Friday, September 30, 2016

Indie Author Day 8 October in Aiken

https://www.facebook.com/events/1261178590599866/

This is one week away! Promises to be a good time! Places and Times available and I hope to use the Square for the first time!

Monday, September 26, 2016

Arnold Palmer, RIP


    Imagine Arnold Palmer and Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers) in the same high school at the same time! That was the case in the early 1950s in Latrobe, Pennsylvania (Western Pennsylvania, to be more precise. That's my Heimat).

    For as long as I can remember, people liked and respected Palmer. He never forgot his roots. A humble, unassuming person, he took pride in what he did. He won the Master's four times, and notched numerous other victories. His most important contribution was in removing the snobbish mystique from golf.

   In the late 1960s my father took my brother and me one Saturday morning to the golf shop at the Philadelphia Cricket Club to get us interested in golf. He himself did not play, but it was a means for social advancement. My brother and I are second-generation Americans, and I suppose Dad wanted us to climb up the ladder. My reaction was: do I have to wear those clothes? Plaids, pastels, and stripes yuck!

    Neither my brother nor I play golf, but my son does.  tried a few times, but would rather run than play golf. But I respected and liked Arnie. And I miss him.



   

http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/25/us/arnold-palmer-death/index.html

Sunday, September 25, 2016

Indie Aiuthor Day


   I always enjoy going to Aiken, South Carolina. When I heard about this event, I asked the sponsors if I could truly be considered and Indie Author, since I have a publisher for my book (thank you, eLectio Publishing!). The sponsors reassured me that I fit in, because the publisher is small enough to be friendly.

   In fact, having a publisher qualified me to have seven minutes of time on a panel discussion of how to get published. Signed copies of Places and Times will be available, and I am hopeful of being able to read a few poems.

   The nicest thing about these events is meeting new friends, seeing friends again, and networking.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1261178590599866/

Friday, September 23, 2016

Published in Mused BellaOnline Literary Review


   
I am honored and pleased to share this with you. this weekend I intend to read some of the fine pieces in his issue. Thanks!

http://www.bellaonline.com/review/issues/fall2016/p016.html

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

Happy Belated Birthday, William Carlos Williams




   It was on 17 September 1883 that William Carlos Williams was born in Rutherford, New Jersey. He would serve as the borough doctor in his adult lfe, and became one of the leading Imagist poets.I imagine that his ability ti diagnose patients helped him to describe the setting of a poem.

   There is more to him than the often-anthologized poem about the red wheelbarrow. These links contain more of his work and one offers a glimpse into his life.


https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poet/william-carlos-williams

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/detail/william-carlos-williams

http://www.northjersey.com/news/rutherford-celebrates-influential-poet-william-carlos-williams-birthday-1.1661957

And then go eat a plum!

Monday, September 19, 2016

My Facebook Author Page

   Many of you know about it, but more recent visitors to this blog may not. While there is a good bit of crossover between this blog and the Facebook page, the two are not identical. for those who enjoy the blog, I invite them to visit the Facebook page and like it, if they would care to do so.

    The Facebook page is more event driven than the blog. On Facebook I am a member of many groups, and sometimes I post on them from my author page. For instance, Writers of the South is one place where I also post an event. Of course more personal items about what  I do are on my personal Facebook page, and anyone can go there who wishes to see an update on the teams I support and music I like can go there. And yes, occasionally some family things!

    If you have not been over to Facebook yet, please do so when you have the chance!

https://www.facebook.com/Arthur-Turfa-Poems-of-Times-and-Places-Reflected-293732337470677/

    The blog can be accessed by the Contact Us button on the Facebook page, and is also synced to my Goodreads author page.

Friday, September 16, 2016

Now it Can Be Told

     I was very fortunate driving down to the Rosewood Art and Music Festival last Saturday. About four miles from my house, a deer ran into my car. Only the front bumper and passenger side fender was damaged. I was able to drive all right, and I had some duct tape with me anyway to attach some signs.

     When I returned home, I called GEICO and arranged to take it in. Four years ago another deer ran into me and did more damage. At the festival  sold well and met so many wonderful people. None of that would have happened if the damage to my car had been worse. Truly, I was blessed!

    Right now I am working on a poem about some of the people I met and whose lives my poetry touched. Also, I am getting ready for a panel discussion in Aiken, SC, next month.

    A few days ago I learned that a poem about a meal from our vacation posted: https://dineandrhymeblog.com/   Thanks, Donna! If you are ever in Tampa, FL, go to Ybor City and eat at the Columbia Restaurant (who even liked the tweet!). 

Monday, September 12, 2016

Indie Author Day, Aiken SC, 8 October

     On Saturday, 8 October, I have been asked to be on a panel at this event. Of course, I am glad to participate. What I will offer are some perspectives on how to have poetry published by a smaller publisher.

     Additionally I will be able to offer copies of Places and Times for sale and perhaps read a few pieces.

     Aiken is a lovely community located half way between Columbia, SC, and Augusta, GA. I have been there for another event, to which I will return in April. More details will come later, but this is breaking news, as they say.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

Rosewood Arts and Music Festival a Success!


 The Rosewood Art and Music Festival is now in the past tense. It was a fabulous, gloroious day. Sales of Places and Times were very good, but I enjoyed seeing old friends and making new ones. There was an awesome young violinist playing classical music near me; the other bands were audible but farther away.

    Natalie bought a book and asked me to read a poem. She is an avid hiker who just returned from some time on the Appalachian Trail in Virginia. I read "Three Woods", which I will add here. That got me thinking about some coincidences which might make it into a poem one day.

    I cannot wait until next year!

    THREE WOODS

Few places calm me as the woods.
Whether greening, bursting with spring
or bare-branched in winter, pleading
for the cycle to turn again.
Few places calm me as the woods.

                         I
At first I was not on my own.
Older boys showed me how to look,
to tell one leaf from the others,
where the water moccasins lived,
over the hills to Ten-Mile-Creek.
     Each adventure brought something new.
     I went on Braddock’s March or deep
     into the Ardennes, with Boone
     and Crockett away from the city.
     Whether alone or in a group
      happiest was I in those woods.

                          II
Dawned the day to search for the sun
leaving everything that I knew
and loved far beyond the mountains.
New sights and tones awaited me
Dawned the day to search for the sun.

Behind houses built to look the same
the drainage ditch led to limestone
kilns, quarries two hundred years old
and railroad between the rivers.
The long, low-lying hill beckoned
to destiny waiting for me
yet too early was it for me.
In time the woods led the back way
to the Mall straddling the Pike

Shadows lengthening, colder air
confined me to the loud house
near the corner of another
residence on a dead-end street.

Years and continents later on
I drove by where woods had been.
Larger, brighter colored houses
settled on fields and woods I roamed.
Where in the hell do kids now go?

                     III
Now more woods than ever I had
but far less time to savor them.
Tall Southern pines loom over oaks,
Loblollies and others. Early spring
brings flashes of wisteria
purpling as I pass on my way.

Only an occasional path
leads from the paved road deeper in;
otherwise it is hard going
whether with dog or all alone
through brush and low-lying branches.
Here I remain on the paved road;
enough time have I been in deep
woods, sleeping in tents, vehicles,
even under stars and branches,
through enough undergrowth and weeds
navigating my way forward
to personal growth or complete
retirement, regardless of which
I find first or makes itself known.

Most adventures lie in the past.
My motivations now are health-
or sanity-related. I
reflect and plan more concretely
instead of allowing my mind
to wander as I used to do.
Happiest am I in the woods.

Arthur Turfa ©2015 Places and Times

Thursday, September 8, 2016

I Got my Parking Pass for Rosewood!

The weather looks to be fair and warm, so come if you can! If you cannot but would like to obtain a signed copy og Places and Times, comment here or contact me at aturfa@aol.com, or my Facebook/Goodreads/Amazon pages and we can find a way!

http://www.rosewoodfestival.com/artists-gallery.html

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

     Getting ready for the event! I am to check in by 8 AM Saturday! Here is an article from THE STATE newspaper about the music side"

http://www.thestate.com/entertainment/local-events/article100238697.html

Sunday, September 4, 2016

Happy Labor Day!


   Forget Jimmy Hoffa and the rest of the sordid mess with labor unions. We can and should thank them for things like the 40-hour week, Workman's  Comp, unemployment insurance, for a few. I have been a union member several times as a part-time library worker at UC-Berkeley and as a teacher in Pennsylvania. South Carolina does not allow teachers to have unions, so I am in an association.


    Below is a link to my Facebook writer page; enjoy the song and check out the links.

https://www.facebook.com/Arthur-Turfa-Poems-of-Times-and-Places-Reflected-293732337470677/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf

Saturday, September 3, 2016

A few events lining up through 2016's conclusion


     Next Saturday is the Rosewood Arts and Music Festival in Columbia, SC. It has been expanded, and should be fun! https://www.facebook.com/RosewoodArtandMusicFestival/?fref=ts

     For October I hope to post something about an event at the Aiken County Public Library. I will be back in that lovely community for Diann Shaddox' April event.

    In November back to the banks of the Broad River for 302 Artisans  Senate's End Fall Festival in Columbia, SC. https://www.facebook.com/events/151165858649835/

    December is open, but it is early!

    Contact me about how to obtain a signed copy of Places and Times
 from eLectio Publishing.



   

Friday, September 2, 2016

Three things

http://bestread.net/-   A new month, and if you care for vote for Places and Times, it would be  great~

https://www.facebook.com/summerindiebookawards/?fref=nf&pnref=story   - From 1-11 September, you can vote for my book on this site.   Thanks!

http://www.rosewoodfestival.com/artists-gallery.html- On Saturday, 10 September, I will be one of many at this awesome event run by some friends. Lots of music, food, and other arts!

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Auden Poem for ! September 1939

   WH Auden was in New York and preparing to become a US citizen when World War II broke out. His poem about the day speaks for itself.

https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/september-1-1939

"Priestdaddy" by Patricia Lockwood

         I know some authors who write memoirs. In my opinion, it's a tricky genre unless the author is gifted, because unless the reade...