Fairfield poet Tony Ellis, author of "There is Wisdom in Walnuts," will discuss his

work in process resulting from a weeks-long retreat at Soul Mountain writers' retreat.  Soul Mountain was founded by poet Marilyn Nelson in rural Connecticut and is sponsored by the University of Connecticut.  It offers residencies for up to four writers at a time.  “When my book of poems about the scientist-saint George Washington Carver started to bear surprising fruit, I suddenly had enough money for a down-payment on a childhood dream. ...[Now,] poems not my own are being written under my roof. My guest book is filled with gratitude. So am I."

(from Marilyn Nelson: "It's Not Too Late to Bring Art to the World,"
"O," The Oprah Magazine, October 2005, p. 298)  read more »

Congress passed legislation which was signed by

the President in August 2003, Public Law 108-72, declaring “(1) the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History should be commended for establishing a Jazz Appreciation Month; and (2) musicians, schools, colleges, libraries, concert halls, museums, radio and television stations, and other organizations should develop programs to explore, perpetuate, and honor jazz as a national and world treasure.”

At Chez Dilley every month is JAM, but if your taste or budget is such that you can only justify appreciating jazz one month a year then by all means make it April! Seriously, the Smithsonian's site has all kinds of neat stuff, so be sure to check it out.  read more »

They tell me that April is National Poetry Month, so help celebrate this momentous occasion by tuning into Writers' Voices Monday at 8 am as Caroline and Monica interview Fairfield poets Rustin Larson and Matthew McLeod.

We'll be talking about the role of poetry in America in the 21st century, what motivates these poets, and more. Plus, we'll get to hear some great poems!

Fridays at 1pm CST Rebroadcast Mondays at 8am

James Moore presents an evening with poet W.E. Butts, who visited Fairfield recently to commemorate his collection of poems called Sunday Evening at the Stardust Cafe. Butts is winner of the Iowa Source Poetry Book Prize.

His work has been published in such literary journals as Poetry, The Atlanta Review, Cimarron Review, Mid-American Review, Slant, PoetryMotel, Poet Lore and Spillway

Also, James will be speaking with Evan Hall,
whose recent global warming spot for Al Gore's Current TV, made it to
the Top 20, will discuss his career trajector. He is currently working
on a segment on this whole experience for PBS. The phone interview will
be at 3pm.  read more »

Tonight from 8pm - 9pm, Sleepytime with Grandpa D will fill your hearts and young at heart.

We will read “A Great Time: Children’s Poems in English and Russion”, which is scheduled for publication October 2007. It is a collection of short children stories written by Masha Shurin and illustrated by Valentin Ginukov. The author will join us on the phone and read a few stories in Russian and we will read them in English. Join Yucky the bug, No-tail the elephant, a sailor frog and other characters for A Great Time. The fun-filled poems encourage courtesy, sharing, and friendship while upholding hope and joy.

Then, to top off our second half hour, we will present a special song which Rachel Ries recorded exclusively for Sleepytime. Let's see if you can guess which Fats Waller song she sang for us. Tonight at 8pm.

Mickey and I are so thrilled to have Eve Hall as our guest tonight. Eve Hall is a children's author and poet residing in Atlanta, GA. She has been writing for more than 35 years. Her work has been featured in several magazines including A Poet's Cut, Skyline Publications, Saplings Magazine, Purpose, Mature Living and Weeones.She has published three poetry chapbooks, and has self-published four books: Dontay's Alphabet Book of Color, Dontay's Poetry Playground, Enter Eve's Poetic Paradise, and Enter Eve's Musing Moments. One of her goals is to publish over a dozen of her books for children. Her next book is titled Dontay's Dog (www.bradymagazine.com/gallery/evehall)

Tonight, Eve will share some of her poems which are oriented to children's bedtime. We will also be reading The Tale of Three Trees by Angela Elwell Hunt and published by Cook Communications (www.cookministries.com) You won't want to miss this show.

And that's just the first half hour. Check out our playlist. 

Greetings everyone from Monica and Caroline.

We'd love to have you listen in this Friday from 1 to 2 pm or the following Monday from 8 - 9 am for a preview (or post-view as the case may be) of Tony Ellis' and Nynke Passi's Poems of Wonderment and Transcendence, followed by a fun interview with Van Buren High School writing teacher Richard Incorvia and his students.

Tony and Nynke are treating Fairfield to a reading of their poems Friday March 9 at 8 pm at Revelations.  Tony was a most delightful guest on Writers' Voices the first week of January, so we are happy to have him back for this encore.

Richard Incorvia's class just finished a project where they posted online book reviews based solely on  the book's cover.  Check out www.judgeabookbyitscover.org for these students' creative takes on books from authors ranging from Charles Dickens to Steven King.

For a brief hint of Fridays to come:   read more »