J.C. (Jane
Cynewski) Elkin
World Class: Poems Inspired by the ESL Classroom
World Class: Poems Inspired by the ESL Classroom
February 1, 2014 - Book Launch
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| J. C. Elkin |
About J.C. (Jane) Elkin
A graduate of Bates
College and Southern Connecticut State University, Jane Elkin is the founder
and facilitator of The Broadneck Writers’ Workshop, as well as a theater critic
and essayist for the Bay Weekly. Her
poetry, fiction and non-fiction have appeared in such journals as Kansas
City Voices, Empirical, Kestrel, Off the Coast, Ducts, and anthologies by the
Harvard Bookstore and River Run Books. She is a Pushcart nominee and has won
awards with the Maryland Writers’ Association, Poetry Matters, and the Poetry
Society of New Hampshire. A
self-proclaimed Renaissance Woman, she works as a language teacher, singer, and
handwriting analyst.
Jan: Tell me about this
collection of poetry. What inspired you to write these?
J. C. Elkin: World Class: Poems Inspired by the ESL Classroom is a collection of fifteen poems, mostly narratives
in accentual verse, illustrating the struggles and triumphs of adult English
language learners. It addresses not only their linguistic challenges and
culture shock, but broader social issues, as well, such as poverty, spousal
abuse, religious traditions, illegal immigration, lost opportunities, the role
of women in other cultures, and the mental scars of war. Their stories are
heart-breaking, uplifting, and tinged with unexpected humor. Through their
eyes, I have come to see our world and their place in it in a new light, and I
wanted to share my understanding with the rest of America.
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| Launch Date - Feb. 1, 2014 |
J. C. Elkin: It all happened so fast! Once I
wrote the first poem, which I had been stumbling over as a failed prose piece
for over a year, the rest of the poems tumbled from me like ripe pears from a
tree. The collection was complete in two months. Then I submitted it to one
well-researched publisher and received my acceptance letter within six weeks.
J. C. Elkin: Great question! As a singer and language
teacher, I am very attuned to the intonation and stress patterns of spoken
language, and I incorporate these observations not only into my language
lessons but also into my poetry, in both formal and unstructured works. I could
no more turn off the innate rhythm inside me than I could stop breathing.
Jan: Do you have any tips to
share about how you've prepared for your book launch, signings and interviews?
J. C. Elkin: Shameless
self-promotion, as an acting friend of mine
calls it, requires organization and chutzpah. I’m not especially nervy, but I
believe in my book and enjoy talking about it. As a former librarian, I have
the organization part down pat – 80 requests for literary journal reviews have
so far yielded six positive responses. WRNR in West Virginia interviewed me
last week, and I’m meeting with Lisa Morgan of WYPR’s The Signal this week. In addition to my book launch at The
Annapolis Bookstore on February 7 at 7pm, I have readings scheduled at Zu
Coffee in Annapolis on Feb. 28 at 6:30pm and at the Broadneck Public Library on
April 29 at 7pm, and three private stores so far have agreed to carry my book. Alumni
associations, civic organizations, schools and churches are all potential
markets for this book, so I set aside a little time each day for promotional
emailing. I see this as a long-term venture, not just a book release blitz.
Jan: What do you think about
entering work in poetry contests? Does it help or hinder the process for you?
J. C. Elkin: I enter a lot of inexpensive poetry contests and have been
richly rewarded by the experience: 1st place from the Poetry Society
of New Hampshire’s quarterly contest and consecutive 2nd places from
the Poetry Matters Celebration contest, an organization that subsequently invited
me to be a judge and the keynote speaker for this year’s awards ceremony in
Evans, Georgia. Last year, I also had two honorable mention poems in Third Wednesday Literary Journal, which
was especially gratifying because in that same issue there were several
non-winning poems by a critically acclaimed and best-selling novelist/poet. It
made me realize that everyone has their shining accomplishments and that not
even the masters consistently turn out masterpieces.
J. C. Elkin: The worst advice I ever received about publishing poetry, (advice I paid for), was to completely change the format of the poems in my chapbook. That editor has a bias against accentual verse and rhythm in general. Obviously, I ignored her in that regard, but I did heed her advice to incorporate more poetic techniques into the narratives.
The best advice I
ever received was to just trust in my work and submit, submit, submit.
Once it is released February 1st
it will also be at The Annapolis Bookstore, the bookstores of Anne Arundel
Community College, St. John’s College and Bates College, and through
Amazon.com. Other vendors are yet to be determined.
Below are links for Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The publisher, www.ApprenticeHouse.com hasn't yet posted it, I suppose because it isn't technically available until Friday, January 31st.
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Below are links for Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The publisher, www.ApprenticeHouse.com hasn't yet posted it, I suppose because it isn't technically available until Friday, January 31st.
and
Visit Jane's webpage at
About Jan Bowman
Winner of the 2011 Roanoke Review Fiction Award, Jan's stories have been nominated
for Pushcart Prizes, Best American Short
Stories, and a Pen/O’Henry award. Glimmer Train named a recent
story as Honorable Mention in the November 2012 Short Story Awards for New
Writers.
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| Coming Soon - Mermaids & Other Stories |
A recent story was a
finalist for the 2013 Broad
River Review RASH Award for Fiction,
another story was a 2013 finalist in the Phoebe Fiction Contest; another was a 2012 finalist in
the “So
To Speak” Fiction Contest. Jan’s fiction has appeared in numerous publications including, Roanoke Review,
Big Muddy, The Broadkill Review, Third Wednesday, Minimus, Buffalo Spree (97),
Folio, The Potomac Review, Musings, Potato Eyes and others. She is working on
two collections of short stories while shopping for a publisher for a completed
story collection, Mermaids & Other
Stories. She has nonfiction publications in Trajectory and Pen-in-Hand. She writes a weekly blog of “Reflections” on the writing life and posts regular interviews
with writers and publishers. Learn
more at: www.janbowmanwriter.com or visit
blog: http://janbowmanwriter.blogspot.com
Facebook: janbowman.77@facebook.com
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