WELCOME !

For a rich source of interdisciplinary ideas gathered by JoAnne Growney -- often linking mathematics and poetry -- please visit her blog, "Intersections -- Poetry with Mathematics," found at https://poetrywithmathematics.blogspot.com

AND to learn lots and lots about JoAnne Growney's many writings and activities, visit the menu on the left OR scroll down.

In a recent issue, the Journal of Mathematics and   the Arts published 53 "Artists Statements" -- brief  articles (including one from me) that explain  the author's connections to both mathematics and the arts. 

My article about math-poetry relationships is "Everything Connects" -- and it is available at this link.

My first YouTube Video --

(at this link) me reading -- "Love Mathematics" and "A Baker's Dozen" -- recorded for the virtual BRIDGES 2020 Math-Arts Conference.

Lots more BRIDGES math-poetry videos available at this link.

 This link leads to a recent podcast -- "What's math got to do with poetry?" -- created by science writer Stephen Ornes and including some of my views and my poems. 

A lovely presentation of my poem "With Reason: A Portrait of Sophia Kovalevsky" has been published in the April 2020 issue of The Mathematics Teacher and the poem is available here.

On March 5, 2020, this posting in an American Mathematical Society blog by Rachel Crowell -- featuring my blog, "Intersections-- Poetry with Mathematics"  Thanks, Rachel!

 From 2019 . . . and before . . .

 Go  HERE for an interview (of mathy poet, JoAnne) by Sarah Glaz 

 and this link leads to "Give HER Your Support" -- 

 some syllable-square poems speaking out for  math-women ! 

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 A fun-time was had on 3.14 (that is, Pi-Day) -- 

 poetry-with-math at The Writer's Center in Bethesda

 I was privileged to share there some words in Pilish -- the language whose word-lengths follow the digits of PI:  3.14159265...

  Hug a tree, I shout--hungering to defend trees...

for more of Pilish, go here.

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 One of JoAnne's poems won a 2018 contest to be shown on Arlington, VA busses this summer --

the contest theme was "Ripped from the Headlines" --here's the poem: 

       The Other Place

          Scientists find another star system
          with eight planets just like ours    Wash. Post headline, 12/17/17

        Does that new-found system have an Earth
        from which came life that now destructs:
        oceans rising, people warring - each refusing
        to see another's view? On that distant planet,
        do they have mountains? Do they have courage?
        Do they have honey bees? Do they have words?

For poetry-math connections

visit "Intersections--Poetry with Mathematics"  (JoAnne's blog -- with more than a thousand postings)

AND browse below.

Hope you find time to read my poetry collection, Red Has No Reason -- one place to buy is HERE.  

 FREE DOWNLOADS :  PDFs (bilingual) -- translations (by Radu Doru and JoAnne)  of work by Romanian poets  Ileana Malancioiu and George Bacovia.   

Also online, also free download, an illustrated edition of Bucharest Tales, poetry and prose of Romania  (ed. Lidia Vianu, Contemporary Literature Press, New Europe Writers Series), including my poems "The Bear Cave" and "Looking for Words."

2017 -- Teaching poetry classes  (PWRS and Silver Spring Village),   writing poems,    preparing for July 2017 BRIDGES conference in Waterloo, blogging -- mathy poems here . <-- PLEASE visit!    

*** For a view of my recent POETRY activity browse here at my blog:

INTERSECTIONS: Poetry with Mathematics

2016 activity

preparing math-poetry blog (PLEASE VISIT!), teaching poetry workshop for PWRS, enjoying time with grandchildren, trying to find time to WRITE New POEMS!

JoAnne's 2015 Readings/Presentations:

At BRIDGES 2015 (U. Baltimore) (link to program)  Thursday, July 30, presenting a brief paper -- celebrating math women with poetry (read it hereFriday, July 31, Poetry reading  More info here.

Read for "The Painted Word" -- poetry-art at FOUNDRY GALLERY

April 12  1314 18th Street, Washington DC

April 20, "Versed in Science and Math"-- DC Science Cafe  Read with Rick Mullen, at Busboys & Poets, 5th & K 

Visited Temple University Math Club for Math-Poetry talk - March 20

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JoAnne went back to Bloomsburg, PA on November 6, 2014 -- and read for RIVER POETS at the Bloomsburg Public Library.   She also was in Bloom on May 1 to help RIVER POETS mark its 20th anniversary.

Celebrants included Richard Aston, Dave Barsky, Richard Brook, Susan Brook, Carol Ann Heckman, Janet Locke, Paul Loomis, Mike DeMarco, Susan Stemont, Malin Wagner, MaryLou Wagner

JoAnne gave poetry readings in the DC area on these dates in 2014
BIG THANKS to all who attended and heard my work!
Feb 3 (with Stephanie Strickland) 7:30 PM at Cafe Muse in Friendship Heights
Feb 20, 7:30 PM atTakoma Park Community Center (with Anne Higgins,Kathleen O'Toole)
Apr 24, 7:30 PM at the Nora School in Silver Spring (with Martin Dickinson, Michelle Wolf)

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An article by Greg Coxson in the online Journal of Humanistic Mathematics provides a wide-ranging introduction to my blog.   Thanks, Greg!

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RECENT READINGS --

17 JANUARY 2014  Poetry-with-Mathematics Reading at JMM in Baltimore

17 JANUARY 2013  Takoma Park Community Center,Featured poets :  Anne Becker, Virginia Bell, Don Berger, JoAnne Growney

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RED HAS NO REASON JoAnne's 2010 poetry collection, wearing a brilliant cover by Florence Putterman, is available from Plain View Press or amazon.com (or contact JoAnne).

 Reviews of (and selections from) Red Has No Reason :  

    Montgomery County Gazette   -   Richard Aston   -  Marion Cohen  -  Sarah Glaz  -  Bob Grumman  -  Kyi May Kaung -  Jan Heller Levi - William Pitt Root -  Charlotte Simpson -  Sharon Solloway -  G V St Thomasino  - Jerry Wemple  -  YouTube 

2012

On November 9 I had the pleasure (hosted by Irina Mitrea and Maria Lorenz) of talking with the Math Club at Temple University ("Thirteen Ways that Math and Poetry Connect") and, on November 5, I visited Marion Cohen's "Mathematics in Literature" class at Arcadia University.  THANKS for these good times.

For MATHY POEMS of all sorts, visit my poetry-math blog.

Details of the poetry reading at the Joint Mathematics Meetings, sponsored by the Journal of Humanistic Mathematics, are available in my blog here and here and, more comprehensively, including poems, in the Summer 2012 issue of JHM, in an article by Charlotte Henderson. 

 

JoAnne participated in the 2012 Bridges Math-Arts conference at Towson University in July.  She was featured in a poetry reading -- choosing selections from these Mathy Poems --  and led a Poetry-with-Mathematics Workshop. More workshop details are available here

2011-12 Events

Much of JoAnne's poetry activity has been "on sick leave" since 4 March 2011 -- due to the extended and serious illness of a family member.

The workshop paper -- "Using Mathematics to Make Poetry" --   that JoAnne prepared for the July 2011 BRIDGES conference (which she was unable to attend) is available here.

AT AWP  Plain View Press Events: Book Signing  Thurs Feb 3, NOON  PVP Exhibit Table  AND  Reading  Feb 3, 6 PM  Int Visions Gallery (2629 Conn Ave, NW)

Tues March 1 at Artisphere (Rosslyn)  8 PM

(July 27-31 in Portugal)   2011 Bridges MathArt Conference

 

Contact JoAnne to arrange a reading / workshop.

 

 2010 in Bloomsburg:  on November 4, at a "River Poets Founders" Reading, JoAnne read with Dick Brook at the Market Street Library.  On October 20, JoAnne shared the stage with Karen Weyant at Bloomsburg University -- thanks to Karen and to hosts Jerry Wemple and Claire Lawrence (and to friends who attended) for a special evening. 

Recent (2010) DC-area readings featuring JoAnne include June 30 at Kensington Row Bookshop with Elisabeth Stevens and April 29 at Takoma Park Community Center (with Mary Beth Hakem and Bonnie Naradazay).

 As part of an ongoing poetry event at the Bowery Poetry Club in Manhattan, March 13, 2010, JoAnne particpated in an math-art-poetry ArtWall performance series event organized by John Sims and with the theme "The Square Root of Love."  JoAnne also joined math-poets Stephanie Strickland, Kaz Maslanka, Bob Grumman, and Gregory Vincent St Thomasino on June 11 and July 10 for Graffiti Wall contributions.  ALL part of a "Rhythm of Structure" project.

A long term Pennsylvanian, JoAnne frequently returns there for poetry events. BACK HOME in Bloomsburg, she was co-featured with Janet Locke, at the RIVER POETS reading on December 3, 2009 at the Bloomsburg Public Library.

JoAnne is a collaborative poet who enjoys working with visual artists, musicians, mathematicians, dancers, and other fellow travelers—to create work that transcends the individual.  Samples of shared projects are found at this website.   Click here for a review and a link to a 2009 poetry-month podcast of JoAnne (and Karren Alenier) reading "math-poetry."   JoAnne visited Lewisburg, PA and Bucknell University on Oct. 1 2009 for math-poetry events planned by Professor Lynn Breyfogle and her students. 

An important one of JoAnne's current collaborations is with Silver Spring sculptor, Mark Behme; here is a link to a SAMPLE of pairings of JoAnne's poems and Mark's enigmatic figures (which were featured at Cafe Muse in Friendship Heights on July 6).  2009 events also included an exhibit at Touchtone Gallery during August-September and a sculpture-with poetry exhibit at the Takoma Park Community Center during September-October. 

Tuesday, April 28, 2009  JoAnne and Karren Alenier  (both of whom are poets included in Strange Attractors:  Poems of Love and Mathematics)  provided an evening of mathematics and poetry at the Carriage House Conference Center of the Mathematical Association of America (MAA). One of JoAnne's poems is available on You-Tube -- here with the title "San Antonio, January 1993" -- the poem appears in Red Has No Reason with the title "A Taste of Mathematics.".

ONGOING -- poetry gatherings / classes on chosen Thursday afternoons at Silver Spring Drop-In Center.

For a fine and varied collection of love poems for all occasions, look for STRANGE ATTRACTORS:  Poems of Love and Mathematics published October, 2008 by A K Peters, Ltd.  JoAnne is coeditor with Sarah Glaz (University of Connecticut mathematician and poet).   A peek into the anthology and the opportunity search within its contents is available here. This anthology would be a lovely gift for a favorite mathematician.

In addition to her ongoing interests in math-poetry and ekphrastic poetry, the current CLIMATE CRISIS  is one of JoAnne's big concerns.  This topic is starting to show up in her poems--though she finds it hard to write about poetically.  You can find "Mitigation of Toxins" online (INNISFREE March,2007; scroll to “JoAnne Growney”).

2009 activities for JoAnne include an April 16 reading (featuring sculpture by Mark Behme) with Robin Schafer and Mary Beth Hatem at the Takoma Park Community Center, a March 30 visit to the Montgomery College (Silver Spring / Takoma Park campus) of Dr Francine Jamin, a reading (with E Laura Golberg) on March 8 at the Iota Cafe and participation on a panel on TRANSLATION at the AWP Chicago conference in February. (Panel Moderator was Cass Daglish; Heid Erdrich and Roseann Lloyd also participated). 

On January 7, 2009 in Washington, DC at the national Joint Mathematics meetings, several of the anthology poets gathered to read their work from STRANGE ATTRACTORS.  MANY THANKS from from reading organizers JoAnne Growney and Doug Norton to these anthology poets who gathered for the reading:  Karren LaLonde AlenierJudith Baumel, Marion Deutsche Cohen, Jennifer Crow, Kathryn DeZur, Sarah Glaz, Bob GrummanIsrael Lewis, Kaz Maslanka, Wilmer Mills, Wendy Mnookin, Kyoko Mori, Deanna Nikaido, Becky Dennison Sakellariou, and John Vieira.  Math conference attendees who also offered poems on the reading theme, "Poems of Love and Mathematics."  These included Patrick Bahls, Rad Dimitric, Charlotte Henderson, Rosanna Iembo and Ruth Favro.  

2008 poetry activities for JoAnne included participation in the Bathroom Poetry Project and in the Exquisite Corpse Exhibit at Silver Spring Gateway’s Heliport Gallery. . An Exquisite Corpse Poetry Reading featured JoAnne along with poets Karren Alenier and Christopher Conlon; Karren's blog shows highlights.

    JoAnne has worked with Gateway's Heliport Gallery to plan poetry events that coordinate with gallery exhibits.  Click here and scroll down for information about collaborative activities with Heliport Gallery.   

March 20-23, 2008 the 4-day SPLIT THIS ROCK  festival of " Provocation and Witness" -- for which JoAnne was a volunteer--happened in  Washington, DC.  The conference happened again March 10-13, 2010.

OTHER READINGS

September, 2007 JoAnne participated (as enthsiast and featured reader) in the day-long STILLWATER POETRY FESTIVAL along Fishing Creek, north of BLOOMSBURG, PA.         

August 2007 JoAnne joined other Pennsylvania poets (Jerry Wemple, Marjorie Maddox, and Barbara DeCesare) anthologized in COMMONWEALTH (a Penn State University Press collection of contemporary Pennsylvania poetry) reading at CAFE MUSE (at Friendship Heights Village Center,sponsored by WordWorks).           

Spring 2007  Ongoing events with Gateway's Heliport Gallery30 November 2006 JoAnne considered "math and poetry" with the Math Honor Society at Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, MD.         

28 October 2006  EPaDel Section Meeting of the Mathematical Association of America at West Chester University.  Marion Cohen joined JoAnne in a Saturday morning reading of MATHEMATICAL POETRY.          

10 October, 2006 for the  RIVER POETS Reading Series (Phillips Emporium, 10 East Main Street,Bloomsburg, PA).  Two special features of that reading were "Helena's Emporium" and "remembering a backyard spruce."

14 September 2006 at the Nora School in Silver Spring.  At the Nora School website are links to videotapes of the participating poets' readings. (Sometimes there may be difficulty with this viewing; Mozilla Firefox browser may work better than Internet Explorer. SCROLL DOWN to the poetry information and click on JoAnne's name.)

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JoAnne Growney lives in Eastern Village, a co-housing community along the MD-DC border.  More information about her community may be found here. Born in Indiana County, PA -- Christmas-tree capital of the universe --  JoAnne studied mathematics at Westminster College (PA),  Temple University, and the University of Oklahoma.  More recently she earned an MFA from Hunter College in Manhattan.  For twenty-five years she lived in Bloomsburg, PA and taught mathematics at Bloomsburg University.  She was an active member of the Bloomsburg community, helping to found River Poets and Five & Dime Cultural Center. She has four grown children and eight grandchildren—in England, Maryland, or Virginia.

JoAnne is available to teach workshops and offer readings. 

Please contat her:  japoet AT msn DOT com.

Other poetry books by JoAnne :

Angles of Light (Finishing Line Press,2009)-- the book wears a stunning cover by Jessica Baker -- at amazon.com or contact JoAnne for a copy.  

My Dance is Mathematics (Paper Kite Press, 2006) -- the poems are online here -- or contact JoAnne for a print copy.

The poet collaborates with Silver Spring sculptor, Mark Behme;  here's a SAMPLE of JoAnne's poems and Mark's enigmatic figures and here's a fascinating interview of we two by poet, artist, and activist Kyi May Kaung.

    For several years JoAnne has held poetry workshops for Peer Wellness and Recovery Services (which offers support, friendship and activities for clients fighting mental illnesses.

 

 

  Scroll down or visit JoAnne's blog

for lots and lots of  

poetry-with-mathematics.

 

Enjoy online poems by JoAnne : 

talkingwriting.com   BigCityLit 

 Scapegoat Review

Online articles :

They Say She Was Good -- for a Woman:  Poetry and Musings  JHM 2017

about her BLOG -- in FOCUS (p 19)

 "What Poetry is Found in Mathematics? . . . " in the September '09 issue of The Mathematical Intelligencer and

"Mathematics Influences Poetry"  in the March '08 issue of Journal of Mathematics in the Arts.   

Available online is  Mathematics in Poetry  an article for JOMA, MAA's Journal of Online Mathematics and its Applications.

 JoAnne's work is featured in two recent anthologies of Pennsylvania poetry: LISTENING TO WATER  (2007, Foothills Publishing) and COMMON WEALTH  (2005, Penn State Univ. Press)

Poetry and other content offered on these pages is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License. Use material from herein freely and always credit both JoAnne Growney and this site.

 To exchange ideas on connections among poetry, math, and other arts, please e-mail JoAnne.   

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