Tag: Joanne Corey

SoCS: my new piece!

I’ve had a new piece published!

It’s a personal essay rather than my usual poetry.

I posted about it earlier and, yes, this is a way to get more views for Generations Today, who published this story of my relationship with nature and how that lead to my climate activism.

Enjoy!
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Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is to build the post around a word that has “i before e.” Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/09/27/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-sept-28-2024/

Article in Generations Today!

I am thrilled to announce that I have an article in the September/October issue of Generations Today, the online magazine of American Society on Aging. Many thanks to Alison Biggar, editorial director, for the invitation to contribute and for the editorial assistance, titling, and attention to all the other little details that go into publication.

The theme of the issue is the relationship with nature and volunteerism among elders. My piece is “One Woman’s Evolution Into a Climate Warrior” – not a term that I would claim on my own, but one that I gratefully accept as bestowed by Alison.

The article traces my involvement with the natural world and renewable energy from my childhood up to the present time with shout-outs to the anti-fracking movement in New York, the Creation Care Team at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Binghamton, and Third Act.

There is even a link to Silver Birch Press, who first published my poem “How I Help Heal the Earth from Upstate New York” as part of their HOW TO HEAL THE EARTH series. The poem is reprinted in the article.

When Alison first approached me to contribute to this issue, she said they were looking for someon who could “wax poetic” about nature and volunteering for a climate change organization. I’m not sure she expected an actual poem to appear in the article but this “late-blooming” poet could not resist!

I hope you enjoy the article and the others in this issue of Generations Today and that they inspire you to reflect on your own relationship with nature and to volunteer if you are able, whatever your age, location, or circumstance. Together, we can make a difference!

(Photo credit: Brent Boivert)

11

Top of JC’s Mind is now 11 years old.

I observed my tenth anniversary by finally claiming my own domain as joannecorey.com and with a long, reflective post.

This year’s post is decidedly low-key, in part due to my health issues that are limiting my brainpower and energy.

I’ve also been struggling to deal with complications that occurred when I upgraded my plan to have my own domain last September. The behind-the-scenes wrangling finally got resolved but I really need to choose a theme with newer features so that I can keep the blog’s look while also having my author site pages display with my photo. I really like the clean, easy-on-the-eyes look of my current theme, Twenty Sixteen, but it doesn’t allow me to have a separate look for my blog. Someday, I’ll have the time, brain, and tenacity to get it sorted, but that time isn’t now.

I’m not someone who views their stats very often, but my blogaversary seems a good time. My current all-time views number is 70,855 with 39,647 visitors from 129 countries for 2,013 posts. There are 1,933 subscribers.

Whether you are a regular reader of Top of JC’s Mind or someone who just happened upon this post, I’m grateful that you are here. I want to send a special thank you to my handful of ever-faithful readers and commenters. You know who you are! I appreciate your support over the long haul, especially in the challenging times where my posting has been sporadic and/or mired in a single, all-consuming narrative.

So, on to year 12! Here’s hoping for some better health in the coming year so I can get more writing done.

In gratitude,
Joanne Corey of Top of JC’s Mind

Poem in The Sandy River Review!

(Cover Art by Charlie Scalia-Bruce <3)

I’m pleased to announce that my poem “Confessional” has been published in the annual print edition of The Sandy River Review. I admit that I love seeing my poems in print; the edition will also be available online at a future date.

Many thanks to the Humanities Department of the University of Maine at Farmington, their Creative Writing students and faculty, and the editorial team for including me in this beautiful volume of poetry, prose, and visual art.

“Confessional” was written in response to a July, 2020 Binghamton Poetry Project prompt based on James Wright’s “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota.” It’s about my first confession as a Catholic second-grader. In the spirit of no poem ever really being finished, a revised version is part of my full-length manuscript which I will begin submitting to contests and presses soon.

patience

They say that patience is a virtue.

Sometimes, I’m better with it than others.

I’ve been wanting to write a long, catch-up post for my Vote for Democracy ’24 series because so much has happened, but I haven’t had much good-quality brainpower to do it.

Sorry about that.

I hope you have more patience with me than I have with myself.

in transition

Just a quick note that I am working on re-configuring my author site and blog.

I’m in a bit of a tangle with WordPress support in how to actually implement what I thought I had done when I acquired joannecorey.com as my custom domain last September.

For now, please note that what had been the main menu items for Top of JC’s Mind are now in a drop-down menu. I’m not a fan of drop-down menus but I haven’t yet figured out how to retain the prior look of topofjcsmind.wordpress.com under the joannecorey.com domain.

If I can’t figure it out, you may have to put up with some more finagling in the coming days. I’m hoping not to have to change my theme because it suits me and is, I think, easy to read.

Stay tuned…

health update

I thought I’d do a brief update on my health status, despite still being in the middle of the diagnostic swamp.

When I wrote my last update, I had not yet started vestibular therapy or had my hearing test. The hearing test ruled out hearing loss as a cause for the tinnitus. I’ve been making progress with vestibular therapy and my balance is improving, although fatigue or being out in the summer weather aggravates things considerably.

It’s looking increasingly like the basic problem may be in my neck, so I have just begun physical therapy on my neck and we are looking into referrals to specialists who might be able to arrive at a diagnosis.

Meanwhile, I’m continuing to operate at diminished capacity. The tinnitus remains constant. There is still a lot of fatigue and brain fog and some periods of fuzzy vision. The neck pain, headache, and tingling come and go. I have to be careful not to do too much on any particular day and sometimes need naps. I am cutting back on my responsibilities and activities, which is frustrating.

Stay tuned…

Hearts 1st anniversary + Goodreads!

Today marks the first anniversary of the release of my first poetry chapbook, Hearts (Kelsay Books, 2023). It is available from either of those links or directly from me by emailing jcorey.poet@gmail.com. Bonus: I can sign or inscribe for you, if you wish.

The poems in Hearts center on my mother, mostly in her final years when she was living with heart failure. It is a chapbook, so it is only 21 poems. (Chapbooks are generally under fifty pages and are organized around a central theme or device.) One of the blessings of having the book out in the world is that so many people have told me that my experiences with my mother reminded them of taking care of their own loved one. I appreciate that my poems touch people’s hearts and minds and give them an opportunity to reflect on their own lives.

As many of you know, I returned to my childhood love of writing poetry in my fifties and my education in the craft has come largely through my poetry community, which includes the Grapevine Poets, the Boiler House Poets Collective, and the Binghamton Poetry Project, recently re-named the Binghamton Writers Project. At times, I’ve felt the learning curve has been steep, but I’ve managed to keep learning and growing as a poet.

What I didn’t fully realize before the publication of Hearts was how daunting the whole publicity enterprise is and how little I understood what it would entail. Kelsay provided a helpful packet of information and I initially sent out some queries to get reviews in journals, but no one responded, life intervened, and I dropped it. The thought of entering contests was bewildering. I made some attempts at getting my book into local bookstores but there was a persistent problem with listing at a distributor. I’ve gotten several cold calls from a scammy publicity company, even though I’ve asked to be removed from their call list. I’m grateful to have had a handful of signing and/or reading opportunities locally but I can’t wrap my head around what it would take to organize an actual book tour.

When my first annual royalty payment arrived, I realized that a good percentage of those sales through Kelsay or Amazon were from people that I knew who had ordered from them. I had sold more copies personally than had been ordered online, which was simultaneously a pat on the back and a stark reminder of my responsibility for marketing my book.

While I have (repeatedly) posted about Hearts here at Top of JC’s Mind and cross-posted on Facebook, X/Twitter, and Instagram, I’m pleased to report that, as of today, I am a certified Goodreads author. Many thanks to poet Samantha Terrell, whose review of Hearts on Goodreads led to my claiming an author page there!

Are you on Goodreads? If so, I’d be honored if you would follow me, Joanne Corey, there and follow Samantha Terrell, too. While it’s no longer National Poetry Month, it’s always a great time to support poets and poetry!

One-Liner Wednesday: “First Grandchild” on Silver Birch Press

Sharing that my poem about my mom, “First Grandchild,” is now part of the ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER series on Silver Birch Press; my blog post about it is here.

Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/05/22/one-liner-wednesday-let-the-confusion-commence/ (Check the link to learn about “up commas”!)

National Poetry Month wrap-up

April is National Poetry Month in the United States and I had a busy time this year, so I thought I’d do a post with links for those who wanted to catch up.

On April 14th, I sang with the Madrigal Choir of Binghamton in a concert entitled America Speaks. We sang settings of poems by American poets with readings by members of S.T.A.R. (Southern Tier Actors Read).

On April 2oth, I travelled to Cooperstown for the Write Out Loud 2024 performance which included my poem “Some Time Else” from my chapbook, Hearts.

On April 27th, I read with the Grapevine Poets at the Broome County Arts Council, where their POETREE was on display.

Throughout the month, my poem “North Adams Public Library” was part of their National Poetry Month display.

I contributed to the Tioga Arts Council’s Poetry Out Loud series with a recording of my poem, “The Bridge.”

On April 30th, current US Poet Laureate Ada Limón read at Smith College, which, though I could not attend in person, I wrote about here.

One thing that was missing from April this year was attending workshops with the Binghamton Poetry Project, which is in the process of being re-organized as the Binghamton Writers Project. I missed the chance to learn from Binghamton University grad students and other community poets who attend these workshops.

I took another step forward with my full-length poetry collection by sending a revised draft to April Ossmann for review. April has sent me extensive feedback so there will be more revisions and then a new round of submissions. Stay tuned for updates!

Early May bonus is that poet Samantha Terrell is featuring me in the SHINE section of her website.

I love it when National Poetry Month goes into overtime!

I’d love to hear in comments about others’ National Poetry Month experiences this year. Stay tuned for more poetry news – and more eclectic musings – here at Top of JC’s Mind.