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THE JOAQUIN
MILLER CABIN
POETRY SERIES
In 1976 through
the efforts of Jim Beall, the National Park Service gave
the Word Works permission to use the Joaquin Miller Cabin
located in Washington, DC's Rock Creek Park. Initially,
Word Works poets gathered in the cabin for poetry workshops.
By candle and fireplace light, the participants shared their
work and provided criticism to each other.
The reading series
grew out of these early activities. Karren Alenier founded
the Miller Cabin Poetry Series and ran programs there until
1983. Those years are documented in Whose
Woods These Are, an anthology of poetry, anecdotes,
and photos.
Jacklyn Potter
directed the Miller Cabin programs from 1984 to 2005. After
Jacklyn's sudden death in April 2006, Julie Enszer became
the director of the 2006 series. In 2008, co-directors are Kathi Morrison-Taylor, Rosemary Winslow, and Melissa Tuckey. Except for 2006, each summer
for eight weeks beginning in June, the program commences
at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday night. Audience participation averages
20 to 60 people per night. A committee selects readers from
a large pool of applicants. Both well-established authors
and first time readers share the podium. Funding for the
series comes from the audience who are asked by mail prior
to the opening night for contributions to pay the poets.
Purchase our book anthology, Cabin
Fever: Poets at Miller's Cabin to learn more about
the programs.
SERIES SCHEDULE
—SUMMER 2008
Tuesday evenings
at 7:30 at the Joaquin Miller Cabin in Rock Creek Park,
Picnic Area #6, Beach Drive at Military Road Overpass. Sign
up for opening reading at 7:15 pm. For more information
and rain location, call Kathi Morrison-Taylor at 703-8207-8113.
- June 3 ---Barbara Crooker & Anne Higgins
- June 10 ---Diane Lockward with Jacklyn Potter Young Poets:
Will Frazier & Megan Hauptmann
- June 17 ---Kyle Dargan & David Keplinger
- June 24 ---John Murillo & Suzanne Zweizig
- July 1 ---
John O’Dell & Katy Richey
- July 8 ---
Sheila Black & Charles E. Wright
- July 15 ---
Nicole Cooley & Ellen Rachlin
- July 22 ---
Sauci Churchill & Terese Halscheid
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APPLICATION
GUIDELINES
The Joaquin Miller
Cabin Poetry Series takes place Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. in
Rock Creek Park, Picnic Area Number 6, during June and July.
Two poets are usually featured, reading their original poetry.
The outdoor programs held next to poet Joaquin Miller's
Cabin are sponsored by The Word Works, and the National
Park Service. Kathi Morrison-Taylor, Rosemary Winslow and Melissa Tuckey are the co-directors for
2008. A reception at the Presbytarian Church 16th &
Kennedy Streets follows every reading. Entrance is through
alley on Kennedy Street with parking in the rear of the
church.
IF SELECTED,
you will read your work at the cabin and receive a small
honorarium. Copies of a poster/flyer (self-mailer) will
be available for you to send to friends and colleagues.
If you have books published, you may sell them at the reception.
If you live out of town, need a place to stay, an effort
is made to provide lodging by the director and Word Works
staff.
TO APPLY to the
series, send the following:
- 5 poems, typed,
one poem per page. No one poem longer than two pages.
- Name, address,
telephone numbers, email on first page of the submission. Name
on every page.
- Brief biographical
note, including publications, readings, literary studies,
prizes.
- Stamped, self-addressed
envelope for reply (for return of poems, add sufficient
postage as needed).
NOTE: All
manuscripts must be typed. Any form or style of poetry
will be considered; selection is made on the basis of
the poems submitted. The biographical note is for information
only. The director is assisted by a panel of writers
in choosing poets.
SEND TO:
Rosemary Winslow ,
Co-Director
Joaquin Miller Cabin Poetry Series
Department of English
The Catholic University of America
Washington, DC 20064
DEADLINE:
Postmarked on or before March 31 of each year.
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ABOUT THE SERIES:
POETRY UNDER THE STARS
The Miller Cabin
Poetry Series is the oldest summer reading series in Washington.
In 1976, through the efforts of poet and physicist Jim Beall,
the National Park Service gave The Word Works permission
to use the Joaquin Miller Cabin in Washington's Rock Creek
Park. Poets gathered for informal poetry workshops by candlelight
in the rustic setting. In 1978 Karren Alenier established
a reading series inside the cabin which was built in 1883.
When audiences became too large for the small cabin, the
programs were moved outside to the grounds behind the cabin.
The programs directed by Karren Alenier have been documented
in WHOSE WOODS THESE ARE, an anthology of poetry, anecdotes,
and photos.
Jacklyn Potter
ran the Series from 1984 to 2005. Each program takes place
Tuesdays in June and July, at 7:30 p.m. A reception at local
church follows each reading; in case of rain, call Kathi Morrison-Taylor for the rain location. These programs are marked by
several long-standing traditions. Those first to arrive
participate in a ritual of carrying large picnic tables
and creating a make-shift amphitheater. Poetry-lovers are
often accompanied by their children or their dogs. They
arrive in cars, by foot, and on bicycles. Though poets had
shunned microphone use because they "were in the woods,"
Ms. Potter was prompted to provide a sound system in 1990
to accommodate growing audiences that average from 50 to
100 people.
Well-established
authors and first-time readers; local, out-of-town, and
poets from around the globe share the podium. A panel assists
the director in selecting the poets from a large pool of
applicants. Since 1988, winners of the Young Poets Competition
(renamed in 2006 as the Jacklyn Potter Young Poets Competition)--
high school students -- are honored at one of the readings
with a well-known poet joining them. One of these programs,
with Lucille Clifton as guest with the young writers, was
filmed and broadcast by PBS television. Jacklyn Potter began
the practice of inviting foreign writers, reading in their
native language as well as in English.
The work for
the summer series begins in January each year, when a call for manuscripts
announced.
The Miller Cabin Poetry Series is documented
through the Washington Literary Archive, at The George Washington
University Gelman Library.
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JOAQUIN MILLER
AND THE CABIN
In 1883, poet
Joaquin Miller built the cabin as a retreat for writing.
The "wilderness" where he built his retreat was
a wooded area north of Washington, known then as Arlington
Heights, and now as Malcolm X Park. He is quoted as saying,
"I sit up here in my fine cabin, while the President
himself sits down there at the end of the street with his
little cabinet."
He stayed 10
years in the "woods" where he was frequently visited
by the curious. Disappointed at not being appointed as Ambassador
to Japan, Miller went west to settle in the Oakland Hills
of California. He gave his cabin to a friend, who soon gave
it to the Sierra Club. In 1912, one year before Miller's
death, the National Park Service became its new owner. The
Park Service disassembled, moved, and rebuilt it in its
current location in Rock Creek Park. Meanwhile, Mr. Miller
built a similar cabin in the Oakland hills. There he planted
over 2000 evergreens and created an amphitheater where he
produced his plays. He became known as the Poet of the Sierras.
Learn more about Miller in articles by Kathi Morrison-Taylor (published in Beltway Poetry Quarterly) and by David Taylor (published in The Washington Post Sunday Magazine).
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WAYS TO SUPPORT
THE SERIES
- Donate funds.
Each year,
in the spring, a letter is sent asking for contributions
to pay the poets and to assist with other costs of running
the reading series. Acknowledgment is given for contributions
on the Miller Cabin Poetry Series flyer (limited by
deadline). Funding categories include:
Friend,
$10-$99
Donor, $100-$499
Patron, $500 and above.
For more
information, reply to editor@wordworksdc.com or write to:
Karren Alenier
Joaquin Miller Cabin Poetry Series
The Word Works
PO Box 42164
Washington, DC 20015
- Volunteer
for the summer programs.
To organize
a successful poetry series, many tasks must be performed
behind the scenes, such as: mailings, including the
fund-raising letter, press releases, etc.; preparation
of reception food and setting up Word Works Book Sales
table; distribution and posting of flyers in the metropolitan
area, at bookstores, libraries, cafes, universities,
and community centers. Even a total of two or three
hours of your time would make a big difference! If you
are interested, reply to editor@wordworksdc.com or write
to:
Karren Alenier ,
The Word Works, PO Box 42164, Washington, DC 20015
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