So far, two events have been scheduled: an exhibition of original Virgilio manuscripts and memorabilia at the Paul Robeson Rutgers-Camden University Library, which will host a program in honor of the occasion on April 27th, and a book launch at Sacred Heart Church in Camden on Sunday, April 29. More details to follow as soon as we have them but note those two dates.

The picture to the left, courtesy of Father Michael Doyle of Sacred Heart Church, shows a granite podium inscribed with Nick’s most famous poem. It was designed by artist and woodcarver Bob McGovern of Narberth, Pennsylvania, and installed by Nick’s graveside in 1991 so that others could read their haiku at future memorial ceremonies.

Meanwhile, a first round of reading of the 2012 TLP haiku chapbook contest entries has been completed. Each of the two judges, Rick Black and Kwame Dawes, read the manuscripts and judged them independently. Manuscripts came in from America, Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, England, Ireland, Japan and New Zealand.

“It’s going to be a tough choice to single out a winner,” said Black, the founder of TLP.  “We are grateful to everyone who entered the contest and shared their work with us. While we can only publish one winner, we will have some good news for other entrants, too.”

After further consultations and a follow-up round of reading, the judges will announce the winner in mid-February. It promises to be an exciting time so keep checking our website, Facebook or blog to see who takes the prize in a very competitive field.

Manuscripts so far have come in from America, Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, England, Ireland, Japan and New Zealand. Over the next few weeks, judges Kwame Dawes and Rick Black will be reading the entries independently and carefully, then will consult with each other at the end of January and make an announcement in February as to the winner.

It promises to be an exciting time. Updates on the competition as well as other TLP projects, such as a new collection of Nick Virgilio’s haiku due out in the spring, will be posted on our website, sent out via our blog and posted on our  TLP Facebook page, so feel free to follow us in any of these places.

Last but not least, some surprising news awaits the entrants to this year’s competition as we move ahead, so keep an eye out!

Thanks to each of you for entrusting your poems to us!

Kwame Dawes and Rick Black

Inside the ornate embassy, a collection of about 50 photos by Daphne Dougall Hogg de Zileri — who remained largely unknown in her lifetime outside of the artistic elite of Peru — were hung tastefully in black frames with almost stucco like mattes, no glass separating the viewer from the black and white prints. She started by taking photos of her own children — and, indeed, there are several on view here — and taught herself from studying photos of Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dorothea Lange, and other greats.

You can get a good sense of her work from this YouTube video — Soliloquios de Daphne Dougall de Zileri. A short intro in Spanish is followed by a beautiful slideshow of many of her best photos. Clearly, she has an eye for composition and contrast — of her daughter set against the undulating, rippling sands of the desert; of a child seemingly holding the sun in tiny hands; of a lone soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. Often, she photographed the ordinary and made it seem eternal.

As Antonio Cisneros, a poet, said about her work, “Eyes see things as ordinary. It is the heart that lifts them to the extraordinary.” Or Cesar Hildebrandt, a leading journalist in Peru, who said,  “An artist does not need a massacre to move us.”

Indeed, she does not. In Daphne’s photos of everyday Peru and elsewhere around the world, there is a quiet magic and intensity that seems to match her own personality. One particularly striking photo shows a pregnant woman, highlighting her swollen belly, the eyes and top of the head of the pregnant mother cut off by the frame of the picture so that both mother and child remain locked in mystery.

In fact, Zileri often photographs people whose faces are either hidden by a newspaper or cut off in the frame of the image, revealing the surface patterns of light and dark while creating a sense of mystery about them. She never sought the limelight and died last month of asthma complications at the age of 75. As Hildebrandt said, “She loved the light as much as the shadows.”

The show is on view through Wednesday, Nov. 30, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., free, at the Embassy of Peru. 1700 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C.

Tonight was the first night that I exhibited the images. A boutique shopping night was sponsored by MONA — Moms of North Arlington, a group of mostly women (and some Dads, including moi!) who pool references on everything from who’s a good doctor to where to buy a new crib. They also have a listserve for folks to sell stuff.

Around 5 p.m., I packed up our tiny car and headed over to the Knights of Columbus, where the affair was being held. Attendants were treated to great desserts — I did sample one delicious chocolate chip cookie — and drinks, and then were free to stroll around and shop at more than 30 vendors who had come in to offer their wares, selling everything from fine chocolates to hair ties.

Here are some shots of the nearby Westover Village that I took and reimaged as paintings. This shot was taken right behind the 7/11 at the corner of — gosh, I  can’t remember the intersection of streets here but maybe someone will recognize it and let me know.

Then, I headed over towards the main shopping strip of Westover Village and took a few shots of the library. I decided to crop the image as a horizontal piece to emphasize the lovely grasses in front of the building.

It’s late now and I need some sleep but here’s one more shot of the nearby W & O D trail that runs right by our house. I have spent many mornings out cycling here. It runs parallel to a stream bed and crosses it off and on — that is, especially if you cross over to Four Mile Run.

Stay tuned for more shots of Westover Village, the W & O D Trail, and Dominion Hills. It was great meeting everyone tonight — especially my new neighbors!

You can take a peek at or purchase the first winner, Sketches From the San Joaquin, by Michael McClintock by going to this link: http://www.turtlelightpress.com/products/sketches-from-the-san-joaquin/ Hope this is helpful — we look forward to getting your entries!

ON SELECTING THE 2008 TURTLE LIGHT PRESS CHAPBOOK WINNER –

By Rick Black

I’d like to talk today about the Turtle Light Press haiku chapbook competition that I first announced right here in Ottawa at a Haiku Canada gathering, then Guy Simser and I will read the winner, Sketches from the San Joaquin by Michael McClintock, and take questions from you. Originally, Michael was going to come to the HNA conference but the cost turned out to be prohibitive. He sends his deep regrets but perhaps through a reading of his book we’ll be able to have a sense of him here in the room with us.

We got 21 submissions from around the world – Canada, U.S., England, Germany, Romania, even Nepal, from both experienced and neophyte haiku poets. It was a pleasure to read the entries, all of which contained some stellar haiku poems that we’re going to publish this fall/winter as an e-anthology, so please do check our website in a couple of months. We’ll have links and a little biographical info about each of the writers.

I judged the contest with Kwame Dawes, a poet who I met and became close to when I lived in South Carolina. Originally from Jamaica, Kwame is a prolific poet and critic, a professor of English at the Univ. of Nebraska who has studied haiku deeply even though he doesn’t often write in the form. What were we looking for? Overall, we were looking for a collection that held together, that made us want to turn the page from one haiku to the next. I won’t use the word narrative because there doesn’t need to be a progression per se from A to B, but there does have to be a unity, a focal point, an idea, a subject, a motif – call it what you will. It wasn’t enough just to put together a collection of beautiful yet unconnected poems. As for individual poems, we were partial to those that had a kind of ripple, an emotional ripple to them as opposed to a closed sensibility.

Haiku are like snapshots, or flashes of a firefly at night, and we wanted the poems to resonate, to illuminate different aspects of the night. Each of us read the anonymous manuscripts – my wife kept a record of them – made notes on the strengths and weaknesses of each ms., and then we talked to each other on the phone. While our top ten lists were different, we both had selected the same one, Sketches from the San Joaquin as the winner. What drew us to it? The ms. had a flow to it, from one season to the next, from present to past to present again, from one crop to another. It was about growing up in the San Joaquin Valley and helping out in the family’s orchards and fields, and how the author’s relationship to the valley changed over the years. For those unfamiliar with it – and I was clueless, too – the San Joaquin valley is one of the most fertile places on earth. That’s where most of North America’s fruits and vegetables come from. It’s the breadbasket of the world. Fresno, Bakersfield – these are some of the towns that dot the valley which is framed by mountains in the east. Besides a deep sense of place, of rootedness, the individual haiku were exquisite.

As we  wrote in the contest winner’s announcement, “We have a sense that McClintock has found in the sparseness and precision of the meditative manner of haiku an opportunity to reflect on space and time – granting even the most intimate detail a simplicity that allows it to resonate with mood and meaning. To be able to achieve this quality while offering us insight into the details of his own life amounts to quite an accomplishment. With each successive poem, McClintock leads the reader more deeply into the valley and his remembrances of life there.”

The collection wasn’t perfect – there were some poems that didn’t work for us or needed to be edited, others that we wanted rearranged, the last poem of the original ms. in particular. But it was close enough. There were a number of strong contenders but this was the one that stood out the most to us.

The next part of the process was to edit the poems with  Michael. Haiku are so tight – it’s very hard to suggest one change because it often affects the whole poem. But Michael and I were agreed on the need to evoke “the original scent,” the emotional nugget that prompted the writing of the poem – and if it added to this, we made the change; if not, we left it as it. I gave Michael the final say in this regard for these were, in the end, his poems.  When I was done with the ms., Kwame went through it, too and gave us his feedback.

Overall, two questions arose in this process: how much can you change a ms, replace poems that might not work? The author had won a competition, that’s what was judged, but we also wanted to make it the best book possible. I had to figure out what I felt comfortable with. Ultimately, it came down to replacing 5 or 6 poems out of 41, 15 percent of the original ms. The second question was how much can you reorder the ms? Essentially, I didn’t want to. I liked the feel of the book as Michael had submitted it, but there were a few poems, including the last one, that didn’t work in the original order. Michael was great to work with, open to change but with definite, strong views about his work.

Once we had a final ms., it was time to get to work on the design and layout. This is always a challenge and fun. Being a small press, where I make all of the books by hand, I like to give authors as much say as possible in these matters so will be a book they’ll treasure, too. Michael and I worked well together; he wanted to keep it simple and so did I. The first decision was: should the book be done profile or landscape? I always thought of it as a landscape book – literally, a landscape – as mirroring the fields of the valley and its colors. Ultimately, I chose this mustard color with a bit of texture, of bite, for the cover. Inside, wanted a kind of paper that had an earthy sense to it, too. I found the cover photo by chance after some web research and bought the rights from the photographer. I particularly liked the crimson of the vineyard and the road leading into it, into the valley, into the poems. I gave the photo some rough edges to evoke the sense of a sketch, too.

Sketches from the San Joaquin – it was a great title to work with visually. I had unexpected help from Michael’s wife, Karen, who is an artist. I used one of her images on the title page and another on the back. After Michael approved the dummy I started making the books. I did a first run of 100 copies and have brought some with me – please feel free to come by the Turtle Light Press table.

I work alone in my basement studio, making one book at a time. After laying out the book in a graphics program, I printed the signatures in batches of 8-10 copies at a time. Then, I cut all the pages on a large guillotine paper cutter, four pages to a sheet of 8.5 by 11 for this book; then, cut all the covers from big sheets – chose the Thai mango paper as a contrast in color and texture to the cover. It’s kind of a meditative process: Fold the signature with a bone folder, punch holes with a bodkin – like an awl – sew the book, glue on the covers, press the books for 24 hours. Takes 20-25 minutes per book. It’s very slow, but I enjoy the tactile process of working with my hands.

I hope you’ll all consider entering our upcoming chapbook competition – it should be a lot of fun, a good way for me to give back to the haiku community and for poets to put together a collection and get a book out of it. You can go to http://www.turtlelightpress.com and click on “Haiku Contest” to see the guidelines.

We would like to read Michael’s book now, then take any questions that you might have. I am posting ten of the haiku in no particular order here.

Sketches from the San Joaquin

By Michael McClintock

not green itself

but a hint of it—

the slanting spring light

above the trees

a mountain has melted

into haze

having no thought

we’ve come to see them—

dogwoods in bloom

all day in spring,

the deer cross the high meadow

into the clouds . . .

done for the day

my dad brings to supper

the smell of turned earth

with no kites in the sky

the wind

moves on

April funeral—

the weeping mother neatens

her son’s perfect hair

all there is

between heaven and earth—

towering clouds

first light . . .

the wide-awake hats

in the lettuce field

muggy night . . .

the child’s moon drawing

taped to the fridge

We have had a special relationship with Greenwood House ever since Rick’s Aunt Sylvia had to move there due to severe Alzheimer’s. She was given superb care for more than 10 years and lived to be 98 years old.  He still likes to visit the nurses, aides and staff who helped take care of her whenever he’s in the area. The luncheon will be held at the Greenacres Country Club in Lawrenceville, NJ.

Another fun event this month is the annual Open Studio tour in Highland Park. It has been too hectic to open up our studio this year but you can enjoy a small display of TLP’s work at the public library, including handmade books, a haiku accordion album containing poems from a haiku workshop, sumi-e paintings, and some new digital paintings of Highland Park. Maps for the event can be obtained at the library or at the Main Street office on Raritan Avenue.

Lastly, if you’re in the area, come on down to the Highland Park Street Festival on Sunday, May 22, rain or shine. We’ll have new Highland Park pix, books, notecards, and sumi-e paintings. We hope to see you at our booth. Mention this blog post and you will get a 10 percent discount off your order.

Hope everyone is having a great spring!

Speaking of misusing technology, I happened to be in New York City yesterday and decided to go down to the World Trade Center, where President Obama was coming in order to lay a wreath at the memorial. I took the #3 train from Grand Central to the Fulton Street subway station, grabbed a bite to eat and then walked over to the site. Police were already cordoning off the area so that people couldn’t wander around freely.

Being the former reporter that I am, I meandered about, weaving in and out of the crowds, watching people, jotting down notes and making my way around the site like a Buddhist monk circumambulating a temple. Indeed, upon my return home, I wrote this poem rather than a news article as I had used to do. It is my report for you and whoever else might want to read it.  Perhaps it will provide some small measure of consolation. . .

A Crowd of Tulips

A crowd of tulips gathers

to watch President Obama lay a wreath

at the World Trade Center memorial –

yellow, pink, red headed tulips,

headless tulips.

(“We need a president, not a puppet,” reads a sign.)

By red and white “No standing anytime signs,”

droves of people stand waiting, too,

their cameras raised like salutes.

A plane disappears in a cloud.

Television crews, construction crews,

a beggar in a wheelchair (we are all beggars now, aren’t we?)

extends a beaten-up coffee cup to passers-by.

People speak Italian, Spanish, German, and English,

(a mother and daughter pose for a snapshot, smiling –

and then the smile disappears),

cranes are reflected in glass skyscrapers,

flags flap in the cool breeze,

the anticipation of the president’s arrival is palpable,

people gawking, scouting around like pigeons, searching.

They would open a window to see,

but there is no window — and no door to the dead.

Another sign: “National September 11 Museum Staircase,”

but there are no stairs to climb to heaven.

And others: “Jesus Christ is alive for everyone.”

“Fight terror with tefillin.” 

And hands, the laying on of hands – on phones,

on planes, on guns,

hands reaching out, hands laying a wreath,

hands, hands, hands.

That’s how tall they were – two and a half times

as big as that building over there.

And standing halfway finished (or, perhaps a third),

like a flag at half-mast, the cranes reaching up into the sky

atop it like fingers, grasping at nothing at all,

is the new trade center

like a one-legged soldier,

massive, headless and shoulder-less,

attempting to fill a gaping hole in the city,

an emptiness at its heart.

No generators droning today,

no construction equipment crawling around

or sounds of drilling –

all still, Caterpillar CAT  TOMCON,

paused to acknowledge this moment

when no one is being killed.

Waiting, waiting, waiting –

hard hats, baseball hats, knit hats, no hats,

white sneakers, blue and silver sneakers,

black, brown, beige shoes.

Nearby is a flag of honor

with all of the names of those who perished,

printed in red and blue stripes –

her young hands holding it down so it won’t flutter in the wind,

and so that they can take a picture,

hands reaching out to touch the name of a loved one –

a husband, a mother, a father, a sister.

And in the silence of the afternoon

tears break through the police barriers,

they will come, yes, they will come.

They will flood the earth

and they will come.

Has anyone ever heard of it? Posterous is a neat blogging platform through email. Yup. You can write an email and post a blog, all at the same time. If you attach a bunch of photos, it will create a slide show and the best part is that Posterous allows you to connect to 20-30 other services for selective auto-posting. So, it can be simultaneously sent to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.

Or, if you’re looking to start an e-mail marketing campaign, you can check out MailChimp — a service that you can use with a list of up to 2,000 contacts and 12,000 emails a month for free. There were numerous articles/sites that could prove helpful, so I’m attaching the list (with Peter’s permission) here for anyone who wants to check them out.

Flickr related: http://goo.gl/lists/nUmZ

Excellent Marketing Articles: http://goo.gl/lists/kr9c

Portfolio-only sites: http://goo.gl/lists/sqr8

Places to sell art: http://goo.gl/lists/49Ag

Social Networking/Portfolio Sites: http://goo.gl/lists/BRTW

Artist Specific Online Marketing Sites: http://goo.gl/lists/5HLP

Miscellaneous (Including MailChimp): http://goo.gl/lists/dqTA

For me, it was great to have this kind of information at my fingertips as marketing often has been the part of my business that has gotten the least amount of attention. And Peter couldn’t have been more down-to-earth or helpful.

More posts to come soon on making the cover for our prize-winning “All That Remains” by Catherine J.S. Lee and the latest of my Japanese sumi-e ink paintings, and others, but I hope this blog post is particularly helpful. Enjoy the weekend!

For now, we’re working on producing our 2010 prize-winning haiku chapbook All That Remains by Catherine J.S. Lee. We have finished a dummy copy and need to order the paper, then print, cut and sew up the books which we plan to have ready for release in March. Plus, of course, we still have to put the finishing touches on our website and let folks know about it.

Patience — if you’re going to have a small press, you need to cultivate patience.  And have family and good friends who can clue you in here and there as well as keep you laughing. We just try to take it little by little and be grateful, after all, for a day over 32 degrees, the sound of rivulets of melting ice and snow, and the first sunlight in a long time. . . more soon!

Our first task is to come up with a name for the blog. Anybody got any ideas? One thought of mine is, “Diary of a Small Press.” I would like to use the blog in part to detail some of the ups and downs of what it’s like to run a small press on a daily basis.

What would you like to see incorporated in the blog? A haiku, a featured  note card, comments on the evolving nature of books, or maybe some favorite sites about turtles…we do love turtles, especially as they are a metaphor for us and how we need to slow down rather than speed up in order to savor and become more aware of each moment.

Speaking of awareness, my brother, Bruce Black, is just coming out with a new book, “Writing Yoga,” that is being published by Rodmell Press (www.rodmellpress.com). It’s about the way in which writing a journal, like yoga, can help you find a balance in this hectic world of ours, help you find your own unique voice so that you can sort through the myriad concerns of life and focus on what’s truly important to you.

Looking forward to being in touch!

Rick