It's a big week for poetry: Brittingham / Pollak Poetry Prize Reading & Lisa Marie Brodsky

Tomorrow night, poet (and former UW-Madison MFA student!) Lisa Marie Brodsky will be reading from her just-released chapbook We Nod Our Dark Heads (Parallel Press, April 2008) at Avol's Books at 7 p.m.

More info: Avol's Bookstore, 315 W. Gorham. 255-4730 for info.

Lisa Marie's bio and a sample of her work are available here.





And, of course, the Annual Brittingham / Pollak Poetry Prize Reading will be held next Thrusday, April 3rd in 6191 Helen C. White Hall.

The winner of this year's Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry is Barbara Goldberg who will read from her collection The Royal Baker's Daughter.

The winner of this year's Brittingham Prize in Poetry is Philip Pardi, who will read from his collection Meditations on Rising and Falling.

Edith Wharton Fans: Help Save The Mount!

Above: The before and after photos from the restoration of Edith Wharton's Lennox, Mass. estate, The Mount.

Thanks to Emma Straub for passing this email along. Take a peek, and help if you can. And be sure to look at the pictures on the website -- this is a beautiful, historic place and it'd be a terrible shame to see it close.



Dear Friends of Edith Wharton and The Mount,

A sincere and deep thank you to the 600-plus Friends who have given to our Emergency Campaign to save The Mount.

I am very pleased to report that we received a $30,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities this week to support our fundraising efforts for an additional 30 days, and the bank has agreed to extend the deadline to April 21st.

We have raised over $550,000 thus far and have promising irons in the fire. But we still need your support. Please spread the word that, in addition to being Edith Wharton's only American Monument, The Mount is one of the very few National Historic Landmarks dedicated to women in this country and it is in danger of being closed to the public forever.

Please help us save The Mount. To make a contribution, go to http://www.edithwharton.org/campaignpledge.php or call us at 413-551-5104. No gift will be processed unless we reach our goal and achieve a successful restructuring with The Mount's major creditors.

Again, please know how deeply grateful we are for your wonderful support.

Stephanie Copeland
President and CEO
The Mount
Edith Wharton Restoration
2 Plunkett Street
Box 974
Lenox, MA 01240
www.edithwharton.org


Donate By Check: Please make your check payable to The Mount and mail to: Box 974, Lenox, MA 01240. Federal Tax Identification Number: 04-2666846.

Donate By Credit Card: Download donation form here and send to Box 974, Lenox, MA 01240. We accept MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and Discover. Or call us at (413) 551-5104.

Kevin Brockmeier Returns to Madison!

Above: A blimp. With Kevin Brockmeier's name on it. Poster by Thea Brown. Who is awesome.

If you missed him last year, here's another chance to catch a reading by the incredible Kevin Brockmeier. His most recent collection of short stories is The View From The Seventh Layer, which includes pieces about a priest and a ghost, a mute who lives in a world filled with song, and a choose-your-own-adventure story for grown ups.

Brockmeier reads at Border's West (University Ave. at Midvale -- across the street from the Hilldale Mall) this Wednesday at 7 p.m.



The New Collection. It's sweet.

Build Your Vocabulary & Help Feed the Hungry!

Above: Rice does a body (and a vocabulary) good.

So, this is a cool thing that you've probably already heard of: Free Rice is an online vocabulary quiz whose sponsors donate 20 grains of rice to the UN World Food Program for every word you get right.

Plus, you get to learn words like "mattock" (which, as I just learned, is a pickaxe for digging).

Spring 2008 Writer-in-Residence: Albert Goldbarth

Above: Albert Goldbarth's poster is green and blue because it's almost spring and, well, he's the Spring 2008 Writer-in-Residence. Grass, blue sky, birds chirping, etc. We need these things desperately. Also, we need poetry --- lots and lots of poetry -- to get us through our winter blues.

Albert Goldbarth
Wednesday, March 12th, 7 p.m.
6191 Helen C. White Hall
UW-Madison

Free & Open to the Public!

TONIGHT: Danielle Cadena Deulen & Timothy Scott

Come see Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing Fellows Danielle Cadena Deulen & Timothy Scott Read Tonight!


Thursday, March 6th, 7 p.m.
6191 Helen C. White Hall