News

Copper Nickel is teaming up with Win Wear to present an evening of writing from Copper Nickel 13 translated into music, art, and food on Thursday, March 18th, beginning at 7pm at Orange Cat Studios, 2625 Larimer Street in Denver.

A $10 cover gets you in, gets you fed, and puts a copy of Copper Nickel 13 in your hands. Another $1 will get you a "bottomless cup of beer" to be filled with goodness from our friends at Great Divide Brewing.

Translating musicians include Roger Green, Conrad Kehn, David Mead and more. In addition to the music, Mark Shusterman, current pastry chef at Beatrice and Woodsley, will be preparing inspired food for the event paired with the GREAT DIVIDE beer.

The fun doesn't stop there; a reception follows with NOVO Coffee, home made pastries, and record spinning going well into the night.

Please join us for an evening of transmogrification and hot artist-on-artist action.

Those of you who were following the story on the search for Craig Arnold probably learned late last week that the team of trackers who were following his path on the island have concluded that Craig likely fell from a cliff and probably could not have survived the fall, though Craig has not yet been recovered.

Our thanks to all of you who wrote your congress-persons requesting help for our friend.

This LA Times story may be of interest to some of you.

As Chris Arnold endures his two-day journey to Kuchino-erabu, his wife said the family hopes "something will happen in transit and they will have good news, and he can show up to greet his brother."

"We told our 4-year-old daughter that Uncle Craig didn't hold anyone's hand," said Palmer. "My husband is taking that advice to heart.

"Clearly everyone is worried," she said. "Time is running short. But people survive for long periods of time even without food and water. He's a really tough person, and he's likely still out there."

More info here: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/MindMoodNews/Story?id=7483695&page=1

• "Wyoming Scholar Missing" (from Denver Post)
• at NPR
• Jim Lehrer New Hour
• CBS4 Denver

Poet Craig Arnold, author of Shells and Made Flesh, a professor of Creative Writing and English at the University of Wyoming, has gone missing on the Japanese island of Kuchino-erabu. A search is underway, but may be ending soon.

Please read the following and write your congress-persons as well as the Japanese Consul in your city or area and urge them to continue the search until Craig is found.

For those interested here is a dedicated blog:
http://findcraigarnold.blogspot.com/

And here is a Facebook group for information:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=74254019683

+++

The poet Craig Arnold is currently in Japan with the U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission's U.S.-Japan Creative Artists Exchange Fellowship and has been missing since April 26th (evening Monday April 27th Japanese time).

He is the author of two volumes of poetry: Shells, chosen by W.S. Merwin for the Yale Series of Young Poets in 1999, and of Made Flesh (Ausable, 2008). His poetry has been anthologized in several volumes of the Best American Poetry Series, and his poems, articles, and translations from the Spanish have appeared in such publications as The New Republic, Paris Review, Poetry Magazine, Yale Review, and many more. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including a Fulbright Fellowship, the Joseph Brodsky Rome Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Alfred Hodder Fellowship in Humanities from Princeton University, an Amy Lowell Poetry Traveling Scholarship, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Dr. Arnold did his B.A. at Yale University and received his Ph.D. from the University of Utah. He is presently an Assistant Professor at the University of Wyoming.

THE DETAILS:

Monday April 27th (Japanese time) he arrived with the 2:50 pm municipal ferry from Yakusima on the island of Kuchino-erabu and checked in to the local "Watanabe" inn, the only one on the island. He was with 2 Japanese tourists who had reservations. He did not have one. (They must have helped him check in.) He had traveled to the island to visit the volcano, as he has been working on a book on the subject of volcanoes for some time.

His plan was to stay only one night and leave the next day. (Craig has visited many volcanoes around the world in recent years as is very experienced with visiting them.)

He immediately left his 3 bags at the inn and departed around 3 pm on foot to the next village, taking only his walking sticks. He was wearing black or dark colors: long pants, a dark hat, a nylon jacket. His Japanese iPhone was on his person but has not been reachable due to inconsistent reception on the island. The exclusive provider of IPhone service, Softbank, has been contacted by the police in an attempt to utilize the built-in GPS capabilities of the phone.

At the village, someone with a car drove him to the entrance to the path leading up the mountain to the volcano. There are 4 paths to the volcano which are obvious and in good condition. He was taken to the entrance of a path next to a dam where evidence collected by the police suggests he ascended. His footprints have been found. The police have not found evidence of a return trip along that path. The area is densely forested until reaching the summit area, caldera, of the volcano where there is little vegetation.

The police stated that the path to that area is clear but that finding the path on the descent could pose problems so it is likely that he may not have found his way back to the path he entered by.

When Craig did not return to the inn by 8 pm, the inn staff searched for him by car, driving to the village. Unsuccessful, they returned to the inn and called the local fire brigade at 9 pm who responded immediately and searched until midnight.

Day 2 (Tues, April 28 JT) 5 police officers (under the direction of Mr. Kazuhara) arrived from Yakusima that morning with new assets: cars, search dogs, police persons, a helicopter. 40 total persons now working on this: 30 local fire reserve persons and 10 police persons and officials. They searched the trail he took but did not complete an exhaustive search of all 4 trails. One individual climbed all the way to the top. The area was circled several times by the helicopter and they also flew around the coastline. I contacted them directly at the end of the 2nd search day: 6:30pm. (5:30 am this morning, Wed April 29th U.S. time). They were debriefing and planning for day 3, with a plan to concentrate on the possible alternative paths down from the volcano that he may have taken by mistake and the surrounding area.

Day 3, the official required last day of the search, begins tonight. They are only required by law to search for 3 days. Extension procedures must be arranged with Mr. Kawahigashi and may require payment. Other than the helicopter, no higher level assets have been deployed at this time. Since the focus is on a "boots-on-the-ground" search and rescue (the forest makes visibility from the air limited) more people should be deployed immediately to assist.

ENVIRONMENTAL BACKGROUND:

Kuchino-erabusima (various transliterations possible shima, jima):

Volcanic island 14.5 square km. Spring weather conditions, temp drops at night but not to freezing. Has not rained since Craig went missing. Fresh water available.

Reachable by municipal ferry from Yakushima
Police based in Yakushima
Hospital on Yakushima
Airport on Yakushima connects to Kagoshima, major city.

Map:

http://homepage2.nifty.com/erabu/sight.htm

PEOPLE IMMEDIATELY INVOLVED:

The following people only speak Japanese:

The search and rescue operation is being led by
Town Officer: Mr. Kawahigashi
office tel: 81-(0)997-49-2100
(last spoke with him 7:05 am NYC time) They were preparing to debrief from
Day 2 of the search and prepare their plan for Day 3.
Day 3 begins tonight, Wednesday April 29. (= morning Thurs, April 30 Japanese time)

The Yakusima police officer on the case: Officer Kuzuhara: 81-(0)997-462110
he is on the neighboring island Yakusima, not the island where Craig is lost.

THEY ARE ONLY REQUIRED BY LAW TO SEARCH FOR 3 DAYS. THERE IS A NATIONAL HOLIDAY HAPPENING RIGHT NOW. WE MUST APPLY ALL AVAILABLE PRESSURE TO MAKE THEM CONTINUE THE SEARCH AND TO CONVINCE THE U.S. CONSULATE TO ACTIVATE THE AVAILABLE AMERICAN ASSETS (OKINAWA) TO ASSIST WITH THE SEARCH AND RESCUE OPERATION ON THE GROUND.

The process is currently stalled at the Fukuoka Consulate level with
Mark Baron working under Margot Carrington
(Fukuoka Consulate office tel: 81-92-751-9331)

The Tokyo Embassy # is 81-(0)3-3224-5000 and the interim Charge d'Affairs is James P. Zumwalt

Local U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission Contact TOKYO:

Christopher Blasdel
blasdel@i-house.or.jp
81-3-3470-3211

Executive Director of U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission:
From: Eric Gangloff

Dr. Eric J. Gangloff
Executive Director
Japan-US Friendship Commission
1201 15th Street NW, Suite 330
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 653-9800
(202) 653-9802 fax
www.jusfc.gov

LOCAL AMERICAN ASSETS:

http://www.okinawa.usmc.mil/DoD%20on%20Okinawa/DoD%20on%20Okinawa%20Page.html

Kadena Air Force Base, Okinawa under the command of Pacific Air Force (PACAF)
http://www.kadena.af.mil/

NAVY: Commander Fleet Activities Okinawa:
https://www.cnic.navy.mil/Okinawa/index.htm

Naval hospital: http://www.med.navy.mil/sites/nhoki/Pages/default.aspx

+++

More information:

http://www.uwyo.edu/news/showrelease.asp?id=30881

http://wyominghumanitiescouncil.org/blog/

http://wyomingarts.blogspot.com/2009/04/uws-craig-arnold-missing-in-japan.html

http://slate.com/blogs/blogs/xxfactor/archive/2009/04/30/craig-arnold-missing.aspx

Please join us this Friday, May 1st, from 5-10pm (or any time within that frame) for a casual celebration of five years of literary publishing. Festivities will be held at Matter Studio, 2134 Market Street in Denver. For more information, follow this link.

Only 8 more subscriptions and Copper Nickel will have made its April goal of 30 subscriptions in 30 days and then will get quiet again for a while while you read your newest favorite journal. Just a few more, y'all: help us out...

http://www.copper-nickel.org/buy.html

The (occasionally amazing, occasionally annoying) 30-subscriptions-in-30-days-long-hyphenated-adverbial-adjective subscription drive continues.

Thanks to 15 of you, we're more than halfway there, and under NPR fundraising-drive rules we can stop the madness early if we can get fifteen more of you to part with a wallet-sized photograph of Andrew Jackson backed with a fine elevation of the White House.

It's easy with Paypal at http://www.copper-nickel.org/buy.html.

If you're already a subscriber, tell a friend, and you'll get an extension of your current subscription (be sure to have your friend tip us off).

Why be a subscriber? You're the kind of person who doesn't always like things the way they're "supposed to be." You like things a little mixed up --- a little chocolate in your peanut butter, a little cayenne pepper in your coffee --- which is why you read literary journals and support an alternative economy. You're interested in a real "value-added product," so you ask us to take 100 sheets of 65# paper and apply some ink to reveal good writing you just won't find anywhere else.

And don't forget, we've got t-shirts now. They're American Apparel, snug-fitting T's that show off your semicolons...

Our very own Teague von Bohlen, senior editor, will be participating in the first installment of Literary Death Match Denver, sponsored by Opium magazine, on Saturday April 11th at 7pm at the Mercury Cafe in downtown Denver.

More information here.

The 30-Subscriptions-in-30-Days readership drive proceeds apace—indeed, ahead of pace. We've received 11 orders (from 11 wonderful people!) this month, and under NPR rules, we only need to find 19 more new subscribers until we cool it and let people read something other than these e-mails and web postings.

So, thanks to all of you who've already buoyed us, and thanks to those who are getting read to...