Affrilachian poet Ricardo Nazario y Colón has two new books coming out in the relatively near future. One book will be out between now and the end of the year: “Of Jíbaros and Hillbillies,” from Plain View Press, for 35 years now an independent literary pubisher in Austin, Texas. Jíbaros were the hill people, Puerto Rico’s hillbillies, a working class of people who worked in the sugar and tobacco fields. The term jíbaros can have a negative or positive connotation. It represents people who are the cuture’s backbone, but it could mean maybe those who are too impressionable, I’m not sure. With his sense of humor, and his diverse cultural understanding, the poet has a book here I look forward to reading. I’ll keep you posted. A second interesting-sounding book, a chapbook that contains about 30 poems, is called “Orseito: The Moor of the Bronx” and is due out by February 2011.

Lexington, KY— Randall Horton, Kamilah Aisha Moon, and Jeremy Paden comprise the fifth induction of members to the Affrilachian Poets. The group will celebrate its twentieth anniversary with the first Affrilachian conference and writing retreat in 2011. Details to come.

The Affrilachian Poets have been writing and thriving in Appalachia and beyond since 1991. The term, “Affrilachia,” was coined by Frank X Walker as testament to the cultural and physical connection to the Appalachian Region from writers of color.

A group of friends and colleagues who eventually called themselves the Affrilachian Poets initially met in the Martin King, Jr. Cultural Center at the University of Kentucky. Ten years later, the AP’s were the subject of the documentary “Coal Black Voices” which broadcast on PBS, and the word “Affrilachia” is now an entry in the Oxford American Dictionary.

Known for work that pays homage to family, social struggle and relationships to rural and urban landscapes, among the Affrilachian Poets are award-winning authors, academics, and activists. Group members have edited the anthologies America! What’s My Name?, The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South, founded the literary journals Torch: poetry, prose, and short stories by African-American women, Pluck!: the Affrilachian Journal of Arts and Culture, and the independent publishing houses, Mythium and Blacoetry Press.

Collectively the AP’s have published a total of twenty-five titles, with six collections set to be released between 2010-2011.To learn more about the history of the Affrilachian Poets and individual members, please log on to www.affrilachianpoets.com.

Upcoming Dates for the Affrilachian Poets:

Frostburg State University; Frostburg, MD (Sept. 18, 2010) “Born and Bred”; Lexington, KY (Sept. 28, 2010) Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference; Washington, D.C. (Feb. 4-5, 2011)

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — An unknown scribe who goes by the name “The Midnight Poet” is leaving bits of prose on the doorsteps of some Morgantown homes.

City police Lt. Harold Sperringer says the poems written on scraps of paper don’t appear threatening. In fact, the writer appears to be trying to sway recipients’ minds on a variety of topics.

Sperringer said the poems are “hard to explain” and they “don’t make a lot of sense.”

The notes started appearing on porches last month in the city’s first and second wards. So far police have collected several, but Sperringer says some residents have thrown them away.

One poem entitled “Life Goes On,” muses on the passage of life and ends by encouraging recipients to be “Be humorous, have some fun.”

Another reads:

“I begin to grasp

“The unbearable lightness of being

“As I recognize the inadequacy of language

“Pustules of raw emotion

“Remain dulled with grammatical confinement

“And benevolent features

“Harden with the crux of conformity

“– The Midnight Poet”

Nathan Miller received a couple letters in July. He said he found them on his front porch.

“They don’t seem that threatening,” Miller said, adding he doesn’t like the thought of someone walking onto his porch in the middle of the night.

Sperringer says police have stepped up patrols in the neighborhoods where the poems have been found.

Today, for $1.99, I secured access to 365 poems on my iPhone via Poem Flow. Whether you’re reading a poem by Derek Walcott or H.D., when you beam up the poem, the app will tell you — anonymously — where on the planet and when that poem was last read on Poem Flow. You’ll get the sense that there’s a community of readers out there with you on the same path sometimes in the unlikeliest places. There’s a little voluptuous mixture of surprise and satisfaction there as I call up another poem to enjoy.

Reflecting on this summer’s Hip Hop camp, I recall last year Affrilachian Poet Bianca Spriggs saying that she is passionate about “empowering people, alleviating ignorance through the arts.” A vibrant thought, indeed!

Institute, WV — West Virginia State University Extension Service is hosting its annual 4-H Hip Hop Camp, a weeklong overnight camp for youth ages 12 to 18 that focuses on skill mastery in Hip Hop Arts traditions. The camp will take place at Camp Virgil Tate, July 25-29.

On Tuesday, July 27 at 2 p.m., campers will be on the WVSU campus for a special Hip Hop Summit featuring a panel discussion with renowned poet Nikki Giovanni; Apollo Theater multiple award winner Jessica Care Moore; Affrilachian Poets Crystal Good and Norman Jordan; 98.7 the Beat DJ Leeshia Lee; Dr. Gail Mosby, Chair and Professor of Sociology at WVSU; and other local hip hop artists and commentators. The public is invited to this portion of the camp, which will take place in Room 122 of Wallace Hall.

The 4-H Hip Hop Camp is a program of WVSU Extension Service’s 4-H Youth Development Arts and Leadership Academy and has been held annually since 2004, formerly under the Hip Hop Boot Camp title.

– Crystal Good

Buy the book at http://www.amazon.com/Haiku-Mind-Poems-C…

Today, I’m thinking about Hiroshima in a reading from “Haiku Mind” by Patricia Donegan.

Check it out on my audioboo page:
 http://audioboo.fm/boos/152656-on-july-1…

Tamara Woods and Ted Webb are offering a workshop called “Poet’s Guide to Metaphor and Marketing” on Saturday, August 7, 2010, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Monongalia Arts Center (MAC).

Tamara Woods

Ted Webb

They say they’ll show you how to spiff up your poetry and then they’ll show you how to sell it.

The postmark deadline for early-bird registration is Friday, July 9. Those, who register early receive a $10 discount on fees. The final mail-in registration date is Friday, July 30. To get a registration form, contact: Ted Webb on Facebook and/or at:  tedwebb at care2.com or call: 304-285-8784.

Seats will fill up fast, and the workshop is limited to the first 40 people registered.

“While being involved in the poetry scene in town, we’ve had people ask us about poetry workshops and if there is one available,” said Woods. “The idea is for the workshop to be compact, but filled with useful knowledge to help the poets to take their work to the next level.”

The MAC is located at 107 High Street beside Hotel Morgan.

Following the workshop, the Second Annual Brew Ha-Ha will be held in downtown Morgantown. This one-of-a-kind event brings together comedians, food and beer.

About the authors:

Ted Webb is a co-founding member of Morgantown Poets, a monthly event serving the literary arts community in north-central West Virginia. His poem, “Star Bus” was recently selected for Mountain Line “Poetry on the Move” program. Webb’s writing has been published in Appalachian Sand & Gravel, West Virginia Words, Outstretch, Appalachian Crier and Trillium, among other places.

Tamara Woods is also a co-founding member of Morgantown Poets. She has hosted Tha.Speakeasy, a poetry slam open to the community since 2005. She has written for a number of West Virginia newspapers including the Dominion Post and The Wheeling News-Register. She blogs for Indyposted.com.

From back on May 31, 2010, here’s a post that just about got lost in my recent personal malaise following a streak of bad luck.

Congratulations to Wil Haygood! He’s a wise friend who has always made words dance, written strong sentences that rest as much on poetry as fact.

My wife Nancy and I are so happy for him! So proud he’s an award-winning author and journalist. He covered the release of Mandela, Katrina, the Obama campaign and other big stories. Whether he’s writing about a church anniversary, a butler or his brothers, his grandfather or his niece, or the Mississippi River, he hands in detailed, touching, well-honed stories that make me want to read more, glad I had spent the time to savor each word. Even years ago when he worked on the Gazette copy desk, he had a sense of how words can float or sting to build a powerful story. Today (May 31), Washington Post reporter Wil Haygood receives a star — the first one and the best kind — on the sidewalk in front of the historic Lincoln Theatre in his native Columbus, Ohio.

I expected to attend his honor ceremony until a wounded soul smashed out my car window in a locked garage Friday night. I’m still feeling just terrible about my bad luck, but feeling great about Wil’s good fortune.