Terrain.org is pleased to present, with Sky Island Alliance, Writing Down the Jaguar: Writing Workshops in El Aribabi, Sonora, Mexico from March 23-26, 2011.

jaguar.terrain.org

Offered at Rancho El Aribabi in the beautiful Sierra Azul Mountains of northern Sonora, Mexico, Writing Down the Jaguar is a three-day workshop of classes, lectures, readings, and discussions on the craft and techniques of fine writing about the natural world.

Writing Down the Jaguar is for writers who want to improve and market their outdoor, natural history, and environmental writing, as well as environmental educators and activists who want to improve their writing skills for their work. The morning and afternoon workshops and evening sessions will benefit both professional writers as well as those with a personal interest in writing poetry, essays, journalism, screenplays, or fiction that relates to the themes of nature and environment.

Writing Down the Jaguar provides an intimate group experience for writers — with just four participants plus the instructor per workshop!

Participants will select one of the faculty members with whom they will work on writing, reading, and shared critiques.

• Elemental Poetry, led by Simmons B. Buntin
• Focused on Writing: Combining Words and Images, led by Scott Calhoun
• The Full-Throttle Narrative, led by Ken Lamberton
• Write What You See: Screenwriting, led by Dawn Sellers

The rest of the day offers a range of readings and discussions, with ample time to write and socialize. The teaching faculty is composed of professional writers and editors distinguished in their fields, noted for their teaching abilities, and dedicated to helping participants improve their skills. The cost for the workshop, including travel from Tucson, food, and lodging, is $450 per participant.

Come write down the jaguar with us in the rugged, wondrous Sierra Azul!

The United Nation’s Population Fund acknowledges that its projection has a 1 to 2 percent margin of error—which translates roughly into the population of Italy—and that an exact date could not be determined; they chose October 31 as the “symbolic” date for hitting 7 billion. That a specific day was designated is less about the significance of the exact number—7,000,000,000 breathing, eating, sleeping people—than the usefulness of a time peg for a necessary conversation: how on Earth are all these people going to live on Earth?

Many people have focused on the environmental issue of growing consumption of energy and natural resources caused by growing populations. As more people enjoy greater access to wealth in rapidly developing countries like China and India, demands on already strained energy sources threaten to grow even higher.

At the same as wealth is rising, so are the numbers of impoverished people living in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, where most of future population growth is projected to occur—which is, not coincidentally, where many women don’t have access to contraception, or are empowered enough to request it.

In the annual State of the World Population report, the new leader of the United Nations Population Fund, Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, a Nigerian obstetrician-gynecologist, wrote: “In many parts of the developing world, where population growth is outpacing economic growth, the need for reproductive health services, especially family planning, remains great.”

The benchmark population count has catalyzed conversations not only about the 7 billion people but also the one. Inspired by work at National Geographic that analyzed population data for humanity’s most common characteristics, reporters at CBS hit the streets to find “Earth’s most typical person.” They found Mu Li, a 28-year-old male who lives in New York City and works for People’s Daily, China’s state newspaper.

According to the National Geographic profile, the world’s largest ethnic group is Han Chinese, there are more males in the world than females, and the global median age is 28. Mu Li fits the bill. He also:

— Is right-handed.

— Is Christian

— Speaks Mandarin.

— Owns a cell phone.

— Doesn’t have a car or bank account.

— Makes less than $12,000 a year.

In the face of 7 billion people, the power of one shouldn’t be forgotten. “Instead of asking questions like, ‘Are we too many?’ we should instead be asking, ‘What can I do to make our world better?’” Osotimehin wrote.

An aquatic inventory team explored this dry wash in the Rincon Mountains during the BioBlitz (photo by Megan Kimble)

Standing under the sun on a 110-degree day in Tucson, it’s easy to assume the Sonoran Desert is a hostile, lifeless place. But, venture into the hills, and you’ll find a different story. Nestled among the giant Saguaro cacti is a brimming ecosystem, hosting the greatest diversity of vegetative growth of any desert worldwide, as well as an astonishing array of mammals, reptiles, birds, and aquatic invertebrates.

This weekend, the National Park Service and National Geographic teamed up to host the 5^th annual BioBlitz in Saguaro National Park to inventory the diversity of that ecosystem.

A BioBlitz is a 24-hour event to find and identify as many living species as possible in a national park. Scientists and experts lead inventory teams of students, teachers, and community members into Saguaro National Park East and West to explore the park’s mountains, valleys, cactus forests, washes, and tinajas in search of the desert’s wildlife.

An un-inventoried rattlesnake (photo by Megan Kimble)

Each team had a focus—from Gila monsters to aquatic fungi—and they ventured into the national park for two- to four-hour shifts. School kids took over the inventory teams all day on Friday, Oct. 20, as part of a broader mission to get young people excited about science.

Two of the major events unique to Tucson included the saguaro census, which focused on counting the growth and preservation of the iconic saguaro forests, and the night sky inventory, which measured light pollution in and around Tucson, an important measurement for the many world-class observatories located outside the city.

Tucson’s BioBlitz was the fifth in a series of 10 annual BioBlitzes planned by National Geographic and the National Park Service, leading up to the Park Service’s centennial in 2016. The first BioBlitz was held at Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., in 2007; in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in California in 2008; Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in 2009; and Biscayne National Park in Florida hosted last year’s BioBlitz.

While inventorying species is the stated mission of the BioBlitz, the event is as much about the park as the people—getting people into the park—which is why all BioBlitzes focus on national parks adjacent to major urban areas around the U.S.

John Francis, the Vice President of Research, Conservation and Exploration for National Geographic, explained why: “We’re trying to awaken people who don’t really understand their deep connection with nature,” he said in an interview on the National Geographic BioBlitz website. “Sometimes in the urban setting you don’t get out into nature. But there are parks around the country that are close to the city, and we want to get the schoolchildren and the families into the park, to get them to be with those who really know it and love it and get them bitten by the bug that’s so exciting about loving nature through these BioBlitz activities.”

The Tucson BioBlitz was the first large-scale species inventory of Saguaro National Park. Check out images and results from the BioBlitz on the National Geographic BioBlitz blog.

While TPC provided support and an event location blog page for any community that wanted to organize an event, it was entirely up to that community to determine what their particular expression would be. It’s a global movement, but it’s local—inclusive yet decentralized—but documentation is crucial. Event founder Michael Rothenberg writes on the 100 Thousand Poets for Change website:

Each local organization determines what it wants to focus on, something broad like, peace, sustainability, justice, equality, or more specific causes like Health Care, or Freedom of Speech, or local environmental or social concerns that need attention in your particular area right now, etc. Organizations will then come up with a mission statement/manifesto that describes who they are and what they think and care about. When the whole event has taken place all the mission statements can be collected from around the world and, I hope, worked together into a grand statement of 100 Thousand Poets for Change.

All documentation from Saturday will be on the 100TPC.org website, and will be archived by Stanford University, in recognition of 100 TPC as the largest poetry reading in history.

Arthur Celebrates Earth Day with 5 New Episodes Beginning Friday, April 22, 2011 on PBS KIDS GO!

Features a Special Visit from NASA Astronaut Mike Finke, Thursday, April 28, 2011

BOSTON, MA (April 11, 2011) – PBS KIDS GO!’s iconic kids series ARTHUR continues its 14th season with five brand-new episodes highlighting environmental protection, cultural awareness, and teamwork beginning on Earth Day, Friday April 22, 2011, and continuing through Thursday April 28, 2011 (check local listings). The fun starts with a special Earth Day message from Arthur and his friends in Buster Baxter and the Letter from the Sea. In this episode, Buster discovers a message in a bottle on the beach while on vacation with the Read family. Could it be an urgent message from the people of the Lost City of Atlantis? Buster is determined to find out and sends messages back…by throwing his own bottles into the ocean. Join Buster and Arthur as they learn that keeping our beaches and waterways clean is the real message.

Online, kids are invited to take the Go Green Challenge (pbskids.org/arthur/thetreehouse/gogreen) on the ARTHUR website. In this special section, kids can join their favorite ARTHUR characters in support of a green cause. Whether it’s making better food choices with Buster, or saving energy with D.W., kids have opportunities to take simple green steps that can help save the environment. Also, kids will be able to print out a “Challenge Page” to keep track of their green actions.

“This Earth Day, we wanted to show kids how simple actions can affect the environment,” says Senior Executive Producer Carol Greenwald. “Through this episode and the Go Green Challenge, kids can learn simple steps that they can take to help protect the world around them.”

Throughout the week of new episodes, Arthur and friends will follow a soccer ball as it makes its way around the world.  In Follow the Bouncing Ball, airing Friday, April 22, 2011, Alberto Molina’s beloved soccer ball, signed by his favorite Ecuadorian soccer star, “El Boomerang,” is lost. Kids are invited to join Arthur in learning about new cultures and track all the places “El Boomerang” goes as it travels around the world (and into outer space!).

In a special episode airing Thursday, April 28, 2011, kids learn that teamwork can help their dreams soar when NASA Astronaut Mike Finke guest-stars on ARTHUR in Buster Spaces Out. Inspired by footage of the moon landing, Buster wants to go to outer space. Well, someday. For now, it would be really cool to build and launch a rocket.  So Buster enlists his friends to help…but they can’t agree on anything and the mission stalls.  Luckily, their new friend Astronaut Mike teaches them that only teamwork will accomplish this mission–and then it’s blast-off!

Tune in for these adventures and more as your favorite ARTHUR characters travel the globe in Around the World in 11 Minutes, start competing blogs in Muffy and the Big Bad Blog, try their hand at fashion design in All the Rage, cope with teasing in D.W., Queen of the Comeback, explore Africa in In My Africa, and discover knitting in Arthur Unravels. The full schedule of airdates is below (check local listings):

Friday, April 22, 2011 – Follow the Bouncing Ball, Buster Baxter and the Letter from the Sea
Monday, April 25, 2011 – Around the World in 11 Minutes, Muffy and the Big Bad Blog
Tuesday, April 26, 2011 – Arthur Unravels, All the Rage
Wednesday, April 27, 2011 – D.W., Queen of the Comeback, In My Africa
Thursday, April 28, 2011 – Buster Spaces Out, The Long Road Home

ARTHUR Online at PBSKIDSGO.org/arthur
The award-winning ARTHUR website is home to many games and activities, including the new game “Buster Baxter, Lung Defender.” In this game, kids fight common asthma triggers in a wild ride through Buster’s lungs. Supporting material for parents and caregivers can be found in the new Kids & Asthma section on the Parents & Teachers site. Also new this season, Arthur and his friends team up with Martha from Martha Speaks in a new game called “Marthur Stickerbook Mashup.” Kids can choose characters and props from each show to create unique mashup scenes. Finally, in a comic-creator feature inspired by Neil Gaiman, who guest-starred on ARTHUR last fall in Tales of the Grotesquely Grim Bunny, kids can create their very own comics, featuring Arthur and his Elwood City friends. The ARTHUR website is also home to most of the series educational materials including resources, lesson plans, and activities and has features to help kids understand their neighbors, near and far, and gain a better appreciation for the world around them. Kids can also watch video clips and full episodes of ARTHUR at PBSKIDSGO.org/video.

About ARTHUR
ARTHUR, based on Marc Brown’s best-selling books, reaches over 5.1 million people each week (NTI, Sept. 2010-January 2011).  ARTHUR has won numerous awards, including the George Foster Peabody Award, a BAFTA and six Daytime Emmys®– four for Outstanding Children’s Animated Program. ARTHUR is produced by WGBH Boston and Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. Carol Greenwald is Senior Executive producer (WGBH) and Executive producers are Toper Taylor (Cookie Jar), and Marc Brown (Marc Brown Studios). The series is directed by Greg Bailey.

Funding for ARTHUR is provided by public television viewers. Corporate funding is provided by Chuck E. Cheese’s®.

About WGBH Boston
WGBH Boston is America’s preeminent public broadcasting producer, the source of one-third of PBS’s prime-time lineup along with some of public television’s best-known lifestyle shows, many public radio favorites, and a roster of children’s programs that empower kids with innovative, entertaining, curriculum-based content. Among the WGBH produced children’s titles: Arthur, Curious George, Postcards from Buster, Between the Lions, Design Squad, Martha Speaks and Fetch! with Ruff Ruffman. WGBH is the number-one producer of websites on pbs.org, one of the most trafficked dot-org websites in the world, and a pioneer in educational multimedia and in technologies and services that make media accessible to the 36 million Americans who rely on captioning or video descriptions. WGBH has been recognized with hundreds of honors: Emmys, Peabodys, duPont-Columbia Awards . . . even two Oscars. In 2002, WGBH received a special institutional Peabody Award for 50 years of excellence. For more information, go to www.wgbh.org.

About Cookie Jar Group
Cookie Jar Group develops, produces, distributes and markets quality products to children, their caregivers, parents and teachers. Cookie Jar Group’s products reflect its commitment to providing the best in children’s published content, animated and live action programming and innovative educational and entertainment-driven products worldwide. The group of companies consists of Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. and Cookie Jar Education Inc. Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc., Cookie Jar Group’s entertainment operation, is a leading, global, independent producer, marketing and brand manager of such renowned children’s properties as The Doodlebops, Caillou, Arthur, Spider Riders and Johnny Test. Combining globally renowned intellectual properties with an industry-recognized management team, Cookie Jar Entertainment Inc. is a market-driven, brand building company that is committed to children first and foremost and is dedicated to the development and production of quality programming that embraces the whole child, with animated and live-action series that entertain, inspire and enlighten children and family audiences worldwide.

About PBS KIDS GO!
PBS KIDS GO! offers early elementary children the opportunity to explore new ideas and new worlds through television, online and community-based programs.  For more information on specific PBS KIDS GO! programs supporting literacy, science, math and more, visit PBS.org/pressroom.

I was able to catch up with Simmons on the last day of the conference to talk with him about AWP 2011. Here are some audio clips of our conversation.

Terrain.org was sharing a booth (one of over 500) with Hawk and Handsaw. The old-fashioned form of face-to-face social networking is alive and well:

On working the Terrain.org booth with a marketing mindset:

Making connections with other environmental publications and poets published by Salmon Poetry:

Simmons presented for the panel: “Who Makes the Best Student? How to Grow Your Program With Non-traditional Majors.”

His second presentation, “Environmental Writing in the Age of Global Climate Change,” is a heavy topic. How can humor help?

What is the best way to handle information overload?

Any advice for those concerned about the environment, but not sure where to start?

Invited to the Irish Embassy by his publisher, Salmon Poetry, Simmons talks about the evening, and Guinness:

At the Salmon Poetry reading, featuring a wide range of poets:

And for the last day at the conference:

I asked Simmons if he had any final thoughts for Terrain.org’s blog community, to which he replied, “Wish you were here!” Maybe next year. In the meantime, stay tuned for details about AWP’s 2012 conference which will be held in Chicago.

The Association of Writers and Writing Programs
Annual Conference and Bookfair
Washington, D.C. : February 2-5, 2011

Terrain.org / Hawk & Handsaw Booth at Bookfair
Booth 509

Meet Terrain.org editors Simmons Buntin, Joshua Foster, and Patrick Burns, as well as Hawk & Handsaw editor and Terrain.org editorial board member Kathryn Miles, and learn more about these award-winning journals that focus on culture, environment, and sustainability.

Panel
Recovery as Discovery: Rethinking Nature Writing

• Thursday, February 3 : 1:30 – 2:45 p.m.
• Palladian Ballroom, Omni Shoreham
• Terrain.org editorial board member Alison Hawthorne Deming joins Tom Montgomery-Fate, David Gessner, Gretchen Legler, John Price, and Kathleen Dean Moore

Panel
What Do Writers Do All Day? Articulating Our Work in the Profession

• Thursday, February 3 : 1:30 – 2:45 p.m.
• Coolidge, Marriott Wardman Park
• Terrain.org editorial board member Kathryn Miles joins James Engelhardt, Stephanie Vanderslice, Christine Stewart-Nunez, and J.D. Schraffenberger

Panel
The Colors of Nature: Culture, Identity, and the Natural World

• Thursday, February 3 : 4:30-5:45 p.m.
• Hampton Boardroom, Omni Shoreham
• Terrain.org editorial board member Lauret Savoy joins Elmaz Abinader, Faith Adiele, Fred Arroyo, Debra Kang Dean, and Nikky Finney

Panel
Who Makes the Best Student? Growing Your Program with Nontraditional Majors

• Friday, February 4 : Noon – 1:15 p.m.
• Coolidge, Marriott Wardman Park
• Terrain.org editor-in-chief Simmons Buntin joins Patricia Clark, Sean Prentiss, and Joe Wilkins

Panel
The Language of Conservation, sponsored by Poets House

• Friday, February 4 : 1:30 – 2:45 p.m.
• Regency Ballroom, Omni Shoreham
• Terrain.org editorial board member Alison Hawthorne Deming joins Mark Doty, Sandra Alcosser, Joseph Bruchac, and Pattiann Rogers

Panel
Environmental Writing in the Age of Global Climate Change, sponsored by the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment

• Friday, February 4 : 3 – 4:15 p.m.
• Virginia C, Marriott Wardman Park
• Terrain.org editor-in-chief Simmons Buntin joins Terrain.org editorial board member Kathryn Miles, plus Sheryl St. Germain, Paul Bogard, and Janine DeBaise

Reading
Salmon Poetry 30th Anniversary Reading and Book Launch

• Friday, February 4 : 8 – 10 p.m.
• Pigment Art Studio
  1848 Columbia Road Northwest
  Washington, D.C
• Terrain.org editor-in-chief Simmons Buntin joins fellow Salmon poets Andrea Cohen, Allan Peterson, Kevin Higgins, Susan Millar DuMars, Alan Jude Moore, Patrick Chapman, Drucilla Wall, Eamonn Wall, Mike Begnal, Patrick Hicks, Stephen Powers, Drew Blanchard, Philip Fried, and John Fitzgerald; hosted by Terrain.org editorial board member and Salmon Poetry publisher Jessie Lendennie

Book Signing
Bloom, by Simmons B. Buntin

• Friday, February 4 : 10 – 11 a.m.
• Bookfair, Salmon Poetry Table, E26

~~~

Check back, as we’ll add and update events as we learn about them!

Mark your calendars and tune in at 4:00 Sunday afternoons on KJLL AM 1330.

Click here to listen to my interview with the host, Jake Feinberg, featuring audio clips and a suggested reading list for all things 70s.

Poetry Goes for a Hike, with Wendy Burk and Eric Magrane

Saturday, November 13, 7:30 am to 1:00 pm (hike)
Wednesday, November 17, 6:00 to 8:00 pm (workshop)
Tuition: $75 + $8 transportation fee

The University of Arizona Poetry Center

Like plein-air painting, writing in the field refreshes the spirit and creates indelible work. Join two poets (one of whom is also a professional hiking guide) for a moderate 3- to 5-mile hike. A chartered van will transport participants from the Poetry Center to the trailhead. The morning will be filled with poetry, bird song, scenic views, and writing exercises—with some physical exercise thrown in. Participants will attend to the sensory experiences of the trail and render them in poetry that respects and embodies wilderness, both inner and outer. A few days after the hike, we’ll reconvene in the Poetry Center’s classroom to discuss and review the work generated on the hike.

Prior to the hike you’ll receive a simple supply list. Please have suitable footwear (e.g., hiking boots) and be physically able to hike a moderate 3- to 5-mile hike over rocky terrain. The hike will take place in one of the mountain ranges surrounding Tucson (either the Santa Catalinas, Tucson Mountains, or Rincons). The specific trail will be chosen the week before the hike, based on seasonal trail and weather conditions.
Poets Wendy Burk and Eric Magrane (a Senior Hiking Guide at Canyon Ranch) have written poetry together in wilderness environments as Artists-in-Residence in three National Parks. Eric taught the popular Ecopoetics class for the Poetry Center and is the editor of Spiral Orb, an online experiment in permaculture poetics. Wendy is Library Specialist at the Poetry Center and is the translator of Tedi López Mills’ While Light is Built.

Register by visiting poetry.arizona.edu or calling 520/626-3765

Monday Nov.1st, 8pm FREE!

THE ELECTROSENSE OF PADDLEFISH: a multimedia piece on Water in the American West
Charles Lindsay and David Rothenberg

Frederick Loewe Theater, 35 West 4th St. NY, NY
(between Washington Sq. Park E. and Greene Street.)

Why did Floyd Dominy draw the instructions for how to blow up the Glen Canyon Dam on a napkin? It was his greatest creation as director of the US Bureau of Land Management. What did he know about the evils of damming the West?

This is the premiere of a live multimedia performance interpreting the complex environmental, political and social issues involving water and the Western United States.  From the frontier days to 21st century silicon valley, water has been a lifeblood, transforming the western half of our nation from desert and wilderness into a booming region requiring vast quantities of this precious liquid resource — which westerners will stop at nothing to get.

Music:  Lindsay’s pristine and processed field recordings, live electric cello and Moog guitar. Rothenberg on clarinets and overtone flutes, live explorations of found sounds and words depicting the strange struggle of water to fight back against those who would try to control it.

Video: From May through August, 2010 Lindsay traveled the west capturing video of all things affected by water. Locations included Las Vegas, Fort Peck, Mono Lake, The Hoover Dam, Idaho’s ‘Craters of the Moon’ National Monument and Silver Creek Preserve. He shot Yellowstone Park’s geysers and forest fire remnants, Paddlefish snagging, The Mermaid Bar in Great Falls, the open pit copper mine in Butte, which is the United States largest Super Fund site. He shot Noah’s Ark at a Creationist Dinosaur Museum, industrial irrigation, an abandoned depression era farm, water coolers and truck stops and 75 million year old ocean beds.

The remixed video projection is structured in eight parts for a forty minute improvised performance. You might find out what happened to that napkin, as well as just how them leviathan paddlefish find those water fleas.

Charles Lindsay, video, moog guitar, electric cello, electronics
David Rothenberg, clarinets, electronics
Chen Serfaty + Liron Unreich, video editing and production

This is the closing event of Ear to the Earth, an annual festival of sound and music devoted to the environment, which is sponsored by the Electronic Music Foundation.

Maggie Payne and Andrea Polli are also appearing in this concert.

Further resources:

http://www.emfproductions.org/upcomingevents1011/nyu_pplr.html

http://www.eartotheearth.org
http://www.charleslindsay.com
http://www.davidrothenberg.net