2011-12 Request for Proposals - Poet Laureate

Julie Kane: Conversations with and Readings by Louisiana's State Poet Laureate

The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities announces the availability of grants to sponsor the Poet Laureate for readings and discussions in libraries and cultural institutions throughout the state. Julie Kane is a native of Boston who has lived in Louisiana for 35 years. She holds degrees from Cornell University, Boston University, and Louisiana State University. A former George Bennett Fellow in Writing at Phillips Exeter Academy, New Orleans Writer-in-Residence at Tulane University, and Fulbright Scholar to Lithuania, she is a Professor of English at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches. Her two most recent poetry collections are Rhythm & Booze (2003), a National Poetry Series winner and finalist for the Poets’ Prize, and Jazz Funeral (2009), which won the Donald Justice Poetry Prize. Her poems have appeared in journals including The Southern Review, The Antioch Review, Prairie Schooner, London Magazine, and Feminist Studies, as well as in anthologies such as Poetry: A Pocket Anthology and The Book of Irish American Poets from the Eighteenth Century to the Present. They have also been featured on Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, and The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor. The Vietnam memoir that she co-authored with Louisiana resident Kiem Do, Counterpart: A Vietnamese Naval Officer's War (1998), became a History Book Club Featured Alternate. She has also co-edited two literature anthologies and published many essays on subjects including Louisiana writers Tim Gautreaux, Everette Maddox, and Gail White and the history of French-language Louisiana poetry. The Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities (LEH) will award four President’s Discretionary Grants up to $2,500 each in 2011 and 2012 to non-profit organizations (e.g. libraries, adult literacy groups) wishing to have Ms. Kane for poetry readings and discussions or presentations on topics such as:

• Getting Over Your Fear of Poetry
• Semiformalists Have More Fun – optional use of form in contemporary poetry
• The Villanelle
• Humorous Poetry
• Poetry and Neuroscience
• The Radio Essay – short lyric or poetic essay
• Poetry and the Public

Criteria for all projects: Submissions must be of interest to general public audiences. Events must be open to the general adult public. Programs designed strictly for school-age children are ineligible.

Eligible Costs: Applicants may request funds for stipends, publicity and promotional materials. Generally, the honorarium for the Poet Laureate will depend upon the number of activities and length of travel from her home.

Application Process: Potential applicants should contact the LEH to secure detailed information on preparing the application. The staff will review and critique drafts submitted at least four weeks prior to the deadline. Applications and guidelines are available to download on the LEH website at http://www.leh.org/html/grants.html or by contacting the LEH office directly.

Application Deadlines: Ongoing until funds are exhausted. Applications must be submitted at least six weeks prior to the planned event Awards will be announced within two weeks of applying.

For application details, contact: Walker Lasiter, lasiter@leh.org, 504-620-2631 Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities 938 Lafayette Street, Suite 300 New Orleans, LA 70113 1.800.909.7990 x132 (in Louisiana) 504.523.4352 x132.

For booking details, contact: Julie Kane: julkane@hotmail.com 318-352-8002 (home) 318-332-1866 (cell). If you would like to have Ms. Kane’s books available for the event, contact: University of Chicago Book Distribution Center at 800-621-2736 for Rhythm and Booze and Jamie Smith at 610-436-3235 or jsmith3@wcupa.edu for Jazz Funeral.