Poetry
Translations from Silence
Clifton Ross Winner of the 2010 PEN Oakland poetry book award.
with an introduction by Jack Hirschman
“Clif Ross is among the most highly respected activists of the Left
Coast… His own poetry, a generation of works, is here warmly presented
in the context of a maturation of tone and voice that is quietly
remarkable--and very much like himself. Ross is a fusion of a lyric
realism and the power of metaphor. His voice isn't of the plosive kind.
He writes an organic lyric, resisting any attempt on the part of the
"Poet" in himself to overcome himself by a kind of verbal oblivion. His
poems are expressions of his determination that friendship triumphs
through beautiful communications that make one feel solidarity without
feeling one's being indoctrinated or recruited.”
Jack Hirschman
Poet Laureate of San Francisco
from the introduction to the English edition.
Song of the Flies
María Mercedes Carranza[An Account of the Events]
Translations by Margarita Millar
Translations by Margarita Millar
Available now!
Canto de las Moscas (Song of the Flies), by the late Colombian poet María Mercedes Carranza, was published for the first time in 1997, following a decade marked by extremely high levels of violence in Colombia. At this point the country had already endured nearly half a century of armed struggle between government and rebel groups, and had more recently experienced the emergence of paramilitary forces and warring drug lords.
Carranza wrote these twenty-four poems, each bearing the name of a town or city that had been the site of large-scale violence, as a sort of chronicle and commemoration of the tragedies the people endured. The titles reflect a contradiction characteristic of Colombian reality: the beautifully-musical and whimsical place-names stand in cruel contrast to the events that marked them as massacre sites. Written in a form similar to Japanese haiku but not adhering to its strict line-and-syllable counts, the poems are short and spare.
Man Offbeat
Rhett StuartThis collection of poetry and prose tells the story of one man's liberation. Reading it, we join him as he spirals outward from the sound of the word, to the sound of the street, from a story of everyday life, to the inner magic of creative transcendence. His love of language and of people vibrates almost musically on each page. Stuart finds himself always out of sync. Offbeat. . . articulating hope in a place where sleeping on the streets is as common as being housed.
ISBN: 0-9625153-5-3
60 pages
Perfect bound paperback
$9.95
Image and Imagination
Ben Clarke, Editor; Photographer, Dorothea LangeWriter-in-residence at the Oakland Museum of California and the Oakland Public Library, Ben Clarke, re-examines Dorothea Lange's photographs along with collaborating artists including: A.K. Black, Scott Braley, Lucha Corpi, Kitty Costello, Maketa Groves, Richard Oyama, Margot Pepper, Eric Robertson, Clifton Ross, Abena Songbird, and Rhett Stuart. Using poetry, personal essay, rap and contemporary photography the artists explore the intersection between Lange's documentary photography and current realities.
Translations from Silence by Clifton Ross wins PEN Oakland Award
Freedom VoicesWe are pleased to note that Translations from Silence by Clifton Ross has won the 20th annual PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles National Literary Award outstanding book of poetry published in 2009, awarded in 2010. Please join us at the PEN Oakland Awards ceremony and booksigning.
PEN OAKLAND
20th Annual 2010 Literary Awards
Oakland Public Library,
Rockridge Branch, 5366 College Ave.
Saturday, December 11, 2010, 2 PM – 5 PM
Release Party for Song of the Flies Sept 17, 6 p.m. at Modern Times
Freedom Voices
Friday, Sep 17, 2010
Wine and hors d’oeuvres, 6:00 p.m.
Presentation and poetry reading, 6:30 p.m.
Modern Times Bookstore, 888 Valencia St. @ 20th St., San Francisco, CA
Come celebrate the release of the late María Mercedes Carranza’s Song of the Flies [An Account of the Events], a bilingual edition of her most moving poems, translated by Margarita Millar, published by Freedom Voices. Join us to honor and remember one of Colombia’s best poets of our time, and her efforts to bring peace to her country. Order the book.
Fall Event
.
Freedom Voices and the TallMountain Circle present:
Spirit of the Streets
an afternoon of FREE workshops and readings at the Faithful Fools
Sunday, November 16, 12 noon to 3 pm.
The TallMountain Circle will announce the 2008 Tall Mountain Award for Creative Writing and Community Service winner, fine food will be served and a good time is available for all!
Related items:
Aprons
Eric Robertson
Grandma had three kitchen drawers full of folded aprons
pinks, light blues, spring greens, yellow,
gold, polka-dotted, striped, square-cut and scalloped
Aprons to cook in and clean
and for my sister and me
aprons to tie on like capes and run
batman and robin-style
through the house screaming
bada dada dada dada BATMAN!
Joining ranks at every carpeted corner
Freezing and splitting off again with
dramatic orders--You go that way
Grandma took the aprons off the laundry line
Related items:
Quetzalcoatl
Ernesto CardenalTranslated by Clifton Ross.
A bilingual edition of a book-length award-winning poem by the militant Roman Catholic priest who was Nicaragua's Sandinista Minister of culture for nearly 11 years. Through 52 poetic fragments, Ernesto Cardenal articulates a multiple vision, constantly constellated by myth that has always been one of the most effective mechanisms of his poetic creation.
ISBN 0-915117-38-X, 57 pages, perfect bound, two color uncoated cover, $11.95.
Burdens of Bliss
Janice King"Janice King's writing is musical, thought-provoking, subtly crafted and above all, honest. She speaks frankly of the `world that was too hard and incomprehensible.' Out of that struggle she has fashioned poetry which, by the subtlety of her wit and her craft, can both charm and amuse us."
Robert Volbrecht
ISBN:O9625153-4-5
60 pages
Perfect bound paperback
