This year, Cervená Barva Press celebrated eighteen years of publishing in April. Founded in 2005 by Gloria Mindock, editor and publisher, the press has continued to grow every year. The press has offered numerous events every year such as poetry and fiction readings, book launches, poetry roundtables, translation roundtables, Pastry with Poets, Portrait of an Artist, Cervená Barva Press Reads Around the World (a reading series with readers from different countries throughout the world), collaborations with the Interpoezia reading series in NYC, and a forthcoming collaboration with an arts organization in Turkey. This year, the press is offering an exciting new event!
Saturday, September 30, 2023
10:00AM: The Revision Process by Robin Stratton
Congratulations, you finished your book! You've tweaked it a bunch of times, a couple of your friends have read it and said it was good, and now you can't wait to start sending it out. But as Acquisitions Editor at Big Table Publishing for nearly 20 years, I can tell you that too many writers submit too soon-overlooking parts they know are boring, badly written, or simply not as exciting as the rest of the book, because they've reached that point where they're sick of editing it. But unless your book has been painstakingly reviewed, stripped of typos, and vigorously workshopped, it will probably not spark the interest of an agent or publisher. Learn how to run your book through one final revision process using specific tips for eliminating those problem areas. Not only will you create a better book, you will become a better writer.
11:00AM: Poet/Translator/Performer: Building Bridges by Vassiliki Rapti and Peter Bottéas
Our multi-faceted collaboration over more than a decade has given rise to a unique way of working and a fluidity in creation that may seem unconventional to some. In exploring our own literary creation, particularly through the medium of poetry, and collaborating on creating linguistic and cultural bridges, not only through the written word, but also through the dynamic spoken word, we have sought to make our poetic production vibrant, accessible, and something that speaks to more than the intellect alone. Our respective backgrounds in music, the academic world, and surrealist cinema and theater, among other interests, all feed our creative process.
Beyond our own literary production, our exploration of poetry, translation, and performance in the context of the diaspora, has led to collaboration-osmosis and cross-pollination, and has generated ongoing virtual and in-person forums, dialogue, workshops, readings, and podcasts.
Join us to hear some of the poetry that has emerged from our years of working together and also some of our unique process and experiences along the way.
1:00PM: Can serious poems be funny? Can funny poems be serious? by Lloyd Schwartz
From the earliest days of English literature, humor has played an important role. Some of the darkest, most serious literature has surprisingly comic passages (think of the drunken porter in Macbeth). So do some of our best contemporary poems. I'll be reading some "serio-comic" poems and serious poems with unexpected humor by such poets as Elizabeth Bishop, Thom Gunn, Frank O'Hara, Robert Pinsky, Gail Mazur, Andrea Cohen, Jill McDonough, and myself, and talk about how humor gives each poem an added-and deeper-dimension.
After the Summit, the videos will be available to watch for 2 weeks if you miss any or want to rewatch.