Lorna Dee in Ottawa Virtually and in San Diego Actually

Hey! I'm featured in the arts section of the Ottaway Valley today and on their website; or, rather, my poem from DRIVE: The First Quartet in Book Three: PLAY, "Ave Maria" is reprinted and a link to my video from my reading of it at the Dodge Poetry Festival for Bill Moyers's documentaryn is featured on the page. (Don't click this link if I am dating you or about to date you, as it's not very flattering.) ;-)

The poem is a "Seven Minute" poem that came out of some workshops with the Xicana/o Writers Group in Denver. Unfortunately, it is a true and truly sad story about a promising young Chicana writer in one of the alternative high schools where I was presenting workshops. I never met her, but felt her story as the story was told to me. I wanted to honor her in that brief flash of time. The poem is unedited, written in about 5 minutes. I consider it a work of Spirit.

And, if you are in the San Diego area and want to take a break from it all, I'll be reading/performing as the Laurie Okuma Memorial speaker tomorrow on November 8 at 7:00 p.m. in Room LA2203 in the library at San Diego State University. Come and say, "Hey!"