From the desk of Margaret R. Sáraco:

December 2024

Friends and family,

I am thrilled to have met so many new writers and friends this year and enjoyed much on professional and personal levels. Alex and I took a mini-vacation and spent a few days in Washington, D.C. going to some art museums. The visit, at times, was surreal as people we passed on the street discussed job insecurity and we wondered if the museums would lose funding over the next few years. What will 2025 bring? As a poet, I remind myself to live moment-to-moment while keeping a keen eye on the road ahead. 

Last Saturday, I took part in a workshop with Saida Agostini and 29 other writers at The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College (Maria Mazziotti Gillan, founder). Saida centered the workshop around joy and love. In that spirit, passing on good news about my published work and readings including what some friends are doing. 

The big news? Even the Dog Was Quiet received a finalist nomination in the Eyelands Book Awards. I am both humbled and thankful. 

And, I have just set up a Ko-Fi site if you wish to buy signed copies of my books directly from me. They are $15 each, plus shipping and handling. There are discounts available in the shop. Contact me for more information.

It is still fall for a few weeks, but winter is approaching, and the holiday season is in full swing. Good wishes to all of you. Sending joy and love.

Best,

Margi

**P.S. Support independent publishers and writers by purchasing their books. **

Upcoming Events 

Events are free and in EST unless otherwise noted. Click the links for more information.

12/14/24-2/14/25 Poets House Showcase The Poet’s House 29th celebration showcases thousands of poetry publications: books, chapbooks, broadsides, and poetry-related nonfiction, published in 2022 and 2023. Even the Dog Was Quiet and If There Is No Windare included in the exhibition which will be on view during library hours. There are also readings scheduled. Check the website for more information.

12/15 Baithak (“informal gathering”) on South Asian Poetry and Prose. Discussion of poet and filmmaker, Nishi Chawla’s book of poetry, Random Circles of Belief (Human Error Publishing). Host: Anita Nahal. Panelists: K. Satchidanandan, Ashwani Kumar, and myself. 9 am EST. (7:30 pm in India). Topic: NishiChawla-PoetryBkDiscussion, Join Zoom Meeting, Meeting ID: 889 7097 9595, Passcode: 607745

12/15 Human Rights Day! Anthology Reading. Moonstone Arts. Host: Larry Robin, virtual, 2 pm. Register through the Moonstone Arts website.

And in 2025!

1/1/2025 The Alternative New Year’s Day Spoken Word/Performance Extravaganza at the Westbeth Community Arts Center, West Village, NYC. More information to follow. Start the year right, with a poetry marathon.

1/27/2025 First Floor Walk Up, One and One, 76 E. 1st St. @ 1st Ave (take the F train to 2^nd Ave. station), 7-8 pm. Wayne Kral, host.

02/01/2025 Allen Ginsberg 2024 Poetry Award Reading, The Hamilton Club, 32 Church St., Paterson, NJ. Time tbd.

02/13/2025, Parkland Poets, Feature. Open mic (2 min.) Virtual reading. 9:00-10:30 pm. 11/7/2025 Calling All Poets. Virtual. More information to follow.

Recent and Upcoming Publications

If you are interested in submitting to these publications, check out the hyperlinks.

Exit 13 Magazine, “Grand Central Ambassador,” Tom Plante, editor.

Fixed and Free Quarterly, “Enough is Enough,” “Phoenix is Falling,” and my review of In the Year of Hurricane Agnes by Michelle Reale (reprint), Billy Brown, editor. Anthologies will be available on Amazon after the publication date.

My review of One Day I am Field by Amy Small McKinney in Philadelphia Stories, Sarah van Clef, reviews editor.

The Fall edition of Platform Review is out! Congratulations to contributors Adina Kastner, Barbara Worton, Caroline Giovanie, Lisa “Rubi G.” Ventura, Michelle Ortega, Hannah Burns, Joe Del Castillo, Frank Rubino, Alberto Rodriguez, and Matthew Weisser. The PR team: poetry editors: myself & Mary Brancaccio; prose editors: Kristine Chung Salcedo & Shane Wagner; web development: Liz Hunt; operations: Meghan Hunt. An ARTS By The People publication; founder & executive director: Paul Rabinowitz.

“Obscurations,” “Natural Order of Things Resumes After a Summer Storm,” and “Eternal Hope” in The Nature of Our Times: Poems on America’s Lands, Waters, Wildlife and Other Natural Wonders (Poets for Science), Luisa A. Igloria, Aileen Cassinetto, and David Hassler, co-editors.

A review of Even the Dog Was Quiet appeared in Trampoline: A Journal of Poetry by Benjamin Schmitt.

Congratulations to Friends and Family

There is always good news to share. If you have something you’d like to mention, drop me an email.

This month’s congratulations include Podcasts, YouTube channels and blogs to check out. 

Adventures of the Baker’s Daughter: Rochelle Udell’s “web-memoir” with Barbara Worton. “Be the outsider. Be curious. Tell the truth. These are lessons to be learned from Rochelle Udell’s web-memoir — a personal and professional history of how to change your world by changing the way you see yourself.”

Dimitri Reyes YouTube Channel author of Papi Pichón, and Every First & Fifteenth. His videos showcase his performances, offers writing advice, and shares insight. 

let the dead in (Alan Squire Publishing) by Saida Agostini.

Paul Richmond, YouTube Channel publisher and founder of Human Error Publishing, New Generation Beat Poet Laureate (lifetime). Latest book, The Ice Cream Melted.

The Wildstory: A Podcast of Poetry and Plants by The Native Plant Society of New Jersey hosted by Ann E. Wallace, Former Poet Laureate of Jersey City. “Art and nature intercept in each episode to bring listeners inside the world of poetry about the natural world and to introduce them to other well-known voices from the world of ecology. This show challenges us all to think about our own relationship with nature.”

Writing the Land “Writing the Land is a collaborative outreach and fundraising project for land protection organizations. Through our anthologies, poets help raise awareness of the importance for land conservation.” Poem Video Podcast and Poem Videos on YouTube.

While the leaves turn, so do the pages of my manuscripts. October was wonderful, reading with old friends and making new ones. However, the news on the political front has been devastating for many of us. While we try to make sense of a world turned inside out again, I ask myself, what can I do? I will not be silent (I rarely have) and will continue to be active in pursuit of justice on all fronts, whether through writing or taking it to the streets. In the meantime, reading and writing poetry and stories, and listening to writers read, bring comfort. 

I began October at Ray Cicetti’s Poetic Voices in Mountain Lakes, NJ, then found myself at Word Seed “Words Around the World” at the Great Fall’s Amphitheater for the Paterson Poetry Festival under the guidance of Talena Lachelle Queen, and Felicia Sherelle. ARTS By The People sponsored the Moving Words program, which screened poems-to-film at the Quad Cinema in Manhattan. Bobe Wu (film director and student at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts) and I won first place with my poem, “Dear Rorschach.” We were over the moon! You can watch all the Moving Words 2024 films on the ABTP website.

In November, I returned to Paterson and I read with many writers for the Paterson Literary Review #52 anthology, hosted by Maria Mazziotti Gillan on a gorgeous day. And, I just returned from the NJEA Teacher’s Convention in Atlantic City, where I met educational professionals from New Jersey. A personal welcome to all the newsletter subscribers from the convention. Special thanks to my lifelong partner and illustrator of Even the Dog Was Quiet, Alex Polner, who helped in every aspect of the show. 

As a climate activist, I wanted to bring attention to the virtual Climate Consciousness Summit 2024. I attended the free version last year. The summit runs from November 15th through the 21^st sponsored by the Pocket Project Team. Speakers include poets, racial and environmental justice advocates, storytellers, scientists and healers. In their email, they wrote: “Whether you’re here to gain insights, build connections, or deepen your commitment to climate action, you’ll find ample opportunities to engage and contribute to meaningful dialogue. Together, we’ll reconnect to embodiment, earth and the emerging future for a new climate consciousness. We will equally hear directly from voices at the UN COP29 and communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis. We will overcome our sense of separation and understand how we can contribute towards a global healing movement.” 

Best, 

Margaret

Upcoming Events: Events are free and in EST unless otherwise noted. Click the links for more information.
11/14/2024, Parkland Poets. I will host this event. David Brydges, Diane Robitelle & Rena Joy are the featured poets. Open mic. Virtual reading. 9:00-10:30 pm (EST).

11/16/2024 Black Dog Books. Philippe R Hebert and I will sign books, which will also be available for purchase. 103 Route 15 South, Lafayette, NJ, 12 pm – 4:30 pm. 

12/07/2024 Brownstone Poetry Anthology Reading Hosts: Patricia Carragon and Roxanne Hoffman, virtual, 2 pm. $5 admittance fee.

12/15 Baithak (informal gathering): On South Asian Poetry and Prose. We will discuss poet and filmmaker Nishi Chawla’s book of poetry, Random Circles of Belief (Human Error Publishing). Host: Anita Nahal. Panelists: K. Satchidanandan, Ashwani Kumar, and myself. 10 am. (7:30 pm Indian time.)

And in 2025
1/1/2025 The Alternative New Year’s Day Spoken Word/Performance Extravaganza at the Westbeth Community Arts Center, West Village, NYC. More information to follow.

1/27/2025 First Floor Walk Up, One and One, 76 E. 1st St. @ 1st Ave (take the F train to 2^nd Ave. station), 7-8 pm. Wayne Kral, host.

02/13/2025, Parkland Poets, Feature. Open mic (2 min.) Virtual reading. 9:00-10:30 pm. 11/7/2025 Calling All Poets. Virtual. More information to follow.

Recent and Upcoming Publications

• Ovunque Siamo, reviewed gutter rainbows (Querencia Press) by Melissa Eleftherion.
• Voices of Italian Americana: “I Excommunicated Myself at 12”
• Meat for Tea, Looseleaf Volume 18, Issue 3: “Children with Backpacks” & “Teaching Fibonacci” 
• Silver Birch Press published, Box of Sixty-Four in their All About My Mother series.  (Painting: CRAYOLA by Audrey Flack (1973). So many heart-warming poems included. One poem comes to your inbox daily if you sign up. The snapshot below is a photograph of my godmother Ruth, holding me with her husband and my godfather, Tom next to her. My mom is standing next to Ruth. 

Congratulations to Friends and Family

There is always good news to share. If you have something you’d like me to mention, drop me an email.

Edna Shochat’s, Decent Exposure: Poems (Poetica Mea). Edna will read with Poetry: Near & Far, Host: Tony Iovino, on 12/2/24. Zoom link. 7 pm. 

Cathy Longano, is a children’s book author I met at the NJEA convention. Her book, Meatballs Mixed-Up Moods, is for the 4+ age group with an activity book. 

Tell Me a Story About This Crazy World Called High School: A Survival Guide for Adolescence by Mrs. D., illustrated by Tara Balboa, a self-help book from an author I met at the NJEA Convention.

Jennifer Juneau, host of the Phoenix Poetry Open Mic in NYC, published Maze (Roadside Press), a collection of short stories. 

Louise Polner, my mother-in-law, exhibited her paintings and collages at a multi-genre art show at Bristal Assisted Living in Jericho, New York. We were thrilled to support her and attend the show. Congrats!