Connections Reading Set May 6
The Spring 2016 Connections literary magazine has been completed, and on May 6 several of the contributors will offer a special reading at 7:30 p.m. on the College of Southern Maryland La Plata campus Center for Business and Industry (BI Building) in the Dr. John M. Sine Conference Room (Room 103).
Contributors to Connections include CSM students, faculty, staff, and members of the Southern Maryland community. Since 2006, the magazine has been giving people a venue for publication of some of the best, most creative work in the region. The magazine includes poetry, short stories, photography, and other works of incredible creativity.
Admission to the reading on May 6 is free. Contributors will not only read their works, but will be available to discuss them.
Connections is published twice a year, and publication readings take place every December and May. Anyone interested in being published in a future edition can submit their poetry, short stories, and black and white photography for consideration. The CSM website has submission guidelines and information on deadlines.
Submissions are limited to five poems, two stories, one essay, or five black and white photographs. Submissions must include name, address, phone number, and a brief biographical statement.
In addition to the submitted works, the magazine contains material from visiting writers. The Connections Literary Series allows the public to meet those writers and hear them read their work.
The spring 2016 series earlier this year featured Naomi Shihab Nye, Michael Glaser, and Demetria Martinez, three award-winning poets and authors.
They explored “how poetry can help us address the complex issues of our times, prod us to more fully embrace our own humanity and shine light on the ways that the long arc of history may bend toward the arc of justice and peace,” Neal Dwyer, Connections coordinator and CSM professor, said.
A prolific poet, Ms. Nye has been a Lannan Fellow, a Guggenheim Fellow and a Witter Bynner Fellow in addition to having been awarded numerous honors including awards from the International Poetry Forum and the Texas Institute of Letters.
Ms. Nye read from and discussed her work in the framework of an informal conversation with Mr. Glaser, who served as poet laureate of Maryland from 2004 to 2009. He is professor emeritus at St. Mary’s College of Maryland and serves on the board for the Maryland Humanities Council. A co-leader of retreats which embrace poetry, both through writing and reading, as a means of self-reflection and personal growth, Mr. Glaser has published seven collections of poetry, edited three anthologies and co-edited a collection of the poems of Lucille Clifton.
Ms. Martinez is an author, poet, activist, and journalist based in New Mexico. Her work was particularly relevant, Mr. Dwyer noted, at a time when issues of immigration have generated national debate. She considers her writing and activism as ways to explore and bridge borders between people.
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