In Red Light

Win a Copy of Article 5 by Kristen Simmons

2011-12-16T06:51:00.000-08:00

So Article 5 is not a book of poetry but I am hoping it will be poetic. I'm indulging my fascination with YA dystopian fiction by sharing this contest to win a copy of the new book by Kristen Simmons. Living as I do in the moral epicenter of the right wing religious movement, I can't wait to read this book!

You can read more about it and enter the content by going here: http://www.kristensimmonsbooks.com/blog/

Here a description:

New York, Los Angeles, and Washington, DC have been abandoned.

The Bill of Rights has been revoked, and replaced with the Moral Statutes.

There are no more police—instead, there are soldiers. There are no more fines for bad behavior—instead, there are arrests, trials and maybe worse. People who get arrested don’t usually come back.

Seventeen-year-old Ember Miller is old enough to remember that things weren’t always this way. Living with her rebellious single mother, it’s hard to forget that people weren’t always arrested for reading the wrong books or staying out after dark. That life in the United States used to be different.

In the three years since the war ended, Ember has perfected the art of keeping a low profile. She knows how to get the things she needs—like food stamps and hand-me-down clothes—and how to pass the random home inspections by the Federal Bureau of Reformation. Her life is as close to peaceful as circumstances allow. That is, until her mother is arrested for noncompliance with Article 5 of the Moral Statutes. And what’s worse, one of the arresting officers is none other than Chase Jennings…the only boy Ember has ever loved.

POETRY for the PEOPLE Sept. 25 in Front Royal

2010-09-20T11:46:00.000-07:00

Come on out to a reading and OPEN MIC in Front Royal, VA on Saturday, September 25 at 3:00 PM.

The event will be held at the Samuels Public Library at 330 East Criser Road. All are welcome. Bring a poem to share. Refreshments will be served.

The featured readers, Jose Padua and Julia Campbell Johnson, will be followed by the open mic.

Reader Bios:

Julia Campbell Johnson, a Tennessean by birth, was raised in the southern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Following a 12-year career in public relations in Tennessee, she entered the Master of Fine Arts program at American University in Washington, D.C. Her poems have appeared in Southern Poetry Review, Poet Lore, Timber Creek Review, Prairie Journal and Tundra, among others. Her chapbook, The Tea of the Unforeseen Berry, was a finalist in the 2007 New Women’s Voices Award competition.

José Padua’s poetry and fiction have appeared in Bomb, Salon.com, Exquisite Corpse, Another Chicago Magazine, Unbearables, Crimes of the Beats, Up is Up, but So Is Down: New York’s Downtown Literary Scene, 1974-1992, and many other journals and anthologies. His poetry manuscripts have been finalists for the Many Mountains Moving book award and the Autumn House book award. With his wife, he writes the blog Shenandoah Breakdown.

OPEN MIC
Featured readers will be followed by an open mic. In the spirit of June Jordan’s belief that poetry belongs to all people, members of the public are welcome to come and read a poem or two. Teens and those who have never read before are especially encouraged.

Workhouse Arts Center Poetry Open Mic on Sept. 26

2010-09-20T11:45:00.000-07:00

Poetic Art Open Mic on September 26!

Don't miss the POETRY OPEN MIC with special guest host David "Granmadave" Schein. Reverent or raw, rhymed & metered or free verse, all poets, spoken word performers, professional and rookie alike, are invited to step up to the mic with your original poetry or slam. Please join us for a lively poetic journey on Sunday, September 26 from 2-4pm. Snacks and drinks will be available for purchase.

http://www.workhousearts.org/events/351/poetic-art-open-mic-on-september-26!/

My Poem "Casino" Wins AIW Poetry Award

2010-06-15T13:12:00.000-07:00

Was surprised recently when American Independent Writers chose "Casino" for their 2010 Poetry Award. Received a swanky plaque on Saturday in front of 200 people, where I also told them all that I am pregnant. The poem "Casino" is about gambling on pregnancy later in life.

Read it here at Exhale Magazine: http://www.exhalezine.com/magazine/?page_id=127

Poem Featured in On the Issues

2010-02-05T15:06:00.000-08:00

On the Issues Magazine is featuring my poem "From Armenia" in their current issue here: http://www.ontheissuesmagazine.com/2010winter/2010winter_poetry.php

This issue focuses on Passion, Freedom & Women. Check out the amazing stories, essays, and poems about strong women.

Winding River Writers Mentioned in NoVa Daily

2009-10-26T05:27:00.000-07:00

The writing workshop I've been running for the past 2 years has an official name now: Winding River Writers. We're a group of about eight regulars who meet once a month to read each other's poetry, fiction, plays, and nonfiction. We're all advanced writers intent on publishing.

If you have some experience as a writer and would like to join us, please contact me at hdavis67@gmail.com.

The Northern Virginia daily just mentioned us in an article about local writers' groups:Pen Pals: Writing Clubs Help Members Push Themselves

It's great to see so many groups springing up. There's also now a regular readings series and open mic at The Book of Knowledge on the downtown walking mall in Winchester. It takes place on the first Friday of each month at 7 PM. It's a great store and the audience is very supportive. Check it out!

Shenandoah Breakdown: The Blog

2009-08-04T07:55:00.001-07:00

Check out our new blog Shenandoah Breakdown for observations of local people, culture, cuisine, and varieties of monster truck. We break down the pros and cons, the ups and downs, the funny, the sad, and the scary aspects of living in the Shenandoah Valley and, specifically, of life in the confounding little town of Front Royal, VA.

Hint Fiction Anthology: Call for Submissions

2009-08-03T08:51:00.000-07:00

This sounds like a great exercise to try. I imagine many of these turn out to be quite poetic. Check out the guidelines here:
http://www.robertswartwood.com/?page_id=8
Tentatively scheduled for the fall of 2010, W.W. Norton will publish an anthology of Hint Fiction. What is Hint Fiction? It’s a story of 25 words or less that suggests a larger, more complex story. The thesis of the anthology is to prove that a story 25 words or less can have as much impact as a story 2,500 words or longer. The anthology will include between 100 and 150 stories. We want your best work.

Potty Poetry Story in NV Daily

2009-06-10T04:14:00.000-07:00

Check out this great article on the Bathroom Poetry Project:

http://www.nvdaily.com/lifestyle/2009/06/poetry-project-front-royal-lat.html

For a Good Time, Call...

2009-05-27T11:52:00.001-07:00

The Bathroom Poetry Project Progressive Reading was a hoot! About 25 brave poetry fans walked with us to 15 downtown shops in Front Royal, VA on May 21 to hear great bathroom poetry. Actually, the poems had nothing to do with bathrooms--we just hung some of them in bathrooms where patrons' cannot help but see and read them.

Thanks to all who came out! We'll have another reading in a few months with a second round of poems by local adult and teen writers!

A Poem by Maggie

2009-05-27T11:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a poem by Maggie, who is 5. Watch out, Mary Oliver!

The Butterfly Wind

I was playing outside in the grass

and my mother called me for dinner.

The berry blossoms sprang open.

It was a late night.

The dazzle blossoms sprung closed.

I walked into the house.

They were having flower dazzles.

The bluebirds burst out of their eggs

and flew over the fields of grain.

It was morning.

The bluebirds turned into giant eagles.

Bathroom Poetry Project Comes to Front Royal, VA

2009-04-08T03:55:00.001-07:00

CALL for POEMS!

The Front Royal Women’s Resource Center and the Blue Ridge Arts Council (BRAC) invite teen and adult poets from Warren County, Virginia to submit poems to the Front Royal Bathroom Poetry Project.

The Bathroom Poetry Project is an exploration of poetry in non-traditional spaces that will—
--allow the public to experience the arts in an unexpected way
--bring visitors to downtown businesses
--encourage writing by local authors.

At least 20 winning poems will be framed and displayed in the bathrooms or other spaces of restaurants and shops in downtown Front Royal, VA for a period of three months.

The winners will also be invited to participate in a “progressive reading” of the poems at each venue and an opening reception at BRAC to be held Thursday, May 21 as part of the Third Thursday Art Walk.

DEADLINE for Submissions: Friday May 1, 2009

Submission Guidelines:

Poems will be accepted from poets who live in Warren County, Virginia.
Poems can be on any topic and in any form but should be appropriate for a wide audience.
Poems must be typed in 12-point font and be no longer than one page single-spaced.
Poets may submit up to 3 poems.
The name of the poet must not appear anywhere on the poem itself but should be included on a separate cover sheet.
Separate cover sheet should include name, address, phone and email and the title of the poems submitted. Teens should note their age on this sheet.
Adult and teen contests will be judged separately. Each venue downtown will display one poem by an adult and one poem by a teen. Teens aged 13-18 are invited to submit to the contest.
Contest entries must be mailed by regular mail to: Bathroom Poetry Project, FRWRC, P.O. Box 1748, Front Royal, VA 22630.
Contest is free—no entry fee required.

For more information—
Contact project coordinator Heather Davis at heatheredit@cs.com.
Go to http://bathroompoet.net/index.html.

Winchester Poetry Reading and Open Mic on April 3, 2009

2009-03-20T04:28:00.000-07:00

Come on out on Friday, April 3 to a poetry reading and open mic at The Book of Knowledge in the Winchester downtown walking mall. Wine and hors d'oeuvres will be served. Six local poets will be featured.

Details are below:

POETRY READING AND OPEN MIC NIGHT IN WINCHESTER

Date: Friday, April 3, 2009
Time: 6:30 pm-9:30 pm (acoustic duo and refreshments at 5:30)
Location: The Book of Knowledge, 7 North Loudoun Street, Winchester, VA

Featured Poets:

Carolyn Wolfe-Carolyn Wolfe’s book, When The Moon Speaks, is a compilation of poems written over a thirty year period. They range from her college days in the 70’s to the New Millennium. Her poetry emphasizes topics ranging from her strong belief in animal rights to lighter fair including love, life and laughing at ourselves. She lives in Winchester, VA with her husband Scott and her animal companions.

Joshua Legg– Joshua Legg frequently develops his poetry into material for performance in dance and theatre works. In 2006-2007, Joshua participated in the poetry workshop in Harvard University’s Creative Writing Program, and is currently crafting a novel in verse.

Maggie Stetler-Maggie Stetler, a post 9/11 refugee from New York City, has read her work at The Donnell Library, Tompkins Square Library, Provincetown Playhouse, and Queens College in NYC. She has two Chapbooks, The Naming of The Soul and The Chain. Her poems have appeared in The Small Pond Magazine of Literature, Telephone, Woman child, Kosmos, West Wind Review, among others. For her first poetry collection, In The Belly of the Whale, she was named a finalist in the Pearl Poetry Contest. Also a Reiki practitioner, Maggie now lives in Old Town Winchester with her artist husband and five cats.

Heather Davis-Heather Davis earned a B.A. in English from Hollins University and a M.A. in creative writing from Syracuse University. She is the author of The Lost Tribe of Us, winner of the 2007 Main Street Rag Poetry Award. Her poems have appeared in Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Cream City Review, Poet Lore, Puerto del Sol, and Sonora Review, among others. She lives in Front Royal, VA with her husband, the poet Jose Padua, and their daughter. She also serves on the coordinating committee of the Split This Rock Poetry Festival and is an active member of D.C. Poets Against War.

Jose Padua-Jose Padua’s poetry and fiction have appeared in Bomb, Salon.com, Exquisite Corpse, Another Chicago Magazine, Unbearables, Crimes of the Beats, and many other journals and anthologies. He has read his work at the Lollapalooza Festival, CBGB’s, the Knitting Factory, the Black Cat Club, the Public Theater, the Washington Project for the Arts, and many other venues. His chapbook, The Complete Failure of Everything , was published by Apathy Press.

Laura Levesque Madagan– Laura grew up in Baltimore, MD. She earned her Bachelor’s in Creative Writing and English Literature from the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque in 1996. She is an active member of several online poetry boards and has been published in The Montage, Ensemble, and others. She currently lives with her three children in Winchester and works for the Loudoun County government in Leesburg, VA.

Everyone is encouraged to share their poetry. Open to everyone.

Free event sponsored by The Book Of Knowledge.

Call 540-545-8878 for more info or email to thebookofknowledge@verizon.net

Front Royal Reading and Open Mic a Huge Success

2009-03-20T04:18:00.000-07:00

In the beautiful and cozy setting of Changes Antique Gallery, 3 featured poets and 16 open mic readers performed in celebration of Women's History Month last Saturday, March 14. The creative vibe was palpable as local poets from teens to seniors got up an shared their work. The house was packed!

Thanks go out to Catherine Wolnievicz for her hard work to coordinate the event, JoEllen McNeal for her enthusiasm and support, Tory, Pat, Christian, and Melissa for hosting the event and providing refreshments, and guest featured readers Mattie Quesenberry Smith and Julia Campbell Johnson.

Here is the article in the Warren Sentinel: http://www.shenandoah.com/stories/?headlineID=17427&sourceID=68

Stop by Changes Antiques Gallery sometime to see the current art show on their walls and shop for something unique then head next door for excellent wine and cheese at Vino y Formaggio then to the neighboring D & B Chocolates for handmade chocolates, fudge, and gelato!

Review of Hagerstown Reading

2009-02-02T10:06:00.000-08:00

Wow, someone was really listening! Check out this write-up by reporter Lauren LaRocca. You'll have to scroll down a bit to find the story.

"...the reading was a bright spot — sometimes piercing lemon yellow — on an otherwise cold and dreary Saturday afternoon in Hagerstown...I was most inspired by Heather Davis and Jose Padua, who are poets and happen to be married — or maybe it’s the other way around."

And visit the Washington County Museum of Fine Art--it is a gorgeous place.

https://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/blogs/blog.htm?bid=7&headerTitle=the%20art%20chakra

New Poem Published in Exhalezine.com

2008-12-19T04:28:00.000-08:00

Exhale is a "literary magazine for intelligent people who have lost a baby,or have trouble making babies in the first place." Check out my new poem "Casino" just published in Exhale. This is a unique and much needed lit mag. Click on the button below to go to Exhale:

2 Readings in January with Jose Padua

2008-12-11T12:02:00.000-08:00

The old man and I will be reading together on two Sundays in January. Jose has been very productive since we moved to the boonies where people look at us (and especially him) real funny. You won't want to miss his new P-Funk inspired piece!

Sunday, January 11:
Iota Club & Cafe
Arlington, VA
6 PM
IOTA is located at 2832 Wilson Boulevard in the Clarendon neighborhood of Arington, VA. Wilson Boulevard starts in Rosslyn, which is just across the river from Washington D.C. IOTA is just a couple miles up on Wilson, between Edgewood and Fillmore Streets.

Sunday, January 18:
Washington County Museum of the Fine Arts
Hagerstown, MD
2:30 PM
"The Lost Tribe of Us" featuring poets Heather Davis, Sonja James and Jose Padua with music by the Frederick Baroque Ensemble.
Location: In the middle of the beautiful Hagerstown City Park, the Museum is easily accessible from Interstates 70 and 81. Click here for directions. Free admission. Plenty of free parking. Building is fully accessible to those with disabilities.

Reading at The Daily Grind on July 17 and More

2008-07-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

Jose Padua, Kristin Camitta Zimet, and I will be reading at The Daily Grind at 215 Main Street in Front Royal on Thursday July 17.

This event is part of the Third Thursday Art Walk in Front Royal--come on down and sip on a cool coffee frap and catch some metaphors then stroll on over to The Lucky Star Lounge for some Guinness or hard cider.

Future Readings:

Thursday, August 21 at the Gallery of the Blue Ridge Arts Council as part of "Virginia Monologues"
Sunday, September 14 at Iota Bar and Cafe in Clarendon, VA
Friday, October 3 at the Winchester Book Gallery in Winchester, VA

Poetry Coming to Front Royal!

2008-05-22T13:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I've finally hooked up with some artsy folks here in Front Royal and it looks like Jose (my ever faithful companion) and I will be reading on July 17 somewhere on Main Street. We're still working out the details. There is now a Third Thursday Art Walk in Front Royal and more shops are opening up. A new bar called the Lucky Star Bar is coming and a gourmet wine and cheese shop. Yeeha! We're just bursting with kultcha!

The reading in Lexington at Studio 11 was fantastic. Lexington is a beautiful town and Jeanne Larsen and Mattie Quesenberry Smith were so much fun to read with. But I really want to know how Mattie manages to write anything while home schooling her 10 kids--I mean, oh my gosh!

Here are 2 beautiful poems from Jeanne's latest book of translations from the Chinese --Willow, Wine, Mirror, Moon:

Poem is attributed (!) to Pei Yixian, dates unknown, Tang dynasty
(618-907 CE):

MISSING HIM: TWO POEMS
1.
Winds lift and curl the level
sands. Sun slips
into their dusk. Signal
smoke. A distant guess--
nomads' flocks on the move.
called up, captured, gone sick
in the camps: some
heroes never come home.
I'll wear out my gaze on
barbarous skies. I'll
cry over clouds
on the northern front.

2.
Once, love, you patrolled
the western tribes. Deployed,
you took war's force
to be no heavy thing.
Now you're gone.
You're one of the dead.
What point, this leaving
a woman like me, here
to hate the dull
half-light of another day's end?

Events Coming Up Soon!

2008-04-16T05:52:00.000-07:00

Come on out!

Book Signing:
Friday and Saturday, April 25 (2-8 PM) & April 26 (11-6 PM)
With Jose Padua and Pat Padua--Selling and signing books and photos
Winchester Wine and Fine Arts Festival
Old Town Mall-Loudon Street
Winchester, VA
http://www.thebloom.com/events/wine-arts-festival.html

Reading:
Friday, May 9, 8:00 PM
With Jose Padua and Sarah Browning of Split This Rock
Art-O-Matic
Capitol Plaza I
1200 First Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
Metro: Red Line, New York Ave., M St exit
http://www.artomatic.org/

Reading:
Friday, May 16, 7:00 PM
With Jeanne Larsen and Mattie Quesenberry Smith; Artist reception for Agnes Carbrey
Studio 11
11 S. Jefferson St.
Lexington,VA
(540) 463-2799
http://www.studioelevenlexva.com/

Split This Rock Festival a Smashing Success—Inspires Hundreds of Poet-Activists

2008-03-24T05:01:00.000-07:00

I'm back to the day job after 4 amazing days at the Split This Rock Festival. Yes, I want to live every day in The Republic of Poetry. Read about the festival here--it was incredible:

The four-day festival brought hundreds of poets of conscience and activists to Washington, D.C. from all over the United States for readings, panels, workshops, a film program, walking tours, open Mics, and inspiration. The turn-out and the quality of the events were spectacular, exceeding all expectations. The Washington Post covered the festival in a lengthy and poetic article by reporter David Montgomery entitled, "Averse to War: Split This Rock's Army of Poets Marches Into Town and Raises the Anti."

Here is an excerpt:

"The poets are in town. Dozens -- no, hundreds. Hundreds of poets. Can you imagine? They are everywhere.

In long, disheveled columns, they are prowling Langston Hughes's old neighborhood around U Street NW. They are eating catfish at Busboys and Poets (where else?) and quoting Hughes, Shelley and Whitman back and forth -- "Through me many long dumb voices" -- over the hummus and merlot.

They are signing fans' battered paperbacks and shiny new ones bought on credit (autographs!). They are squinting from the stage into the cathedral depths of a filled high school auditorium, amazed at the turnout. They are sharing with preschoolers the miracle of closely observed turtles and infinity in a drop of water.

Also, to mark the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, they are getting ready to march on the White House."

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Poet Karren LaLonde Alenier has also posted several write ups on the festival at her blog, The Dressing. Click here to read her commentary and see photos.

I'll write more about the festival soon! It was absolutely fantastic!

A Reader's Reaction to The Lost Tribe of Us

2008-03-07T03:34:00.000-08:00

I just received this from a reader:

"Just wanted to tell you how totally goddamned impressed I am with The Lost Tribe of Us. It¹s really quite an accomplishment. Just finished reading it front to back for the second time -- this time stone cold sober (mostly) -- and marveled at how it¹s positively fractal the way there¹s a entire life contained within the book and then sometimes within a single poem and then even a single line. Seriously. I found it thrilling.

You want proof? You know how you turn down the corner of a page if what you're reading is something you want to save or come back later to remember? Fully half the pages have already been clipped. I hope you're appropriately honored to know that it will be going on our bathroom shelf somewhere between Beckett, Bukowski and Jane Kenyon.

By the way, Christmas Poem for You is about the most beautiful love poem I've ever read."

New Writing Group in Winchester and Front Royal

2008-02-15T05:39:00.000-08:00

I am starting a new writing group in the Winchester and Front Royal area. Here is an article in the Northern Virginia Daily about the group:

http://www.nvdaily.com/lifestyle/290994643852836.bsp

If you are interested or know someone who wants to join a workshop group (fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and children's lit), please contact me at heatheredit@cs.com.

This group is for intermediate-level writers only. No genre fiction please (romance, sci-fi, Christian). We will meet once a month and provide feedback to one another.

If interested, please send me a sample of your work. Hope to hear from you!

Two Readings and a Book Signing Coming Up

2008-02-15T05:37:00.001-08:00

I've got two readings and a book signing coming up in March. Come on out now, ya hear!

1. Monday, March 3 at 8 PM
Reading for So to Speak and Phoebe Magazines
Busboys and Poets in Shirlington, VA
4251 South Campbell Avenue
Arlington, VA 22206
www.busboysandpoets.com

2. Sunday, March 9 at 6 PM
Iota Poetry Series
"Split This Rock"/Beltway Magazine preview reading
with Heather Davis, Brian Gilmore,
Steven B. Rogers, and Melissa Tuckey
2832 Wilson Boulevard
Arlington, VA 22201
http://www.iotaclubandcafe.com/

3. Saturday, March 29, 9 am to 4 pm
Book signing at Virginia Festival of the Book
Main Street Rag Publishing Company Table
Omni Charlottesville Hotel Atrium
235 W. Main Street
Charlottesville, 22902
http://www.vabook.org/index.html

What Readers Are Saying

2008-01-25T12:52:00.000-08:00

Got this note today from someone in Texas. Nice to hear!

Dear Ms. Davis:

I rarely read a poetry collection all the way through at one sitting, but I couldn't tear myself away from THE LOST TRIBE OF US. Congratulations on a wonderful book. The poems are tender even in their toughness, and always well-crafted.

--A reader in Comfort, TX

2008-01-16T07:12:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine, Ed Hamilton, is reading at Olsson's in Dupont Circle (Washington, D.C.) from his hilarious new book about living at the infamous Chelsea Hotel in NYC. Come on out and see him on January 31. Ed and his partner Debbie have lived in one room in the Chelsea for more than 10 years next to poets, weirdos, and artists alike. More details are below. Or check out their excellent blog at http://legends.typepad.com/.

Thursday, January 31, 2008, 7pm, at Olsson's-Dupont Circle, 1307 19th St. NW, 202-785-1133 Ed Hamilton - Legends of the Chelsea Hotel: Living with the Artists and Outlaws of New York's Rebel Mecca

There’s a current that courses through the old Chelsea Hotel, a weird electricity that drives people relentlessly to create. It’s an energy that longtime resident and creator of "Living with Legends: Hotel Chelsea Blog" Ed Hamilton will tell you often drives inhabitants to madness. Chelsea residents past and present include: Dee Ramone, Ethan Hawke, Sid Vicious, Ryan Adams, club kid/murdered Michael Alig, Sarah Bernhardt, the Warthog Factory’s Richard Bernstein, Victor Backrest, Charles Bukowski, Leonard Cohen, Lesbian activist Stormed DeLarverie, Bob Dylan, Allen Ginsberg, Herbert Huneke, Janis Joplin, Jack Kerouac, Madonna, Edgar Lee Masters, Arthur Miller. Edie Sedgwick, Sam Shepard, Patti Smith, Dylan Thomas, and Rufus Wainwright.

Poetry Deadlines for Split This Rock Poetry Festival

2007-12-19T13:59:00.001-08:00

Read, Write, Resist! In Washington, D.C. in March 2008, the Split This Rock Poetry Festival will celebrate our great tradition of poetry of witness and resistance. The festival will feature readings, workshops, panel discussions on poetry and social change, youth programming, films, parties, walking tours, and activism—a unique opportunity to hone our activist skills while we assess and debate the public role of the poet and the poem in this time of crisis. As citizens and artists, our obligation has never been greater. We call on poets of conscience to move to the center of public life as we forge a visionary new arts movement for peace and justice.

There are 3 upcoming deadlines related to the festival: 1) A poetry contest with significant cash prizes 2) A call for panel proposals 3) A call for film and video submissions.

Please go to http://www.splitthisrock.org/ for more information and to REGISTER for the festival. It's going to rock!

Book Release Party Rocks the House

2007-11-06T15:28:00.000-08:00

How strange is it to read poems about your family in front of your family? Well, no one ran screaming out of the room so I guess it all worked out. My mother actually said she liked them! Wow, go figure! Many friends and family from far and wide came to celebrate my first book and our new house in Front Royal. Publisher Scott Douglass from Main Street Rag came with the copies and enjoyed a Guinness on our front porch. He did a beautiful job with the printing. Check out his website and other books at www.mainstreetrag.com.

My brother-in-law Pat Padua provided the photos for the covers. Check out his flicker site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ppad/

A great little bluegrass trio came to play in our living room and our street--Blue Ridge Avenue--rocked out to the sounds of guitar and mandolin that drifted from our windows. To book these guys, check out this Shenandoah Music page: http://www.shenandoahmusic.com/houseconcerts.htm

My next reading will be at Busboys and Poets on Sunday, December 16 at 4 PM at 2021 14th Street, NW as part of the Sunday Kind of Love Series. Come on out and see me and fellow Poet Against the War Mike Maggio!

2007-09-11T04:10:00.000-07:00

Book Release Party and Reading for The Lost Tribe of Us

Main Street Rag Publishing Company will host a book release party and reading on Saturday, October 13 in Front Royal, Virginia for The Lost Tribe of Us, which won the 2007 Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award. The Lost Tribe of Us is the first book by poet Heather Davis. Of her work, Stephen Dobyns says, “Heather Davis has a fine lyric voice that rests upon an incredible sense of syntax, pacing and rhythm. The result is a seamlessness that any other poet might envy. Her poems have a clarity, intelligence and deep emotional centers that make them a pleasure to read and re-read.” Heather has work forthcoming in Beltway Poetry Quarterly and has been published by Poet Lore, Cream City Review, Slipstream, Word Wrights, and others. The event begins at 4:00 pm in Front Royal. For more information or for directions, please email hdavis@jsi.com or call 703-593-0241. Read excerpts from the book here: http://www.mainstreetrag.com/H_Davis.html.

My Book of Poems Now Available!

2007-07-27T13:58:00.000-07:00

My first book of poems, The Lost Tribe of Us, is available for pre-ordering from Main Street Rag Publishing Company. Go to http://www.mainstreetrag.com/store/ComingSoon.php to read more about it. If you order online now, you can get the book for $8.00.

The book is scheduled for release on October 22. Details about the release party will be posted here soon!

Here are some comments about the book and a few samples:

"Heather's poems skewer the soft white underbelly of America's walking dead. She protects her own, but rips the skin off their enemies and turns it inside out--and all this in words that are not cliches. Think of how impossible that feat is in these replicating times. "

--Ron Kolm, author of the Plastic Factory

"In The Lost Tribe of Us, Heather Davis offers her readers vivid, occasionally comic, more often gut-wrenching poems that, in the first part of the book, engage with the lives of members of a large family-all the vulnerabilities and pathos of poverty: repossessed cars, joblessness, leaky roofs, too small houses, second-hand clothing and teen-age pregnancy. Later, the scope of the poems widens to include aspects of the world at large: war, terrorism, rape, imprisonment, incest, mental illness, much of what troubled flesh is heir to. But to say simply that the poems are about big subjects that really matter is not to do them justice. They are invariably characterized by exquisite formal control, the always lovely deployment of language that is a delight to the eye and ear. The Lost Tribe of Us is a wonderful first book by an exceptionally gifted poet."

--Eric Trethewey

A few poems from the book:

Architecture

Mother, on the news of your pregnancy,
I thought of one thing:
how the pleasure my lover and I build barehanded
is nothing compared to your architecture,
the house of your body renovated,
full again after seven children;
and I remembered how, before I left home,
every detail of the place looked back at me,
foreign as an ocean floor,
the shadows of pines delicate as coral
against white clapboard,
the foundation settled like a sunken ship,
steeped in unnatural, seeping light.
I wondered how long old timbers can stand
secure in their sockets of earth.

Family Members

are like phantom arms or legs.
They fool you into thinking
your body is bigger than your body.
They are the ghosts you carry, so real
you could use your sister's arm
to lift a bowl of cherries,
your brother's leg to bound up stairs.
Even your organs throb in duplicate
and your voice unrolls in tones
you know as yours, but not yours.
For better or worse, these parts are
the mother and father who get cut off,
but do not leave you, the siblings
you must leave behind, but who
refuse to stay put, all of us attached
for longer than we realize,
and at the most embarrassing places.

Showing Scars

Stand at the jukebox, contraposto,
shoving warm coins into a slot.
Some man will wobble close,
stomach protruding smooth as an egg
from his untucked workshirt.
In a hazy room lined with breasts
and yeasty breath he will want
to tell you about his wife, his life,
the scar on his arm. Sit down
with a cough, thoughts scattered
like pool balls. His eyes will be
glazed and thick-lashed, beautiful
as a woodland animal's. Ten
years in the pen for assault
with a deadly weapon and
he would do it again. Where the bullet
entered his own flesh, where he
accidentally shot himself, will be
a hole, the mark of his misdirection.
Where his beer spills will spread
a dark stain. Touch a finger
to the hardened wound. His buddies
will turn toward your corner,
then sidle over from their stools
with nudges and laughter.
Lean in slowly, whisper oh, my God
while each in his turn shows off
a limb and what it's missing.

Great Reading Last Night

2007-04-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

Last night I read some poems at the Arlington Arts Center with the other winners of the Moving Words Series. We were supposed to read inside the building in a room with huge stained glass windows, but the power was out for some reason. So we moved the reading outside and sat under the trees--it was much nicer that way!

Thanks to the Arlington Cultural Affairs Division for organizing the Moving Words program. It puts poems on every bus in northern VA all year round--we all need more poetry these days especially in the most mundane of settings!

Here is my poem that appears on the buses in northern VA through June:

Folk Art

Because the reeds have to be soaked first,
because she'll weave them
in and out for hours, because the tips of the fingers,
exposed to water and reed,
dry out, the skin's oils going into the basket,
what they call folk art, we call
heart's blood, eagle-eye, compass and clock.
In our house, because of this,
we can say our mother's knowledge of making
sits on the table, full of fruit.

My Book of Poems To Be Published!

2007-04-17T03:37:00.000-07:00

My first book of poems, The Goodbye You Dream Of, has won the 2007 Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award. It will be published in October/November of this year. Look here in the future for more news about where it will be available.

Here is a link to Main Street Rag in Charlotte, North Carolina:

http://www.mainstreetrag.com/PoBkCont.html

Listen to a Poem

2007-03-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

Click on the link below to hear me read my poem "The Good Science Experiment" about the strangeness of pregnancy and procreation.

http://www.arlingtonva.us/Departments/Topics/Documents/7614The_Good_Science_Experiment.mp3

This poem was a finalist in an Arlington READS competition about identity. Ten finalists, whose work was selected in a juried competition, read their work at a community poetry reading at the Shirlington library, on October 1, 2006.

Next Reading

2007-03-30T11:03:00.000-07:00

Come see me read on Tuesday, April 24 at 7:30 PM:

Moving Words Poetry Reading : Winners of the 2007 Moving Words Poetry Competition for adults will read from their works at a poetry reading and reception at the Arlington Arts Center. Winners are Heather Davius, Bernadette Geyer, Jacqueline Jules, Miles David Moore, David Moss and Judith Turner-Yamamoto. Their poems will be displayed on Northern Virginia Metrobuses from April - September, 2007. Moving Words is sponsored by the Washington Area Metropolitan Transit Authority, Metro and the Arlington Department of Environmental Services Commuter Assistance Program. 7:30 p.m. Free. Arlington Arts Center 703-228-1841 http://www.arlingtonarts.org/cultural_affairs/movingwords.htm

Poem About Spit Up

2007-03-30T10:08:00.000-07:00

Brooch

Mothers, wear it proudly, that splotch of spit-up
on your collar, shaped like nothing in particular. Pretend
it’s the most finely crafted brooch, concocted by a wild
artist from New Orleans who works in a dank swamp
beside her dogs and dark lover. All snakey hair
and languid eyes, she is outrageously beautiful, chock
full of voodoo. Did she call to you, voice like a river, then
point with her tick-tock hands till you had to have every
otherworldly piece of hers, no matter what the cost? She’s
terribly dangerous and every day you thank her.

--Heather Davis