Liberty's Vigil: The Occupy Anthology

Coming Jan. 15!

2011-12-31T03:35:00.000-08:00

New poetry book destined to “…fascinate historians a thousand years from now” -- FootHills Publishing Releases First International Occupy Movement Anthology

Liberty’s Vigil, The Occupy Anthology:

99 Poets among the 99%

Ninety-nine poets from 22 states and 6 countries speak out on behalf of the 99%, encouraging their fellow citizens to join in the effort to end corporate excess and income inequality, and win back the middle-class from corporate titans and their political puppets.

Co-editors Karla Linn Merrifield and Dwain Wilder have assembled the first anthology of its type in the world to inspire readers to take action on behalf of the 99%.

"Poets here have left their quiet corners and hit the streets to encourage their neighbors to address the needs of the homeless…to fight side by side with besieged homeowners who are facing foreclosure...to eliminate corporate “personhood” and inordinate corporate influence on Capital Hill. We want readers to learn; we want them to act,” said Merrifield, author of six books of poetry.

In a similar vein, co-editor Dwain Wilder remarked, "I have very much enjoyed having a part to play in this collection's coming together. It is to be hoped that this will not be just a poetic artifact of historic interest (which I certainly hope it will!), but that it will also be the start of yet another breath taken by Americans on their long, vigilant road toward fully realizing our national dream of freedom, liberty and justice for all."

An historic book

Contributing poet Chris Crittenden of Lubec, ME, remarked on the historical nature of the anthology, saying: “The Wall Street debacle of 2008 is the blow that broke the weakened backbone of American supremacy. Ninety-nine voices within these hand-sewn pages capture the outrage, shame and anguish of a vast potential squandered. They embody the wounded consciousness of a fractured and dismayed citizenry, and their howls, laments, and torn dithyrambs shall fascinate historians a thousand years from now as much as they stab us today.”

Diverse Voices, Diverse Styles

“Poetry wields a special force in the Occupy movement. It is a medium that comes from the deep roots of our subconscious, in a myriad of styles, to focus attention on social injustice and political tyranny. Occupy poetry gives voice to the voiceless and unites the movement with a river of words and a fire of images. That is, ‘a posse ad esse’…from possibility to actuality,” says contributing poet Devreaux Baker. And myriad is a key word.

Humor and rage, compassion and irony and so much more! Liberty’s Vigil, The Occupy Anthology may have a single unifying theme, but its poets represent a wide range of viewpoints and styles. You’ll find in the book’s pages distinguished poetic masters such as William Heyen and Francisco X. Alarcón as well as poets just launching their careers. And, the 99 poets’ styles range from free verse to tanka to villanelle to sestina to…. Here’s Elizabeth Bodien‘s contribution:

Tanka: as winter bites

as winter bites

the fraying jacket rips

how to mend?

a few own all the needles, thread

the rest only their voices

And here’s an excerpt from Bill Dorris’s “The EU Commissions a Group Portrait by Van Gogh:”

We want something that captures the essential humanity

of a high-yield market,

that shows the lives we have previously revoked

are merely subject to default....

A complete list of contributors follows along with the co-editors bios.

Follow Liberty’s Vigil Online

It’s easy to keep up with Liberty’s Vigil and its activist poets. News of readings held by contributors will be posted on the FootHills Publishing web site (www.foothillspublishing.com.) as well as on Liberty’s Vigil group wall page on Facebook.

Sales to Support Income Equality

FootHills is contributing 20 percent of proceeds from sales of Liberty’s Vigil to the Occupy Movement. For details, please contact the publisher.

Available Now

Liberty’s Vigil, The Occupy Anthology: 99 Poets among the 99% (128 pages) is available for $20.00 at selected bookstores nationwide – ISBN 978-0-931053-81-8 -- and from FootHills Publishing at www.foothillspublishing.com. FootHills Publishing, celebrating its 26^th anniversary this year, is headquartered in Wheeler Hill, N.Y. Michael Czarnecki, publisher, is available at (607) 566-3881.

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EVENTS: Liberty's Vigil, The Occupy Anthology Announces the 99 Poets Among the 99%

2011-12-29T07:28:00.000-08:00

Liberty's Vigil, The Occupy Anthology: 99 Poets among the 99% launches on Jan. 15. And fast on the heels of that momentous event will follow readings by the book's contributors.

Please post a comment to notify us of your events! Please pass the word.

We are going to win.

***

Liberty's Vigil, The Occupy Anthology Announces the 99 Poets Among the 99%

2011-12-04T05:06:00.000-08:00

Liberty’s Vigil, The Occupy Anthology:

99 Poets Among the 99%

List of Contributors

Jennifer Ailles

Francisco X. Alarcón

C. Albert

Anita J. Augesen

Devreaux Baker

Ron Bailey

David Baratier

Tanya Bellehumeur-Allatt

Mark Block

Elizabeth Bodien

Debbi Brody

Michael R. Burch

Alex Cigale

Billy Clem

Steve Coffman

Karen Connelly

Kay Cosgrove

Chris Crittenden

Kathleen M. Curry

Beau Cutts

Craig Czury

Vivian Demuth

Charlotte Jane Dickens

William Doreski

Bill Dorris

Edward A. Dougherty

Kathy Engel

Charles Entrekin

Eric Evans

Ariel Fintushel

Chris Flynn

Dennis Fritzinger

Laura Glenn

vincent f. a. golphin

Howie Good

Dane R. Gordon

Corinne Heschke

William Heyen

Ed Higgins

Scott Hightower

Debbie Hinman

Alicia Hoffman

Paul Hostovsky

Jane Hoogestraat

Rose Hunter

M.J. Iuppa

Mary Strong Jackson

Tom Jones

Kitty Jospé

Frank Judge

Laura Klinkon

Maude Larke

Janet Levin

Stephen Lewandowski

Eric Lochridge

Iven Lourie

Margot Malone

Catherine McGuire

Karla Linn Merrifield

Corey Mesler

Ellen Birkett Morris

Kate Murr

Will Nixon

Jules Nyquist

Beatrice O'Brien

Greg Opstad

Mónica Teresa Ortiz

Ted Peck

Natalie Peeterse

James Penha

elijah b pringle

Erik Richardson

Susan Edwards Richmond

John Roche

Debby Rosenfeld

Michael Rothenberg

Mary Rudge

Deborah Dashow Ruth

Nancy Scott

William Seaton

Nina Serrano

Scot Siegel

Josie Sigler

John Richard Smith

Michael G. Smith

Richard Smyth

Jack Bradigan Spula

Eamonn Stewart

Susan Supley

Heather Thomas

Paul Watsky

Alice Weiss

Lenore Weiss

David White

Anne Whitehouse

Dwain Wilder

Martin Willitts, Jr.

Paul Winkel

Leah Zazulyer

Congratulations from the editors,

Karla Linn Merrifield & Dwain Wilder

Call for Submissions - SUBMISSIONS NOW CLOSED!

2011-11-12T13:13:00.000-08:00

Liberty’s Vigil: The Occupy Anthology

99 Poets among the 99%

Edited by Karla Linn Merrifield & Dwain Wilder

from FootHills Publishing

http://foothillspublishing.com/

Poetry can change the world. And poets can show their solidarity with their fellow 99%ers. So submit now --- deadline is NOVEMBER 21, 2011 – 9 days only:

1) One poem per poet expressing your sentiments about the Occupy movement and/or related topics (e.g., homelessness, unemployment, Wall Street greed)

2) By email only, emailed as a .doc attachment to 99poets@gmail.com; sorry no .rtf, .txt., .docx, etc. in Times New Roman only; please label your attachment “Submission – Your Full Name” and label your email subject likewise

3) One page only (max. 34 lines)

4) English only

5) Original poems only; no reprints (including on Facebook, blogs, etc.)

6) Poems submitted should be “camera-ready” (especially as regards formating) as no revisions will be permitted and proofs will not be issued (so you cannot make editorial changes after submission); if content is in any way factual, please make sure your facts are accurate

7) Editors reserve the right to make minor adjustments for grammar, spelling and anthology stylistics such as title capitalization style for consistency

8) Anonymous – Please, no identification on the attached poem; poems will be selected blindly; poems with IDs will be disqualified.

9) Cover should contain:

· your contact information (name, mailing address, email)

· title of your poem

· one-line bio (max. 25 words)

· a list of independent bookstores in your area with their addresses to help market the book

10) No cash payment; contributors will be able to purchase one copy of a collector's limited-edition, (99 copies) anthology -- signed by the editors -- for $10, equivalent to 50% off cover price; additional copies of the regular-issue edition will also be available to contributors for $10.
11) Submissions received after the November 21, 2011, deadline will be discarded.
12) A portion of our proceeds will support the Occupy movement.

Contributors will announced on this blog in early December. Liberty’s Vigil, The Occupy Anthology: 99 Poets among the 99% will be available January 2012.

About the Editors

A long-time environmental activist and National Park Artist-in-Residence, Karla Linn Merrifield has seen hundreds of poems appear in dozens of publications as well as in many anthologies. She has six books to her credit, including Godwit: Poems of Canada (FootHills Publishing), which received the 2009 Andrew Eiseman Writers Award for Poetry, and her new chapbook, The Urn, from Finishing Line Press. Forthcoming from Salmon Press is her full-length collection Athabaskan Fractal and Other Poems of the Far North, and The Ice Decides: Poems of Antarctica from FLP. She and her husband Roger M. Weir co-edited THE DIRE ELEGIES: 59 Poets on Endangered Species of North America, also from FootHills. Currently in the works is a book of technologically themed poems, The Gizmo Girl’s Diary, a collection of poems reflecting on the Age of Technology, and Virus in the Song, poems in memoriam to her brother. She was founding poetry editor of Sea Stories), and is now book reviewer and assistant editor for The Centrifugal Eye (www.centrifugaleye.com). A graduate of The College at Brockport (SUNY), where she earned an MA in Creative Writing-Poetry, she teaches at Writers & Books, Rochester, NY. You can read more about her and sample her poems and photographs at http://karlalinn.blogspot.com. She resides in Kent, NY, and winters in North Fort Myers, FL.

Dwain Wilder, a native of a small town outside Dallas, moved to Rochester, NY, in 1970 to study Zen Buddhism. He has had a varied career as navy flight crewmember, research technician, software engineer, and luthier (builder of stringed musical instruments). Dwain had leadership roles in the Civil Rights and Anti-Vietnam War Movements, as a staff member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Project Dialogue, and coordinator of the Southern Coordinating Committee to End the War in Vietnam. In this latter capacity, he worked closely with students, Quakers, pacifists and Civil Rights field workers across the South to organize the only South-wide Anti-War March, on Lincoln’s Birthday, Feb 12, 1967. He was also security marshal for the 1967 Fifth Avenue Parade against the War, and he worked with Staughton Lynd as a community organizer in New Haven, and as an organizer for the 1967 People’s Congress, an attempt to nonviolently occupy the House of Representatives in Washington.

Dwain graduated with honors from Yale with a degree in American Studies (History of Technology and Literature). He is a poet and essayist whose work has been published in various small poetry periodicals and collections, and his poetry collection, Under the Only Moon, was published by FootHills Publishing in August 2011.

Dwain lives with his wife and their dog and parrot in a quaint farmhouse near a large park. He currently makes his livelihood in lutherie, and his Appalachian dulcimers are held in high regard, both in the U.S. and abroad.

About the Publisher

Publishing America's poets for 26 years, FootHills Publishing is a family-owned and operated concern based in Wheeler, NY. For all of its hundreds of titles, each copy is lovingly hand-sewn, making for a more beautiful reading experience. Visit FootHills at www.foothillspublishing.com.

Photo by Michael Czarnecki, FootHills Publishing

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