Kickstarter

This fundraising project is for Calyx Press of Duluth’s upcoming publication of a coffee table style book of Kyle Elden's poetry entitled Grace Intoxicated. Weaving throughout the poems will be a tapestry of the beautifully ethereal and rich paintings of regional artist Kate Whittaker. Secondly, the Northern Prints Gallery will host the first reading of this book and an exhibition of Kate’s paintings during the reading. The poems reflect dark times of loss and transition which all humans face, and exalt the joyous and that which is sacred running through all of life – inviting the reader to become “grace intoxicated” (from a quote by John Shelby Spong, an Epispcopal bishop).  The concept of the coffee table poetry/painting collaboration is that this format provides a series of visual doorways into the poems, enhancing or teasing out the images in the words and the words within the images.  What is more important, this publication is a way of engaging other people, bringing life, color and hope into their lives.  Many times after Kyle Elden has shared her poems she has had people express to her that it has brought them hope.  From her own experience, she knows that a poem can be a lifeline or an inspiration, and if her work is able to be that for another, it would be a great honor.

Kyle Elden has been awarded a grant from The Arrowhead Regional Art's Council that will pay for the project in part.  However, additional funds are needed to cover the project in full.

The specific activities and timeline are as follows: 1. Finalize poems for the collection (March-April 2012). 2. Submit book to a competent editor to read manuscript and make final edits (May 2012). 3. Submit to designer, Cecilia Lieder, to do the layout for the book (June-August 2012). 4. Publish book through Calyx Press (September 2012). 5. Publication reading/artist reception at the Northern Prints Gallery (late September/early October 2012) 6. Market book through direct mail, setting up further readings, send reviewer copies and press releases (October 2012-January 2013).

Before You Know It

Before you know it
you smile again
find yourself humming
singing out loud when alone
a prayer of gratitude spilling from
your lips as you catch the sunrise
spreading light across the morning
soaking the sky with the deepest pink
imaginable
and you know there are a million
ways to hide from your heart
a thousand reasons to be sad or scared
but even more, even more reasons to be
fully alive
to move forward
as the hawks are called forth
to migrate, over and over again
to wherever there is more bounty

Kate Whittaker's Website

Kyle Elden's Blog