

IMMAGINE & POESIA (IMAGE & POETRY) is an international artistic literary movement, founded at Alfa Teatro in Torino, Italy, in 2007. Since its inception, hundreds of poets and artists from all over the world have participated, and the movement now reaches international audiences.

The manifesto of the movement consists of 10 points and has been translated into 28 languages. The fourth point suggests moments of cross fertilization for artists and poets in order to support the thesis that a literary text may inspire the creation of a figurative art work and vice versa: the result is a new and complete form of art.


"Young Girl Dreams of Love, after Matisse" is a painting by Adel Gorgy of New York inspired by a poem by Maria Mazziotti Gillan

My Daughter at 14, Christmas Dance

Panic in your face, you write questions
to ask him. When he arrives,
you are serene, your fear
unbetrayed. How unlike me you are.

After the dance,
I see your happiness; he holds
your hand. Though you barely speak,
your body pulses messages I can read

all too well. He kisses you goodnight,
his body moving toward yours, and yours
responding. I am frightened, guard my
tongue for fear my mother will pop out

of my mouth. "He is not shy," I say. You giggle,
a little girl again, but you tell me he
kissed you on the dance floor. "Once?"
I ask. "No, a lot."

We ride through rain-shining 1 a.m.
streets. I bite back words which long
to be said, knowing I must not shatter your
moment, fragile as a spun-glass bird,

you, the moment, poised on the edge of
flight, and I, on the ground, afraid.

Maria Mazziotti Gillan

Copyright © 1995

Gillan's New Book is The Place I Call Home

Maria Mazziotti Gillan is a recipient of the 2011 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award from Poets & Writers, and the 2008 American Book Award for her book, All That Lies Between Us (Guernica Editions).

Her new book of poetry will be The Place I Call Home from NYQ Books (ISBN:  978-1-935520-67-2). This title is forthcoming this September. You may join the publisher's general mailing list to be informed when it becomes available.

Maria is the Founder /Executive Director of the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College in Paterson, NJ, and editor of the Paterson Literary Review. She is also Director of the Creative Writing Program and Professor of Poetry at Binghamton University-SUNY.

She has published fourteen books of poetry, including The Weather of Old Seasons (Cross-Cultural Communications), and Where I Come From, Things My Mother Told Me, Italian Women in Black Dresses, and What We Pass On: Collected Poems 1980-2009 (Guernica Editions). With her daughter, Jennifer, she is co-editor of four anthologies: Unsettling America, Identity Lessons, and Growing Up Ethnic in America (Penguin/Putnam); and Italian-American Writers on New Jersey (Rutgers).

A Celebration of Literary Journals

Poetry Festival: A Celebration of Literary Journals
Sunday, May 20, 2012

West Caldwell Public Library

30 Clinton Rd., West Caldwell, NJ

1-5 PM
Free

This is the ninth year of this event organized by poet Diane Lockward that showcases a dozen literary journals and features readings by two poets who have published in each of those journals. Readings will be held throughout the event in the Community Room.

Maria Mazziotti Gillan will be there as editor of the Paterson Literary Review. 

Journals and Editors

1. Adanna Literary Journal   Christine Waldeyer
2. Edison Literary Review   Gina Larkin
3. Exit 13   Tom Plante
4. Journal of New Jersey Poets   Sandy Zulauf
5. Lips   Laura Boss
6. Painted Bride Quarterly   Marion Wrenn
7. Paterson Literary Review   Maria Mazziotti Gillan
8. The Raintown Review   Anna Evans
9. Schuykill Valley Journal   Brooke Hoffman
10. The Stillwater Review   Priscilla Orr
11. Tiferet   Donna Baier Stein
12. U.S. 1 Worksheets   Nancy Scott

Journals will be available along with subscription and submission information and editors will answer questions about publishing.

24 poets will read throughout the afternoon and books will be available for sale and signing.

Susan Lembo Balik, Robert Carnevale, Grant Clauser, David Crews, 

Linda Cronin, Jessica deKoninck, Jim Gwyn, Rachel Hadas, 

Miriam Haier, Mark Hillringhouse, Tina Kelley, Adele Kenny, 

Deborah LaVeglia, Charlotte Mandel, Francesca Maxime, John McDermott, 

Lynne McEniry, Rick Mullin, Sharon Olson, Linda Radice, 

Susanna Rich, Madeline Tiger, David Vincenti, Sean Webb

There is ample parking and refreshments will be available and here are many area restaurants close by.

Contact library: 973-226-5441

Driving directions  (#33 Bus Stop Within Short Walking Distance)

For full schedule and directions: http://dianelockward.com/fest.html