Various members of our staff have been busy with literary projects these past few weeks:
Tech Editor J. Howard spent time at the Furious Flower Conference of African-American Poetry at James Madison University. As their web 
page explains, former Poet Laureate of the US, Rita Dove, was the conference’s honoree, and Lifetime Achievement Awards went to poets Toi Derricotte, Michael Harper, Yusef Komunyakaa, Marilyn Nelson, Ishmael Reed, and Quincy Troupe. The conference, whose theme is “seeding the future of African American poetry,” occurs every ten years: based on the volume of speakers, poets and audience, it would appear that this valuable gathering needs to happen more frequently.
Associate Editor Marianne Szlyk has begun another poetry contest on her poetry and jazz blog, the song is. This fall’s contests honor jazz pianist Thelonious Monk and composer Gene Clark. Deadline for entries is December 30th.
Both Marianne and Robert Giron will be joining the general committee for A Splendid Wake in a few weeks. Director J. Howard is excited to have them become part of the group and knows that their contributions will be fantastic.
Finally, our Editor-in-Chief, Julie Wakeman-Linn, has been interviewed by writer Jan Bowman, about the Potomac Review. Visit the blog and have a good read!