Poetry & Writings

 
Reading at Chatham University
September 28, 2012. Photo by George Lightcap.April, 2013 Poetry Reading:

Jean LeBlanc, Susanna Rich, Edwin Romond, and Sander Zulaf will read their work on Sunday, April 21, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. at the RoxPAC/Investors Savings Bank Theater, 72 Eyland Avenue, Succasunna, New Jersey, 07876. Refreshments and a meet-and-greet will follow the reading with the poets. Donations are welcome; sponsored by the Roxbury Arts Alliance.

Directions to RoxPAC/Investors Savings Bank Theater for Sussex County friends heading down to Morris County: Route 46 to Route 10. Eyland Avenue is a right turn off Route 10 at the third traffic light after the Roxbury Mall; there are lights at Commerce Blvd., Hillside Ave., and then Eyland.

Type the address into Google Maps for directions, or visit Roxbury Arts Alliance.

A look back: Thank you to the Writers' Roundtable of Sussex County for the opportunity to present A Night of Emily Dickinson in December of 2012. I always enjoy the chance to talk about my favorite poet, as my students in English Comp. II and American Literature know all too well. Hearing all the ways Dickinson has moved and inspired other poets made the evening especially important. Thanks to Elaine Koplow, our new Roundtable leader.

Coming up in December: I will give a talk on Emily Dickinson at the Writers’ Roundtable First Tuesday on December 4, 2012. An open mic will follow the event; participants are encouraged to being their favorite Dickinson poem or a work inspired by Dickinson. Writers' Roundtable First Tuesdays are held at the Unitarian Fellowship Hall, 1 West Nelson Street, Newton NJ 07860. We begin at 7:00 and go to 9:00, with light refreshments. Donations are welcome.

September 2012 was a busy month. Thanks to artist Kate Cheney Chappell, I was invited to read my poetry (along with Marjorie Agosin) as part of her exhibit InterRelated: One Artist's Response to Rachel Carson. My poem "The Bee Girl Writes to Rachel Carson" was also included in the catalogue for the exhibit, which is in the Gallery at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA, through November 15. This event marked the 50th anniversary of the publication of Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring.

The Women Who Write writers conference in Madison, New Jersey, was also in September. My presentation on figurative language in poetry, which I called ”Literal, Figurative, and Everything In Between,” was well received. I was nervous about giving a two-hour presentation, but of course, I could have gone on for a couple more hours, thanks to the enthusiasm of the participants.

I’ll be presenting at the Women Who Write Second Annual Writers Conference on September 22, 2012. Here’s the complete information on this event:

Women Who Write Second Annual Writers Conference will be held on Saturday, September 22nd, at the Madison Community House, 20 Cook Avenue in Madison, NJ starting at 9:00 A.M. and is offered to both female and male attendees.

The Conference will offer three simultaneous tracks: prose, poetry and writing for children. Critiques (a 15-minute, one-on-one session) for all three tracks will be available during the day. Pre-registration is required. Registration for members of Women Who Write started on June 1st and for non-members, the registration will begin on July 16th. There are a limited number of openings in each track.

For Prose writers, Dr. Susan Osborne with The Writers House, who is an award winner, teacher and author of the critically acclaimed novel “Surviving the Wreck” will offer a workshop to prose writers in the morning, “Love Thy Villains as Thy Self: Developing Believable Characters” and Dr. Rene Steinke, a novelist and editor whose novel “Holy Skirts” was a finalist for the 2005 National Book Award will offer a workshop in the afternoon, “She said what?—Creating a Distinctive Narrator’s Voice.”

Poets will hear a presentation, “Memory and Meaning” by Adele Kenny who is a poet and author of 23 books (poetry and nonfiction) in the morning and in the afternoon will hear “Literal, Figurative, and Everything In Between” by Jean LeBlanc, whose poetry has been published in numerous journals and collections.

Children’s writers will hear, “Revisions, Revisions: 5 Steps to Tearing Your Novel Apart, Putting It Back Together, and Emerging Victorious” being presented by Kendra Levin (Editor, Viking Children’s Books) and Becca Stumpf (Literary Agent, Prospect Agency) and in the afternoon will hear “Hooks and Openings: Grabbing an Editor’s Attention from the Start” presented by Emma Ledbetter (Editorial Assistant, Simon & Schuster).

In addition, all attendees will be able to hear “Publishing a Book in 2012 and Beyond: The Three Main Publishing Paths” by Jenny Milchman novelist and teacher of writing and publishing for New York Writers Workshop and The Writers Circle.

Critiques will be offered during the day by Kendra Levin, Becca Stumpf and Emma Ledbetter for children’s writers; Deborah Laveglia for poets in Adele Kenny’s Workshop, and Adele will critique poems for all other workshop participants in Poetry track and Lois L. Winston for prose writers.

Women Who Write is a New Jersey-based, non-profit collective of over 100 women writers ages 18 and over of all genres, from all walks of life. Published and unpublished, professional and amateur, our membership is comprised of writers in various stages of their careers. New writers are welcomed as openly as experienced authors.

Conference registration forms can be accessed by contacting Pat Weissner, pweissner@yahoo.com and more information about us can be found at www.womenwhowrite.org. High School students are also welcome to come to the conference. The cost for attending the conference is $45 for members and $55 for non-members. To join Women Who Write, the membership dues are $35. Become a member now and you can register for the conference immediately. Just include your membership dues with the registration fee.

Critique fees are separate, they are as follows: Children’s Writers and Prose, WWW member ($60), non-member ($70); Poets, WWW member ($20), non-member ($30). Guidelines will be sent to you after your check is received.

Additional questions can be answered by contacting Marie Ascolese at wwwworkshop@yahoo.com Children’s writers may contact Pat Weissner at pweissner@yahoo.com

Newton Resident Publishes Third Poetry Collection
NJ Herald, Sunday, February 28, 2010

Newton resident Jean LeBlanc’s third collection of poetry “At Any Moment” has been released by Backwaters Press.

LeBlanc’s poetry reflects her love of the natural world, her teaching experience, her New England childhood and her Newton back yard. Her work has appeared in numerous journals and collections.

Her first book “Just Passing Through” was published by the Paulinskill Poetry Project of Andover Township; “The Stream Singing Your Name” was published by Modern English Tanka Press in 2009. A new collection “Where We Go” is forthcoming.

LeBlanc is a member of the English Department at Sussex County Community College. She is also executive editor of the Paulinskill Poetry Project and edited an anthology of local poets, “Voices From Here.” Some of her work can be viewed at jeanleblancpoetry.com.

“At Any Moment” is available from major booksellers online and at Sussex County bookstores.

Writers’ Roundtable First Tuesday
Featured Reader: Jean LeBlanc

The Grist Mill Café, 4 Lenape Road (intersection of Routes 517 and 206), Andover, New Jersey. 7:00 to 9:00 P.M. Featured reading is followed by an open mic for poets and fiction writers. Free and open to the public.

(Snow Date: February 6, 2009):
Opening night for DOUBLE EXPOSURES

Photography and Poetry Exhibit. Poets will read their work, inspired by the photographs in the exhibit. Location: Art Gallery, Sussex County Community College (Building C, Lower Campus), Newton, New Jersey. Co-sponsored by the Art Gallery and the Betty June Silconas Poetry Center at SCCC. For more information, call Jean LeBlanc at 973-300-2260.

Ron Block.

These readings are held in the Library of Sussex County Community College, located at 1 College Hill Road in Newton, New Jersey. The readings are free and open to the public. We begin at 7:00 P.M. and end at 9:00 P.M. Time permitting, an open mic follows the featured readers; we encourage members of our poetry community to bring a poem to share.

After spending a semester as interim director of the Betty June Silconas Poetry Center, I am now the official director. Priscilla Orr is still working closely with the Center, hoping to do some grant writing and start a poetry journal. I would not have agreed to become director without Priscilla’s help and guidance.

Here’s our schedule of readings for Fall, 2008:

Friday, September 5, 2008
Mary Greene and other poets from the Upper Delaware Writers Collective.

Friday, October 3, 2008
Gloria Rovder Healy and David Crews.

Friday, November 7
Ron Block.

These readings are held in the Library of Sussex County Community College, located at 1 College Hill Road in Newton, New Jersey. The readings are free and open to the public. We begin at 7:00 P.M. and end at 9:00. Time permitting, an open mic follows the featured readers; we encourage members of our poetry community to bring a poem to share.

Join me on Saturday, April 19, from 9:30 A.M. until 1:30 P.M., when the Betty June Silconas Poetry Center at Sussex County Community College will offer a poetry workshop called The Short Forms: Exploring Haiku, Tanka, Renga, Senryu, Sijo, Haibun, Haiga, and whatever else we have time to cover! We’ll discuss the American expression of these (traditionally Eastern) short forms; we will look at examples of each form and discuss how contemporary American poets are bringing their own voice and style to what may seem like highly structured forms. We’ll then try some exercises in writing haiku and tanka, and as many of the others as time permits. The intent of this workshop is to foster each participant’s original voice within these proscribed forms, thereby opening new paths to freedom and creativity. These short forms lend themselves to daily practice and to the cultivation of seeing that leads naturally into all forms of poetic expression.

The workshop will be held in room B103 of Sussex County Community College. The “B” Building is the main building on campus, with a flagpole out front. The receptionist inside the main entrance will direct you to the room.

Registration Fee: $10.00 payable to SCCC Foundation (with “Poetry Workshop” on the memo line). Send checks to Jean LeBlanc, Interim Director, Silconas Poetry Center, Sussex County Community College, One College Hill, Newton NJ 07860. For more information, email Jeannie at or Building is the main on campus, with a flagpole out front. Receptionist inside entrance will direct you to room. Registration fee: $10.00 payable SCCC Foundation (with “Poetry Workshop” memo line). Send checks Jean LeBlanc, Interim Director, Silconas Center, Sussex County Community College, One College Hill, Newton, NJ 07860. For more information, email Jeannie at jleblanc@sussex.edu or leblanc01@yahoo.com.