Seeing Red at Redroom.com

Redroom.com is a new venture founded by entrepreneur and management consultant Ivory Madison. It made its debut on Dec. 21, 2007, as an encyclopedic global online community for writers and their readership. Redroom.com is a pragmatic response to the well-established fact that many authors whose primary focus is the printed word are strangers to self-promotion via the Internet.

The Red Room site provides a forum for viral marketing on the www. It is meant to appeal to readers, authors, booksellers and publishers as a kind of one-stop shop for biographical information, book reviews, video and audio content as well as authors' events calendars. Its goal is to showcase esteemed writers by way of creative social networking through original, author-generated content and comments.

The Red Room roster of authors is expanding at an explosive rate. The latest and most prestigious addition to the Red Room community is Senator and presidential candidate Barack Obama.


See Barack Obama's Redroom page

-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-

Visit the Red Room corner of Poet Ana Elsner


[Related: "We are the ones"]

:

December Dreaming

For some, December is a time to throw themselves into a shopping frenzy, into a whirlwind of material excess and into consumerist greed and superficiality. Others, however, prefer to savor the long and quiet nights for more inward-directed pursuits.

Many stories and poems celebrate the season around the Winter Solstice, Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanza with insight and imagination.

Reading by electric- or maybe even candlelight can nourish the soul and uplift the spirit in ways that nothing else can.

In the true spirit of the season we present two poems, one by Rainer Maria Rilke (4 December 1875-29 December 1926), one of the greatest and beloved 20th century poets writing in the German language. The other one is by contemporary poet Ana Elsner.

-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-

Advent

Es treibt der Wind im Winterwalde
Die Flockenherde wie ein Hirt,
Und manche Tanne ahnt, wie balde
Sie fromm und lichterheilig wird,
Und lauscht hinaus. Den weißen Wegen
Streckt sie die Zweige hin - bereit,
Und wehrt dem Wind und wächst entgegen
Der einen Nacht der Herrlichkeit.

-Rainer Maria Rilke


-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-



SNOWFLAKE


a single stray snowflake

gets tangled up in a song

and hitches a ride on the melody

for five beats, maybe six

until it gives itself up to the rainbow

that bridges the gap

of what we feel


© Ana Elsner, 2007
from 'Ciphers Of Uncommon Origin - Poems By Ana Elsner'
used by permission

-:- -:- -:- -:- -:-

Happy Holidays!


MP3 Stream of continuous holiday music

.

Hear This

If you live in or visit the San Francisco Bay Area you will have an opportunity to hear the poet Ana Elsner read from her book CIPHERS OF UNCOMMON ORIGIN and from her new manuscript ALL POEMS ACTUAL SIZE. Philip Hakett will also be reading.


The San Francisco Public Library presents

An Evening of Poetry

Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2007

at the North Beach Branch,
Columbus Ave. at Mason

::

For a complete schedule

of Ana Elsner's featured readings

and upcoming public engagements

please go to her

Events page

::





[See also: 'P' is for Poetry]

.

P is for POETRY

P o e t r y



From CIPHERS Of Uncommon Origin - Poems By Ana Elsner, Volume I,
Language Maker Poetry Series,
Published by InstaPLANET Press,
First Edition June 2007




At first

you resist

its power

to throw you off guard,

to strip you

of your defenses,

but without poetry,

what else

could ever reveal

the universal

in the personal,

what else

could ever lift

the blindfold

from

your

soul



© Ana Elsner


(Found on Wikipedia )


Read other Poems and Moku by Ana Elsner:

-:- DAWN

-:- SAY IT

-:- OBOE

-:- MOKU NUMBER TEN

.

Follow your Bliss

"Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music -
the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people,"

Henry Miller (1891 - 1980), American writer, perhaps best know for his novel Tropic of Cancer, published in 1934

.

.

Following his bliss:

Myron Michael Hardy aka Money the Mystro
29 year-old poet, emcee and hip hop artist


-:- TAKE -:-
A
.......L I S T E N.......

(Instructions: Clicking on the link 'LISTEN 'will start up a music player in a new window. Click on a track. To stop the music, close player window.)

.

[See related: The reason for Poetry]

.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti at 88

:

By The Commentator

Lawrence Ferlinghetti (born 1919 in Yonkers, New York), is a prominent and internationally renowned American poet, artist, publisher and recipient of various honors and awards.

After earing a master's degree from Columbia University and studying in Paris at the Sorbonne, Ferlinghetti followed the urging of fellow American poet Kenneth Rexroth (1905-1982) to go to San Francisco, one of the strongholds of the burgeoning counter-culture dubbed 'The Beat Generation'. Shortly after his arrival, Ferlinghetti started a bookstore and publishing house in 1953, named after the Charlie Chaplin film, City Lights, and specializing in poetry. Its most famous publication was 'Howl', the controversial and legendary book by Allen Ginsberg.




The "Beats" were a loosely defined group of young and struggling American writers, students, anti-conformists, bohemians, hustlers, and drug addicts who emerged in the late 1950 - early 1960s and spawned such groundbreaking novels as Jack Kerouac's 'On the Road' (1957) and William S. Burroughs's 'Naked Lunch' (1959).
Ironically, these works, formerly labelled as 'progressive and provocative', have now become pseudo-classics, time-stamped, stereotyped and pidgeonholed.

While most of his notorious compatriots have come and gone, Ferlinghetti has weathered the changing times and tides with remarkable resilience. Over the years he smoothly transitioned from pacifist, to anarchist, to teacher, to businessman, to Poet Laureate, to feted celebrity - all in a life's work.

Ferlinghetti is the author of more than thirty books of poetry and eight plays as well as fiction, art criticism, and essays. His poems are simple and speak plainly.




Settled down in the tranquil and beautiful surroundings of the Marin County seashore and somewhat reclusive, Ferlinghetti, now 88, still continues to paint, exhibit and sell his artwork. He can be spotted at his art show openings as well as at the occasional literary event here and abroad.


"It seemed to me
all you have to do
is conceive of the whole world
and all humanity
as a kind of artwork,"

Lawrence Ferlinghetti,
'Instructions to Painters and Poets'

Watch a 7 minute film clip of the KQED documentary interview of Ferlinghetti in his studio

(opens in RealPlayer window)

: Please note: To stream this video you must have RealPlayer installed. If you don't have it, the media link above will not work. Get the player free at real.com :



[See also: Lawrence Ferlinghetti about the poet Ana Elsner]


[Related: Lawrence Ferlinghetti and Ana Elsner - Two Poets, Two Artists]


.

Ana Elsner pays tribute to the Oboe

OBOE

The unhurried echo

of an oboe,

attuned femaleness

of sound,

contains me.


Chromosomes of Woman,

bestowed on me

in my wombed beginning,

make me

a sounding reed,

like the oboe.


Chromosomes of Woman,

my manifest prerogative,

make me

subject to no restrictions

of scale.


Like the oboe

I am the unhurried echo

of female sovereignty

trailing

the wind.


© Ana Elsner

From 'CIPHERS OF UNCOMMON ORIGIN -Poems by Ana Elsner'.

Reprinted by permission

[Read another poem by Ana Elsner: Forgetting Eyes, published in Crossing Boundaries]


[See also About the Poet]


-:- -:- -:- -:- -:- -:- -:- -:- -:- -:-

:: If you like her poems, please buy Ana Elsner's Book ::

.

CIPHERS By Ana Elsner - First Publication

InstaPLANET Press is proud to announce the release of

"CIPHERS Of Uncommon Origin -

Poems by Ana Elsner", Volume I

First Edition June
2007.

28p.; 22cm; full color semi-gloss cover.

Author-signed
and numbered copies are available.

- : -

Ana Elsner's CIPHERS is the first title

in the InstaPLANET Press

Language Maker Poetry Series

"My work is seasoned by a life lived in a great diversity of cultural contexts, which enables me to transcend the limits of one-dimensionality. ... Although often provocative and (self) critical in tone, and neologistic in language, I consider my poems to be ageless and intellectually and emotionally accessible to a broad and diverse readership,"
Ana Elsner, 2006

"To create true poetry requires hunger and passion, and Ana Elsner has it, in spades,"

Lawrence Ferlinghetti,
Poet; Artist; Publisher,
City Lights Books,
San Francisco;
Recipient of the 2005 Literarian Award


Attention Bookstores, Libraries and Individuals:
_____________________________________
To order copies of 'CIPHERS' please send an email to ""tenatinstaplanetdotcom""
_____________________________________

For individual and small quantity purchases, please send

$6.95 plus $1.50 shipping/handling per regular copy
- or -
$8.95 plus $1.50 shipping/handling per signed and numbered copy to:

InstaPLANET Press
PO Box 31063
San Francisco, California 94131-0063

Please allow ten days for processing your order.
Thank you.
.

[The Voice of The Poet - Read excerpts from Ana Elsner's new book]

[See also The Moku and The Intervention Rhapsody In Three Movements by Ana Elsner]
.

Ana Elsner speaks about The Arts

In a recent interview about the arts,
poet Ana Elsner said,



"It seems to be part of human nature to be single-minded. Art lovers go to exhibitions, music lovers go to concerts and poetry lovers go to readings. There is not enough cross-traffic.

I wanted to change that, if only for one night. So I choreographed a dialogue between a musical instrument and my poetry. I chose the oboe as my preferred partner and was most grateful when principal oboist Laura Griffiths of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra agreed to participate.

It was very exciting to design a program where my poems alternate with the oboe, in order to demonstrate the connection between the two. I called this project "The Sounding Reed", with a double meaning of (a) the actual reed of the instrument and (b) the 'reeds' of the human vocal chords. My concept was very well received by Robert Carlson of the San Francisco Public Library. He hosted it on June 12, 2007.

Having set the stage, I read in front of a combined audience of both music and poetry lovers and thereby made this cross-traffic happen. The evening was a big success and garnered excellent reviews."

"Without poets, without artists, men would soon weary of nature's monotony. The sublime idea men have of the universe would collapse with dizzying speed... There would be no seasons, no civilization, no thought, no humanity...,"

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880-1918) was a poet, writer, and art critic. The foremost French poet of the early 20th century, he is credited with coining the word surrealism and writing one of the earliest works described as surrealist, the play Les Mamelles de Tirsias (1917).

[Related topics: Why Poetry? and What is a Moku?]



[See also Spanish Language Poetry and German Language Poetry with translations by Ana Elsner]

.

:

Applause for the Oboe

When asked about her favorite musical instrument, poet and classical music aficionado Ana Elsner said,



"Without a doubt, the instrument that speaks to me most is the oboe. Although sometimes overshadowed by other woodwinds, not to mention the testosterone-laden brass, I perceive the oboe as being a full-bodied female voice. Perhaps this is due to its mezzo-soprano to soprano range. In fact, I have written a poem titled 'Oboe' which defines how I feel about it."



Later on in the conversation, Ana Elsner added,

"My favorite oboist, these days, is Ms. Laura Griffiths of the San Francisco Opera and Ballet Orchestra. Her lyrical tone quality and masterful vibrato distinguish her among the woodwinds, indeed, among the entire orchestra. Her soli simply shine. It is a treat to hear her play."

.
[See also The Laughing Squid for event details.]

.

When? On June 6, 2007

Author and wordsmith Ana Elsner

is the Featured Poet

on Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 7p.m.

at Sacred Grounds, 2095 Hayes Street, San Francisco.

(If you need more information please call the host

at 415-346-0347)

.

Ana Elsner will read from her most recent work in this convivial coffeehouse setting.

.

[See also The power of poetry]

HAIKU versus MOKU

'Moku' is a brand-new term in the world of poetry. This term was first coined by poet and writer Ana Elsner.

'Moku' is short for 'Modified haiku'. It was originally used to describe Ana Elsner's own characteristic 3 liners which are based on haiku but do not conform to the traditional 17 syllable format.

The contemporary poet Ana Elsner further breaks with haiku tradition in that her imagery is not necessarily based on nature. Instead, her Mokus often treat with urban situations, or shine the spotlight on a specific character or state-of-mind.

.

MOKU NUMBER TEN


this baleful time of keening

ghostly alchemy of our deferred grief

glaciers weep


© Ana Elsner

(reprinted by permission)

.

[Read another one of Ana Elsner's Moku]

.

[See also 'CIPHERS Of Uncommon Origin - Poems By Ana Elsner' Volume I, published by InstaPLANET Press, 2007.]

.

April 2007 Featured Poet: Ana Elsner

The San Francisco Public Library presents,

Ana Elsner, Poet, Author and Translator

.

In honor of National Poetry Month Ana Elsner will read from her poems on the state of affairs in contemporary America

:

Parks Branch, 1833 Page Street, SF on Tuesday, April 10, 2007, at 7 PM.

"The poet Ana Elsner contributes a unique new voice of personal insight and of literary significance to modern American poetry." - Nina Feday, Librarian,retired

After the reading there will be a poetry open mic.

.

All programs at the Library are free.

.

Ein Gedicht von Ana Elsner

Die Rettung

von Ana Elsner, 2007

fast

schon

sanft

eingeschläfert

von den wiegenden Wogen

der Tiefe



und doch

wieder

hervorgebracht,



im Regenbogen

geborgen,



ans Licht

des Lebens


wieder

zu atmen


dessen

Kostbarkeit

-:-

©Ana Elsner

[Siehe auch: Andere Dichter im InstaPLANET Web-zine]

.

[Friedrich Hölderlin "Die Heimath" und "Überzeugung"]

.

PRESS RELEASE - March 2007

"Chewy Words and Soft-spoken Confections,



A Special Evening of Poetry"


Poets Ana Elsner and Stephen Kopel invite you to a joint reading from their works at 5:30pm on Wednesday, March 28, in the library of the historic Monticello Inn, 129 Ellis St. near Powell St. in downtown San Francisco.
(See map below.)

After the reading there will be an informal conversation with the audience about poetry.

This is a free event. Seating is limited.

"Come hear our poetry and have a glass of wine with us,"

your hosts Ana and Stephen

.

Location of Event:

[Local Events Calendar]


[Related info: - In addition to writing her own poems Ana Elsner is engaged in translating the poems of Paul Celan into English in an ongoing project.]

.

The Power of Poetry

.

"Let us remember ... that in the end we go to poetry for one reason, so that we might more fully inhabit our lives and the world in which we live them, and that if we more fully inhabit these things, we might be less apt to destroy both."

- Christian Wiman, poet, essayist and editor

.

[See also: The Power of Art]

.

Autumn descends on the InstaPlanet

: : Lyn Lifshin captures the Season in Words : :

Mid November

When the black ducks come,
Winter opens, a kick pleat
in darkness

Eyelash fringe of ferns on shore.
Late fall thunder
after a long
Indian summer.

Branches creak. A muskrat slithers into
the pond, a stone the tide covers
in the glow of a stranger's
flashlight.

[Other poets featured on The InstaPlanet Satellite: Eliseo Diego and George Tsongas]

.

Never Forgotten

:

The atrocities committed in 2003 at Abu Ghraib, where prisoners were abused and tortured, are far from being forgiven and forgotten:


Artists and Poets world-wide have created an enduring record of the shameful and outrageous human rights violations that will live on not just in history books, but also in the annals of art, culture and literature.

One such artist is the famous Colombian painter and sculptor Fernando Botero (born 1932), who exhibited a series of 50 interpretive works on the subject at the Palazzo Venezia in Rome in 2005.

When asked why he painted such horror, he replied (in his own words):

"Por la ira que sentí y que sintió el mundo entero por este crimen cometido por el país que se presenta como modelo de compasión, de justicia y de civilización."

"La injusticia me hace hervir la sangre" - Fernando Botero


All of Botero's paintings in his Abu Ghraib series, numbered 1 through 50, are based not on photographic evidence alone, but mainly on transcripts of actual testimony from the investigation into the prison scandal.

Botero made the paintings so that 'this crime against human dignity will be forever etched upon the collective consciousness of mankind'.

- Photo: The Artist in front of his canvas expressing in no uncertain terms his contempt for the perpetrators and their superiors, and his profound moral outrage.-

Having previously called himself an admirer of the United States (one of his sons lives in Miami), Mr. Botero said he became incensed because he "expected better of the American government".

Throughout Europe, where sentiment against the Iraq war is strong, news of the paintings and sketches has already generated interest. In 2006, museums in Hanover and Baden Baden, Germany, plan to hold special exhibitions of Mr. Botero's Abu Ghraib series.

.
[Remember Theodore Roosevelt's words on criticizing the president.]
.

[See also: Jack Hirschman speaks out against suppression of political art]

.

The InstaPLANET Quote-of-the-Month: October 2005

PAUL CELAN, Eastern European Poet and Holocaust Survivor (1920-1970) said,

: :


" Poetry is a sort of Homecoming."


[Artwork by Jassy Lupa]

.

[Further Reading: Learn about Celan's tragic fate that shaped his work, read his poetry in the original German or in the English translation by Ana Elsner, and see his photograph.]

.
[See also Argos]

.

Hola a todos, bienvenidos a: 'InstaPLANET Espacio de la Poesía'

NO ES MÁS
por selva oscura...

de Eliseo Julio de Jesús de Diego Fernández (1920-1994)

Un poema no es más
que una conversación en la penumbra
del horno viejo, cuando ya
todos se han ido, y cruje
afuera el hondo bosque; un poema

no es más que unas palabras
que uno ha querido, y cambian
de sitio con el tiempo, y ya
no son más que una mancha, una esperanza indecible;

un poema no es más
que la felicidad, que una conversación
en la penumbra, que todo
cuanto se ha ido, y ya
es silencio.

.

[See also: Poet George Tsongas]
.