Be in the know ’bout the LA River and the huge revitalization effort around it! The next car caravan tour‘ll be led by Jenny Price, author of “Thirteen Ways of Seeing Nature in L.A.”
I took a tour the LA River a while back, had lotsa fun, learned a lot, and took many many pictures.
When: Sunday, Sept. 14, 2008, 9 am - 1 pm
Where: Meet at the Los Angeles River Center and Gardens, 570 West Avenue 26, in the Cypress Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. (PDF map here)
Cost: $20 for FoLAR members, $25 for non-members, free for kids 18 and under.
Spaces limited, and advance sign-up required; contact Ramona at mail@folar.org or 323.223.0585.
With an economy of pen strokes, poet Gary Snyder sketches a detail of a surreptitious piece of Los Angeles’ terrain: “Houses with green watered gardens / Slip under the ghost of the dry chaparral, / Ghost shrine to the L.A. River.”
“Night Song of the Los Angeles Basin” is one luminous tile taken from Snyder’s 40-years-in-the-making living mosaic of a manuscript, “Mountains and Rivers Without End” (Counterpoint, 1996). Its completion was the realization of his dream to convey the “spiritual power” of the West Coast within the space of a lyric line. No better a compassionate presence to evoke and celebrate the poetry innate in the Earth and its full chorus of elements. No better a figure to attempt to understand the conundrum, or better, koan that is Los Angeles–both unruly city and unruly wilds attempting coexistence.
-from 1999 LA Times article, see at:
http://articles.latimes.com/1999/apr/12/news/cl-26514
Comment by EcoLarry / Watershed Poetry Mendocino 2008 — September 8, 2008 @ 5:20 pm
Watershed Poetry Mendocino 2008, Sept. 27, Ukiah, CA / Mendocino County…
This day long celebration will use poetry, art and discussion to help raise awareness of the importance of Mendocino County watersheds, and environmental and cultural issues. Watershed Poetry Mendocino is affiliated with and modeled after the annual Watershed Environmental Poetry Festival held in Berkeley and sponsored by Poetry Flash.
The program begins at 8:30 am at the Ukiah Saturday Farmers’ Market with a Welcome and talk by Peter Berg of Planet Drum Foundation & Rebecca Kress of Mendocino County Water Agency, and continues with performers, a Gibson Creek Walk, and tabling by environmental groups and green businesses. At 11:30 am the program will continue at TB Greene Galley with a poetry reading/Open Mic and a watershed awareness talk and workshop lead by Rebecca Kress. Concurrent with the poetry and workshop will be TB Greene Gallery’s September art showing, “Rivers - Photos of the Local Watersheds,” presented by gallery owner Nadia Tarlow. Continuing at 4pm, the program moves to Mendocino Book Company with another poetry reading of featured poets, followed by a reception hosted by Ann Kilkenny. Poets will be signing copies of their published works. The celebration concludes with the Evening Reading at the Grace Hudson Museum beginning at 6:30 pm with eight poets reading from their works. This final presentation of the day is hosted by Sherrie Smith-Ferri and sponsored by the Poet Laureate Committee of Ukiah and the Grace Hudson Museum.
Among the poets reading during the celebration are: Jan Allegretti, Louisa Aronow, Devreaux Baker, Dan Barth, Peter Berg, Zida Borcich, Armand Brint, Sharon Doubiago, Mary Norbert Korte, Gabe Kregler, Aisha Matthai, Linda Noel, Dan Roberts, Robin Rule, Leslie Sheridan, Liam UiCearbhaill, Sandra Wade, Roberta Werdinger and Theresa Whitehill.
The four participating venues are the Alex R. Thomas Plaza (310 S. State St.), TB Greene Gallery (104 W. Church St.), Mendocino Book Company (102 S. School St.), and Grace Hudson Museum (431 S. Main St.).
Watershed Poetry Mendocino is sponsored by Cloud Forest Institute, Tenacity Press/Writers Read, TB Greene Gallery, Mendocino Book Company, Grace Hudson Museum and Mendocino County Water Agency. Co-sponsors are Ekotect and Pacific Internet. Others TBA.
For more information call 707-485-7072, or email:
ecotopialarry(at)pacific(dot)net
Note: The website is currently in development and may not have current information. Best to email Larry, and he can send you complete info. There’s a nice Mendoland pic there tho:
http://watershedpoetrymendocino.wordpress.com
Comment by EcoLarry / Watershed Poetry Mendocino 2008 — September 8, 2008 @ 5:25 pm