Poetry with meaning

Protecting your privacy and copyright

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:25:37 -0700

Poetry with meaning takes your privacy and copyright very seriously. Recently there was an outside person who emailed me and started a discussion violently screaming at me to take someone else's work down. Ultimately, the person was unable to prove that their work was their own.

Please remember that in order to prove you own a piece of writing you must prove two things:

1. The work was indeed authored by you (signature, etc)
2. The work was created prior to the offending copyright violation

This means that you must point out something *with a date* on it that is attributed to you. Here at Poetry with meaning we record two dates on the site: the written on date (the date of which you created the poem), and the date it was published on PWM. The second date is the date of authority in copyright disputes since it's the first time that we can verify you created the poem.

Copyright law is a tricky thing here in America since copyright is implicit (meaning you do not have to do anything to claim copyright). However, you should always be aware how to defend the copyright in the future. If you are preparing to publish your poem in a journal or book, I highly suggest you look into registered copyrights.

If you have any questions or know of any poems in a copyright dispute on Poetry with meaning, please feel free to use our [contact form](/contact) to get in touch.

More with Less

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:53:08 -0700

I am currently listening to Bright Eyes and I heard a lyric that really made me think about humans... I will jump into it...

"I had a friend that changed his name but couldn't change himself."

This got me thinking and I can see a few different meanings to this lyric. As people, we are ever changing and we grow every day. I was first under the impression that this was somebody who feels uncomfortable with who they are and they tried to change to be who they want to be. Really, they shouldn't have tried to change. There can be no true change until you are content with who you are. As people, we need to understand who we are before we can love others and grow into a better person ourself.

What I take from this is how powerful a sentence can be. This one sentence had me thinking for over 10 minutes. Good poetry will do the same thing to me.

The more you say with few words can be amazing. Please choose your words carefully!!!

Hope: Living and Loving with HIV in Jamaica

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:18:30 -0700

###Living and Loving

A poet goes back to Jamaica and discusses the effect aids has on communities. I would like to share this story with our community here on Poetry with meaning. I believe these people problems are very powerful and I acknowledge that we have problems as well. I would like to see us rise up and help combat some of these human problems that we have. This can be done through education and the help of some modern science. I would love to see more poetry that can inspire people to take action and come together as a community to combat disease. With the latest statistics showing that 1 in 4 teen girls have an std, I believe that our community can help push these statistics down

Thank you
Bob Mortland

###Hope: Living and Loving with HIV in Jamaica

How it had me
all I wanted was to do

was crawl in a ball
and dead like that

but see me here now,
see me here now,

man must live, iyah,
man must live.
-Kwame Dawes, Live Up

Poet and writer Kwame Dawes travels to Jamaica to explore the experience of people living with HIV/AIDS and to examine the ways in which the disease has shaped their lives. The journey brings him in touch with people who tell their stories, share their lives and teach him about resilience, hope and possibility in the face of despair. Some are living with the disease; others have committed their lives to HIV/AIDS care.

Hope: Living and Loving with HIV in Jamaica is a multi-media reporting project: an extended essay by Kwame Dawes for The Virginia Quarterly Review (Spring 2008), two short documentaries for the public-television program Foreign Exchange, a collection of poetry inspired by his reporting, a performance of the poems set to music by composer Kevin Simmonds, and LiveHopeLove.com, an interactive web presentation that synthesizes audio and text versions of the poems, the Foreign Exchange videos, additional video interviews, the music, and photography by Joshua Cogan.

Acknowledgements:

This reporting project was made possible through the support of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting in association with The Virginia Quarterly Review, Azimuth Media and bluecadet interactive. The Center funded Kwame Dawes’ travel costs and also commissioned the video documentary, photography and interactive web narrative that complement the reporting project.

Hope: Living and Loving with HIV in Jamaica is the second of two Caribbean reporting initiatives undertaken by the Pulitzer Center with support from the MAC AIDS Fund.

National Poetry Month

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 20:43:08 -0700

I found this great article, I thought I would share about the National Poetry Month... Yes, thats April!

We would love to hear what you think about National Poetry Month. What does National Poetry Month mean to you?

Here is the article:

###UA Press celebrates National Poetry Month
###Chase Smith
###Issue date: 4/9/08

For 12 years, April has been established as National Poetry Month, and the UA Press, as well as poetry lovers nationwide, will celebrate.

"The history of poetry at the press is an illustrious one," said Tom Lavoie, marketing director for the press and a board member of the local Ozark Poets and Writer's Collective. Lavoie is also an avid reader and writer of poetry.

The press publishes four poetry books every year, two in the spring and two in the fall, through its Poetry Series, edited by Enid Shomer, Lavoie said.

Additionally, Bill Collins, who is one of the most successful poets in the modern market, was first published through the press, he said.

Poet Miller Williams founded the UA Press in 1980, Lavoie said.

"Williams' own poetry has won many awards, and he is probably best known for his reading at Bill Clinton's 1997 inauguration," he said.

Williams started the press with a strong focus on poetry. Many poets who he has discovered have gone on to lead very successful careers, including Collins, whose first book has been published thorough the UA Press.

"That book, 'The Apple That Astonished Paris,' is still our best-selling poetry title," Lavoie said.

In September 2007, the press held a benefit to initiate the Miller Williams Poetry Prize, according to the press release. The benefit was held at the Walton Arts Center and featured Grammy winner Lucinda Williams, who is the daughter of Miller Williams.

The prize is an important one for the press because it makes the press more visible among more nation wide poetry prizes, Lavoie said.

However, poetry seems to not be as widely accepted among the readers who read novels or short fiction nowadays.

"Poetry always seems to have a small shelf of its own in the back of any book store," Lavoie said. "It's a tough art form to get into for most readers." The press is doing its best this month to help students and readers to gain an awareness of poetry, he said.

There are many events coming up that are meant to help people catch a glimpse of what good poetry is, Lavoie said.

The Fayetteville Public Library will be hosting a poetry slam for students in the 3rd through 12th grades April 17 at Arsaga's Café.

Nightbird Books will host a reading by Beth Ann Fennelly April 11. The bookstore will also host HOWL, a women's open mic April 20.

The UA Master of Fine Arts program is holding its annual Festival of Writers at 5:30 April 9 and 10 in Old Main, Lavoie said. The festival will also be celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Creative Writing and Translation Program, according to the press release.

PWM in Teen Ink!

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 15:09:32 -0700

I want to take the time to say thank you to Teen Ink (http://www.teenink.com) for their mention of us in their magazine and on their website... Thank you Teen Ink

-Bob

Some Cool Events

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 17:10:04 -0800

I was e-mailed these events and thought I would share with you. If anybody is in Northern California, you might want to check these out.

"Getting Your Book Published" with Robert G. Pimm

Understand the book publishing business from A to Z. Learn the keys to contract negotiations with agents, book publishers, co-authors and others in the publishing cycle.

When: Wednesday, March 12th – 7PM – 8:30PM

Where: Fort Mason Center , Building C, Room 265

Cost: $5 for students with ID -- $ 20 regular admission)

-----------------------------------------------------------

"Digital Dilemma" with Jennifer Burke Sylva and Colette Vogele

A review of key issues for artists and companies to consider when entering the digital space.

When: Wednesday, March – 7PM – 8:30PM

Where: Fort Mason Center , Building C, Room 265

Cost: $5 for students with ID -- $ 20 regular admission

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PRE-REGISTER by calling California Lawyers for the Arts-- 415.775.7200 x 107

Poetry on DVD

Sun, 16 Dec 2007 17:46:54 -0800

Poetry on DVD. What a great concept!

I recently watched the Def Poetry DVD's and I still recommend that everybody watch them. There are amazing poets and performers on the DVD. I just want you to know about the DVD's if you are interested, you can check out a few videos on Youtube.

We do have the videos in our store section if you want to buy them but there are plenty of videos on youtube to check out.

If you do not know what the Def Poetry series is, here is an article from Wikipedia explaining what I am talking about:

"Def Poetry
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Def Poetry, also known as Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry or Def Poetry Jam, is an HBO television series produced by hip-hop music entrepreneur Russell Simmons. The series presents performances by poets who are established in the world of poetry slams, as well as up-and-coming ones. Well-known actors and musicians will often surprise the audience by showing up to recite their own original poems. The show is hosted by Mos Def. Def Poetry is a spin-off of Def Comedy Jam. As he did on Def Comedy, Simmons appears at the end of every episode to thank the audience. The show premiered in 2002 and is currently still in running.

A live stage production, Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam ran on Broadway from November 2002 to May 2003, and subsequently toured."

I encourage you to check it out! They may help if you want to do slam or live poetry!

Thanks,
Bob Mortland

Copyright info

Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:12:52 -0800

I have been getting questions concerning copyrights and I want to make sure you all have the correct answer. If you would like to know the laws of copyrights, http://www.copyright.gov/title17/ is a great source for you to check out.

For any copyright information, please take a look at:

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/

Featured Poem

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:40:45 -0800

We had some problems with the featured poem in the past. Thats why one of my really bad older poems was on there for about 3 weeks. Well, I am glad to say, we fixed it!!!! There will be a new featured poem each week.

You may be asking: How do I get to be the featured poem? Well, that is easy, you have to get your poem rated highest! The top rated poem is the poem of the week! So, Rate some poetry!

Thank you for keeping with us through our growing pains. I promise that we will get all the tweaks ironed out!

Thank you,
Bob Mortland

The Site

Sun, 18 Nov 2007 21:28:55 -0800

I want to inform everyone that we have been planning many changes for this site to expand even further and to offer many new features. Including a new store and a new logo we have been working on. If you have any ideas, please feel free to let us know and we will work on implementing those as well. We are looking forward to a successful 2008. So, tell all your friends to come check out your poetry, post comments, and rate your poems. That means you do not have to be a poet to have an account with us. You can join if you like to comment, read, and rate. So, I just wanted to check in and let you know that we are not going away, we are not going to start charging, and we are expanding like crazy!

Thank you for our success, I am glad to assist each and every loyal PWM fan!

Bob Mortland