On Tuesday, September 9th, 2014, I am honored to be featuring at a new monthly open mic called Empact, hosted by Felicia Cade. It will be held in the lobby of Epicenter Church at 4801 Long Beach Blvd, Long Beach, California 90805. It starts at 7 pm with an open mic for poetry, music, dance, and other artistic expression. Bring your creative self and prepare to be Empacted! RSVP on Facebook
Since April of 2013, I have been privileged to be a part of The Poetry Lab, a twice monthly workshop held at WE Labs in Long Beach and led by Danielle Mitchell. It’s part generative workshop, part show-and-tell, and part community group. Not only have I have learned so much about the art of poetry here, I also have made immeasurable connections in the poetry world and built a poetry family. Previous to 2013, I have to admit that I wrote in isolation and only shared my poetry with supportive friends and family. I did not learn how to really improve my writing until I received real craft knowledge and constructive feedback from other poets.
I am very proud to be the first on the Member Spotlight on The Poetry Lab website. You can read a little more about me and what the workshop has meant to me on the site. You can also read a poem I wrote from a writing prompt in a Poetry Lab session called “Heaps of Your Life”. Enjoy!
“Love Letter No. 1: To My Pit-Bull Self” is now on Silver Birch Press’s webpage featuring self portrait poems throughout the month of August. I am so excited to be included with tons of other poets I admire, like Daniel McGinn, Danielle Mitchell, Jax NTP, and Denise Weuve, during my birthday month no less! You can also listen to the poem on Soundcloud.com/SarahThursday.
Copies of All the Tiny Anchors have arrived! They are beautiful. It’s a culmination of over a year’s labor of love. You can buy it through the Sadie Girl Press Bookstore, Amazon, pick up a copy in person from me, or stop by Gatsby Books in Long Beach or Read On Till Morning at Crafted in San Pedro (as soon as I can bring them copies).
Kinda jumping up and down for this one! I am so thrilled to be included in a series of poetry by Poets Cafe (KPFK Radio – Los Angeles 90.7 fm) on immigration. This topic is near and dear to me in my teaching life, as many of my students are immigrants or first generation from immigrants. Recent news about the protests in Murrieta broke my heart. You can not only read my poem “Murrieta”, but listen to me reading it for you at this link!
I approved my proof copy of All the Tiny Anchors and ordered copies which should arrive in about a week and a half! The book will be available through the Sadie Girl Press Bookstore, Amazon, and even on Kindle in a few days. When I receive my copies, they will also be available at Gatsby Books and Read On Till Morning.
My first international publication! I have a poem, “The Lost Vowels” in the 3rd issue of Parisian literary magazine, The Bastille, called Interesting Times. This poem is about my Parisian roots. You may order a copy online through their website, SpokenWordParis.org. I believe copies will also be available at Gatsby Books in the near future.
I am pleased to announce that my poem, “Daylight”, found a home on First Literary Review-East. You can read it alongside many other poems under 16 lines each! It is also part of All the Tiny Anchors, full length poetry book.
In the bathroom of that old theater
is where it started for us.
You stood by the sink
and we met eyes through the mirror.
I had cut my hair short,
dyed my blond hair black.
You were so heavy metal
with your endless platinum hair
and black suede boots with fringe
that made me resist you.
But I kept hearing rumors
that you liked my favorite bands
like The Cure and even Scattered Few.
You were my age
and the same height as me,
we were both on the threshold
of becoming women,
of defining our future selves.
Back in nineteen ninety-one
we’d come for the same reason
to hear the bands pour their hearts out
to bare their souls on the stage.
You must have understood it
the need to feel it raw
the bloody heart pulsing.
I looked through the mirror at you
in that bathroom in January,
the decade still fresh and undefined.
We talked about the band
the way we always would.
You smiled with uncertainty,
I smiled back in my arrogance.
Sarah Thursday 