Old and New or Two Events

Out with the old and in with the new... if it were only that simple, or is it?
If you're talking about sweaters, maybe. But let's say you're talking about family. Not so simple. Certainly a few old things are worth keeping - like family and others who have been important in your life.

One way I'm keeping the old is by participating in my alma mater's annual Young Writer's Conference. Do you know of a middle school girl interested in writing? This one day conference is a great way for her to explore her interest, develop her skills and make new friends. It's happening on Sat., Feb. 25th at Mercy High School in Baltimore, MD. I will be offering a poetry workshop again this year.

One old problem I wish would disappear is homelessness. I can't give everyone a home, but I am hosting an open-mic poetry event to benefit Baltimore's homeless and the shelters that serve them. Sat., January 21 at the Hamilton Arts Gallery at 5502 Harford Rd. Sign up starts at 7pm, event at 7:45. Bring 1-3 poems or songs to share (depending on how many sign up). Participants are asked to donate $5., and warm clothing will also be accepted for Baltimore's homeless.

I hope your new year is full of old things that are still worth celebrating and new things that end old problems. May we all know and share the generosity and joy that exists within us.

Virginia

Upcoming Events

Hello!

What a busy fall it has been. I've done two poetry residencies at elementary schools, led my weekly LitWorld GirlsClub and continued to connect with other people who might be interested in bringing LitWorld programs to Baltimore.

Here are a few events coming up this winter and spring. I hope you will join me where and when you can!

- January 13th I will be a judge in Maryland's Poetry Out-loud competition.

- March 7th is World Read Aloud Day. Details to come. This is a global event, so you can participate no matter where you are!

-March 14 I will be part of Poetry & Conversation at Baltimore's Pratt Library with my poet husband Sam Schmidt and married poets Jane Satterfield and Ned Balbo. Ever wonder what a marriage between poets would look like? Come find out!

- April 6th My husband Sam and I will be featured readers at the long running Ragged Edge poetry reading series in Gettysburg, PA. You could consider this his PA release party for his book, Suburban Myths.

I will post more dates/events as they are organized.

Keep reading and writing,
Virginia

Stand up for Girls, Sept. 22nd

Two thirds of the world's illiterate people are female. Show your support for the education of these vulnerable people by standing up at noon on Thursday, Sept. 22nd, The International Day of the Girl. Take a picture and share with LitWorld.org, a non-profit dedicated to literacy for all. Check out some of the amazing things they've already accomplished in the video below. You can also connect with LitWorld on Facebook.

Join us and Stand up for Girls!
Virginia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYJQ8i7_uGI&feature=share

LitWorld

Hello!

I'm excited to share that I will be offering two GirlsClubs this fall. One will be at City Neighbors Charter School, and the other will be at The Village Learning Place, both here in Baltimore City. My clubs are for girls in 3rd-6th grades, and together we will read poetry and stories, listen to music and share our ideas about all of them. We will also make our own journals where we will write our thoughts and dreams. Together we will discover how we connect to the things we read, each other and the world. I can't wait to get to know these girls and hear their ideas!

This program was created by LitWorld. You can learn more about the amazing work we do around the world at: www.litworld.org Are you someone who would like to lead a Boys or GirlsClub? Be in touch!

Best Wishes,
Virginia

Speaking Engagement

Hello Gorgeous Poetry Lover!

This Wednesday I will be speaking to the Frederick Chapter of the Maryland Writers' Alliance on poetry writing and publishing. I'm really looking forward to it. There seems to be a growing literary community in Frederick, and I'm delighted to have the chance to meet and talk with them.
If you're in the area, I hope you can make it!

6:45 pm, Frederick Coffee Co. & Cafe, 100 N. East Street, Frederick, MD 21701

XO - Virginia

Here's a poem from Touch to tide you over:

Planetary Light                      

           

            I                                                          

As a child

I believed sleeping in moonlight

would make me beautiful

polish me brilliant

become my core and radiate

outward for the rest of my life.

I imagined people would look at me,

notice something unusual

but never recognize moonlight.

One night it woke me

shining silver-white through my window

as if I'd been chosen, as if it was looking only at me.

I could see the yard, my swing set

my room and its entire toy interior.

It was huge and even rounder

than my little girl face. Shocked and happy—

the moon had finally come to see me!—

I tried to go back to sleep

curled in my magic puddle of moon

thinking, my God, I'm going to be beautiful.

            II

Coming out of school to a solar eclipse

I know they said don’t look directly

but how can you not?

The moon moved in, blocked the sun

with its perfect concentric self

bumping out the back window of the bus

where I sat to watch this celestial game of tag.

Lunar eclipses scared me,

the thought that I could be blocking the light.

Our black shadow like a cloud,

a dark blanket over the moon.

            III

Some people believe

stars are the eyes of everyone gone before us.

These people, always on their best behavior,

would never embarrass their ancestors,

do anything to disappoint their mothers.

Stars are there in daylight too

crowded out by sun

but still in patterns we remember,

tell stories about,

connect with our own birthdays.

Sometimes, too, I've seen the moon

hidden beneath the day,

a pale ghost of itself.

These are the lucky ones.

They will never need another religion.

            IV

Deep dark cities are what I crave.

No more blinding glare.

I want to stop electricity.

Throw the switch, cut off all the juice.

Let the neon highway diner signs rest,

close the 24-hour bistros,

service stations, all-night groceries too.

Turn off all the lights so we can see.

All over the world, cities are starved of stars,

the Milky Way, Northern Lights,

harvest moons bright enough to climb through your window

shine you awake.

I want to go out into skylight,

look into nothing but beautiful.

All their lives stars pour their light into streams

we wade in thousands of years later.

They send their only gift

their energy—their history—our light.

If we could do this together

a whole shining world,

all the earth

trading light for light.

June Readings

Hello All!

Here we are in June, and the poetry continues! Tomorrow night I'll be reading with my husband Sam Schmidt in Gettysburg at the Ragged Edge Cafe. Their open reading starts at 6pm, and we're scheduled to hit the mic at 7.

Here's their site: http://www.raggededgecoffeehs.com/

Then on June 21st, our 13th wedding anniversary, we will be reading in Baltimore's Preston Gardens across from Mercy Hospital. Noon.

Hope to see you there!

:)

April Update

It certainly has been a great month for readings! I've met and read with some wonderful poets and even sold lots of books! There are still many great events coming up, so take a look and see if you can make it. Hope to see you there!

April 23, Saturday. 2pm Reading. Roland Park Branch. Pratt Library, Baltimore, MD

April 27, Wednesday. Reading. Barnes & Noble. Lancaster, PA

May 6, Friday. Reading. Poetry Lab, The Soundry, 316 Dominion, Vienna, VA

May 7, Saturday. Reading. Park Plaza Restaurant, 220 Cadman Plaza West
New York, NY 11201

May 15, Sunday. 5-7 pm Reading. Busboys & Poets,14th & V Streets NW, Washington, DC

June 3, Friday. Reading. Ragged Edge, Gettysburg, PA.

April Rollarcoaster

Yesterday was the first of my April reading events, the beginning of what is sure to be a month packed with poetry events. Yesterday there was chocolate, wine, friends, conversation and books - it doesn't get much better than that! The rest of the month has a lot to live up to. Here's the low-down. Hope you can join me!

April 9, Saturday. 6:30pm Annapolis Release Party, Ahh, Coffee, 1015 Bay Ridge Ave., Annapolis, MD

April 16, Saturday. 1:30pm Reading. City Lit Festival. Pratt Library, Central Branch, Baltimore, MD

April 16, Saturday. 7pm Westminster Release Party. Birdie’s Café, 233 East Main Street, Westminster, MD, 21157

April 23, Saturday. 2pm Reading. Roland Park Branch. Pratt Library, Baltimore, MD

April 27, Wednesday. Reading. Barnes & Noble. Lancaster, PA

May 6, Friday. Reading. Poetry Lab, The Soundry, 316 Dominion, Vienna, VA

May 7, Saturday. Reading. Park Plaza Restaurant, 220 Cadman Plaza West, New York, NY 11201

May 15, Sunday. 5-7 pm Reading. Busboys & Poets,14th & V Streets NW, Washington, DC

Radio Interview

Hello, Hello and welcome to the world of radio! Click the link below to hear my interview with Tom Hall of Maryland Morning which plays daily on WYPR, Baltimore.

http://mdmorn.wordpress.com/2011/03/22/322113-virginia-crawford/

In addition, I can announce this reading at Busboys & Poets! I will be reading with Ishion Hutchinson.
Details:

May 15, 5-7 pm

Busboys and Poets

14th & V Streets, NW

Washington, DC

Enjoy the interview, and I hope to see you at one or several events this spring!

Virginia

Maryland Morning, Tues., March 22, The Frederick Coffee Company, Weds. 23

Hello!

Touch finally exists, and I've started giving readings and interviews. You can hear me tomorrow on WYPR between 9 & 10 am with Tom Hall on Maryland Morning.
You can hear me read Weds., 7:30 at the Coffee Company at the corner of East and Church Streets in Frederick, MD.   
I hope you will listen in and join me in Frederick or at an upcoming reading in Baltimore or Lancaster, PA, Vienna, VA or Brooklyn, NY... more details as the events near.
Feel free to suggest a reading venue near you. I love to read!


Yours in poetry,
Virginia

The First Review of Touch!

And so it begins. Thanks to Dan Cuddy and the Loch Raven Review!

http://www.lochravenreview.net/2010Winter/cuddy.html#1

Anticipation

It comes in so many forms: a long-awaited lunch with a friend, a response from a potential employer, an email from a particular someone, a book from a publisher... I'm sure you could add to this list.
You might call it: anxiety, the hee-bee-gee-bees, excitement, or torture. Again, I'm sure you have your own name for such feelings.
I wish I could tell you I know what to do with such energy. So far my my actions have included: huff & puff (think Big Bad Wolf), vacuum, make lasagna, drink too much coffee and wine (although not at the same time), and when the neighbors off it - scotch. Oh yes, don't forget to plan events, exercise more than usual to dance music played louder than usual, plant seeds for vegetable garden, and check for emails and snail mail obsessively. And do laundry because once you finally have somewhere to go, you want as many costume options as possible.
So we're all waiting for something, right? Please. Tell me I'm not the only one. It's impossible to be the only one of anything, yes? Somewhere else on the planet, perhaps in the same country, maybe even in the same state, (oh, who am I kidding?) most likely on the same block, someone else is waiting for important things to happen. Maybe even a few of the things I listed. So my only advice to to myself, and maybe to you: Remember you're not the only one waiting, hoping, anticipating.

Forward and

forward. Because that's all there is.

This week had a few more than its fair share of challenges: I learned my book would be late, my son (and then I) got strep throat, and I learned a good friend died of stomach cancer. I hadn't been in touch with him for some time and had no idea he was ill. He was a delightful person I had hoped to see again. Yesterday I went to his funeral and saw him for the last time. And it was awful and awkward and ultimately kind of hopeful. I had never met his family, so there was that uncomfortable who-is-that-person thing going on. They had been with him through his illness, and while still quite distraught at his loss, they weren't in the sort of shock I was. I couldn't quite shake it off enough to explain how I'd known him, how great I thought he was, how I mad I am that I'll never get to enjoy his company again, how sad I am that he chose to suffer through his illness without letting his friends at least try to comfort him.

So I sat, followed, cried, looked at people who looked like him while they did and did not look and wonder at me, and it wasn't until everything was almost over that I was able to speak with his daughters, mother and step-father. I never did exactly explain how I'd known him, but that wasn't actually important. What was important was that we, eventually, were able to reach through the awkwardness to share our appreciation of him. Although I doubt I'll ever see them again, I'm pretty sure I'll feel that don't-know-anyone-awkwardness again. And I bet you probably will too.

But the thing to remember is that you, and I, can reach beyond that to the things that connect us, things that mean more than exactly how you met someone or how long it's been since you last spoke. So as uncomfortable as it was to sit and stare and be stared at, I guess I'm glad it happened that way. It meant that I appreciated the connection more when it did happen. It might even make me a little braver the next time I feel that don't-know-anyone-awkwardness.

So look forward. And directly at each other. Because, even if we feel like strangers, we can find ways to connect. Even if we're strangers, we're all we have.

Exhilerating II

Last week I spent some transformative time with my poems. They're becoming a book. The publisher sent the galleys, I printed them out and saw my poems as they will appear in my book. It's a very strange feeling to see them that way for the first time. They aren't just intensely personal things I've worked on and loved and kept on my computer for years anymore. They're expanding and connecting with their neighbors, becoming something larger than themselves. That's a fairly astonishing thing to experience, I'd say.

The actual book should exist in less than a month now, and I keep trying to imagine that moment: finding the package, opening it, pulling the books out... then maybe I'll scream in delight or be stunned into silence or not be able to stop crying for weeks. I just don't know, but I can't wait to find out!

Exhilarating

that would describe my recent experiences.

The conference I attended was fabulous beyond words. Really, even coming from a word person. I drove down with two women I'd only met briefly before. We left before sun rise and were all artists of some kind, so that gave us something in common. We were teachers also, so that gave us even more in common. After our two-plus hours' drive, I felt very anxious as we went in to breakfast and to meet the other participants. All together we were about 30 "Teaching Artists," a relatively recent phrase, from many backgrounds and levels of experience. I mean a really wide range of backgrounds: one born in Uganda, another in England, another in Brazil, there were residents of New York, Connecticut, California, one teacher of circus arts, song writers, West African drummers and dancers, a jewelery maker, actors, a playwright, and yours truly, the lone poet. And all this diversity comes without even checking my list of participants.

Anyway, my initial anxiety quickly gave way to joy as we shared our art forms and discussed ways to teach important skills through art. We didn't know each other but communicated clearly, even non-verbally, and thoroughly, and 3 days later I came away wishing I could bring all these people home with me so I could keep dancing and soaring the way we did together.

Yesterday I started a poetry writing residency with a fourth grade and found myself mentally checking off items we discussed a few days ago. So I have brought them with me. And luckily I will see them again in a few weeks to share more art and teaching strategies. And I can't wait to see more of their talents and lose that anxious self in their beats and be part of a human sculpture even if I don't know whose hand I might be holding. Because that's the point of life. Not to worry so much about whose hand, but to jump in and hold the hand nearest you and celebrate being alive together.

Update

Happy New Year! (Now get busy!)

After a few crazy weeks arranging my son's birthday party, decorating (both for his party and the holidays), baking (again for his birthday and the holidays), sending queries to agents, taking a huge trip to Oregon to visit family, suffering a debilitating not-quite-finished bout of travel-induced sciatica, I'm looking at a few more very busy weeks.

Thursday (really early) I leave for a conference? retreat? still don't know what to call it, on MD's Eastern Shore with the Teaching Artist Institute, returning late Saturday night. Then I'll give a reading in York, PA on Sunday, and start a poetry residency with one of my favorite schools in Baltimore County on Monday. (Perhaps I should take a few additional vitamins.) I can't remember what I'm doing after that. Oh, there's another reading on January 22nd. I remember that much. And this does not even take us to the end of January.

I had been hoping to accomplish a few things around the house and dig in to writing my next novel and continue looking for an agent, and... but, ummm...

I'm going to the kitchen to find my vitamins.