5/1 All Good Things
Heya everyone!
I went to a wedding this month, and in addition to the fun photo booth that seems to be at every event for anything, they had an old timey landline phone with the request you pick up the receiver and leave a message for the brides. They had no cake, only a Viennese hour. They had a painter (from Canada!) who was live painting a snapshot of the ceremony from earlier in the day. Is this what weddings are, now? Fun times!
Also, mark your calendars if you haven’t already—Stefanie Maura and I are offering a writing retreat at Cedarmere on June 13.
And, I’m starting a book club with my yoga studio!
THINGS HAPPENED
April was poetry month, which I forgot to mention last newsletter, so I’m mentioning it now. The way I celebrated was wishing everyone a happy poetry month when I remembered it was poetry month. My perimenopausal brain is an adventure in my own mind. Anyway, I got to sub a yoga sculpt class at Sukha, which was super fun—it’s yoga, but also, it’s weights! The Nassau County Museum of Art has four new exhibits, including a baseball room that’s like a mini Cooperstown. My dog (that’s a weird phrase—how do I own a dog?) met my brother’s dog and everyone involved was super excited (except me—how is this my life?). Book club was a good time (follow up here), and dog training (how is this my life?) is still unfolding with a lot of barky dogs.
WELLNESS CORNER
Sukha Backyard Book Club is on its way June 7! Not only will we have book chat, but we'll also have meditation and Reiki. I'm still teaching slow flow on Tuesdays 7:15-8:15, so join in if you like a slow moving yet sneakily challenging flow.
Availability for Reiki, meditation, yoga, and wellness endeavors will begin again mid-May and then I’m wide open this summer. Info here.
KUDOS!
Poetry X Hunger’s anthology, Turning Poetry Into Food, is on its way into the world!
Howard Margolin is a featured alumni in Stony Brook University News, celebrating Destinies radio show!
Deborah Hauser’s poem “Canary-colored Pollen Coated Everything That Spring” was selected by Jared Harél for first place in the Great Neck Village Poetry Contest!
Kudos to the winners of The Otherwise Award!
BOOKSHELF
Have you visited Bookshop.org yet?
I finished the Buddhism book and have been reading back issues of The Rubin Museum’s magazine Spiral. The nature poem anthology, the 80s band book, Figuring, and Calvino are all in process with Calvino moving from “train book” to “book I read when students don’t come to office hours.” I set those aside to finish book club’s book and immediately started the next because it’s a time crunch for next month’s crossover.
Poetry
“In Geologic Time, It Happened Just Seconds Ago” by Maggie Smith
“We Melt The Cage They Build Around The World” by Martina Litty
“Eastwood” by Leila Chatti
“When They Built The House” by Michael Bazzett
“The Tejano Considers Seeds” by Sebastián H. Páramo
“Constantinople” by Vasily Kamensky
(and here’s the original version in Russian)
“Everything” by Rae Armantrout
“Second Morning in West Texas” by Lao Yang
“Revelation” by Sara Eliza Johnson
“America, Give Me A Fighter Jet” by Nora Sullivan
“A Life” by Edith Sodergran
Nonfiction
Unreliable Narratorby Aparna Nancherla (book club)
Buddhism for Beginners by Tai Morello
Internet
Is Madison Square Garden moving to fix Penn Station?
Ballard, AI, and Publishing’s Questionable Readiness (Thanks to Ann Cefola for this one).
In more robots are taking over news…
In more AI is ruining everything news…
More AI things to think about from Gina Sipley
Bringing Back The Trees, an interview
Artist As Corporation is a game changer:
Swiss cheese holes may not be real!
Pilots—They’re Just Like Us (meaning we are all children)
In You Had One Job news…
And of course check out these:
Typewriter photographs! Erasure poems! Post card sentiments! Signed copies of How We Make Amends!
LISTEN
Sunday Funday Book Club’s soundtrack for Unreliable Narrator":
WATCH
Fake Jesus flies to Heaven:
Artemis Comes Home:
Fisk (Netflix)
The Other Shore: The Diana Nyad Story
Aaron Chen: Funny Garden (Netflix)
OPPORTUNITIES
Frank Lloyd Wright Martin House Residency, Deadline May 13
Fulcrum Review, Deadline May 15
Shared Drafts Project, Deadline May 20
Oak Spring Garden Foundation Eliza Moore Fellowship, Deadline May 31
Chesapeake Film Festival, Deadline June 1
Wyrd Folk Folklore Short Story Challenge, June 30 (win a guest spot on the pod)
Oceanside Gazebo is accepting applications to read this summer.
The Indianapolis Review seeks visual poetry.
SUGGESTED THINGS
Barbara Takenaga’s Parallax at DC Moore Gallery NYC (through May 2)
Deborah Hauser, poet and activist
Seed&Spark Seas Americas
MISCELLANY
In an attempt at self-care, I bought an expensive Korean collagen mask to add to my repertoire, and the applicator immediately broke, and then my skin broke out. If weird teen acne is what they meant by younger-looking-skin, I'll pass.
All good things,
Christina
**Of course, you can forward this email to those you think may have interest. If you post information publicly, please link back to me. Appreciate it.
THINGS ARE HAPPENING
My calendar is here.
Updated book club info is here.
Friday, May 1, 2026 at 12:45 PM - 2:00 PM
Transformational Breathwork with Danielle Porto at Sukha Studio
Saturday, May 2, 2026 at 10:00AM-10:00PM
Long Tone End-of-Semester Exhibition at Arts Letters & Numbers and Sand Lake Center for the Arts
Sunday, May 3, 2026 at 5:00 PM-6:00 PM
Kirtan Circle with Julie Pasqual at Sukha Studio
Friday, May 8, 2026 at 7:30 PM-8:45 PM
Sound Journey: Sound Bath, Meditation & Reiki with Andonia Fthenakis at Sukha Studio
Saturday, May 9, 2026 at 2-4pm
Reviving Artemis: The Making of a Huntress with Deborah Lee Luskin at the 108 Narrowsburg
Saturday, May 9, 2026 at 4:00 PM-6:30 PM
Soul & Spirit with Psychic Medium: Joseph D’Airo at Sukha Studio
Tuesday, May 12, 2026 at 1 PM ET / 6 PM UK (live online)
One Grand Books Writing Series First Draft: Verb Your Enthusiasm with Sarah L. Kaufman
Wednesday, May 13-14, 2026
Ohio Literary Arts Nonprofit Administrators Caucus in Cincinnati
Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 12 PM EST (online)
The Nature of Adolescence: A Chimpanzee Perspective
Thursday, May 14, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Sunday Funday Book Club / Threes Book Club Crossover reading Shutter by Ramona Emerson at Threes Brewing in Huntington
Wednesday, May 20, 9:00 AM – 10:30 AM
Performance Workshop: Own the Room: Performance Skills for the Generous Reader with Nicole Caruso Garcia at Poetry by the Sea Conference, Mercy Conference & Retreat Center, Madison, CT
$150. Handicap accessible.
Sunday, May 24, 2026
Typewriter Poetry (private event)Interested in live writing? Go here.
Friday, May 29, 10:30 AM–1:30 PM ET
Radcliffe Day 2026 honoring Ruth J. Simmons at Radcliffe Yard and online
Saturday, June 6, 2026 at 2:00 PM-3:15 PM
Parent and Me Acro Yoga with Eugene Feis at Sukha Studio
Sunday, June 7, 2026 at 12:30 PM-2:00 PM
Sukha Backyard Book Club with Christina M Rau at Sukha Studio, Reading Biography of Silence by Pablo D’Ors, Book chat, Meditation, and Reiki
Saturday, June 13, 2026 at 10 AM – 4 PM
Cedarmere Poetry Writing Retreat with Stefanie Maura and Christina M. Rau at Cedarmere, Roslyn Harbor, NY
Register here. $85 includes lunch and donation
Sunday, June 28, 2026 at 10-noon (tentative)
Sunday Funday Book Club reading Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Café by Fannie Flagg
Sunday, July 26, 2026 at 2-3:30 PM
The Gypsy Felons at the Center Moriches Free Public Library
On The Regular (Always check with venues. If no contact info is listed below, google it. If your series has changed, let me know for next time. If you want to add your series, drop me a line).
One Sunday a month: Mid-Island Y JCC Poetry Series 2-4 PM
First Sundays: Poetic License, online, 4 PM
One Sunday a month: Speculative Sundays with Akua Lezli Hope, online, 7 PM EST
Later-in-the-month Sundays: Book Club at Great South Bay Brewing, Bay Shore, NY from 10-noon
Third Sundays: Sunday Reading Series at The Hungry Brain, 6:30 PMLast Sundays: Po’Jazz with Golda Solomon at Blue Door Arts Center, Yonkers, NY, 2-4 PM, Free
Every Monday: Restless Open Mic, Marché Le Woof 31-03 Vernon Boulevard Astoria. Signups at 6:30 PM
Every Monday: Phoenix Reading Series, Shades of Green 125 e 15th NY NY, 6:30 PM, $5 plus food purchase
Every Monday: The Underground Open Mic at Bar Freda (Queens/Brooklyn Border), 7:30 PM
Every Monday: Easy Paradise Open Mic at KGB Red Room, 8 PM, sign up in advance, 21+, 2 drink min
First Tuesdays: First Tuesdays Series, Espresso 77 Cafe, Jackson Heights, 6:40 Sign up, 7 PM open begins, feature follows, $5 purchase
First Tuesdays: Poetry At Book and Mortar 157 N Country Rd Mount Sinai, NY 11766 7 PM (open mic sign up 6:30), jeweliasdad@aol.com for info
First Tuesdays: Calling All Writers Spoken Word Open Mic, Urban Coffee, 101 Broadway, Greenlawn, NY, 7-8 PM, 5 minute limit, kindness required
Every Wednesday: Wednesday Night Poetry, Kollective Coffee and Tea, Hot Springs, AZ, 6:30-9 PM
First Wednesdays: The Platform, Madison Community Arts Center 10 Kings Rd Madison NH, 8 PM
Second Wednesdays: Poetry: It's a Shore Thing!, Long Beach Library (NY), 6 PM
Second Wednesdays/Thursdays: The Muse at Neirs Tavern, Queens, 7 PM
Fourth Wednesdays: Risk of Discovery at QED Astoria, 7:30-9 PM
First Thursdays: BVAC at Jack Jacks, Babylon, 7 PM
First Thursdays: Poetry Circle Open Mic, Living Room Café, Ardmore, PA, 6:30 PM
First Thursdays: Lowell Writers Open Mic, lalabooks, Market St, Lowell, MA, 6:30-8PM
Third Thursdays: Poetry Pairs Series, Literature Repository Reading, Bohemia, 7 PM
Third Thursdays: NeuroNautic Institute Presents open mic with features, Otto’s Shrunken Head, NYC, 7-9 PM
Third Thursdays: At Brookline Booksmith, MA, 7 PM
Third Thursdays: SAFTA Reading Series, Pretentious Beer Co, Old City Knoxville, TN
Every Friday: Fridays: Seed Café Open Mic, 250 Main Street, Pawtucket, RI, 6:30 PM
First Fridays: Revolutionary Poetry Nights, Grounds Books and Coffee, Tuscon, AZ
First Fridays: Maryland Writers’ Association, 7 PM EST, online
NEW!!!Second Fridays: Open Mic at Deja Brew Café, 102nd&Jamaica Ave Queens, 7:30-9 PM, hosted by Michael Alpiner
Third Fridays: Hudson Valley Writers Center in person and online, 7 PM
Last Fridays: Northport Arts Coalition Poetry Reading, Northport and online, 7:30 PM EST
Last Fridays: Friday Night Fire, Teatro Yerbabruja Second Avenue Fire House, Bay Shore, NY, 7 PM
Last Fridays: Redmond Association of Spoken Word, Centro Cultural Mexicano Redmond, WA, 7-9 PM
Every Saturday: Astoria Music Collective Saturday Songwriters at The Local Bar, 3 PM,
Every Saturday: Cultivating Voices Live, online, 3 PM EST
Biweekly Saturdays: Lip Balm, online, 5 PM EST
First Saturdays: PPA East Meadow Library, 1-3 PM, hosted by J R Turek and Margarette Wahl
Third Saturdays: PPA Levittown Town Hall, 1-3 PM, hosted by J R Turek
Various Saturdays: It’s Poetry Baby!, Oceanside Library, NY, 2 PM
Last Saturdays: Poetry Street On The Road at Riverhead Library and online, Riverhead NY, 2 – 4 PM
Various monthly: Ludy Café and Hudson Valley Poetry, Irvington, NY
Congrats! You've made it to the end! As always, this newsletter is gratis. If you wish to at any time, you can feel free to buy me a tea (or a coffee).