Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Stasis to Radiance: April Celebrations at Feral Mom


Tania Pryputniewicz
Photo Patrick Lizza
Occidental Center for the Arts November Butterfly Poetry/Movie/Art Launch Success

What a busy month—crowned by a beautiful weekend in Sonoma County at Occidental Center for the Arts. I’ll be posting video footage from the event later when we edit it (thanks to Peter Pryputniewicz and Patrick Lizza on camera), but for now, I wanted to share this photo taken by the banks of Austin Creek in the green heart of Russian River land. Patrick and my poetry movie collaborator Robyn Beattie helped me overcome some stage fright. Though the takes of the title poem, November Butterfly, were trumped by nature’s rushing water, reciting the poem so many times for the camera made for a no-nerves live performance in front of my home crowd (with my father on piano). I feel the photo captures my love for words and the river.

Photo Robyn Beattie
Cover Design Don Mitchell
Tweetspeak Poetry Reviews November Butterfly

I came home to San Diego to a new review of November Butterfly (Saddle Road Press, 2014) by Glynn Young (thank you Tweetspeak!). Young chose to focus on the poem, Mordred’s Dream, a Refusal from the Camelot section of the book:

In the poem, Mordred is refusing his mother’s demand that he betray Arthur. But the fact that the title indicates this is a dream, and the subtitle “A Refusal” doesn’t preclude a later acceptance, moves the figure of Mordred into a different place. He knows what she is asking is a terrible wrong, even if it is “only” a dream. –Glynn Young, Poets and Poems: Tania Pryputniewicz and November Butterfly, Tweetspeak Poetry

You can read rest of review here: Poetry From Poets and Poems: Tania Pryputniewicz and November Butterfly. Tweetspeak offers a rich newsletter, ongoing poetry prompts, and a diverse and lively comment community should you be looking for conversation and inspiration. Tweetspeak is looking for poems about blue jeans...read about it here, post your poem in their comments: Show Us Your (Poetry) Jeans.

Tarot Writing Class Forming: Wheel of Archetypal Selves: Hanged One to Star

We just finished a rich and fertile trek through Wheel of Archetypal Selves: Lovers to Strength, focusing on Arcanum VI to Arcanum XI. Join me May 18 for the next Wheel of Archetypal Selves Tarot Writing course, Stasis to Radiance: Hanged One to Star (Arcanum XII to Arcanum XVII). We spend one week on each Major, writing to our associations and considering the interpretations of a variety of Tarot scholars. We journal our way closer to a lived understanding of the cards, sometimes writing essays, poetry, or reveries of unnamed form. Our new class is taking shape as we speak; join us online. To sign up, visit Story Circle Network: Wheel of Archetypal Selves: Hanged One to Star.

Liz Brennan and Tania Pryputniewicz
Call for Atlas of Goodbyes at Perhaps, Maybe

Liz Brennan is looking for prose poem submissions for her Atlas of Goodbye Series. Here’s a link to the first one she wrote, Atlas of Goodbye #1, which begins:

"Perhaps I feel your absence today in a loosening lull in the rain after a clap of thunder shakes the upper windows..."

And a link to the one I wrote, starring, at his request, my husband: Atlas of Goodbye #2, which begins:

"Perhaps I feel your absence more keenly beside you four months before we marry in February chill of river house..."

And a link to one by Tess P., Atlas of Goodbyes #3:

"Perhaps it is a small gesture that we practice saying goodbye to you in this way--you are everywhere: postcards, baseball hats, sweatshirts, tote bags, water bottles, coffee cups, Christmas cards and so on..."

Please do write and send one in to Liz!

Sculpture Sandy Frank
Poem by Tania Pryputniewicz
Poetry Sculpture: Sandy Frank’s work at the Annual California Clay Competition, Davis

Sculpture by Sandy Frank will be featured in a show at Davis, California this coming weekend, May 1-3,  for the 26 Annual California Clay Competition Exhibit. Reception: Friday, May 1st, 7-9 p.m. Visit The Artery’s website for more details.

Sculpture by Frank includes this one featuring the poem Someone,  published in November Butterfly (Saddle Road Press, 2014).

If in Davis, stop in and support her work. Here’s a link to my web page where you’ll find notes about our process of sculpture/poetry collaboration and a few more photos of Sandy's poetry sculptures, including one using the words from Selke and Seer sections of the poem A Maritime Trilogy, also published in November Butterfly: Collaborations for Bread

Extract(s) selects three Poems from November Butterfly:

Veil, Veil II and Transport will appear at Extract(s) later in May; I will post a link as soon as it goes live. May 11 update: Poems live: Guinevere reflects on her abduction, Guinevere to Lancelot, and Lancelot Grieves in Veil, Veil II and Transport.

Edith O'Nuallain
Mother Writer Mentor

New post is up by Edith O’ Nuallain, across the sea from her home in Ireland; her post is all about Mining the Unbliss of Motherhood and the realities of forging a writer’s identity while raising children. 

Edith writes: "I used to imagine that all my favourite female saints and mystics, those dead fore-sisters from the paeans of my Catholic childhood were rushing past me, brushing my lips, my cheeks, my hair with the vestiges of their silent presence. Then I felt as if I was flying, soaring through the skies of my imagined paradise..." 

Read rest of her post here: Mining the Unbliss of Motherhood and do stop and leave her a comment, or write us your own guest post and let us know how you stay sane, thrive, love your children, and love your way to your own writing.



Sunday, March 29, 2015

November Butterfly Launches in Occidental Today

We have been hard at work putting together a beautiful afternoon for you--if in Sonoma County, I hope you'll take the drive through the redwoods down along Bohemian Highway to the Occidental Center for the Arts (3850 Doris Murphy Way, corner of Bohemian Highway and Graton Road).

The doors open at 2:30 and the event runs from 3-5 p.m. and is free, though books and artwork will be for sale following the reading. Donations to the OCA are also accepted.

I will be reading poems from my first poetry collection, November Butterfly (Saddle Road Press, 2014) and screening movies we've made for poems in the Camelot section of the book, Mordred's Dream (originally published by Poetry Flash), Corridor, Thumbelina (originally published by the NonBinary Review / Zoetic Press and a finalist for Sundress Publication's Best of the Net Award in the category of poetry) and Amelia (awarded Juror’s Best of Show at the 2012 2D/3D visual poetry show held at the LH Horton Jr Gallery at San Joaquin Delta College).

Additionally, and in particular what adds a special dimension to the afternoon is that we will have artwork by Sonoma County Artists including Genevieve Barnhart (bronze sculptures), Loreen Barry (mixed media), Paul Beattie (ink print), Robyn Beattie (photography, including image of artwork by Christiane Vincent), Chris Boyd, Sandy Frank (ceramic sculpture--pictured here), Barbara Hoffmann (ceramics), Orion James (ceramics), Monty Monty (assemblage sculpture), and Ron Rodgers  (bronze sculpture).

November Butterfly was published in November of 2014 by Saddle Road Press.

(Cover photo by Robyn Beattie. Cover Design, Don Mitchell, Saddle Road Press.)

For more information: visit the full event description, with links to short radio interview, on my main website: November Butterfly Launches in Occidental. Here's the Sonoma Spotlight Radio Interview at KRCB with Roland Jacopetti.

Special thanks to the Occidental Center for the Arts: Suze Cohan, Judith Moorman, their volunteers, Lori O'Hara for helping today with books, Patrick Fanning on sound and Patrick Lizza, videographer.

Additional thanks due to Tracking Wonder's beautiful group of artists, and the work of Jeffrey Davis on #Livethequest.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

March Events for November Butterfly

Author Signing, Coronado Public Library

I’ll be signing copies of my poetry collection, November Butterfly on Saturday, March 14th from: 2-4 p.m. in the Winn Room of the Coronodo Public Library along with other local authors. I would love to see you there. 

Other writers you'll get to meet should you stop by include:

George Galdorisi, Leslie Crawford, Carl Luna, Jennifer Franks, Donald Hubbard, Raye Rinhgholz, Belinda Jones, Ted M. Nulty, Tamara Merrill, Jane Mitchell, Sue Crum, Cornelia Feye, Judy Eby, Alan Retzky.

Robyn Beattie, Guest Artist Exhibit in Sebastopol, "Get Pie-Eyed with Lauri Luck
Angel Bones by Robyn Beattie
at Dog House Studio"

My poetry movie collaborator Robyn Beattie is having an art show, hosted by Laurie Luck at Dog House Studio; if in Sebastopol for the weekend of March 14 and 15, stop in and see Robyn’s beautiful photographs. Visitors will be offered a piece of pie from 12-4 each day. Visit Robyn’s site: www.robynbeattie.com

Dog House Studio is located at 2371 Gravenstein Hwy. South, Sebastopol, CA 95472 (Turn at the Giant Yellow Duck and look for the “Lucky” sign).



Poetry, Poetry Movies, and Sonoma County Artists

Photo by Robyn Beattie
November Butterfly book launch will be hosted in Sonoma County by the Occidental Center for the Arts on Sunday, March 29 from 3-5 p.m. I'm very excited about this event which combines poetry reading, poetry movie screenings for Amelia, Corridor, Mordred's Dream, Thumbelina, and artwork. 

 On hand that afternoon we will have works of art featured in the four movies we will be screening by Sonoma County Artists Genevieve Barnhart, Loreen Barry, Paul Beattie, Robyn Beattie, Chris Boyd, Sandy Frank, Barbara Hoffmann, Orion James, Monty Monty, and Ron Rodgers. Sonoma County musicians Michael Greenberg, Lori O'Hara and Stephen Pryputniewicz provided the music behind the poetry movies. Stephen Pryputniewicz will be playing piano live for the event. 

New post up at Laundry Line Divine


At the invitation of Suzi Banks Baum, I wrote a post about the concept of The Village: Who Else Mothers When I am Here:

When the Mirror Daughter surfaces and the Empress fails to soothe, I turn to my tribe, in person, and online. Writing, collaborating, reaching out. Sorting through my poetry movie collaborator Robyn’s  beautiful images, searching for the ones that nail the day’s litany—today, Mirror Daughter, Water Mobius, twin Auburn Seed Pods, Girl Surfacing. Images and phrases merge in this healing mobius of collaboration, sometimes image first, sometimes words. Named, thus loved, brought into the open where they can be explored outside of the charged moments of living. My collaborators then, are also at the table while I mother.



Tarot for Two: Ace of Disks and Princess of Swords

Mary Allen and I continue to blog at Tarot for Two. This month's card of the month writings focus on the Ace of Disks and the Princess of Swords. 

Excerpt from Mary:

The Ace of Disks in the Thoth deck represents the wings of the Archangels, or at least that’s always how I describe it when I’m reading the cards for someone:  There are layers on layers of deep blue-green peacock-feather like wings, and there are some brown rings like the growth rings of bark in a tree, and at the center is a circle with two pentacles, one inside the other, inside it, and inside that are three little disks, which, I read somewhere recently, represent actual money, the angel’s wings and the bark representing layers and levels of spiritual growth and gifts. 

Excerpt from Tania:

I’m always drawn to the green light in the Princess of Swords. I was going to say that the green light shrouds her, but it doesn’t—she is green, thighs and arms and face lined gold due to the light emanating from behind rubble of dark clouds substantial enough apparently to brace her two slippered feet. Her sheer blue gown drapes off her thighs in swordfish pleats through which the green gold of her body permeates. Her helmet is the same dim blue as down-facing sword she holds in her right arm, having just finished a decisive swipe at the sky. The loose infinity loop of light could be something she wards off, or it could be the energy created by her act of protection.


Interview up at TCJWW

Jen Teeter-Moore was kind enough to post this interview about November Butterfly at The California Journal of Women Writers.

Upcoming Classes:


Classes are forming for my next Tarot and Writing Course offered online through Story Circle Network. Sign up here for Wheel of Archetypal Selves: Lovers to Strength.

Or join me in person at San Diego Writers, Ink for Intermediate Blogging.