Local blogger and friend, Chris Weaver, writes about loosing his cousin to the war in Afghanistan.

I can never find the right words... I can only say that like many Americans I too have family there and worry we might also someday face the same.

I'm a little late but here it is. From WGBH in Boston:

At Word Catalyst Magazine we are focusing our efforts in April on National Poetry Month. We will begin with a word of advice and encouragement from a very prestigious Poet Laureate along with an award winning essay that will be published for the first time in Word Catalyst. And, of course, we will hear from the many fine poets who offer their best to Word Catalyst each and every month along with some new voices.

If you're a  poet, it's your month to shine... so let's party! Send your submissions to editor (AT) wordcatalystmagazine.com by the 25th of March to be considered for publication in April. Please put "poetry" in the subject line.

I would also like to announce that Word Catalyst will be publishing a chapbook anthology of selected works from our first year of publication. Publication dates and ordering information will be available in the magazine soon.

By the way, If you have linked to Word Catalyst Magazine, let us know and we will provide you with a link in return on our brand new links page. And, while you're there, why not check out our short stories, art, photography and excellent prose by our monthly columnists.

Thank You,
Shirley Allard, publisher/editor

 

Meanwhile, here at BloggingPoet.com we'll be nominating and electing the 4th Poet Laureate of the Blogosphere before we begin yet another year of seeking out and exposing as many poetry bloggers as we possibly can. 

With the exception of B.B. King and perhaps a few others, James Cotton is the last of the superstar blues artists who has been his own band leader for over 40 years. This Grammy Award winner was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 2006, the Smithsonian Institute in 1991 and is the winner of countless W.C. Handy Blues Awards. He's shared the stage with B.B. King, The Rolling Stones, Johnny Winter, the Allman Brothers, Santana, Bonnie Raitt, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Sam and Dave, the Grateful Dead and far too many others to mention. The James Cotton Blues Band showcases Mr. Superharp and keeps him one of the most sought-after, hard-driving, seminal blues musicians touring the world today.

James Cotton will be appearing in Carrboro on July 4, 2008 and is available for July 3rd and July 4th. If your club or venue would like James Cotton to fill those dates contact Tina Terry at PiedmontTalent.com.

It's time for a change. North Carolina's 6th. Congressional District has been represented by Rep. Howard Coble for the last 23 years. Coble is an okay guy and most people like him but frankly the old dude seems to be loosing touch with the voters in District 6. And Howard, make sure you have someone check out the brake lights on your car.

I've known Jay Ovittore for several years now and think Jay would make a fine United States Congressman who has a better grasp of what it's like to work for a living than Rep Coble who hasn't lived among the working class for as long as I can remember.

Jay is a true Washington outsider who earns his living painting houses. You see, Jay may be a contractor but those of us who know him still get to see him with a brush in his hand and paint on his nose. I think it's time America's working class started having more influence in government and sending Jay to Washington is how we can get that done.

November 7, 2007
CCWA EVENTS
1) Strange Tongues undergraduate writing contest, deadline Nov. 16th
2) Workshop for Writers, Actors and Directors, with Garrett Brown; Nov. 18th
3) Rumi readings: UNCG students half-price, Nov. 31th & Dec.1st

OTHER UNCG AND COMMUNITY EVENTS
4) *NEW* Julianna Baggott poetry reading, Nov. 8th
5) “Will Read for Food” benefit, Nov. 15th

For more details on CCWA news and events...

Christmas is drawing near and so are the holidaze and this year the holidaze will be bigger than ever starting on November 23,2007 when the Blogsboro.com Network presents the BloggingPoet.com 33 Days of Christmas. That's right, not eight, ten, twelve or even thirty but 33 days of Christmas cheer right here at BloggingPoet.com beginning on November 23rd with your host the one and only Billy Claus!

Here comes Billy Claus, here comes Billy Claus right down Billy Claus lane...

And don't forget to get yourself a copy of my Christmas book, Reindeer Tales containing The Reindeer Shoe and The Great Reindeer Get-A-Way.

Blogsboro.com Corrections Policy

Okay, so nobody’s perfect, and I’m nobody so I’m certainly not perfect. That’s right, the great Billy Jones is sometimes mistaken. Despite the fact that my mother and two x-wives all agree, “Billy Jones, you’re always right!” I do in-fact make mistakes. Other times people pass along information to me that turns out to be mistaken and I pass it along unknowingly. Sorry, my mistake.

For those of you who may not understand how things work I’ll explain:

1. I’m happy to make things right but I need your help. One e-mailer told me that I had it all wrong but didn’t bother to tell me what was wrong. It’s hard to correct something without any facts to go on.

2. I need the hyperlink or complete URL of the post you’re talking about. You see, we post several hundred pieces each month so if It didn’t posted today then I probably don’t remember posting it. Say you don’t know what a URL is or how to get it? I’ll explain. See the top of this post where it says, “Correct Me Please.” Move your mouse to “Correct Me Please” and click on it. Now look in your browser window and see the words starting with “http://” Copy and past all the words in that window to the e-mail that you send me. If you don’t know how to copy and paste then go to the very bottom of the post in question and get me the day, date, and time the article in question was posted and I’ll happily make the corrections.

3. What am I willing to change and how do I note changes? Well that depends on the type of post and what value the change would be to my readers. Little things might be changed without mention. Things of greatest value might require a second post noting that changes were made, and those somewhere in-between might get an update at the bottom of the post in question noting our mistake and what was done to correct it.

4. I’m a busy man, I’ll usually make changes very quickly-- usually same day-- but sometimes you’ll just have to wait. E-mail your changes to idleblogs (at) yahoo.com with the words, "Blogsboro Corrections" in the header and I’ll try to get them done ASAP.

The longest running poetry carnival in the world celebrates its 1 year anniversary.