Carolyn Mary Kleefeld’s short stories captures Monterey County scenes

By Robert Walch

Local connection: Carolyn Mary Kleefeld lives in Big Sur. A painter, writer and poet, Kleefeld has written nine books, including Soul Seeds: Revelations and Drawings, which was nominated for the 2008 Pushcart Prize, and Climates of the Mind.

Vagabond Dawns, by Carolyn Mary Kleefeld (Cross-Cultural Communications; $20).

Content: This collection of more than 100 short poems evokes images ranging from cyclical rhythms of nature to the passions and complexities of love to the timeless spiritual potentialities of the human mind and soul.

From “Old Monterey Wharf,” which captures a stroll along the iconic local landmark, and “Big Sur to Monterey,” a poem set along Highway 1, to “Sunset of Painful Beauty,” a piece that bemoans the collapse of civilization, these poems cover an eclectic array of subjects.

The book also includes a CD of Kleefeld reading a selection of these poems, accompanied by musicians Barry and Shelley Phillips.

Prologue quote: Bernfried Nugel, the University of Münster’s director of the Centre for Aldous Huxley Studies, writes of the poetry in this book, “I perceive the all-encompassing vigor of Carolyn Kleefeld’s individual style that not merely alludes to outstanding representatives of the poetic tradition, such as Rimbaud, Pound, Eliot, Lawrence, Kazantzakis and others, but rather incorporates them into ‘poetic tapestries’ of her own.”

Book signing: At 7:30 p.m. today, the author will host a book signing and talk on creativity at Luminata Books & Gifts, 631 Cass St., Monterey.

Audience: Those with a love of poetry will find Kleefeld’s work refreshing and worth mulling over.

Carolyn Mary Kleefeld’s poetry goes international

Author, poet, and artist Carolyn Kleefeld has been honored once again in the field of higher education. For over 30 years, her books have been used nationally in universities and healing centers in courses in psychology, writing, and women’s studies. Now, Professor Peter Thabit Jones of Swansea University in Wales is including Ms. Kleefeld’s work in a new, permanent course he has designed for the university. The course, entitled, “The Other Half of the Sky: Eight Women Writers,” will enable students to explore the poetry and prose of 8 woman authors, including, along with Ms. Kleefeld, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Maya Angelou, and Aeronway Thomas, daughter of Dylan Thomas. The course, its title inspired by John Lennon’s Woman, will consider the writings of the 8 authors in the context of the historical development of women’s writing and its growing cultural and social importance.

Professor Thabit Jones says of Ms. Kleefeld’s poetry, “Kleefeld is a wonderful poet because she is lyrical, universal, and her poems have the seer-depths that come from the soul. These are rare qualities in poets and poetry today, and Kleefeld’s authentic, intelligent and profound vision is captivating. I admire the way she always sees the bigger canvas of existence, the way the natural forces. eternally pulse and evolve whilst we live out our dramas.” Professor Thabit Jones currently uses Ms. Kleefeld’s CD from her latest book, Vagabond Dawns, from which a poem has been nominated for the 1999 Pushcart Prize, and CDs from other performances in the “Performing Poets” section of his course, “Poets and Poetry.”

In another important development, Gabi Stanescu of Romania, an associate of Professor Thabit Jones, plans to have a selection of Ms. Kleefeld’s poems translated into Romanian and included in International Notebooks of Poetry, a bilingual journal to be launched this year at the Gaudeamus Book Fair in Romania. A selection of Kleefeld’s poems has been translated and is included in the Romanian literary magazine, Convorbiri Literare. As another contribution to what Professor Thabit Jones calls “the international bridge of poets,” Kleefeld’s poetry also will appear in Korean in the journal, Korean Ex-patriot Literature.

These recent events are particularly meaningful to Ms. Kleefeld, as England is her birth country and Romania is part of her paternal ancestry. Receiving recognition from these countries is a profound manifestation after decades of perseverance in her ongoing creative endeavors.

Indeed it was a magical evening, on October 3rd at the Henry Miller Library…

Yes, there truly was a feeling of magic at the Henry Miller Library on Saturday, October 3rd for the poetry reading/book-signing by Carolyn Mary Kleefeld of her latest book, Vagabond Dawns, published by Cross-Cultural Communications in Merrick, NY. Over seventy-five friends, fans, and new friends who had read about this event in local publications joined Carolyn for a spectacular evening of poetry, music, and dance.

Carolyn was accompanied by well-known local musician Martin Shears on keyboard & guitar, as she read her poetry in an intimate setting on the new upper deck of the library, under a persimmon tree that had Christmas lights strung throughout its boughs. Kleefeld sat at a redwood table which was illuminated by candlelight, while the fragrance of gardenias filled the night air. She spoke poignantly of her creative passions and challenges, captivating the audience and creating a symbiotic tie with them.

The poetry was primarily from Vagabond Dawns, which also includes a CD of Carolyn reading, accompanied by musicians Barry and Shelley Phillips, who have accompanied Coleman Barks in his readings of Rumi. To quote Big Sur resident Sheila Shepherd “This is truly a historical event at the Henry Miller.” The director of the Henry Miller Memorial Library, Magnus Toren, said it was one of the most beautiful events that had ever been held at the library. Carolyn thanks everyone who joined her that evening, as they all were a part of the magic that was created, and she invites all of you to join her at her upcoming event which is to be held at Luminata Books & Gifts in Monterey on November 20th at 7:30 PM. Carolyn and renowned interviewer David Jay Brown will hold an open discussion on the alchemy of creativity and chaos, with Carolyn reading from Vagabond Dawns and accompanied once again by Martin Shears.

For more information please call
Emory at (831) 333-1110
or Linda at (831) 667-2226

From Peter – Swansea, Wales

Dear Patricia,

Almost my bedtime here – I’m tired too after giving three lectures today. I love the poems (and I recall some from the cd’s I received from Carolyn). I would like to put two in July’s issue 10 and two in the following January Issue 11, please. The aphorisms are also great and I hope to include all of them in July’s issue, when David Brown’s review is due to appear.

I have written a letter to Carolyn, which my wife will post for me on the weekend. I loved her and David’s cd’s so much that I would like to incorporate them into my POETS AND POETRY course, one of the courses I have taught for sixteen years at the adult education department, Swansea University. My course teaaches the full craft of poetry, considers major poets and poetry movements, and includes a section called ‘Poets Live’. In ‘Poets Live’ students study audio recordings of poets and videos (including poests such as Seamus Heaney, Ted Hughes and dear Stanley: a superb performer). Carolyn’s and David’s cd’s are ideal for ‘Poets Live’. I have asked them for permission in my letter.

My best wishes,
Peter

Dearest of Stanleys

I’m totally mad about your passionate dedication to birthing books of Poetic Poets. What valiant and undaunting artistry is involved in your noble mission. May I adopt you as an uncle I never had? Or brother? But definitely a muse of great inspiration to me. We can’t thank you enough for being who you are. A divine treasure to this earth and all who know and love you. Ever yours, C and P

Dearest of Carolyns & Patricias,

What wings I have now to fly beyond the horizons,
beyond the flight of Pegasus, beyond the last vision!

You have both made my fine mad mission as a birther of
books by Poetic Poets more than worthwhile. You
have rescued me from the slough of the despond,
all too often dropped down to the decent of the
desregarded and discontinued.

Indeed, let me be privileged to be your brother, uncle,
metaphoric lover and true friend.

Now I know there is balm in Gilead!

Now I can, with Tennyson’s Ulysses, ardently proclaim:
though I be not of that youth and strength I once was,
‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world…
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Stanley

Dear Patricia and Carolyn,

All I can now say is: It’s heart-warming to be appreciated
by truly sensitive people like yourselves.

You didn’t think only of yourselvces: you were aware of
my recent many difficulties and decided to surprise me
(no, ASTONISH me) with the kind of thoughtfulness
and generosity that can only come from hearts and
minds of extraordinary people.

You restore my much-battered feelings about people
in general.

I am truly grateful and feel priveleged to know and
work with both of you.

Un gran abbraccio e molti, molti baci, forte, forte.

Stanley

Dear Patricia and Carolyn,

Yesterday, the newest sign of your incredible
humaneness, the sweetest manifestation of
your concern for my feelings arrived – the
framed statement of your appreciation of my
efforts, along with the original.

There is no doubt that I will have to include a copy
of the original in my memoir, TALES OF A CROSS-CULTURALIST:
THE SAGA OF A SMALL PRESS PUBLISHER, under the
chapter on “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” (naturally under
the first heading).

Starting yesterday, on the way to you, is the first of a daily
series of thank-you’s from me/CCC, which will probably take
a week to start arriving.

Let it be a series of surprises…somthing to brighten
your days.

Too much love,
Stanley

Letter from John

Hello dear Carolyn

The work gets deeper & further, doesn’t it? The great work. All of it we do. Thanks be. And it is true – the fulfillment of the woman artist. The world needs you and your gifts on that basis of freedom. And of course the gifts in themselves…

Much afoot, eh?

John

Letter from John C. Schneider

Dear Carolyn,

Many years ago I purchased a copy of your “Climates of the Mind” in a gift shop along the coast near Big Sur. I read it through and enjoyed it very much. At that time of my life I found it inspirational primarily because of my love of nature and philosophy of life. I photograph nature under the name “Living Images”.

Within the past two years, I have had major surgeries for removal of two separate cancers. The last surgery was for pancreatic cancer, which was detected early. The probabilities for my survival of this cancer are not good but I am spending every minute and day enjoying life while preparing for the ultimate fate. I am now re-reading and studying “Climates of the Mind” and “Satan Sleeps with the Holy”. I am also authoring my third book entitled “Best of Living Images”, which incorporates many quotations of others and my own sayings correlated with my photography of nature. I wish to include several quotations from your books and would like you to be aware of my using and citing your wonderful insights and talents with wording. You are indeed a poetess extraordinaire.
I plan to write a description of you and your talents in the forward or introduction of the book. If you have any objections to my using these published quotations and citing them properly, please respond with such objections. I also seek your concurrence and would acknowledge
such accordingly in the book.

Thank you for your time and I wish you well.

Sincerely,
John C. Schneider

Letter from April

Dear Carolyn

To begin, I would like to thank you. I am currently exploring your book Climates of the Mind, and it is a beautiful work of art that is as thought-provoking as it is resonant with my own self. I appreciate it’s arrival into my world.

Next, there is the hope that I will hear back from you! The idea that I might be able to converse with the person whose ideas I am being so moved by is…thrilling. Reading and transforming language to interpret the motions of one’s internal seas and storms is exhilirating to me, and any books you might recommend or words you could extend I would simply adore.

Regardless, I hope that you continue to make all of your beautiful art (with all of the mediums you use) and thank you once again.

In Vast Appreciation,
April

Letter from the Beverly Hills Library

Dear Ms. Kleefeld,

As a City Librarian for the Beverly Hills Library, I want to take this opportunity to thank you sincerely for the generous gift of your books for our collection. While your books enrich the collections of many libraries around the country, it is for us an especially significant gift in that you attended the Beverly Hills School system, all the while using our library as you were growing up. There is a comfortable connection with this gift that does not always exist.

All of us at the Beverly Hills Library wish you the best in all your creative endeavors, which are astoundingly varied, I might add. Your talents speak well for the education environment in which you were raised, and in which we might all take pride.

Again, thank you so much for  thinking of us!

Best Wishes,

Nancy Hunt-Coffey
Assistant Director of Community Services, City Librarian

Letter from the South Pasadena Public Library

Dear Carolyn

It’s no big deal on the universal scale, but I am the South Pasadena City Librarian in Los Angeles County, California and an Advisory Committee member of the California Office of Poets & Writers, Inc. But I am not writing to tell you about myself, but rather to thank you for your generous donation of your books to the South Pasadena Public Library. They are very beautiful and well-written. We are honored to have your books in our collection.

I am a friend and associate of Al Young, former two-time California Poet Laureate, and Gary Snyder, one of the most-acclaimed American poets of our time.

Wilma Elizabeth McDaniel, who was called “The Walt Whitman of California” when she passed away over a year ago was one of my dearest friends and I started her official website a couple of years before she left us. A few years ago I co-edited a book with nationally-known poets Molly Fisk and Steve Sanfield called OPEN TO ALL: WHAT THE LIBRARY MEANS TO ME that also featured Anne Lamott, Ray Bradbury, Peter Collier, Utah Phillips, David Mas Masumoto, Gerald Haslam, and many more.

Nevertheless, I think your poetry compares very favorably with the best of the best. Please let me know if you might have any questions or comments. Attached is my business card for your convenience.

Best regards

Steve Fjeldsted
City Librarian
South Pasadena Public Library