albany poets >> News

Albany Poets Has Moved

2011-10-28T17:50:00.005-04:00

We have completely overhauled the Albany Poets website. We now have a new home for our blog updates, the events calendar, photos, videos, audio recordings, and work from the poets of upstate New York.

Head on over to www.albanypoets.com or just click on "home" on the navigation bar above and check out the all new Albany Poets.

Since we made changes to the website, be sure to update your News Feed subscription information to http://albanypoets.com/feed/ so you can stay up to date on what is going on in the upstate poetry community.

Be sure to follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/AlbanyPoets), Google Plus (https://plus.google.com/u/0/112509315609836358326), and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/AlbanyPoets) too.

COW (Chronogram Open Word) Featuring Donald Lev and Guy Reed

2011-08-19T10:11:00.001-04:00

The COW series continues on Saturday, September 3 at 7:00pm with two of the Hudson Valley’s finest poets, Donald Lev and Guy Reed. The series is hosted by veteran Kingston/Woodstock open mic/poetry reading host (and Chronogram Poetry Editor) Phillip Levine.

Here is the info from Mr. Levine:

COW (Chronogram Open Word)
Donald Lev and Guy Reed
Hosted By Poetry Editor Phillip X. Levine
Poetry/Prose/Performance

Spoken Word Series
First Saturday, Every Month

* Continues: Sat, Sept 3, 7pm *
w/Wide Open Microphone & Free Drink

COW (Chronogram Open Word): Poetry/Prose/Performance is hosted by Chronogram's poetry editor Phillip Levine, it runs on the first Saturday of every month at 7pm at the BEAhive (314 Wall St).

The series, produced by Chronogram and BEAHIVE, continues on Saturday, September 3rd, 7pm with Donald Lev & Guy Reed.
COW (Chronogram Open Word) — Featuring: Donald Lev and Guy Reed
Saturday, Sept 3, 7pm

Donald Lev was born in New York City in 1936. He attended Hunter College, worked in the wire rooms of the Daily News and New York Times, and then drove a taxi cab for 20 years (with a 6-year hiatus in which he ran messages for, and contributed poetry to, The Village Voice and operated the Home Planet Bookshop on the Lower East Side). His earliest poems appeared in print in 1958 and he started his first small press magazine, HYN Anthology, in 1969. Among his honors have been a Madeline Sadin Award from New York Quarterly in 1973 and a Life Time Achievement Award from the Catskill Reading Society/Outloudbooks in 2003. In 2008 Outloudbooks brought out his The Darkness Above: Selected Poems 1968-2002 a sampling from the first four decades of his writing. A chapbook, Only Wings: 20 Poems of Devotion was published in 2010 by Presa Press in Michigan, and a new collection, A Very Funny Fellow, will be brought out by NY Quarterly Books at a date still to be announced. His brief underground film-acting career pinnacled with his portrayal (he wrote his own lines) of "The Poet" in Robert Downey Sr.'s 1969 classic Putney Swope. He lives in High Falls, NY, where he spends most of his time publishing the literary tabloid Home Planet News, which he and his late wife Enid Dame founded in 1979.

Guy Reed, born and raised in Hopkins, Minnesota, is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles. He studied filmmaking in Minneapolis & St. Paul at Film In The Cities. He is the author of the forthcoming chapbook, The Effort To Hold Light, (Finishing Line Press). His poems have appeared in Home Planet News, and several anthologies including: Lifeblood (2011 Chickaree Press), The Goat Hill Poets (2010: Post Traumatic Press) and Riverine (2007: Codhill Press). He lives in the Catskill Mountains with his wife and their two children.

BEAHIVE - 314 Wall St, Kingston, NY
Info: Phillip Levine — (845)246-8565 / pprod@mindspring.com
$5 / free for BEAHIVE members

All shows are held at BEAHIVE in Uptown Kingston (314 Wall St.). Doors open at 7pm; start time is 7:30. Features perform for approximately 20 to 25 mins. each, with open mic before and after. Cover charge is $5; free for BEAHIVE members. Drink included.

Phillip X. Levine is a poet, editor and performer. He is poetry editor for Chronogram and president of the Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival (www.woodstockpoetry.com). From 2001-2008, he hosted a popular weekly reading series at The Colony Cafe, one of the most storied venues for poets and musicians in Woodstock, NY. This OPEN WORD series is an evolution of The Colony series.

Chronogram (www.chronogram.com) is a free monthly magazine that nourishes and supports the creative and cultural life of the Hudson Valley.

BEAHIVE www.beahivebzzz.com is a new kind of collaborative space for work and community. Its ultimate aim is to support a Local Living Economy, one that is locally rooted and human-scale. BEAHIVE opened in Beacon in May 2009 as the first such space in the Hudson Valley and partnered with Chronogram to open a second location in Uptown Kingston in December 2009.

Poetry This Week…

2011-08-01T10:51:00.001-04:00

There are a few great poetry events happening this week in the area, from Saratoga to Beacon. Here is a run down of what is going on.

Tuesday, August 2 – Albany Poets Presents at Valentines

Albany Poets Presents comes to Valentines on the first Tuesday of each month starting at 8:00PM.

Each month we present a No Gimmick Open Mic. Poets, musicians, comedians, spoken word artists are all invited to take the stage at Valentines.

Come over and join local poets and spoken word artists for an evening of conversation, cocktails, coffee, and, of course, poetry.

Sign up begins at 7:00PM, open mic starts at 8:00PM. There is a $3.00 suggested donation for this event. Albany Poets Presents takes place at Valentines Music Hall (17 New Scotland Ave.) on the first Tuesday of each and every month.

Wednesday, August 3 – Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic

The first Wednesday of every month Caffè Lena presents: Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic
7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start
Featured Poet: John Roche
$3
Hosted by Carol Graser
Info: www.caffelena.org or 583-0022

John Roche has published three poetry collections. His latest, Road Ghosts, is now available from theenk Books. He’s edited and co-edited a few anthologies including Doing Time to Cleanse My Mind, a collection of poetry by inmates at Auburn Prison. He’s an Assoiciate Professor of English at RIT and has studied with Robert Creeley and John C. Clarke. Roche’s previous poetry collections, Topicalities (2008) and On Conesus (2005) are available from Foothills Publishing.

Saturday, August 6 – 3rd Annual CAPS Poetry Marathon in Beacon

This is a 12-Hour “Calling All Poets” event featuring some of the finest poets and spoken word artists in the state at the Howland Cultural Center (477 Main Street, Beacon, NY). Featured poets include Kevin Kenny, Florence Lenhard, Adam Bradley, Tony Pena, Steve Hirsch, Justin Parinello, Christopher Gazeent, Addison Goodson, Frank Boyer, Janet Hamill & Lost Ceilings, Cheryl A. Rice, Samuel Claiborne, Walter Worden, Sharon Butler, Rebecca Schumejda, Tanya Tyler, Haigan Smith, Don Lev, Teresa Marta Costa, Roberta Gould, Dennis Bressack, Barbara Adams, Franklin Schneider, Jim Kenny , Mary Panza, Jill Crammond, Murrow, Don Levy, RM Englehardt, Raphael Kosek, Sonia Lynch, Lynn Hoins, Adrianna Delgado, Glenn Werner, Ken Holland, Marina Mati, Terence Chiesa, Christopher Wheeling, Jim Eve, and Robert Milby. And if that is not enough, there will also be open mic sessions throughout the day.

Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic Featuring RA Press

2011-07-05T10:10:00.001-04:00

Summertime in Saratoga! Poetry at Caffe Lena continues on Wednesday, July 6 as Carol Graser hosts the monthly open mic with featured poets from RA Press.

The first Wednesday of every month Caffè Lena presents:
Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic
Wednesday, July 6, 7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start
Featured Poets: RA Press Poets Charles Watts, Mary Anne Johnson, Chuck Gibson, and Mary L. Randal
Admisstion: $3
Hosted by Carol Graser

Our feature will be four poets representing RA Press out of Burlington, VT. They will be presenting work from the “Backpack Classics” series, a set of books aimed to enhance any hike in the Adirondacks. Featured readers will be Charles Watts, Mary Anne Johnson, Chuck Gibson, and Mary L. Randall. These writers, all widely published, are featured in the anthology Karma in the High Peaks, RA Press’s newest publication. Karma in the High Peaks won the Peoples Choice award as best publication of 2010 at the Adirondack Literary Awards.

Mary Anne Johnson (author Wandering Through White Church and contributor to Karma in the High Peaks) grew up in Saranac Lake, a small town deep in the Adirondacks. She lived in Syracuse, St. Louis, and Dillingham, a tiny Alaskan fishing village, before she returned to her mountains. She settled down in Crown Point on the shores of Lake Champlain where she has lived in the same house for over forty years, never bothered by boredom. For most of those years she poured her creative juices into high-school classes in Moriah, part of the Adirondack community she writes about. Upon retirement, she realized that creative juices just don't stop, and here she is!

Mary Randall is the author of three novels: Nancy Never Married, Split Infinities, and Brio. Her short fiction and prose are collected in The Ghost of Starbuckville Dam and Not a Night for Dreaming. Her work appears in many anthologies, including: Christmas in Port Davis, Between Iraq and a Hard Place, Lyrics from a Dark wood, Cold Earth Wanderers, and Karma in the High Peaks.

Early in his career, Charles Watts had an underground play (“Visigoths”) produced in Los Angeles, which led to script writing contracts for several TV series, including Kojack and Here Come the Brides. He soon fled Hollywood, got an MFA in poetry, and went to Iran to teach literature at several Universities. For five years, he edited Seizure, a magazine of poetry and fiction. Do not worry about his sanity; he has done many other things. Recent publications include three stories and twelve poems in lit journals, and ten poems in “Karma in the High Peaks,” an anthology from Ra Press

Chuck Gibson was written three books of poetry, two with Ra Press, and is known for poems that capture the spirit and soul of Adirondack ponds, storms, waterfalls, and other natural wonders. For over ten years he served as Director of Literacy Volunteers of Essex/Franklin Counties, based in Port Henry. He and his wife Ann are in the midst of preparing to move to Oregon in August.

Upstate Poetry News and Events

2011-06-07T10:29:00.001-04:00

We have had a lot of news and information on events coming in to Albany Poets headquarters in the past couple of days. Here is what you may have missed.

Poetry Recital at The Bohemian Book Bin, Thursday, June 9

On Thursday June 9th 7:00 PM with featured poets Aleathia Drehmer & Michael Heinrich

Plus the Open Reading - Plus the refreshments - Plus Great people , magical feelings

Fantastical Book Store

Poetry Readings are the Second Thursday of every Month. Everyone is invited

Pass this on..Tell the world....

Bohemian Book Bin, 85 Carle Terrace, Lake Katrine, NY, (845) 336.6450
just off Rte 9W. In back of Hanson's Cavier almost across rte 9W from Big Bubbles Laundromat

New Open Mic Series in the North Country

Get ready for the Adirondack Center for Writing’s OPEN MIC series! Starting in June, we’ll sponsor a monthly open mic session in collaboration with several venues around the park. The series pairs inspiring readings from a featured author or poet, as well as an open forum to share your own writing.

The Willows Bistro in Warrensburg, NY hosts Open Mic Night on the second Thursday of every month. ACW will co-sponsor those events at the Willows every June, September, December, and March. For our first collaboration, June 9th, the featured author will be Paul Pines, (author of "Last Call at the Tin Palace" and "My Brother's Madness”), Bibi Wein (“The Way Home”) in September, and in December, Mary Sanders Shartle ("Winterberry Pine: Three Poets on Adirondack Winter"). Please visit http://www.persisgranger.com/FAFatWillowsBistro.htm for more information. The Northwoods Inn at Lake Placid will hold readings on the second Thursday in July with reader Maggie Bartley, October withCharles Watt, and next January and April with readers TBA. The Old Forge Library will host on the second Wednesday in August with reader Paula Roy, and in November, February and May.

All events are free and open to the public, and we’d love to hear you present your work. If you’re interested in sharing, please send us an email (info@adirondackcenterforwriting.org) with the subject line “OPEN MIC” followed by the venue and date you’re interested in sharing. For example “OPEN MIC, Northwoods Inn, July 14^th.” And come out and support your local literary scene.

Delmar Writers Presenting an Afternoon of Poetry and Prose

The Delmar Writers will be presenting an afternoon of poetry and prose on Saturday, June 11, 2011 from 2:00-4:00 at the Bethlehem Library. I know Saturdays in summer tend to be very, very busy, which is why I've put in my order for a cold, blustery day with rain and eventually hail, preventing everyone from working in the garden or traveling out of town.

So come - sit and relax - enjoy a mix of poetry, fiction, personal essay and memoir. See you there!

Journeys to Strange Places, Wednesday, June 15 at The Arts Center

Literary reading from two acclaimed New York writers on Wednesday, June 15 at 7PM at The Arts Center of the Capital Region, 265 River Street Troy, NY 12180

During an evening titled “Journeys to Strange Places” Eugene K Garber will read from his new novel “O Amazonas Escuro” and Wesley Brown will read a new short story titled “Women From Mars.” The two readings focus on the journeys we make throughout our lives. Journeys to Strange Places is curated by Lucia Nevai who is novelist and short story writer.

Free admission.

For more information, please see: http://www.artscenteronline.org/journeys-to-strange-places-reading/

Cheryl Rice to be the Featured Poet at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation

On Saturday, June 18th, along with fellow poet Frank Murphy, I'll be one of the featured poets at the monthly reading sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills in Kingston. The reading begins at 7 p.m., and refreshments will be served.

In an unusual twist, admission is a flat $5 for non-readers, and $2.50 for those who sign up for the open mic before and after the features! At last, it pays to be a poet!

The Unitarian, for short, is located at 33 Sawkill Road, just off Washington Avenue and the NYS Thruway Exit 19 roundabout, in Kingston. I hope some or all of you can make it!

Sunday Four Poetry Open Mic with Featured Poet Dale Hobson, June 26

Come out June 26th for the last session of our third season to hear Potsdam’s Dale Hobson read from his latest book A Drop of Ink and other fine poems from his obras. Will be a treat, we can assure you!

If later, you feel compelled, join the regulars at the POETS’ CORNER at Smith’s Tavern, where there is always scintillalting discussions about nothing. Hard to do but sometimes a pint helps!

And be sure to take a broadside from the rack featuring the POET OF THE MONTH.

SUNDAY FOUR OPEN POETRY MIC on Sunday, JUNE 26th, 2011 at Old Songs Community Arts Center, 37 S. Main Street, Voorheesville at 3 pm with feature DALE HOBSON reading from A DROP OF INK. For more information contact dsullivan6@nycap.rr.com or 469-0202. Hosted by Dennis Sullivan, Mike Burke, and Edie Adams.

Summer Writers Workshop in Woodstock

The summer session of the Woodstock Writers Workshops will start on July 12. You’re cordially invited—or you can pass on this information to others.

There will be only four sessions of the workshop in the summertime, since we’re sandwiched between two major holidays. The meetings this summer will take place on July 12, July 26, August 9 and August 23. Tuesdays as usual, 6:30 to 8:30.

All four sessions cost $60. You can mail checks to Iris at 21 Cedar Way, Woodstock, NY 12498. There is an air conditioner, so hot spells are no problem. Sumnmerbirds are welcome.

Iris is looking forward to hearing from you, by email (irislitt@aol.com), telephone (845-679-8256) or snailmail. Warm regards to you all.

Women Writers and Artists Matrix Reading in Saratoga

2011-06-07T09:48:00.001-04:00

Our good friend Kelly de la Rocha sent us the following announcement regarding a special reading coming up on this Sunday in Saratoga featuring poets from the Women Writers and Artists Matrix.

The Women Writers and Artists Matrix will present a poetry reading entitled A Feast of Words: Readings about Food and Other Delicious Subjects, from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, June 12, at the Beekman Street Artists' Co-Op, 79 Beekman Street, Saratoga Springs.

Featured poets include: Marilyn Zembo Day, Leslie Neustadt, Kelly de la Rocha, Dorothy Randall Gray, Sandra Balint, Diana Domingo, Kittie Bintz, Lesley Tabor, and Judith Prest

The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held in conjunction with the Saratoga Arts Fest. Refreshments will be served.

Among the readers are several women who participated in a WomanWords workshop entitled “A Dinner Party of Our Own,” based on the historic feminist installation by Judy Chicago, “The Dinner Party,” which is now on permanent exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Some of the place settings created at the WW event, honoring women of achievement, will be on display during the readings.

Marilyn Zembo Day, founder and facilitator of the WomanWords collective, has had poetry, fiction and nonfiction published in journals, magazines and newspapers. One of her major passions is organizing venues in which women’s creativity can thrive, their voices be heard. Marilyn is a collage/mixed media artist who is forever wishing she had more time and space for visual art. wmnwords@nycap.rr.com.

Leslie Neustadt, a retired attorney, began writing creatively with WomanWords. She is a member of the International Women’s Writers Guild and the Hudson Valley Writers Guild. Her poetry and essays have been published in many journals, magazines and anthologies. Several of her essays have aired on local public radio. Leslie pursues a wide variety of expressive arts.

Kelly de la Rocha started playing with words at the age of six months and hasn’t stopped since. A freelance writer and editor, a poet, a mom and a missionary, she draws inspiration from her mission work, family, nature and her inner child. She is currently working on a book on short-term volunteering opportunities. Join in her adventures by “liking” her Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/TimeShareVolunteers.

Dorothy Randall Gray is the best-selling author of Soul Between the Lines: Freeing Your Creative Spirit Through Writing(Avon/HarperCollins), as well as six other books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction. Her writings have been published in numerous anthologies and periodicals, and performed in theatrical productions. Dorothy is an acclaimed writing teacher and coach, former NYU faculty member and founder of the Heartland Institute for Transformation. She will be reading from her new book of poetry, "Too Shy Black Girl.” DRGheartland@aol.com

Sandra Balint is a member of the International Women’s Guild and the Women Writers and Artists Matrix. She is a past recipient of the Womens Studies Writing Award from the College of Saint Rose. Through the Moon Gate: Reflections of a Martial Artist, published in 2011, is her first book of poetry.

Diana Domingo is a writer, singer, composer and performer. She began writing poetry and fictional accounts of her life in her teens when many of her friends would copy her stories to give to their boyfriends, passing them off as their own. Her college thesis covered projecting and integrating one’s flaws and ugliness through creative expression. Diana keeps busy with her work as a voice coach.

Kittie Bintz‘s passions include both art and writing. She has taught art for over 30 years, and her own artwork has been exhibited at the Perella Gallery and at many FOVAPA (Friends of the Visual and Performing Arts) festivals in the Mohawk Valley. Kittie has been writing and creating art with the women of WomanWords for over five years.

Lesley Tabor is a writer, retired therapist, healthcare administrator, and an ongoing seeker of personal and cultural healing. She has published poems and essays in several anthologies, and self-published two poetry chapbooks. She journals for growth and healing, writes poetry for connection, and has written three novels (“Like squeezing toothpaste from a tube, hah!” she quips.)

Albany Poets at Art On Lark

2011-05-18T11:56:00.001-04:00

Albany Poets will be bringing poetry and spoken word to Art on Lark on Saturday, June 11. We will be at the Washington Stage at 12:30pm with some of the finest poets in the upstate New York area.

Last year poets Jill Crammond Wickham, Ed Rinaldi, Rebecca Schumejda, and Mojavi shared their work with a very enthusiastic audience and this year will be no different. Albany Poets will be announcing the poets who will be performing in the coming days, so stay tuned.

Art on Lark is one of the best arts festivals in the country with its mix of visual art and performance. Musicians (and friends of Albany Poets) Bryan Thomas and Olivia Quillio will be on stage along with local favorites Erin Harkes, Alta Mira, The Red Lions, and more.

Here is the info from the Lark Street BID:

The Lark Street Business Improvement District is proud to present the 15th Annual Art on Lark 2011 on Saturday, June 11th from 10 am to 5 pm. Art on Lark is Albany’s Premier Arts Festival drawing over 25,000 attendees in 2009 and named “Best Arts Event” in the Times Union Readers Poll in 2009 and 2010. It is the 2nd largest street festival in upstate New York, second only to LarkFEST! This event will host hundreds of artists, musicians, dance and theatre performances, one-day installations, and many more special events that will showcase Lark Street as Albany's Arts District.

We are proud to partner with WEXT 97.7 FM for the 2nd year at Art on Lark 2011!

EVENT LINE UP

Madison Stage
11:00am - Spaceland
12:00pm - Bryan Thomas
1:00pm - Olivia Quillio
2:00pm - Alta Mira
3:10pm - The Red Lions
4:15pm - Erin Harkes

Washington Stage
11:30am - Jake Cohen
12:30pm - Albany Poets
1:30 pm - NeedleGun
2:30 pm - Mike Poupolopous
3:45 pm - Disposable Rocket Band

Come out and support local arts!

Birthday Celebration for Walt Whitman

2011-05-16T12:43:00.001-04:00

Each year Dan Wilcox brings the local community together to celebrate the birthday of one of America’s greats poets, Walt Whitman. In previous years many familiar faces from the area poetry open mics including D. Alexander Holiday, Alan Casline, Joe Krausman, Lorre Smith, Sylvia Barnard, David Stasenko, Cheryl A. Rice, Tess Lecuyer, Sally Rhoades, Dain Brammage, Avery Stempel, JJ Johnson, Matt Galletta, Mary Panza, Jason Crane, Carolee Sherwood, Anthony Bernini, Bob Sharkey, Jill Wickham, and Sue Cerniglia have gotten up top the mic to read Whitman’s iconic poem, “Song of Myself” at the foot of the Robert Burns Statue.

This year, the event will take place on Tuesday, May 31 (Uncle Walt’s birthday) starting at 6:00pm. This is a “Rain or Shine” event, so watch the weather and bring the appropriate gear.

6th Annual Hudson Valley Literary Festival, May 21, 2011

2011-05-16T12:02:00.001-04:00

The Council of Literary Magazine and Presses has its big annual festival coming up on the May 21. Here is all of the information on what looks like a great day of poetry and small presses.

6th Annual Hudson Valley Literary Festival On May 21st Hudson is ALL LIT UP!

all events free and open to the public

The 6th Annual Hudson Valley Literary Festival: All LIT Up is back after a one-year hiatus. The daylong festival, produced by The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, with The Hudson Opera House and Hudson Wine Merchants, celebrates literature and literary publishing. From 11 AM – 4 PM a Literary Magazine & Small Press Book Fair will take place at the Hudson Opera House (327 Warren Street). Hundreds of books and magazines published by regional and national independent literary publishers will be on sale for only $2 an issue and $4 a book, with many publishers there to meet & greet! Shoppers can discover hundreds of literary publications they would never see in a single store and take advantage of the bargain prices.

At 5 PM a reading & reception at Hudson Wine Merchants (3411/2 Warren Street) will feature Rebecca Wolff, Jonathan Dixon, and Monica Youn. Rebecca Wolff is the author of three books of poems (Manderley, Figment, The King) and a forthcoming novel called The Beginners. Jonathan Dixon is the author of Beaten, Seared, and Sauced, a memoir of his recent education at the Culinary Institute of America. Monica Youn’s second poetry collection Ignatz, was a 2010 finalist for the National Book Award. A wine and cheese reception will follow the readings.

This festival is brought to you by CLMP, the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses (www.clmp.org), serving the community of independent literary publishers since 1967. These events are made possible in part through support from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

Third Thursday Poetry Night Featuring Mary Eliza Crane

2011-05-16T12:01:00.001-04:00

On Thursday, May 19 at the Social Justice Center on Central Ave, poet Mary Eliza Crane will be the feature at the monthly Third Thursday Poetry Night. Mary has been on a tour of the area, recently featuring at Caffe Lena in the beginning of the month. Host Dan Wilcox has sent more information on this great poetry open mic series.

the Poetry Motel Foundation presents

Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center (33 Central Ave., Albany, NY)

May 19, 2011, 7:00 sign up; 7:30 start

Featured Poet: Mary Eliza Crane

Mary Eliza Crane grew up in New England, lived & worked in Schenectady, & now makes her home in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains in Washington. Her most recent book of poems is At First Light (Gazoobi Tales, 2011).

-- with an open mic for community poets before & after the feature: $3.00 donation, suggested; more if you got it, less if you can’t.

Your May-Day host: Dan Wilcox.

UGT Presents The 15th Annual Heart Break Hotel

2011-05-13T14:57:00.001-04:00

On Friday night, May 20, Urban Guerilla Theatre will be celebrating 15 years of Heart Break Hotel at The Linda. This time around Mojavi has some of the finest talent in the area lined up. And, as a added bonus, they will be celebrating Mojavi’s birthday. Here is more info about the show.

Our ANNUAL HEARTBREAK HOTEL.....

This one is the biggest one to date.. come and listen to the why and the how, past loves and who you with now. who broke your heart?

when did the cheating start?

we used to be so tight and we grew apart.....

You been here for a minute and you have read the signs, pack your things and gather your self up..it is CHECK OUT TIME!

FEATURING THE POETRY of: POETYC VYZYONZ, NICKEY BLACK, ILLIPTICAL, Q-DIAMOND, MISS BLISS, JESSICA LAYTON, DREW PAYNE, BROOKLYN BUTTAFLY SHAY. TIKKA,BLESS, Ms. ASHLEY KIMBLE, ALLYSON COBBINS and The INCREDIBLE OLIVIA QUILLIO, COMEDY by STEVE SARSFIELD, SOUNDSCAPE BY THE CHRONICLES........

FOOD by MAMA's CAFE

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION FOR MOJAVI from 8-9pm then THE SHOW BEGINS 9 SHARP.

A.P.D. Announces the Publication of “Poeming the Prompt” by Dan Wilcox

2011-05-12T11:08:00.000-04:00

Our good friend Dan Wilcox has a new book coming out from A.P.D. (not the Albany Police Department). The book is only $5.00 (add another dollar for postage) and is available from Dan himself.

Support local poets and poetry!

A.P.D. (another poeming day) announces the publication of the new chapbook of poetry by Dan Wilcox, Poeming the Prompt. The 16-page collection contains poems mostly written in November, 2010 in response to prompts for a poem-a-day project sponsored by Writers Digest magazine. While some of the poems confront writing-from-prompts head on, others deal with Wilcox’s usual topics: sex, death & politics. Also included is the whimsical “Top Tips for Anxiety-Free Writing from Prompts.”

A.P.D. (always poem daily), under the direction of Albany poet and photographer Dan Wilcox, has been publishing the works of local and regional poets since 1989. Among the works published by A.P.D. are To the Husband I Have Not Yet Met, by Mary Kathryn Jablonski, Distant Kinships by Anthony Bernini, Suddenly Sapphires by Dina Pearlman, and Three Sides to the Looking Glass by Rachel Zitomer. You can read Wilcox’s Blog on the Albany poetry scene at dwlcx.blogspot.com.

Copies of Poeming the Prompt by Dan Wilcox can be purchased directly from the poet when you see him at poetry readings or out & about for $5.00, or by mail for $6.00 (checks may be made payable to “A.P.D.”) from A.P.D. (another pleasant day), 280 South Main Ave., Albany, NY 12208. For a complete list of publications available from A.P.D. (alternating poetic device) write to the above address or email apdbooks@earthlink.net.

Mary Eliza Crane to Feature at Caffe Lena Open Mic

2011-05-03T10:59:00.001-04:00

This coming Wednesday, poet Mary Eliza Crane will be the featured poet at the Caffe Lena Open Mic in historic Saratoga Springs. Host Carol Graser sent along the following information on the event:

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic featuring Mary Eliza Crane

The first Wednesday of every month Caffè Lena presents:
Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic
Wednesday, May 4
7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start
Featured Poet: Mary Eliza Crane
$3
Hosted by Carol Graser
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs, 583-0022

Mary Eliza Crane grew up in New England and began writing poetry at age fourteen to reconcile the incongruencies of life. Poetry remains the one constant to which Mary always returns. In the Adirondacks she fell madly, passionately and desirously in love with the natural world. A transplant to the Cascade foothills of the Pacific Northwest, her voice lives in the understory and fog of the Snoqualmie River. A fusion of this one true love and a deep understanding of what makes us human, she writes simultaneously of the personal, political and natural world. A regular feature at poetry venues in the Puget Sound region, her first volume of poetry "What I Can Hold In My Hands" was published in 2009 by Gazoobi Tales Publishing. "At First Light" also by Gazoobi was just released in early 2011.

Reading at Half Moon Books

2011-05-03T10:54:00.001-04:00

Our great friend Rebecca Schumejda is hosting a reading this Saturday at Half Moon Books on Saturday, May 7 in Kingston. The bookstore is a wonderful venue for poetry. Get there early to get a seat.

Four Awesome Poets: Jason Crane, Jill Crammond, Carolee Sherwood, and Christopher Wheeling Read

Jason Crane was born in Lenox, Massachusetts and lives in New York City. He’s a broadcaster, podcaster and writer. He’s a father. And he rides a bicycle. Jason hosts the online jazz interview show The Jazz Session (thejazzsession.com), featuring in-depth interviews with jazz musicians from around the world. The Jazz Session has seen more than one million downloads since its inception. Jason’s first collection of poems, Unexpected Sunlight (FootHills Publishing, 2010), is now available. His work has been published in Blue Collar Review, qarrtsiluni , Meat For Tea, State of Emergency: Chicago Poets Address The Gulf Crisis, and Poets For Living Waters.

Jill Crammond is a poet/artist/mother, funding her poetry passion by teaching children’s art and poetry classes. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Fire On Her Tongue: An eBook Anthology of Contemporary Women's Poetry, Classifieds: An Anthology of Prose Poems, Crab Creek Review, Boxcar Poetry Review, Weave, qarrtsiluni and others. She is a contributor to Poets’ Quarterly and co-founder of the online poetry community Big Tent Poetry. She occasionally blogs about life as a (newly single) mom-poet at jillypoet.wordpress.com

Carolee Sherwood is a painter, mixed-media artist and poet. Her poetry has been published in a number of print and online journals, most recently appearing in Referential, Goblin Fruit, Scythe and Wicked Alice. She co-manages the online poetry project “Big Tent Poetry,” volunteers with the Hudson Valley Writers Guild and gets paid to play on Facebook all day.

Christopher Wheeling has been writing and performing his poetry in the Hudson Valley since late 2001. His style varies widely across the body of his work, occasionally using a traditional form but more often using free verse and surrealism as his preferred techniques. In May of 2004, he graduated from SUNY New Paltz with a bachelor’s degree in English literature. He has worked a variety of odd jobs in his life, but the written art is the only occupation that has lasted with any significant time in his time here on Earth. He owes much of his style and passion to the poets of the Hudson Valley, and cannot thank them enough for their influence over the years.

Half Moon Poetry Reading
May 7, 2011 at 6:30pm
35 North Front Street, Kingston NY 12401
(845) 331-5439

The 2011 Albany Word Fest, This Saturday at The Linda

2011-04-11T10:55:00.001-04:00

This is the week we have all been waiting for all year. The 2011 Albany Word Fest is taking place this coming Saturday at The Linda. The 12-Hour Open Mic has a couple of open spots left and the nighttime show is packed with the best poets and musicians Albany has to offer.

Some of the names that are already signed up for our biggest Word Fest Open Mic to date are a “who’s who” of regional poetry icons. These are the poets that have kept numerous open mic, poetry readings, and events like the Word Fest happening for all these years and without their support of the art, this very scene and community that we love so much would not exist as it does. Poets like Dan Wilcox, Therese L. Broderick, Karin Maag-Tanchak, Joe Krausman, A.C. Everson, Ronald D. Whiteurs, Bob Sharkey, Alan Catlin, Donald Lev, Ken Salzmann, Joan Pavlinsky, Don Levy, Judith Prest, Carol Graser, Jan Tramontano, Carolee Sherwood, Tess Lecuyer, Cheryl A. Rice, Mojavi, Shannon Shoemaker, Bless, Jacqueline Ahl, and Mike Jurkovic are what the local poetry community is all about and it is because of all of their continuous hard work that we say thank you.

If any poets still wish to signup, go to www.albanywordfest.com and click on “Signup”. There are only a few morning spots left.

The nighttime show, the Pycho Cluster F#*k ‘11, is again a great combination of music and spoken word with the talents of David Fey, Olivia Quillio, Avery, Daniel Nester, Poetyc Vyzyonz, Mother Judge’s Open Mic Showcase, Metroland’s Best Poets of 2011: Mary Panza, R.M. Engelhardt, and KC Orcutt. All of these performers are long-time supporters of not just poetry and spoken word, but all of the arts in the Capital Region.

Tickets for the entire day starting at 7:00AM are only $10 and are available online and at the door.

This is by far our biggest Word Fest yet, from the venue to the talent. We are celebrating 10 years of the Albany Word Fest and we could not have gotten here without the wonderful support of everyone in the poetry and arts community.

Below is the press release that we have been sending out regarding the event. We hope to see everyone out there for this celebration of the poetry, music, and spoken word of upstate New York.

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Albany Poets is proud to present the 2011 Albany Word Fest featuring the poetry, spoken word, and music of upstate New York. This year’s event will take place on Saturday, April 16, 2011 at The Linda (339 Central Ave., Albany).

This year's event is the 10th anniversary of the Albany Word Fest and with that in mind, Albany Poets is promising big things.

Thom Francis, Albany Poets President, says, "When we started this event ten years ago on a Saturday afternoon in Thatcher Park, we never thought it would become one of the biggest 'mark-your-calendar' events of each and every year. We are very proud of how we have been able to continue hosting one of the biggest poetry open mics in upstate New York for ten years."

The 2011 Albany Word Fest will kick-off with the 12-Hour Open Mic at 7:00AM at The Linda. Albany Poets Vice President Mary Panza says, “After the success of the last two 12-hour open mics, we have decided to do it again, but this time, during the day. This will give poets a better opportunity to share their work and also give the audience more time to appreciate the talent in the poetry and spoken word community.” This open mic for poetry and spoken word will be held from 7:00AM – 7:00PM.

Poets who wish to participate in the open mic can sign up online by going to the Albany Word Fest website, www.albanywordfest.com until 5:00pm on Friday, April 15. Performers will also have a limited opportunity to sign up at the event itself. Each poet will have 10 -15 minutes to share their work. The open mic is open to all poets and spoken word artists with no style or content restrictions.

After the Open Mic, starting at 7:00PM, the 2011 Albany Word Fest brings the annual Psycho Cluster F*#k to the The Linda featuring poetry, music and spoken word from upstate New York artists David Fey, Olivia Quillio, Avery, Daniel Nester, Poetyc Vyzyonz, Mother Judge’s Open Mic Showcase, Metroland’s Best Poets of 2011: Mary Panza, R.M. Engelhardt, and KC Orcutt, and much more.

Admission for this event is $10.00. Tickets will be available for purchase on The Linda's website and at the door on the day of the event. This event is open to all ages ( 21+ with a picture ID required to drink).

The 2011 Albany Word Fest is sponsored by Albany Poets, McGeary's, The Linda, and the very generous donations of supporters of the arts in upstate New York.

Poetry This Week: Albany Poets Presents At Valentines, Caffe Lena Open Mic Featuring David Kaczynski, and More

2011-04-04T14:09:00.001-04:00

National Poetry Month is starting off strong with another busy week of poetry and spoken word here in the area leading up to the Word Fest on April 16th.

Tomorrow night at Valentines (17 New Scotland Ave., Albany) Albany Poets Presents returns for another open mic night. This is one of the longest-running open mics for poetry and spoken word in the Albany area. Come out and join Thom and Keith for a couple of drinks, some conversation, and a little bit of poetry. We will also have the signup sheet for the 2011 Word Fest Open Mic with us for everyone who has not yet signed up online.

Wednesday night is the first Wednesday of the month, which means only one thing…The Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic! This is truly one of the greatest poetry open mics in the area held in one of this countries most historic venues. This month host Carol Graser will have David Kaczynski as the featured poet. Here is the information from Carol:

the first Wednesday of every month Caffè Lena presents:

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic
Wednesday, April 6
7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start
Featured Poet: David Kaczynski
$3
Hosted by Carol Graser
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs
www.caffelena.org 583-0022

David Kaczynski has published poetry, short fiction, opinion pieces, and a personal narrative on growing up with his brother Ted Kaczynski, the so-called "Unabomber." Since 2001, he has worked as executive director of New Yorkers for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Prior to that, he was assistant director of Equinox Youth Shelter in Albany. In 2010, David published a 36-poem chapbook, "A Dream Named You," which he describes as an attempt to trace a spiritual journey from loss to affirmation. The 36 poems reflect various themes: the desert landscape in West Texas where David lived during the 1980's; his memories of his troubled brother, Ted; his love for Linda Patrik, whom he met in the 7th grade; and his understanding of art as a transformative process.

For the rest of the poetry events going on this week be sure to check out the Events Calendar.

Frequency North Featuring Eboni Hogan and Jeanann Verlee

2011-03-22T10:40:00.001-04:00

The final Frequency North reading of the 2010-2011 season will be taking place at The College of Saint Rose on Thursday, March 31 at 7:30pm featuring two champion slam poets. Here is the information from series host and creator Dan Nester.

Frequency North: The Visiting Writers Reading Series at The College of Saint Rose finishes out its 2010-2011 season with two champion slam/performance poets on Thursday, March 31, 7:30pm with Eboni Hogan + Jeanann Verlee

Location: Standish Rooms, second floor of the Events and Activities Center, Standish Rooms, which are on the second floor of the Events and Activities Center, 420 Western Avenue, Albany, NY.

A 24-year-old poet, actress and Bronx native, Eboni Hogan has performed in over 30 U.S. cities and facilitated workshops from refugee camps to prestigious universities. She is the reigning Women of the World Slam Champion, the 2008 Urbana Grand Slam Champion and a two-time representative of the Nuyorican Slam Team. She studied theater at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and in 2006 took part in a five-month artist residency as a part of NYU's Hip Hop Theater Initiative in Ghana, West Africa. Her work is published in two anthologies and her first book, Grits.

Jeanann Verlee is a former punk rocker who collects tattoos and winks at boys. She is author of Racing Hummingbirds, recipient of the Independent Publisher Book Award Silver Medal in Poetry. Other publication credits include, The New York Quarterly, FRiGG, PANK, and Not A Muse. She curates the Urbana Poetry Slam Series at Bowery Poetry Club in New York City, has represented NYC six times at National Poetry Slam competitions, and has toured the U.S. performing and conducting workshops. She shares an apartment with her dog and a pair of origami lovebirds. She believes in you.

The events this season are funded in part by Poets & Writers, Inc. with public funds from New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

If There Were Two Poetry Events On Central Ave. At The Same Time…

2011-03-17T14:57:00.001-04:00

On Friday, March 25, Central Ave in Albany will be the epicenter of poetry and spoken word as two events will be going on at the same time. In fact, the two readings will be happening on the same block.

Starting first, at 7:30pm, will be the next installment in the Yes! Reading Series at the Social Justice Center (33 Central Ave., Albany). This time around the featured poets will be Anne Gorrick, Maryrose Larkin, and Lynn Behrendt. Here is a little info on the three poets:

Anne Gorrick is the author of I-Formation (Book One) (Shearsman Books, 2010), the forthcoming I-Formation (Book Two), and Kyotologic (Shearsman Books, 2008). She also collaborated with artist Cynthia Winika to produce a limited edition artists’ book, “Swans, the ice,” she said, funded with grants from the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, NY and the New York Foundation for the Arts. She curates the reading series Cadmium Text, featuring innovative writing from in and around New York’s Hudson Valley. She also co-edits the electronic poetry journal Peep/Show with poet Lynn Behrendt. Anne Gorrick lives in West Park, New York.

Maryrose Larkin lives in Portland, Ore. where she works as a donor researcher. She is the author of Inverse (nine muses books, 2006), Whimsy Daybook 2007 (FLASH+CARD, 2006), The Book of Ocean (i.e. press, 2007), DARC (FLASH+CARD, 2009), The Name of this Intersection is Frost (Shearsman Books, 2010), and Marrowing (Airfoil, 2011). Maryrose is one of the organizers of Spare Room, a Portland-based writing collective, and is co-editor, with Sarah Mangold, of FLASH+CARD, a chapbook and ephemera poetry press. She is currently working on "Twenty Questions for Five Masters" a play for Language Master and voice.

Lynn Behrendt is the author of several chapbooks, most recently Acquiescence and This is the Story of Things That Happened, both as part of the Dusie Kollektiv 5. A full length collection, petals, emblems, is available through Lunar Chandelier press. She co-edits the Annandale Dream Gazette, an online chronicle of poets' dreams, as well as Peep/Show, an electronic journal of innovative contemporary poetry.

Then, starting at 8:00pm, right down the block at The Fuze Box (12 Central Ave., Albany) host R.M. Engelhardt will be returning with the “GhOsT In tHe MaChINE” open forum, open mic. This month, along with the open mic for poets, musicians, and artists, Engelhardt will be holding a book drive for a good cause. The cause has yet to be announced. Here is the info about the event:

GhOsT In tHe MaChINE

Musicians*Poets*Artists & Performers Of All Genres Welcome!
ALBANY' NY's Open Forum, Open Mic For Poets, Musicians & Artists Continues!

Join Us At The FuzeBox On The Last FRIDAY of Each Month!
Our next "Ghost In The Machine" Will Be Held on Friday,
MARCH 25TH At 8pm.

WHERE?
The FuzeBox aka
The Old Qe2, 12 Central Avenue, Albany.

WHEN?
8pm To 10pm.

WHAT?
Something New & Interesting Which Is All About The Music,
The Art & The Words. And YOU!
_________________

* Not to mention this month we are HAVING A BOOK DRIVE! Bring In Your Old Books
To Be Donated To & For A Good Cause! More Details TBA!*

HOSTED BY: R.M. Engelhardt
____________________

See You There Albany!

The choice is yours. If the timing works out right, you may be able to be a part of both of these events.

2011 Albany Word Fest 12-Hour Open Mic Signup NoW Online

2011-03-15T15:10:00.001-04:00

The online signup for the 2011 Albany Word Fest is now online and ready for all poets and spoken word artists to take their place.

The 12-Hour Word Fest Open Mic will be taking place on Saturday, April 16 starting at 7:00am at The Linda (339 Central Ave., Albany).

For more information on the all-day annual celebration of poetry, music, spoken word and sign up for the open mic, go to www.albanywordfest.com.

The online signup will be available until Friday, April 15.

Woodstock Writers Fest, April 8-10, 2011

2011-03-07T17:08:00.003-05:00

To find out all about the Woodstock Writers Fest, which includes two poetry panels, see this site:

http://woodstockwriters.com/schedule11.html

Tony Puma to Read at Poetry on the Loose

2011-03-01T09:59:00.001-05:00

This coming Saturday, March 5 Tony Puma will be the featured poet at the Poetry On The Loose reading series in Warwick. Here is all of the information on the reading from the host William Seaton.

Tony Puma will read his work at the next program in the Poetry on the Loose Reading/Performance Series. The event will be held in the rear room behind the Utopian Directions bookstore at 7 West Street in Warwick at 4:00 p.m. on March 5. Following the feature, others are welcome to read original work. Admission is free.

According to Puma, his professional work in marketing, advertising, and public relations taught him to write in a style that is “less abstract and more to-the-point” than some contemporary authors. Puma says he seeks to present “a view of life through the prism of poetry; seeing, hearing, and feeling, trying to capture emotions and relate them via words.”

Educated at New York University and Fairleigh Dickinson University, he has participated in a number of literary groups including the Italian-American Writers Association, Red Wheelbarrow Poets, Paulinskill Poetry Project, Poets House (NYC), and the South Mountain Poets. He has been a frequent contributor to open readings at Poetry on the Loose.
The next Poetry on the Loose reading will feature Paul Clemente on April 2.

For further information, contact: William Seaton/ Poetry on the Loose, Inc. at seaton@frontiernet.net or (845) 294-8085.

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic featuring Elaine Handley

2011-02-28T09:34:00.001-05:00

A very busy week of poetry this week in the Capital Region. We have Poets Speak Loud tonight at McGeary’s, Albany Poets Presents tomorrow night at Valentines, and on Wednesday on of the best and longest running open mics in the area returns with featured poet Elaine Handley.

Here is the information from host Carol Graser:

The first Wednesday of every month Caffè Lena presents:

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic
Wednesday, March 2
7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start
Featured Poet: Elaine Handley
$3
Hosted by Carol Graser
Caffe Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs, 518-583-0022

Elaine Handley is Professor of Writing and Literature at SUNY Empire State College. She has published poetry and fiction in a variety of magazines and anthologies, and has won the Adirondack Center for Writing Best Book of Poetry Award, with writing partners Marilyn McCabe and Mary Sanders Shartle, in 2005 and 2006; they have recently released Winterberry, Pine: Three Poets on Adirondack Winters. Their new book of poetry, Tear of the Clouds, will be released by Ra Press this spring.

Handley's most recent chapbook of poetry is Letters to My Migraine and she is completing a novel, Deep River, about the Underground Railroad in Upstate New York.

Aaron Belz and Melissa Broder come to Frequency North on Thursday, February 24

2011-02-22T12:02:00.001-05:00

Daniel Nester will be hosting the next edition of the Frequency North reading series this coming Thursday at The College of Saint Rose with poets Aaron Belz and Melissa Broder. Below is more information from Nester himself about the event:

“FREQUENCY NORTH” WRITERS SERIES DISHES UP EVENING OF FUNNY WITH POETS AARON BELZ AND MELISSA BRODER

The 2010-11 season of “Frequency North,” the visiting writers reading series at The College of Saint Rose, offers up an evening of humorous poetry with two extremely funny poets: Aaron Belz and Melissa Broder.

Belz and Broder will read Thursday, February 24, at 7:30 p.m. in the Standish Rooms, Saint Rose Events and Athletics Center (2nd floor), 420 Western Ave., Albany. The program is free and open to the public. Copies of the writers’ latest works will be available for purchase and signing.

“Frequency North” is sponsored by The College of Saint Rose School of Arts and Humanities and funded in part by Poets & Writers, Inc. with public funds from New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

Belz’s (http://belz.net) second full-length book, Lovely, Raspberry, was published by Persea Books in June 2010. Founder and former curator of Observable Readings in St. Louis, he has given readings of his poetry all over the country as well as in numerous stand-up comedy venues in the Los Angeles area. His work has appeared in Boston Review, Fence, Painted Bride Quarterly, Black Clock and other publications. Belz also authored The Bird Hoverer and is an English professor at Providence Christian College in Ontario, Calif.

Broder (www.melissabroder.com) authored When You Say One Thing But Mean Your Mother (Ampersand Books, 2010). She is chief editor of La Petite Zine and curates the Polestar Poetry Series. By day, she is a publicity manager at Penguin. She won the 2009 Stark Prize for Poetry and the 2008 Jerome Lowell Dejur Award. Her poems appear, or are forthcoming, in many journals, including Opium, Shampoo, PANK, Five Dials, The Del Sol Review, Word for/Word, Miracle Monocle and Swink. Broder lives in Brooklyn.

“Frequency North” is the brainchild of Daniel Nester, an assistant professor of English at Saint Rose. In creating the series in 2006, he purposely designed it to be “aggressively eclectic.” In addition to teaching, Nester is author of How to Be Inappropriate (Soft Skull Press, 2009), God Save My Queen (2003) and God Save My Queen II (2004).

The remaining “Frequency North” schedule follows. For more information, visit the series’ website at www.FrequencyNorth.com:

• Thursday, March 31, 2011, 7:30 p.m. – Eboni Hogan and Jeanann Verlee
Standish Rooms, Events and Athletics Center (Second Floor), 420 Western Ave., Albany

Paul Clemente, Michael Jurkovic, Donald Lev, Mary Panza, Cheryl Rice to Read at Half Moon Books on Saturday, March 5

2011-02-22T11:50:00.001-05:00

On Saturday, March 5, five local poets (Paul Clemente, Michael Jurkovic, Donald Lev, Mary Panza, Cheryl Rice) will be reading at Half Moon Books (North Front Street) in Kingston. Host Rebecca Schumejda has sent along the following info on this great reading series in the Hudson Valley:

Five Local Poets: Paul Clemente, Michael Jurkovic, Donald Lev, Mary Panza, Cheryl Rice to Read at Half Moon Books,North Front Street, Kingston, Saturday March 5^th at 6:30 pm, for info: 331-5439 or email Rebecca Schumejda at rschume@hotmail.com

Paul Clemente, a PW listed poet is a scientist with the NYSDEC. He is young enough to have missed Woodstock and old enough to remember the mothballed WW II fleet that was moored for years in the Hudson River's mountainous Haverstraw Bay. Paul is the host of Read for Food, a not-for-profit reading series which raises food and money for food pantries. He lives in the Valley with his wife and two sons. Paul’s artwork will also be showcased!

Michael Jukovic, currently co-director of Calling All Poets, co-president of the Howland Cultural Center & producer of the Voices of the Valley & the Alive and Alone at The Howland CD Series. His poems have appeared nationally & internationally in over one hundred literary magazines & four national anthologies. His first chapbook, Purgatory Road, was published by Pudding House Press in 2010 & is available at this reading.

He loves Emily most of all.

Donald Lev, born in New York City, attended Hunter College and worked in the wire rooms of the Daily News and the New York Times, drove a cab for twenty years, and operated the Home Planet Bookshop on the Lower East Side. His earliest published poems were in 1958, his first small press magazine, HYN Anthology, first appeared in 1969, the same year he appeared as the Poet in Robert Downey, Sr.’s classic film, Putney Swope. In 1979, he and his late wife, the poet Enid Dame, founded the newsprint literary review, Home Planet News, which he continues publishing. The latest collections of his poetry are The Darkness Anove: Selected Poems 1968-2002 (CRS Red Hill Outloudbooks, Claryville, NY, 2008), and a chapbook, Only Wings: 20 Poems of Devotion (Presa Press, Rockford, MI, 2010).

Mary Panza is Vice President of Albany Poets and the last of the famous international play girls.

Poet and writer Cheryl A. Rice's work has appeared in Baltimore Review, Chronogram, Florida Review, Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education, Home Planet News, Hudson Valley Life, Kingston and Woodstock Times, Mangrove, Metroland, Poughkeepsie Journal, The Temple, Tri-County Woman, and in the anthologies Wildflowers, Vol. II (2002: Shivastan Publishing), Riverine (2007: Codhill Press) and For Enid, With Love (2010: NYQuarterly). Rice was the founder and host of the Sylvia Plath Bake-Off, held each year in Kingston, NY, the world's only known combination open mic/baked goods competition. She was one of many local poets featured at the first Woodstock Poetry Festival in August of 2001, and hosted an open mike during the 2002 edition. Rice attended SUNY New Paltz and the University at Albany, and has studied with the poets Joan Murray, Maria Mazziotti Gillan and Sharon Olds. She lives in the Hudson Valley.

Word Thursdays Begins 19th Season with Black History Month Readings on February 24, Featuring Brooklyn Poets Robert Hart & Kamilah Aisha Moon

2011-02-22T10:53:00.001-05:00

From our friends at Bright Hill Press. They will be kicking off their Word Thursdays reading series this coming Thursday with Robert Hart and Kamilah Aisha Moon. Here is all of the information:

On Thursday, February 24, Word Thursdays will begin its 19th season of readings by featuring the Brooklyn poets Robert Hart and Kamilah Aisha Moon. They will read from their work after the open mic which begins at 7 pm and during which all present are invited to read from their own work or that of other poets or writers that focuses on African-American Poetry or prose. There will also be an intermission. Word Thursdays takes place at Bright Hill, 94 Church Street, Treadwell, NY, just a block north of Barlow's General Store on Co. Route 14. Admission is $3 (18 and under admitted free).

Robert Hart grew up in Harlem, on on 145th Street, 142nd Street, and 158th Street. He served in the army from 1952 to 1954, and was stationed in Germany during the Korean War. Now he works for a mail sorting company in Midtown West. Hart first wrote poetry in his high-school poetry class. It was years later that he came onto the New York Poetry Circuit and started reading at various venues; he's still at it. Hart works with other performers, including musicians, dancers, and other poets (among them Bertha Rogers). His two books are Acrobat and Lightly in the Good of Day; the latter may be purchased online at http://www.benchpress.poetry.com.

Kamilah Aisha Moon is a recipient of fellowships to Cave Canem, the Prague Summer Writing Institute, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, MA, and The Vermont Studio. Moon's work has been featured or is forthcoming in several journals and anthologies, including The Harvard Review, jubilat, Sou'wester, The Oxford American, Connotations, Lumina,Callaloo, Essence, Bloom, Gathering Ground, The Ringing Ear, and Black Nature: Four Centuries of African American Nature Poetry. A featured poet in conferences and venues around the country, Moon received her MFA in Creative Writing from Sarah Lawrence College.

Poets Speak Loud - Tom Nattell Tribute and Beret Toss

2011-01-25T10:49:00.001-05:00

Albany Poets will celebrate the sixth anniversary of its open mic, “Poets Speak Loud,” at McGeary's on Monday, January 31, 7:00 PM. The event will also commemorate Tom Nattell, local poet and community activist, who died the same day the poetry open mic began, January 31, 2005. Tom had been scheduled to be the first featured reader at the new series, but died of cancer that morning. The open mic was held that night and was a celebration of his life, work and performances.

The event this Monday will begin with the annual “beret toss” at the Robert Burns statue in Washington Park in Tom’s memory at 6:30pm.

Poets Speak Loud, an open mic sponsored by Albany Poets, is held at McGeary's in Albany on the last Monday of each month. The usual host is Mary Panza. However, for the anniversary event the host will be Dan Wilcox, poet and host of the third Thursday open mic at the Social Justice Center. Wilcox was a friend of Nattell’s and both were members of 3 Guys from Albany, a poetry performance group.

The event Monday will be a classic open mic, in the style of the monthly open mics run by Tom Nattell at the QE2 on the last Monday of each month in the 1980s and 1990s. While it is expected that some poets will read tribute poems to Nattell, or old favorites from past readings, poets are invited to read poems on any theme and share in the spirit of poetry.

The suggested donation for the event is $3.00; McGeary's is located at 4 Clinton Square. in Albany, NY. For more information about Albany Poets visit the website: www.albanypoets.com. For more information about this event, or about Tom Nattell, contact Dan Wilcox at 518-482-0262 or email to dwlcx@earthlink.net

Call For Entries - Text As Art

2010-12-17T10:06:00.001-05:00

The Arts Center of the Capital Region has sent out a call for entries for its’ Bookmarks series. Here is the info and all the details on this very interesting project.

Call for Entries: TEXT AS ART curated by Nancy Klepsch

The Memoir Project, a program of The Arts Center of the Capital Region, invites visual/literary submissions for February's Bookmarks, part of a series of group literary presentations featuring writing that is grounded broadly in personal experience. Events are curated by members of the Arts Center's Literary Committee.

TEXT AS ART seeks to explore the intersection between the visual and literary worlds - The curator is calling for graphic representations of the spoken word, suitable for all ages, to be displayed in a public art space. Think Jenny Holzer, Barbara Kruger and those who combine words and text. Think about using technology. Please submit your idea described in writing or as a visual sample, along with a brief description.

Interested writers/artists should submit a proposal and a resume/CV, both in PDF form to Katherine@artscenteronline.org. Please include the following text in the subject line: "Memoir Project: Text as Art"

All submissions must be received by 5 p.m. Monday, January 31st (not a postmark date if submitting hard copy).

Bookmarks is a free program of the Arts Center of the Capital Region. Please check our website for details about readings and other literary programs at the Arts Center.

Caffe Lena Poetry Night Featuring Rebecca Schumejda and a Special Ghost in the Machine

2010-11-28T11:37:00.001-05:00

This Wednesday night Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs welcomes poet Rebecca Schmejda as the featured poet at the monthly Caffe Lena Poetry Night. Host Carol Graser sent along the following info about the event.

the first Wednesday of every month Caffè Lena presents:

Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic
Wednesday, December 1
7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start
Featured Poet: Rebecca Schumejda
$3
Hosted by Carol Graser
Caffe Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs
www.caffelena.org 583-0022

Rebecca Schumejda is the author of Falling Forward, a full-length collections of poems (sunnyoutside, 2009); The Map of Our Garden (verve bath, 2009); Dream Big Work Harder (sunnyoutside press 2006); The Tear Duct of the Storm (Green Bean Press, 2001); and the poem "Logic" on a postcard (sunnyoutside).

She received her MA in Poetics and Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and her BA in English and Creative Writing from SUNY New Paltz.

Her work has been, or will be, published in the following online and print journals: Brouhaha, Chronogram, Controlled Burn, Full of Crow, Home Planet News, Mannequin Envy, My Favorite Bullet, The New York Quarterly, nibble, Night Train, Outsider Writer, Rattapallax, Rusty Truck, Somerville News, Thieves Jargon, Underground Voices, Wilderness House Literary Review, Word Riot, Words Dance, Zygote in my Coffee, and many other publications.

Currently, she is working on a collection of poems exploring the pool hall subculture, inspired by her short-lived experience as a co-owner of a pool hall.

She lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with her husband and daughter.
She teaches at an alternative high school program in Hudson, NY.

If you are not in the Saratoga area on Wednesday night, you can check out the special edition of “Ghost in the Machine” at the Fuze Box. Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, R.M. Engelhardt moved the monthly open mic for poetry and more to this coming Wednesday.

Here is more information on the event from Mr. Engelhardt’s Facebook page:

***DUE TO THE THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY GHOST IN THE MACHINE WILL BE HELD ON WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1st Same Ghost Time, Same Ghost Channel!***

GHOST IN THE MACHINE: AN OPEN FORUM FOR ALL PERFORMERS & ARTISTS

Now At The Fuzebox (The Old QE2)
GHOST IN THE MACHINE , is a new performance~experimental forum for artists, musicians, poets & playwrights as well as an place where appreciation for new & experimental work by capital region artists is fostered!

FREE EXPRESSION! NETWORKING!

So keep what matters in the Albany, NY~Upstate area going. This is a group & a true open mic for performers, artists, musicians, poets & writers who don't necessarily consider themselves these things based on all styles,

GHOST IN THE MACHINE: Special Thanksgiving Holiday Version,
Wednesday DECEMBER 1st! AT THE FUZEBOX, 12 CENTRAL AVENUE
ALBANY,NY
8pm Signup*8:30pm StartTime
Hosted By R.M. Engelhardt With Our Housband BROKEN GLASS & CIGARETTES
*$4.00 Suggested Donation.

WELCOME TO THE NEW....

Yes, Reading! This Friday Featuring Book Thug Authors

2010-11-16T09:45:00.001-05:00

There are two big events this weekend starting with the Yes, Reading! at the Social Justice Center (33 Central Ave., Albany) featuring Book Thug poets Marianne Apostolides (author of three books, most recently Swim (BookThug, 2009) and The Lucky Child (Mansfield Press, 2010)), Jay MillAr (author of several books, the most recent of which are esp : accumulation sonnets (2009) and Other Poems (2010)), Andrew Hughes (author of Sweethearts of the Great Migration and Now Lays the Sunshine By), and Mark Goldstein (author of Tracelanguage: A Shared Breath, his second title with BookThug, a transtranslation of poet Paul Celan’s seminal work, Atemwende). The reading starts at 7:00pm.

Then on Saturday, the words continue to flow as Jawbone and the University of Albany present “Transtranslation, A Creative Writing Workshop with Jay MillAr and Mark Goldstein” from 2:00pm-4:00pm. This workshop is free and open to all graduate students and will include a presentation of all materials and methodologies, a group discussion, and hands on transtranslation.

More information on these two events can be found at the Yes, Reading! website.

Alexander Chee and Kathleen Rooney read at Frequency North

2010-11-09T20:10:00.001-05:00

Our good friend Daniel Nester sent along the following info about the upcoming Frequency North reading.

Thursday, November 11, 7:30pm
Alexander Chee + Kathleen Rooney
Location: Standish Rooms, second floor of the Events and Activities Center, Standish Rooms, which are on the second floor of the Events and Activities Center, 420 Western Avenue, Albany, NY.

Alexander Chee was born in Rhode Island, and raised in South Korea,
Guam and Maine. He is a recipient of the 2003 Whiting Writers’ Award,
a 2004 NEA Fellowship in Fiction, a 2010 Massachusetts Cultural
Council Fellowship and residencies from the MacDowell Colony, Ledig
House, the Hermitage and the VCCA. His second novel, The Queen of the Night, is forthcoming from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in fall of 2011.
His first novel, Edinburgh (Picador, 2002), is a winner of the
Michener Copernicus Prize, the AAWW Lit Award and the Lambda Editor’s Choice Prize, and was a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year. In 2003, Out Magazine honored him as one of their 100 Most Influential People of the Year. His essays and stories have appeared in
Granta.com, Out, The Morning News, The Man I Might Become, Loss Within Loss, Boys Like Us and Mentors, Muses and Monsters. He has taught writing at Wesleyan, The New School and Amherst College.
Website: http://www.alexanderchee.net

Kathleen Rooney is a poet and a writer. Her latest work is the essay
collection For You, For You I Am Trilling These Songs (Counterpoint
Press), which has been described as “smart and subtly honed”
(Publisher’s Weekly) and “captures the poignancy and absurdity of life
at the turn of the twenty-first century” (Booklist). With Abby Beckel,
she is a founding editor of Rose Metal Press. With Elisa Gabbert, she
is the author of That Tiny Insane Voluptuousness (Otoliths, 2008).
With her husband, the writer Martin Seay, she lives in Chicago.
Website: http://www.kaltheenrooney.com

Albany Poets Presents, Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic, And More Poetry News

2010-11-02T10:09:00.001-04:00

Albany Poets Presents

Tonight at Valentines (17 New Scotland Ave., Albany), Albany Poets Presents returns for our monthly open mic for poetry and spoken word. Since this is election day, be prepared for poems about politics and what is going on around us.

Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic

Tomorrow night in Saratoga, Rachael Ikins will be the featured reader at the Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic at the historic Caffe Lena. Carol Graser is the host and she sent along the following information about the event:

the first Wednesday of every month Caffè Lena presents:

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic
Wednesday, November 3
7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start
Featured Poet: Rachael Ikins
$3
Hosted by Carol Graser
Caffe Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs
www.caffelena.org 583-0022

Rachael Ikins has published in numerous journals over the years and won 8 poetry prizes among them first place National League of American Penwomen 2006 and 08. She will be reading from her chapbook "Slide-show in the Woods" (Foothills) which was published in August 2008. Also available for purchase and signing will be her broadside "The Dairy Farm" (BeNeVoLeNt BiRd Press) We hope to have some copies of her newest book release "TRANSPLANTED" (Finishing Line Press). Rachael has read her work through out the central and capitol district of New York State. Her artwork has appeared in galleries across the region. She is a member of MAD-art an artists' co-op in Hamilton NY, The Downtown Writers Center of Syracuse, National League of American Penwomen, the Cazenovia Writers and the Canastota Writers groups. Rachael has received several fellowships to Colgate's writer's conferences in Hamilton, NY and to the Downtown Writers Center Retreat through the YMCA writing program in Syracuse and has used her work to support humanitarian organizations such as the YWCA, SPCA, Golisano Children's Hospital and various animal rescues.

Two Upcoming Readings in the Hudson Valley

Our good friend Rebecca Schumejda sent in some information about two poetry readings that will be taking place this weekend in New Paltz and Kingston.

I just want to give you information on two upcoming readings:
*John Dorsey, Alex Strong and I will be reading at slash root, tech. cafe, 60 Main Street, New Paltz, NY on Friday, November 5th at 7pm.
then:

Five Poets to read at Half Moon Books in Kingston, 35 North Front Street, on Saturday November 6th at 6:30 pm. The event will be hosted by Rebecca Schumejda and the featured readers will be John Dorsey, Aleathia Drehmer, Roberta Gould, Robert Milby, and Dan Provost. For more information call 331-5439 or e-mail rschume@hotmail.com.

John Dorsey currently resides in Toledo, Ohio. He is the author of several collections of poetry, including Teaching the Dead to Sing: The Outlaw's Prayer (Rose of Sharon Press, 2006), and Sodomy is a City in New Jersey (American Mettle Books, 2010). He work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize

Aleathia Drehmer is the editor of the print micro-zine Durable Goods and the online flash fiction site In Between Altered States. She has a shared book of poetry with Dan Provost from Rank Stranger Press called A Quiet Learning Curve and a forthcoming collection from Propaganda Press called You Find Me Everywhere. She lives in upstate New York with her daughter and her cat, Carrot.

Roberta Gould work has appeared in many publications including HPN, New York Times, Catholic Worker, Chronogram, Socialism Today, Poetry Now, Green Mountain Review etc. Her first chapbook Dream Yourself Flying, Four Zoas Press was followed by books including Writing Air, Written Water, Only Rock, Not By Blood Alone. Her 9th, Louder Than Seeds, Foothills Press, followed In Houses With Ladders, and Pacing the Wind. She has lived for 3 years in Mexico, published a book in Spanish, and studied for a year at the National University of Mexico. She published Light a Poetry Review and has edited several poetry magazines. For information and poems see website: robertagould.net and a blog of current work robertagould.wordpress.com.

Robert Milby, of Florida, NY currently hosts 3 Hudson Valley poetry series. He’s been reading his work in public since early 1995, throughout Hudson Valley and beyond, over 1000 times onstage. His first book is Ophelia’s Offspring(Foothills Publishing, 2007). 2nd book, Victorian House: Ghosts and Gothic Poems (Foothills Pub. in late 2010)

Dan Provost's poetry has been published throughout the small press for a number of years. He is the author of seven books, his latest being "A Quiet Learning Curve"-- poems that also feature Aleathia Drehmer, published by Rank Stranger Press. He lives in Worcester, Massachusetts.

For more information on these events and all of the poetry and spoken word events in the upstate New York area, go to www.albanypoets.com. If you would like to have your events listed or if you would like to be listed on the Albany Poets site, send us an email at info@albanypoets.com.

Ghost In The Machine Tonight at The Fuze Box

2010-10-29T11:55:00.001-04:00

R.M. Engelhardt is hosting the monthly Ghost in the Machine at the Fuze Box tonight with special Halloween theme and tribute to Edgar Allan Poe.

Here is the information from Rob regarding tonight’s festivities:

GHOST IN THE MACHINE: AN OPEN FORUM FOR ALL PERFORMERS & ARTISTS...ALL HALLOW'S EVE~HAUNTED EDITION !!!!!!

ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 29th At THE FUZEBOX!
12 CENTRAL AVENUE, ALBANY,NY

*DRESS AS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR! ARTIST, GHOUL!

Now At The Fuzebox (The Old QE2) GHOST IN THE MACHINE , is a new performance~experimental forum for artists, musicians, poets & playwrights as well as an place where appreciation for new & experimental work by capital region artists is fostered!

FREE EXPRESSION. NETWORKING.

So keep what matters in the Albany, NY~Upstate area going. This is a group & a true open mic for performers, artists, musicians, poets & writers who don't necessarily consider themselves these things based on all styles, In other words, FORGET CONFORMITY. And have a drink & share your voice & work !

*7.30pm Signup*8:00pm StartTime*
Hosted By R.M. Engelhardt
*$4.00 Suggested Donation.
JOIN THE PARTY!

Last year was a great time with music and poetry from local artists inspired by (or written by) Poe. This year should be fun. Be sure to dress up as your favorite author or poet, maybe there will be prizes.

Poetry and Prose: A New Open Mic at The Arts Center in Troy

2010-10-29T11:35:00.001-04:00

Our friends at The Arts Center in Troy are starting up a brand new open mic on the second Sunday’s of each month at 2:00PM. Dan Wilcox and Nancy Klepsch are hosting this new venue for poetry and spoken word starting on Sunday, November 14.

More information can be found on The Arts Center website.

WORD! ACW Presents Performance Poetry Thursday, October 28, 2010

2010-10-11T15:24:00.001-04:00

The Adirondack Center for Writing is bringing the best performance poets of Brooklyn and Chicago to your doorstep. A performance by three spoken word poets on Thursday, October 28 at 7 p.m. will push and blur boundaries between music, art, theatre and literature. The Adirondack Center for Writing and Bluseed Studios present Word!, a night with Roger Bonair-Agard, Rachel Mckibbens, and Samantha Thornhill.

The trio, brought to the area by the Adirondack Center for Writing, will take the stage at 7:00 P.m. on Thursday, October 28 at Bluseed Studios, 24 Cedar Street (next to Aubuchon Hardware) in Saranac Lake. The event is free and open to the public (although donations are appreciated). In short, these three are to poetry what hip hop is to music: cutting edge, full of rhythm and style and bound to smash stereotypes.

“We’ve presented these poets at Bluseed for the past five years and every time the audience is completely astounded. After the performance the line of people coming up to talk to me about bringing them up again is as long as the line of people getting their books signed by the poets,” says Adirondack Center for Writing executive director, Nathalie Thill. “People can’t get enough because the poetry styles and presentation are so new and fresh, it is like nothing you can experience anywhere else in the area.”

For five years, the Adirondack Center for Writing has been bringing performance poets to the Adirondacks to lead two-day workshops to high school students. The workshops focus on improving students’ writing and teaching them how to present their work. On Thursday, in addition to teaching the high school workshop, Bonair-Agard, McKibbens, and Thornhill will take the stage at Bluseed Studios to show the public what all the excitement is about.

Roger Bonair-Agard is a native of Trinidad and Tobago, a Cave Canem fellow, and an author of two collections; tarnish and masquerade (Cypher Books, 2006) and GULLY (Cypher Books, Peepal Tree Press, 2010). Co-founder of the louderARTS collective, Roger is a 2-time National Poetry Slam Champion, and an MFA candidate at the Stonecoast Program of the University of Southern Maine. Roger teaches poetry at the Cook County juvenile detention center, Young Chicago Authors, Fordham university and performs & teaches throughout the world. He lives mostly in Chicago.

Rachel McKibbens is the author of, Pink Elephant, a full-length book of poetry, and is a New York Foundation for the Arts poetry fellow and Pushcart nominee. Rachel is the 2009 Women of the World poetry slam champion, is an eight-time National Poetry Slam team member, and a three-time NPS finalist. She appeared on two seasons of HBO’s Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam. She was featured in the slam documentary, Slam Planet: War of the Words which premiered at the 2006 SXSW film festival in Austin, Texas and has appeared twice on HBO's Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry.

Samantha Thornhill, a Trinidadian-born writer, is a rising star in the world of children’s literature. Her performance poem, Little Odetta, inspired by the late folk legend, is forthcoming from Scholastic Press in the form of a picture book for children and adults. In addition, her young adult novel Seventeen Seasons is being published by Penguin Books. Samantha earned her Masters degree (MFA) in poetry from the University of Virginia while coaching Virginia’s slam team, leading them to two consecutive victories. In New York City she fulfills her position as professor of poetry and performance at the Juilliard School.

The Adirondack Center for Writing is an independent non-profit, 501(c)3 organization dedicated to promoting literature and providing educational opportunities and support to both aspiring and established writers in the Adirondack region. We provide workshops, conferences, and readings throughout the year in locations all around the Adirondack Park. ACW is based at Paul Smith's College and is supported by a strong membership and public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

Frequency North Series Continues with Meghan Daum and Scott Rosenberg

2010-10-11T15:14:00.001-04:00

The Frequency North reading series continues with two big events coming up this Thursday and next Wednesday with writers Meghan Daum and Scott Rosenberg.

October 14th 7:30-8:30pm located on St. Rose Campus at the Events and Activities Center, 2nd floor, 420 Western Avenue, Albany, NY 12203.

Meghan Daum is the author, most recently, of Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived In That House, a memoir about real estate addiction, published in May 2010 by Knopf. Since 2005, she has been a weekly opinion columnist at the Los Angeles Times. That column is distributed widely to numerous newspapers across the country and in 2006 was a finalist for a National Journalism Award and the winner of the Southern California Journalism Award in column writing. Meghan is also the author of the essay collection My Misspent Youth and the novel The Quality of Life Report. She has contributed to public radio programs such as This American Life and Marketplace and her articles and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's, GQ, Vogue, and The New York Times, among other publications. She lives in Los Angeles.

October 20th 7:30-8:30pm located on St. Rose Campus at the Events and Activities Center, 2nd floor, 420 Western Avenue, Albany, NY 12203.

Scott Rosenberg is a writer, editor and website builder. He is a cofounder of Salon.com and author of Say Everything: How Blogging Began, What It's Becoming, and Why It Matters, (Crown). “Say Everything is where I'd tell you to start if you want to understand where blogging came from, and why it's important,” writes Jay Rosen, creator of PressThink.org and professor of journalism at New York University. He is also author of the book Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4,732 Bugs, and One Quest For Transcendent Software. Co-founder of Salon.com, where he served as technology editor and later managing editor and VP/editorial operations for many years, he also started the Salon Blogs program in 2002 and began his own blog as part of it.

Before Salon he wrote on theater, movies, and technology for the San Francisco Examiner for a decade and was honored with the George Jean Nathan Award for his reviews. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Wired, and many other publications. He lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and two sons.

Community of Writers This Saturday, Oct 16 at Albany Public Library

2010-10-11T14:56:00.001-04:00

Dan Wilcox sent along the following announcement for a very special event at the Albany Public Library coming up this weekend.

Community of Writers, a reading sponsored by the Hudson Valley Writers Guild at Albany Public Library (161 Washington Ave., Albany, NY)

Saturday, October 16, 2:00 PM

Presenting:
D. Alexander Holiday, Kathe Kokolias, Elizabeth Floyd Mair

Free & open to the public

for information call: 449-8069 or visit www.hvwg.org

Made possible by a grant from The City of Albany, the Hudson Valley Writers Guild: an active, local writing community.

Poets Speak Loud Returns Tomorrow Night at McGeary’s

2010-09-26T13:34:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow night is the night we all have been waiting for…the return of Poets Speak Loud! It has been five months since the last time we all got together at the Lark Tavern and on Monday, September 27 we are hoping that everyone will be a part of the launch of the new Poets Speak Loud at McGeary’s.

For the first month back we are having an Old School Open Mic for poetry and spoken word hosted by Mary Panza. Anyone who wants to share their work can sign up starting at 7:00PM.

Over the years we have had some great poets as features such as Emily Gonzalez, The Poet Essence, Cheryl A. Rice, Michael Eck, Mother Judge, Rich Tomasulo, Alan Catlin, A.C. Everson, Jil Hanifan, Nicole Peyrafitte, R.M. Engelhardt, Dain Brammage, Amanda Rose, Josh McIntyre, Philip Levine, Rachael Zitomer, Pierre Joris, Will Nixon, Robert Milby, John Weiler, Carol Graser, and Jason Crane. Next month we are bringing back the tradition with a very special featured poet.

Poets Speak Loud happens on the last Monday of each and every month at McGeary’s (4 Clinton Square, Albany). Sign up begins at 7:00PM with the poetry starting at 7:30PM.

College of Poetry Announces Fall Workshops

2010-09-21T22:05:00.001-04:00

The good folks at the College of Poetry sent along the following info about their upcoming fall workshops.

The College of Poetry at 7 West Street in Warwick has announced three workshops to be offered during the fall term to run from October 14 until December 4: one focusing on song lyrics, one on mythology, and one on confessional poetry. Each workshop will meet for two hours a week during the eight week course. Tuition for each is $150. Enrollees are regarded as "guest poets," and workshops are presented in a casual and open manner designed to be useful for writers of all levels of experience.

On Thursday evenings from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. singer-songwriter Paul Siegel will present Lyricism – The Art of the Song Poem. Recognizing that poetry used as song lyrics has a particular character distinct from written or spoken poetry, Siegel plans to analyze successful songs (including visits by other regional songwriters) and the history of sung lyrics as a route to developing greater skill to critique and practice one’s own songwriting skills. Questions to be considered include: how are songs different from other poems? What makes a successful lyric? What can we learn from the history of American song? What is the role of the music?

Influenced in his youth by the examples of Paul Simon and Bob Dylan, Paul Siegel played in a number of band during the 1980s and 90s, including Dogtalk, an "infectious groove" funky rock band, Charley Django, a grunge rock band and Baggabones, embracing more folk traditions. For the last ten years, he has concentrated on solo performance. Throughout his life, in a number of different genres, Siegel has maintained his commitment to discovering the timelessness of what makes a song great. Musical samples and further information are available on his website at www.paulsiegel.com.

On Saturday morning from 10 a.m. until 12 noon William Seaton will conduct a workshop with the title Truer than True: Mythology and Poetry. According to Seaton people have always made sense of the world through mythological symbolic systems. Hardly a simple lie, a myth is in a way “truer” than mere facts; true and false at once, it is rather like poetry. Many modern artists have sought to recover a mythological point of view. Workshop participants will read texts with mythological elements and then will experiment with myth in their own poetry. The course will take account of traditional, literary, modern, and idiosyncratic myths.

William Seaton is the author of Spoor of Desire: Selected Poems (FootHills Publishing), Tourist Snapshots (CC Marimbo). His Dada Poems from the German is forthcoming from Nirala. Seaton’s poetry, reviews, translations, and essays have recently appeared in Poetry Flash, Chiron Review, Adirondack Review, Gander Press Review, Burp, and Chronogram. He directs the Poetry on the Loose Reading/Performance Series, and posts five essays, literary and familiar, every month at williamseaton.blogspot.com. He has in the past taught at L.I.U., the University of Iowa,West Africa, and in prison.

The Saturday afternoon course from 1:30 until 3:30 p.m. is entitled 2/3 Confessional. During this workshop, led by Rebecca Schumejda, the focus will be on confessional poetry arising directly from personal experience including work by Lowell, Plath, Sexton, and Berryman as well as others. Participants will practice blending lived experience with imagination to create poetry, “bending” the truth and utilizing metaphors to reach your readers, and saying too much vs. not saying enough. The course will culminate with a final presentation of finished work.

Rebecca Schumejda is the author of Falling Forward (sunnyoutside) The Map of Our Garden (verve bath), and Dream Big Work Harder(sunnyoutside press), and The Tear Duct of the Storm (Green Bean Press). She holds a B.A. in English and Creative Writing from SUNY New Paltz and an M.A. in Poetics and Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. Her work has been or will be published in the following online and print journals: Brouhaha, Chronogram, Home Planet News, Underground Voices, and Wilderness House Literary Review. Briefly the owner of a pool hall, she is currently working on a collection of poems exploring the pool hall subculture.

To register or to obtain further information, contact William Seaton at seaton@frontiernet.net or call (845) 294-8085.

Every term the College sponsors a reading by a distinguished visiting poet. This term it will be Janine Pommy Vega who will read on November 13. Vega’s first book, Poems to Fernando, was published by City Lights in 1968 as part of their City Lights Pocket Poets. She is the author as well of The Green Piano, Mad Dogs of Trieste, and Tracking the Serpent. Often associated with the Beat writers, she is a poet with international interests and influences.

Apart from these events, the College offers readings twice a month at the 7 West Street address: the Poetry on the Loose series on the first Saturday of every month and the Warwick Valley Poets series on the third Saturday.

Ghost In The Machine At The FuzeBox, Friday, September 24

2010-09-21T21:59:00.001-04:00

Poet, writer, promoter R.M Engelhardt is bringing his “experimental forum” back to the FuzeBox this coming Friday night at 8:00PM. Last month he kicked off the newly titled monthly open mic for poets and more and it was a great time. Techo/House music and dancing usually follow the open mic. Here is the information from the host, R.M. Engelhardt.

GHOST IN THE MACHINE: AN OPEN FORUM FOR ALL PERFORMERS & ARTISTS

Now At The Fuzebox (The Old QE2) GHOST IN THE MACHINE , is a new performance~experimental forum for artists, musicians, poets & multi-media.

New & experimental work by capital region artists in an open forum.
FREE EXPRESSION. NETWORKING.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th
AT THE FUZEBOX,

12 CENTRAL AVENUE
ALBANY,NY
8pm Signup*8:30pm StartTime
Hosted By R.M. Engelhardt
*$4.00 Suggested Donation.

Walt Franklin at Pine Hollow Arboretum, Saturday, Sept 25

2010-09-21T21:49:00.001-04:00

This coming Saturday, The Pine Hollow Arboretum hosts writer Walt Franklin. Here is the information on the reading and an afternoon tour.

At 7 pm Pine Hollow Arboretum Presents Author Walt Franklin Reading and Book Signing for his new outdoor/nature book, Sand & Sage The Trails Beyond at the Arboretum Headquarters Building

Walt Franklin is a writer, educator, and naturalist since his days of boyhood in the Hudson Valley. An active member of the Genesee Watershed Association in Pennsylvania and of Trout

Unlimited in New York. Franklin has also traveled widely throughout Europe and the American West. His many published books include River’s Edge(2008) and A Rivertop Journal (2005). His poetry has been published in a number of books and many magazines including Rootdrinker. He is an appreciator of Bozenkill poet W.W. Christman, whose work he cites as an important influence on his life.

At 4:30 pm Arboretum founder and planter John Abbuhl will lead a Tour of the Arboretum. Please arrive at the 16 Maple Ave. Building by 4:15 as Tour must start on time in order to have enough daylight to be completed.

Preregistration for the tour is not necessary but is appreciated. Call (518) 439-6472 to sign-up.

For Information on the Reading or Tour phone (518) 439-6472

3 Guys From Albany on Tour

2010-08-26T10:17:00.001-04:00

Dan Wilcox and Charlie Rossiter are bringing 3 Guys from Albany to Oklahoma City for the Oklahoma LaborFest. Here is the information about their new tour.

You can follow their antics on the 3 Guys from Albany Facebook page & on their website, www.3guysfromalbany.com.

3 Guys from Albany, a poetry performance group, have been invited to be featured poets at the Oklahoma LaborFest, held August 26-28 in Oklahoma City, OK. 3 Guys from Albany will perform on August 26 at Coffey’s Café in the Plaza District (http://www.coffyscafe.org/#) and will read as part of “Oklahoma Speaks” on August 28 at the Lyric Theatre Auditorium (http://www.oklahomarevelator.com/laborfest). On August 27, 3 Guys from Albany will perform at the Albany/Wade Senior Center in Albany, OK. See the complete itinerary below.

3 Guys from Albany (Tom Nattell, Charlie Rossiter and Dan Wilcox) have a mission to read their poetry in each of the Albanys in the U.S. They are friends who share the idea that poetry should be a part of society rather than apart from it -- relevant, communicative and, above all, honest. Their poems address social issues such as the homeless, peace and war, and the environment, as well as joyful celebrations of art, love and life. They have toured the United States since 1993 and so far they have read in 12 of the 18 Albanys in the USA. They have released a 60-minute cassette tape and CD of their poetry performance, available at their readings or by mail. Although Tom Nattell died of cancer in January, 2005, Charlie & Dan are continuing the project, along with the ever-present nudging from the spirit of Tom.

Charlie Rossiter is a recipient of an NEA fellowship for his poetry and is the host of www.poetrypoetry.com.

Dan Wilcox hosts the Third Thursday open mic at the Social Justice Center in Albany, NY & has the world's largest collection of photos of unknown poets. You can find him at dwlcx.blogspot.com

Tom Nattell was an international mail artist, environmentalist, poet and peace activist who wrote the "Simple Life" column for Metroland, Albany's entertainment weekly.

For more information about 3 Guys from Albany e-mail: dwlcx@earthlink.net, or visit the website, www.3guysfromalbany.com.

* * *

3 Guys from Albany

August 2010 Tour

August 26, Oklahoma LaborFest Poetry Reading, 7PM, Coffey’s Café, 1739 N.W. 16^th St, Oklahoma City, OK

August 27, Albany/Wade Senior Center, 12:30PM, Albany, OK

August 28, “Oklahoma Speaks,” 7PM, Lyric Theatre Auditorium, 1801 NW 16^th St., Oklahoma City, OK

August 29, Full Circle Bookstore, 2PM, 50 Penn Place Mall, Oklahoma City, OK

Poets Speak Loud Returns, Monday, September 27 at McGeary’s

2010-08-19T10:45:00.001-04:00

Yes, you read that right, Poets Speak Loud is returning on Monday , September 27 at McGeary's (4 Clinton Square, Albany) in downtown Albany. As many of you know Tess Collins is coming on board at McGeary's to manage the historic bar/restaurant in the beginning of September and one of her first orders of business is to bring poetry and spoken word back.

It has been way too long since we last gathered at the Lark Tavern to celebrate the vibrant community of poets and spoken word artists we have here in Albany and we cannot wait to restart our monthly open mic series.

Poets Speak Loud will continue to be hosted by Mary Panza on the last Monday of the month with signup starting at 7:00PM and the open mic beginning at 7:30PM. We will be having featured poets in the coming months, but September we are having an old-school poetry open mic. We have a brand new PA system and what better way to break it in than with the return of one of Albany's most popular poetry and spoken word open mics.

We hope to see everyone there as begin the new chapter of Poets Speak Loud.

Third Thursday Poetry Night with Featured Poet Jill Crammond Wickham

2010-08-16T10:41:00.001-04:00

This coming Thursday (August 19), poetry returns to Central Ave. at the Social Justice Center with the Third Thursday Poetry Night hosted by Dan Wilcox. This month the featured poet is Jill Crammond Wickham. Here is all of the info from Dan Wilcox himself:

the Poetry Motel Foundation presents Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center (33 Central Ave., Albany, NY)

August 19 - 7:00 sign up; 7:30 start

Featured Poet: Jill Crammond Wickham

-- with an open mic for community poets before & after the feature; $3.00 donation, suggested; more if you got it, less if you can’t.

Your tanned host: Dan Wilcox.

Upcoming Poetry Readings and Open Mics in Albany

2010-07-28T10:54:00.001-04:00

Even in the summer, the Albany poetry scene is very active. We have some great readings and open mics coming up in the next couple of days. So, if you are looking for something to do on a hot summer evening in upstate New York, here are a couple of events to put on your calendar.

Saturday brings us to the end of the 2010 Poets in the Park series. Poets Susan Deer Cloud and Guy Reed will be bringing their words to Washington Park. Dan Wilcox has brought in some great poets this year and we thank him for this wonderful summer series and tradition.

Poets in the Park 2010

Saturdays in July at the Robert Burns statue, Washington Park, Albany, NY (at Henry Johnson Blvd. & Hudson Ave.)

July 31, 7PM - Susan Deer Cloud and Guy Reed

Free! & open to the public (just like the park)

Bring a chair or blanket to sit on

Rain site: the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave.

Sponsored by the Poetry Motel Foundation & the Hudson Valley Writers Guild. For information call 482-0262

And then on Tuesday the poetry continues with an open mic at Valentines. Albany Poets returns to our favorite beer and rock club for our monthly No Gimmick Open Mic.

Albany Poets Presents

Albany Poets Presents, hosted by El Presidente Thom Francis returns to Valentines on the first Tuesday of each month starting at 8:00PM.

This month we are presenting another No Gimmick Open Mic. Poets, musicians, comedians, spoken word artists are all invited to take the stage at Valentines.

Come over and join local poets and spoken word artists for an evening of conversation, cocktails, coffee, and, of course, poetry.

Sign up begins at 7:00PM, open mic starts at 8:00PM. There is a $3.00 suggested donation for this event. Albany Poets Presents takes place at Valentines Music Hall (17 New Scotland Ave.) on the first Tuesday of each and every month.

Poetry at the Arboretum

2010-07-28T09:47:00.001-04:00

Alan Casline sent along an announcement for an upcoming poetry event at the Pine Hollow Arboretum on Friday, August 13 at 7:30PM.

POETRY AT THE ARBORETUM at Pine Hollow Headquarters Building (16 Maple Avenue Slingerlands, NY) on Friday August 13, 2010 at 7:30 pm. Members and other local poets.

FRIDAY 13th FULL MOON METEOR SHOWER with Alan Casline, John Abbuhl, Marion Menna, Mike Burke, Virginia Acquario from Pine Hollow Arboretum and Local Poets Mimi Moriarity, Tim Lake, Jim Williams, Obeeduid, Sharon Stenson, Dennis Sullivan, Susan Morse, Rachael Ikins, Phyliss Hillinger, Ron Pavoldi and more.

A display and book sale of many of the reading poets work will also be a feature of the event

Arboretum grounds will be open from 4pm on for visitors to view.

Contact Alan Casline at acasline@aol.com or (518) 475-7781 for more information.

Poetry Lives in Albany!

2010-07-09T11:54:00.001-04:00

Summer is in full swing and the poetry scene here in Albany is heating up. We started things off with a great day of poetry and spoken word at Art on Lark a couple weeks ago and now we are heading into the annual Poets in the Park series in Washington Park tomorrow evening with features Donald Wellman and Cheryl A. Rice.

Poets in the Park 2010

Saturdays in July at the Robert Burns statue, Washington Park, Albany at Henry Johnson Blvd. & Hudson Ave.

July 10, 7PM - Donald Wellman and Cheryl A. Rice

Free! & open to the public (just like the park). Rain site: the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave.

Sponsored by the Poetry Motel Foundation & the Hudson Valley Writers Guild. For information call 482-0262.

Monday night Keith Spencer is hosting the Professor Java's Wide Open Mic for poets and musicians. It is not his birthday this month, but Keith is promising a great evening at Professor Java's. No word on if there will be an after-party in room 108.

Come see and be a part of one of the Capital Region's best Open Mic Nights! Hosted by Keith Spencer and presented by Professor Java's and Albany Poets, this night is a great show case of talent and local flavor! Sign up at 7:15pm and starting at 8pm this night is not one you want to miss.

Second Mondays at the Coffee Sanctuary have never been so entertaining!

See you there!

Poetry on TV? It is not new for the local poetry community to get some TV time. Albany Poets have been featured on WNYT/Channel 13 and YNN (Capital News 9) in the past year and this Monday, July 12, "The Define Poetic Show" is having a special taping at the Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza with three local poets who have been a part of Albany Poets since the beginning over ten years ago; Marcus Anderson, Mojavi, and R.M. Engelhardt. This is a new series that is being broadcast on Schenectady Channel 16.

You’re invited to the Monday, July 12th taping of *The Define Poetic Show* hosted by Shaun Mintz featuring poets R.M. Engelhardt , Mojavi , and Marcus Anderson at The Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, 1475 Western Ave. At 6:45 p.m.

Space is very limited !! RSVP!

Please RSVP the518@gmail.com or call Oliver @ Define Poetic 374-3532 4pm – 9pm ......for more information ! More information can be found at http://openstagemedia.com/ or http://www.bhny.com/

That is just a couple of the many events and readings in the Albany area coming up this week. Be sure to go to www.albanypoets.com/events for the full calendar of events. If you are hosting or involved in a poetry / spoken word event, reading, or open mic, send the event information to info@albanypoets.com and we will add it to the calendar.

Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic With Featured Poet Alan Casline

2010-07-06T09:53:00.001-04:00

This month Carolee Sherwood is guest-hosting the Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic up in Saratoga Springs. Alan Casline will be the featured poet at the historic folk venue. Here is more info on Alan and the event.

Alan Casline is an American poet, editor, and small press publisher. He was born in Fort Johnson, New York in 1951 and attended St. Lawrence University and SUNY-Albany. As an undergraduate at St. Lawrence University he was poetry editor of Laurentian (1973). He has published a number of collections of poetry and has written on watershed wisdom, folklife, natural history, sustainability, and local poetry. Beginning in 1975 in Canton, New York, he edited and published Rootdrinker, a long standing magazine of watershed poetics, art, and non-fiction. An early bio-regionalist, his Landsat satellite photo cover for Rootdrinker (1975) and his seminal and often reprinted essay “Farm as Ecology”(1977) contributed to the cultural and literary growth of bioregional and watershed groups throughout North America. He has published several volumes of poetry, including Birdsfoot (1985), Some Late Thursday Night Poems (2007) and Grandfather Carp (2009). His poetry appeared in the anthology River of Dreams: Poems from the St. Lawrence Valley (1990), edited by Albert Glover, as well as in numerous other magazines, anthologies and in varied forms electronically and in print.

He is director of Rootdrinker Institute, a membership based organization, which promotes rediscovery of the inspirations and creative visions of earlier artists and writers of each unique watershed. His Benevolent Bird Press has published a number of collections of poetry by other writers. In addition to Rootdrinker, he has edited and published Normanskill (2007) a watershed anthology and the creative folklore anthology The Annals of Perious Frink (2007).

the first Wednesday of every month Caffè Lena presents:
Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic
Wednesday, July 7
7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start
Featured Poet: Alan Casline

$3

Special Guest host Carolee Sherwood
Caffe Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs
www.caffelena.org 583-0022

Alison Koffler and Dayl Wise Reading at The Bohemian Book Bin

2010-07-06T09:47:00.001-04:00

Two great poets are featuring at the Bohemian Book Bin on Thursday night in Kingston. definitely worth the trip. Here is the info

POETRY READING @ Bohemian Book Bin: Thursday - July 8, 2010 at 7:00 PM with features Alison Koffler & Dayl Wise followed by open reading (signup: 7p; 5-min limit - (there are 60 seconds in a minute!!!). Hosted by Teresa Marta Costa. $3.00 suggested donation

845-331-6713 or teresacosta101@msn.com

Bohemian Book Bin
85 Carle Terrace, Lake Katrine, NY (845) 336.6450
(located almost across the street from Big Bubble Laundromat. Just North of Adam's Fairacre Farms. First right past Quikchek just off Route 9W on Carle Terrace Road, in Lake Katrine. Store cannot be seen from the main Road.)

Alison Koffler attended the City College of New York as an undergraduate and received her Masters’ Degree in English from Lehman College. She was the winner of the Goodman Fund Poetry Award in 1978 and the Charlotte A. Tougher Poetry Award in 1993. She was three times the winner of the Bronx Council on the Arts’ BRIO Award for poetry in 1993, 2000 and 2006. She was the recipient of the Poetry Teacher of the Year Award from Poets’ House and McGraw-Hill in 2003, and was a finalist in the Sue Saniel Elkins Poetry Contest in 2006. Her poems have appeared in such publications as Iris: A Journal For Women, Heliotrope, Poetry in Performance, and Kalliope. An English and creative writing teacher, she currently works as an on-site teacher-consultant for the New York City Writing Project at Lehman College.

Dayl Wise was drafted into the US Army in 1969 and served in Viet Nam and Cambodia in 1970. He is a member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War and Veterans For Peace. He lives part time in the Bronx and Woodstock, New York with his wife, the poet Alison Koffler and Molly, a Labrador-pit bull mix. His poems have appeared in The Veteran, Home Planet News, Universe at Your Door – The Slabsides Poets, Chronogram and More Than a Memory, Reflections of Viet Nam. In his spare time, he runs Post Traumatic Press (PTP) and is the author of Poems and other stuff (PTP) 2004 and Basic Load (PTP) 2009. He is the editor of Post Traumatic Press 2007 (PTP), an anthology of work by three generations of veterans.

Poetry This Week In Albany

2010-06-21T13:07:00.001-04:00

We have a busy week ahead of us here in the upstate New York poetry community. There are poetry readings, open mics, and events happening every day this week. Here is a quick run down of what is in store for us.

Monday, June 21
8:00PM – Muddy Cup Open Mic
Muddy Cup Coffee House, 1038 Madison Ave., Albany

Tuesday, June 22
7:00PM – Emack & Bolio’s Open Mic Night
Emack & Bolio’s, Delaware Ave., Albany

Wednesday, June 23
8:00PM – Flavour Cafe Open Mic
Flavour Cafe, 228 4th Street, Troy

Thursday, June 24
7:00PM – Every Other Thursday Night Poets
Voorheesville Public Library, 51 School Street, Voorheesville

7:00PM – Rockhill Bakehouse Open Mic
Rockhill Bakehouse Cafe, 19 Exchange Street, Glens Falls

7:00PM – Word Thursdays
Bright Hill Center, 94 Church Street, Treadwell
Featured poets Charles Conley and Barry Wallenstein

Friday, June 25
8:00PM – VoX
Fuze Box, 12 Central Ave., Albany
Johnny Cash Tribute and fund raiser for the American Cancer Society

Saturday, June 26
11:00AM – Art on Lark
Poetry from Ed Rinaldi, Jill Wickham, Rebecca Schumejda, and Mojavi

8:00PM – Wordsworth Coffeehouse
UUCC Community Center, 320 Sawkill Rd., Kingston

Sunday, June 27
3:00PM – Sunday Four Poetry Open Mic
Old Songs Community Center, 37 South Main Street, Voorheesville

As always, check the Events Calendar for more information on all of the poetry and spoken word events happening in the area. If you would like to have your event listed, send us an email at info@albanypoets.com with your event information and we will add it to the calendar.

Poets In The Park 2010

2010-06-17T09:39:00.001-04:00

Dan Wilcox just released information on the Poets In The Park series for this year. Poets In The Park has been bringing some of the best poetry and spoken word to the people of Albany in Washington Park for a number of years and this years line up looks no different.

The series begins on July 10 and continues every Saturday in July at the Robert Burns statue in Albany’s historic Washington Park. Below is the information from Dan Wilcox himself.

Poets in the Park 2010
Saturdays in July at the Robert Burns statue, Washington Park, Albany (at Henry Johnson Blvd. & Hudson Ave.)

July 10, 7PM
Donald Wellman and Cheryl A. Rice

July 17, 7PM
Aleathia Drehmer and Nickey Black

July 24, 7PM
Thomas Brinson and Tamara Gabbard

July 31, 7PM
Susan Deer Cloud and Guy Reed

Free! & open to the public (just like the park)

Rain site: the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave.

sponsored by the Poetry Motel Foundation & the Hudson Valley Writers Guild

For more information call Dan Wilcox at 482-0262

Professor Java’s Wide Open Mic, Monday, June 14

2010-06-11T10:09:00.001-04:00

Albany Poets and Professor Java’s Coffee Sanctuary present the PROFESSOR JAVA’S WIDE OPEN MIC on the second Monday of each and every month. The next open mic is this coming Monday evening. Poets, musicians, comedians, and ust about anyone else is free to sign up, step up to the mic and share their work with one of the best open mic crowds in the area.

This month we are also celebrating host Keith Spencer’s birthday. So, if nothing else, come on by and wish this hard working guy a Happy Birthday. He deserves it for all that he does for Albany Poets as the Director of Operations, Outreach, and Multimedia (D.O.O.M).

Sign up starts at 7:15, the open mic begins at 8:00 sharp. Professor Java’s is located at 217 Wolf Rd., Albany, NY, 12205

NYS Writers Institute Summer Readings

2010-06-09T17:22:00.000-04:00

The New York State Writers Institute is proud to announce the reading schedule of the Summer Writers Institute at Skidmore University in Saratoga. All events, apart from the opening event with former U. S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky, take place in Palamountain Hall. For directions to Skidmore, click here. Call (518) 580-5599 for more information. All events are free and open to the public.

SUMMER PUBLIC READING LIST 2010

An Evening of Poetry and Jazz Robert Pinsky (former US Poet Laureate) with Skidmore Jazz Institute faculty members June 28, 8:00 pm Gannett Auditorium

Fiction and Poetry Reading, Jim Shepard (Like You’d Understand, Anyway) and Mark Strand (Pulitzer Prize, Poetry) June 29, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Fiction and Poetry Reading, Joseph O’Neill (novelist, Netherland, 2009 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction) and Frank Bidart (poet, Desire) June 30, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Poetry and Fiction Reading, Charles Simic (Former U. S. Poet-Laureate, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet) and Lydia Davis (author, The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis) July 1, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Poetry and Fiction Reading, Carolyn Forché (winner, Lamont Poetry Prize; author, The Angel of History) and Elizabeth Benedict (novelist, Almost) July 2, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Fiction Reading, Francine Prose (novelist, A Changed Man) and Victoria Redel (author, The Border of Truth) July 5, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Fiction and Poetry Reading, Allan Gurganus (author, White People) and Franz Wright (Pulitzer Prize, Poetry) July 6, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Fiction and Poetry Reading, William Kennedy (Pulitzer Prize, Ironweed; Roscoe) and April Bernard (poet, Romanticism), July 7, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Fiction and Poetry Reading, Caryl Phillips (novelist, A Distant Shore, The Nature of Blood) and Campbell McGrath (poet, American Noise) July 8, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Fiction Reading Phillip Lopate (author, Waterfront) and Claire Messud (author, The Emperor’s Children), July 9, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Poetry and Fiction Reading, Richard Howard (Pulitzer Prize, Poetry, Talking Cures) and Danzy Senna (author, Caucasia) July 12, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Fiction and Poetry Reading, Ann Beattie (novelist, Love Always) and Honor Moore (author, Red Shoes, The Bishop’s Daughter) July 13, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Fiction and Poetry Reading, Russell Banks (novelist, The Darling) and Chase Twichell (poet, Dog Language) July 14, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Fiction Reading, Joyce Carol Oates (National Book Award, them; We Were The Mulvaneys) July 15, 8:00 pm Gannett Auditorium

Fiction and Poetry Reading, Mary Gaitskill (author, Veronica) and Tom Healy (poet, What the Right Hand Knows) July 16, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Fiction and Poetry Reading, Amy Hempel (fiction writer, The Dog of the Marriage) and Henri Cole (poet, Middle Earth) July 19, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Fiction and Poetry Reading, Rick Moody (fiction writer, Demonology) and Peg Boyers (poet, Honey with Tobacco, Hard Bread) July 20, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

"In Conversation: What We Write About When We Write 'Creative' Non-Fiction" with Geoffrey O’Brien (The Fall of the House of Walworth) and James Miller (Democracy is in the Streets) July 21, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Fiction and Poetry Reading, Jayne Anne Phillips (author Termite & Lark, Fast Lane) and Mary Kinzie (poet, Summers of Vietnam) July 22, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Fiction and Poetry Reading, Howard Norman (novelist, The Bird Artist) and Lloyd Schwartz (Pulitzer Prize, Criticism; author, Cairo Traffic) July 23, 8:00 pm Davis Auditorium in Palamountain Hall

Pride And Poetry, This Friday At The UAG GAllery

2010-06-08T11:18:00.001-04:00

This Friday, June 11, as part of the Capital Pride 2010 in Albany, the UAG Gallery is hosting a very special poetry reading featuring Shannon Shoemaker and Richard Morell. Here is the information from Don Levy:

Pride and Poetry will feature 2 local Queer poets, Richard Morell and Shannon Shoemaker read their poems.

There will also be a little reading of queer poets like Frank O' Hara and Allen Ginsburgh.

Light refreshments afterwards. $5.00 donation.

This is an official Capital Pride 2010 event co-sponsored by Albany Poets.

College of Poetry Announces Summer Workshops

2010-06-07T16:45:00.001-04:00

The College of Poetry at 7 West Street in Warwick has announced two workshops to be offered during the summer term to run from July 10 until August 28. Each workshop will meet for two hours a week during the eight week course. Tuition for each is $150 and includes admission to the performance by Mikhail Horowitz and Gilles Malkine on July 31. Enrollees are regarded as "guest poets," and workshops are presented in a casual and open manner designed to be useful for writers of all levels of experience.

The Saturday morning course, titled A Waking Dream: Learning from the Romantics, will run from 10 a.m. until 12 noon. This workshop will be taught by William Seaton. “We are all Romantics,” says Seaton. Through reading of the Wordsworth, Shelley, Keats, Byron and the other English Romantics and exercises based on reactions, either imitation, conscious avoidance, or something more complex, workshop participants will develop a deep understanding of the meaning of Romanticism and of its relevance to tomorrow’s poem.

William Seaton’s Spoor of Desire: Selected Poems was published in 2008 by FootHills Publishing; his Dada Poems from the German is forthcoming from Nirala.

Seaton’s poetry, reviews, translations, and essays have recently appeared in Poetry Flash, Chiron Review, Adirondack Review, Gander Press Review, Burp, and Chronogram. Active in poetry performance all his life, he has read in Budapest and Kathmandu and, for sixteen years, has directed the Poetry on the Loose Reading/Performance Series. He has taught at Long Island University and, as an adjunct, at many area institutions. Seaton posts five essays, literary and familiar, every month at williamseaton.blogspot.com.

The afternoon workshop, emphasizing oral skills, will be conducted by two experienced poet/performers: Robert Milby and Irene O’Garden. The first four weeks, led by Milby is titled The Poet's Voice and will focus on effective public recitation and speaking, including vocal projection and overcoming anxiety. Milby will also offer practical information on open and featured readings in this area and literary networking.

Robert Milby is the author of 5 poetry chapbooks as well as a full-length volume, Ophelia's Offspring (Foothills Publishing, 2007). His Victorian House: Ghosts and Gothic Poems is forthcoming from the same press. He has been widely published in magazines and anthologies, and is editor, with Steve Hirsch, of the premiere edition of the College of Poetry's annual, the Wawayanda Review, due out in 2010. Milby was a founder last year (with Steve Calitri and William Seaton) of the Northeast Poetry Center's College of Poetry. He is very active in the regional reading scene as performer, proselytizer, and host. See his website www.robertmilby.com.

For the second half of the workshop Irene O’Garden will present Sounding Your Depths: Sonic Joy on Page and Stage. This 4-week course is designed to strengthen sonic presence in both your writing and your public readings. You'll explore sound and intention, practice writing for the ear, and learn simple techniques to enhance your open mic and feature readings, all in a warm atmosphere with an experienced performer and coach.

Irene O’Garden‘s poetry has found its way to the Off-Broadway stage (Women On Fire published by Samuel French), into hardcover (Fat Girl from Harper), into children’s books and into many literary journals and anthologies. A professional actress, she has performed her poetry throughout the Hudson Valley and beyond, and has worked as a writing and performance coach for over twenty years. More information is available from her website www.ireneogarden.com.

The July 31 performance reading by Mikhail Horowitz and Gilles Malkine will be open to the general public for a modest admission as well as to workshop participants. As Peter Schickele (P.D.Q. Bach) says, “Horowitz does with the English language what Jim Carrey does with his face . . . he and his guitar-totin’ accomplice, Gilles Malkine, are a full-fledged delight to experience."

The College publishes many guest poets and others associated with the institution in its annual, the Wawayanda Review, the first issue of which will be available this spring.

For further information or to register for a course, call William Seaton at 845-294-8085.

Open Stage Media, Channel 16 Schenectady Presents…

2010-06-07T16:39:00.001-04:00

Poetry is going to be back on television thanks to the good folks over at Proctors and Open Stage Media. Here is information on “Define Poetic”

Define Poetic -- A new televised reading series presenting performances by established local poets, who will then introduce us to up-and-coming ones. We at Define Poetic believe that poetry is a Vital Living Thing that must be an essential part of our lives.

Seating available for studio audiences.
Welcome to the June 16th taping of Define Poetic hosted by Shaun Mintz
Featuring: Dan Wilcox…and friend, Laura Hartmark…and friend, TBA

1652 Bradley Street, Schenectady, New York 12304 (Corner of Division)
7p.m.

Audience Space is very limited. Please RSVP the518@gmail.com or call Oliver @ Define Poetic 374-3532 4pm – 9pm for more information

Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival Reading, June 12 Featuring Joan I. Siegel and Mary Makofske

2010-06-04T09:55:00.001-04:00

Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival (www.woodstockpoetry.com) as part of the Woodstock Arts Consortium is sponsoring the following poetry event as part of the Woodstock "Second Saturdays" Art Events. For a full listing of "Second Saturday" events, see: www.artsin woodstock .org.

Poets Joan I. Siegel and Mary Makofske will be the featured readers when the Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival meets at the Woodstock Town Hall, 76 Tinker Street, on Saturday, June 12th at 2pm. Note: WPS&F meetings are held the 2nd Saturday of every month at the Woodstock Town Hall.

The readings will be "sub-hosted by Albany area poet Dan Wilcox (filling in for Phillip Levine). All meetings are free, open to the public, and include an open mike.

Joan I. Siegel - Joan I. Siegel is the author of two poetry collections. The first, published jointly with her husband, J. R. Solonche, is titled PEACH GIRL: POEMS FOR A CHINESE DAUGHTER (Grayson Books, 2001). Her first solo collection, HYACINTH FOR THE SOUL, was issued by Deerbrook Editions in Spring 2009.

Regarding HYACINTH…, former US Poet Laureate Maxine Kumin commented:
“These passionate, caring poems range seamlessly from personal lyric to public outcry, from a pair of well-turned pantoums of childhood memories to a poem that rewrites the liturgy of a responsive reading from the Passover service. Siegel knows how to go for the small specific details that illuminate even the darkest subjects.”
Her poems published in The Atlantic Monthly, The Gettysburg Review, Prairie Schooner, Commonweal, Raritan, among numerous journals and anthologies, Ms. Siegel is also recipient of the New Letters Poetry Prize and the Anna Davidson Rosenberg Award.
Professor Emerita of English at SUNY/Orange in Middletown, New York, she previously co-edited Wordsmith: a Journal of Poetry and Art, which featured the work of SUNY and CUNY faculty poets and artists.

Joan lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and daughter and assorted cats.

Mary Makofske - Mary Makofske lives with her husband in a solar house in Warwick, NY, where they enjoy a view of a mountain and a large vegetable, fruit, and flower garden. She’s taught at Ramapo College of New Jersey and SUNY Orange, from which she retired in 2006.

Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Zone 3, Poetry East, Mississippi Review, Modern Haiku, Amoskeag, Calyx: A Journal of Art and Literature by Women, and other literary magazines and in the anthologies In a Fine Frenzy: Poets Respond to Shakespeare (Iowa); Hunger and Thirst (City Works); Tangled Vines (HBJ); and Proposing on the Brooklyn Bridge and Essential Love (Grayson).

She is the author of The Disappearance of Gargoyles (Thorntree) and Eating Nasturtiums, winner of a Flume Press chapbook competition. Individual poems have received the Robert Penn Warren Poetry Prize (Cumberland Poetry Review), the Lullwater Review Prize, the Spoon River Poetry Review Prize, and the Iowa Woman Prize.

In The Care of Strangers, A New Book By D. Alexander Holiday

2010-05-28T14:49:00.001-04:00

Poet and writer D. Alexander Holiday has a brand new book out. In The Care of Strangers is now available for purchase at the offical website, www.inthecareofstrangers.com. Here is some information on Holiday and the new book.

D. Alexander Holiday, author of three previous books of poetry and prose, has published his memoir on the formative years spent under the foster care system of New York. The book, entitled, In The Care of Strangers, is the provocative narrative telling of the abandonment, abuse, and neglect by his immediate family and those of foster parents in four foster homes for nearly twenty-one years. Coupled with being a ward of the state, Mr. Holiday was stricken with a paralyzing illness (while in a second foster home) the residue of which he still contends with to present day. Reviewing such a life, in care, and charging others with any of The Seven Deadly Sins, this is a compelling expose’ on what a life was like, what it could have become, and what it ultimately becomes for an abandoned individual. In addition to the memoir, there is a “mini-novella” and a separate section of thirty-three poems (related only to the foster care experience) in the book. Mr. Holiday’s hope is that by, finally, telling the full story of such a life, others can find their own strength and determination to achieve despite overwhelming odds.

The link to the website of In The Care of Strangers & information on ordering a copy is: http://www.inthecareofstrangers.com

D. Alexander Holiday volunteers and moderates a creative writing workshop for inmates at a state maximum security facility in upstate New York. His is also a local liaison for the GBS/CIDP Foundation International. He is the author of three previous books of poetry and prose: Letters to Osama, I Use To Fall Down, and All The Killers Gathered. His work can also be found at a variety of websites such as http://www.speakwithoutinterruption.com, http://www.Helium.com, and http://www.albanypoets.com.

More on the author and purchasing his and other writer’s books can be found at http://www.writers.net and at the Xlibris webpage, http://www2.xlibris.com. The author works as a New York State employee and resides in the Albany region.

Word Thursdays Features Binghampton Writer Jaimee Wriston Colbert and Woodstock Poet Alison Koffler, May 27

2010-05-25T12:33:00.001-04:00

On Thursday, May 27, Word Thursdays will feature Binghamton writer Jaimee Wriston Colbert and Woodstock and Bronx poet Alison Koffler. They will read from their work after the open mic, which begins at 7 pm. The readings will take place in Bright Hill's Word & Image Gallery. There will be an intermission with refreshments. Bright Hill Literary Center is located at 94 Church Street, Treadwell, one block north of Barlow's General Store on Co. Hwy 14. There is an admission fee of $3, but the evening is free to those 18 and under.

Jaimee Wriston Colbert is the author of a new novel, Shark Girls, which earned a starred review in Booklist and was nominated for the ALA Notable Books for 2010 list; a linked stories collection, Dream Lives of Butterflies, which won a gold medal in the 2008 Independent Publisher Awards; a novel, Climbing the God Tree, winner of the Willa Cather Fiction Prize; and the fiction collection Sex, Salvation, and the Automobile, winner of the Zephyr Publishing Prize. Her stories have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including: TriQuarterly, Prairie Schooner, Tampa Review, Connecticut Review, New Letters (and archived in New Letters On The Air), and broadcast on NPR’s “Selected Shorts.” A recent story in Isotope won the 2009 Editors’ Fiction Prize, and another story won the 2008 Jane’s Stories National Short Story Award. Originally from Hawaii, she is Professor of Creative Writing at SUNY, Binghamton University.

Alison Koffler received her Masters’ Degree in English from Lehman College. She was the recipient of the Poetry Teacher of the Year in 2003 and three times the winner of the Bronx Council on the Arts’ BRIO Award for poetry in 1993, 2000 and 2006. Her poems have appeared in such publications as Iris: a Journal for Women, Heliotrope, Kalliope, Home Planet News and Universe at Your Door: The Slabsides Poets. She currently works as an on-site teacher- consultant for the New York City Writing Project at Lehman College, and lives in the Bronx and Woodstock, New York.

Bright Hill Center's 2010 programs are made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts , the A. Lindsay and Olive B. O'Connor Foundation, the Otis A. Thompson Foundation, the Walter Rich Charitable Foundation, the A. C. Molinari Foundation, area businesses, and its members and friends. Bright Hill's Community Library & Internet Wing, which features a large collection of literary and art- related volumes as well as children's literature, is free and open to the public Mondays and Tuesdays, 10 am - 4 pm, Wednesdays, 9 am - noon, during Word Thursdays readings, and by appointment. For further information about BHLC and its programs, contact Bright Hill Center at 607-829- 5055 or email the Center at wordthur@stny.rr.com.

A Night at Tess’ Lark Tavern: A Benefit Celebration Featuring The “House Bands” of The Lark Tavern

2010-05-18T10:08:00.001-04:00

The Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio presents:
A Night at Tess' Lark Tavern: A Benefit Celebration featuring the "House Bands" of the Lark Tavern

with Albany Poets; Jim Gaudet & The Railroad Boys; Keith Pray's Big Soul Revival; MotherJudge & "The Best Damn Open Mic EVER!" Band; Ramblin Jug Stompers; and special guest Bryan Thomas 7 p.m. Thursday, June 10, The Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio 339 Central Ave, Albany, 518.465.5233, ext. 4; www.thelinda.org, $15 at the door.

In the early morning hours of May 6, 2010 a fire ripped through Tess’ Lark Tavern, effectively gutting the historic building while also gutting the heart of downtown Albany’s artistic community. For years prior to the fire, owner Tess Collins had made an unusual commitment -- creating a home for artists of all walks by hosting meetings, events, benefits and performances by the city’s best and brightest, as well as by the region’s promising unknowns and up-and-comers.

Now it’s time for the artists and the community-at-large to give back. This is being done most visibly through a series of benefits staged by those touched by the graceful, generous hand of Collins and her well-loved staff. Few have felt that touch more deeply than the “House Bands” of Tess’ Lark Tavern. These groups of musicians and poets have made the Lark Tavern their true home, with long-running residencies based on monthly (or in the case of MotherJudge, weekly) performances.

It’s safe to say that host band Ramblin Jug Stompers and jazz icons Keith Pray’s Big Soul Ensemble would simply not exist without Collins, as her venue was the incubator which allowed these groups to grow and develop into important elements of the region’s musical scene.

BSE’s debut album, “Live at the Lark Tavern,” stands as a testament to the 17-piece group’s wildly successful and long-running First Tuesday stand. Gaudet has used his First Monday slot as a laboratory for introducing a plethora of new songs while honing his band’s bluegrass kick. The Jug Stompers recently celebrated their fourth anniversary of Third Monday performances on the stage that birthed them. And Albany Poets have made their Last Monday Poets Speak Loud the place to be for spoken word in the Hidden City.

Thomas’ name-dropping number “MotherJudge” is a tribute to the venue’s legendary open mic host and the many careers she has fostered and launched on Wednesday nights at the Lark for well over a decade.

The theme of the “House Band” benefit at The Linda is “A Night at Tess’ Lark Tavern,” and it will mark the first time that the Lark’s resident favorites have been on one stage (graciously donated by WAMC) together in one night. Representatives from Albany Poets will read from their work between sets by the bands, and Thomas -- the evening’s special guest -- will sing “MotherJudge” to introduce the closing performance by "The Best Damn Open Mic EVER!" Band, which includes John Brodeur, Albie and Bob Buckley (who are also members of various area bands including Lark Tavern favorites, These Are The Hits).

Admission for “A Night at Tess’ Lark Tavern” is $15 at the door (although larger donations will be gratefully accepted). There will be no advance ticket sales. All proceeds from admissions, donations and CD sales will go directly to Tess’ Lark Tavern. Doors open at 6 p.m.

“A Night at Tess’ Lark Tavern” is a Mystery Tramp Production made possible through the kind sponsorship of WAMC, WEXT, Metroland and Nippertown.com.

For more information, contact event producer, Michael Eck/Mystery Tramp Productions
518.432.6634, mandhand@aol.com.

www.thelinda.org, www.exit977.org, www.metroland.net, www.nippertown.com, www.albanypoets.com, www.jimgaudet.com, www.keithpray.com, www.myspace.com/motherjudge, www.jugstompers.com, www.bryanthomas.com, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Albany-NY/Tess-Lark-Tavern/82894676935

UGT Presents: Heart Break Hotel, Friday, May 21 at The Linda

2010-05-17T16:49:00.001-04:00

This Friday at The Linda is the return of Urban Guerilla Theatre. If you have not been to one of these poetry and spoken word shows, you should definitely check it out. The artists that take the stage are amazing and inspiring and the crowd is always electric. Here is the info from Mojavi:

This Friday, May 21 is UGT’s annual Heart Break Hotel. If you have been, then you know how crazy it gets and how much fun it can be. If you have not been then prepare your self for a night of intense poetry, beautiful spoken word, great music and atmosambiance.

We have some special guests for Friday....Featuring the comedy of....Beloved that is right our UGT alumni is making a return to the Capital Region..Mr. Comic View, Tom Joyner’s show and cruise, and the ATL comedy scene..Beloved will be performing Friday!!

Another UGT/Soul Kitchen classic member will be in building. One of the hottest mc’s / spoken word artists ...I Am Self!!!

This Friday at The Linda WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio, 339 Central ave. Doors open 8pm show begins at 9pm. Tix in advance $10 online at the www.thelinda.org, $15 At the door! You do not want to miss this!!
Featuring UGT’s Q-Diamond, Ms. Bliss, Eloquence, Poetyc Vyzyonz, Souljourner Truth, Truth In Rhyme and more.

We do this like we are on tv!!!!!

V0x at The Fuzebox on Friday, May 28

2010-05-13T13:32:00.001-04:00

R.M. Engelhardt’s VoX open mic series continues this month on Friday, May 28 at The Fuzebox (12 Central Ave., Albany). Last month R.M. began using the open mic for poets and musicians as a fundraiser for various causes. This month’s event will help raise money for the rebuilding of Tess’ Lark Tavern. Here is the information from Mr. Engelhardt:

V Ω X
________________

AT THE FUZEBOX

Friday May 28th 2010

ALBANY NY’s Open Mic

For Poets & Musicians 8pm

12 Central Avenue

Your $4.00 donation

Goes towards a great cause now each & every month!

This Month's Cause Is :

Tess’ Lark Tavern

__________________

Hosted By Poet R.M. ENGELHARDT

$4.00 donation requested

Last Friday of Every Month

This is just one of the many events that are happening in the area to help raise money for Tess and her staff after the devastating fire that went through the building last week. Be sure to check back for more information on upcoming events and how you can help. Albany Poets is hosting a special edition of Poets Speak Loud on Monday, May 24 at Valentines as way to show our support.

Caffe Lena Poetry Festival June 4 and 5

2010-05-13T13:16:00.001-04:00

Saratoga’s Caffe Lena is hosting a fantastic weekend of poetry, workshops, and spoken word coming up next month. Here is the info from Carol Graser:

For the second year running Caffe Lena will devote a weekend to the art of the spoken word, with more than a dozen accomplished poets offering words of freedom, beauty, challenge, and revelation. The festival will open on Friday evening with a full-length performance by renowned NYC slam poet Taylor Mali, and will continue on Saturday with workshops and readings throughout the afternoon and evening with poets Don Levy, Naton Leslie, Christine Gelineau, Lyn Lifshin, Frannie Lindsay, Susan Deer Cloud, Paul Pines, Joseph Bruchac, Diane Lockward, Lucyna Prostko, Daniel Nester and Barbara Ungar & Nancy White performing From Eve to Barbie: women in myth and history…

Taylor Mali
Friday, Jun. 4 • 8 PM
$15 advance / $17 at the door
www.taylormali.com

Saturday, June 5 Workshop Schedule:
12:30 – 1:30 Diane Lockward               Weird Is Good
12:30 – 1:30 Lucyna Prostko                Writing the Deepest Self
1:45 – 2:45 Christina Gelineau               Exploring Beyond the I
1:45 – 2:45 Naton Leslie                      Writing Linked Poems
3:00 – 4:00 Frannie Lindsay                Writing the Ugly Truth
3:00 – 4:00 Daniel Nester                    Poetry Workshop with Daniel Nester

Each workshop is $10. Workshop descriptions are on the website. We’ll have phone reservations for the workshops set up at 583-0022 in the near future. In the meantime, you can contact cgraser@nycap.rr.com   to reserve your spot.

Poets Help Now! A Benefit Open Mic For Tess’ Lark Tavern

2010-05-11T11:36:00.001-04:00

POETS HELP NOW! A BENEFIT FOR TESS AND THE STAFF OF TESS' LARK TAVERN!

For over five years Tess' Lark Tavern has been the home of Poets Speak Loud. What started out in January 2005 as a monthly open mic for poetry has become much more than that, it has become a family. Through the support and generosity of Tess and the welcoming, warm hearted nature of her staff, the Lark Tavern has become a home not just to poets on the last Monday of the month, but the entire community.

Over the years, the Poets Speak Loud open mic has featured local poets such as Emily Gonzalez, The Poet Essence, Cheryl A. Rice, Michael Eck, Mother Judge, Rich Tomasulo, Alan Catlin, A.C. Everson, Jil Hanifan, Nicole Peyrafitte, R.M. Engelhardt, Dain Brammage, Amanda Rose, Josh McIntyre, Philip Levine, Rachael Zitomer, Pierre Joris, Will Nixon, Don Levy, Robert Milby, John Weiler, Jason Crane, Carolee Sherwood, Carol Graser, and many, many more. This time we are featuring the Lark Tavern!

Now is your chance to give back and be a part of the rebuilding of Tess' Lark Tavern. On Monday, May 24, at Valentines (upstairs) POETS HELP NOW.

This is an Open Mic Event. Come on out, share your words, thoughts and experiences for Tess and her Staff!

Sign-up starts at 7:00pm. We will begin the open mic at 8:00pm. Get there early as we are expecting a big crowd!

$5 Donation at the door and ALL proceeds are going to Tess and the staff of Tess' Lark Tavern to use for the rebirth of the Tavern.

This event is lovingly brought to you by Albany Poets.

Walt Whitman Birthday Reading in Washington Park

2010-05-10T10:51:00.001-04:00

Every year on Walt Whitman’s birthday, Dan Wilcox brings local poets and community citizens together for a special reading of Whitman’s Song of Myself . Here is the announcement from Dan himself:

Celebrate the Birthday of Walt Whitman at the Robert Burns Statue Washington Park, Albany, NY

A reading of “Song of Myself” by local poets & other citizens

Monday, May 31, 2010 - 6:00 PM
rain or shine
free

(bring chairs or blankets to sit on)

presented by the Poetry Motel Foundation, the Hudson Valley Writers Guild, & Capital Pride 2010 (Capital Pride 2010 is produced by the Capital District Gay & Lesbian Community Council)

(for information call 482-0262)

Poets Speak Loud Temporarily Suspended

2010-05-07T10:12:00.001-04:00

As you may have heard, the local arts community suffered a major setback yesterday morning with the fire at Tess' Lark Tavern. The damage was extensive, but the structure of the building is still in tact. Due to that tragic event, we at Albany Poets have decided to suspend our open mic POETS SPEAK LOUD. PSL was born at Tess'. It is part of the integrity of the Lark and we would not feel comfortable temporarily moving the event to another venue. In the coming weeks and months, we will be working very closely with Tess and her dedicated staff in the rebuilding, renovating and reopening of the Lark. Albany Poets is in this for the long haul. We will be planning events down the road based on the wants and needs of Tess and the staff. In the meantime, there are a number of sites available if you wish to donate as well as benefits planned.

We will be continuing ALBANY POETS PRESENTS: NO GIMMICKS OPEN MIC, at Valentine's on the first Tuesday of each month and PROFESSOR JAVA'S WIDE OPEN MIC at Professor Java's, on the second Monday of each month. We will be updating throughout the process of rebuilding and the next POETS SPEAK LOUD will be a huge event. We look forward to this process and rebirth.

Thom Francis
Mary Panza
Keith Spencer

Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic With Featured Poet Jared Smith

2010-05-04T09:32:00.001-04:00

This coming Wednesday, May 5, Jared Smith will be the featured poet at the monthly Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic. Always a great reading up in Saratoga at the historic Caffe Lena with a fantastic host, Carol Graser.

The first Wednesday of every month Caffè Lena presents:
Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic
Wednesday, May 5
7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start
Featured Poet: Jared Smith
$3
Hosted by Carol Graser
-and the Caffè Lena poetry fest is coming up June 4 & 5!

Jared Smith’s seventh volume of poetry, The Graves Grow Bigger Between Generations, was released by Higganum Hill Books in the spring of 2008 and was nominated for a Tufts Award. He is a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee (2007 and 2008). In addition his book Where Images Become Imbued With Time was nominated for The National Book Award in 2007 His second CD, Controlled By Ghosts, was released by Practical Music Studio in combination with CD Baby in October 07, with music by alternative jazz composer Lem Roby. He has had hundreds of publications in literary journals across the nation over the past 30 years, in addition to several foreign countries. He has published reviews of the works of such major contemporary poets as Ted Kooser, C.K. Williams, and W.S. Merwin. He has also been on National Public Radio and Pacifica. He has given readings, workshops, and classes at colleges, schools, libraries, and coffee houses around the country.

Caffè Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs
www.caffelena.org 583-0022

New Albany Poets Podcasts – January 2010 Poets Speak Loud

2010-04-29T15:31:00.001-04:00

We just posted some new podcasts to the site for everyone to download and take a listen to. Go to www.albanypoets.com/audio to download the mp3’s or listen using the player on the page.

These podcasts were recorded at the Poets Speak Loud 5th Anniversary Open Mic / Tom Nattell Tribute reading on January 25, 2010 at Tess’ Lark Tavern. This event was guest-hosted by Dan Wilcox and featured poetry and spoken word from Sylvia Barnard, Julie Lamoe, Jason Crane, Ed Rinaldi, Tim Ervin, Brenda Rusch, Murrow, Carolee Sherwood, Jill Wickham, Avery, Shannon Shoemaker, Cheryl A. Rice, A.C. Everson, Sally Rhoades, Alex Albino and more.

If you want to read about the reading, be sure to check out Dan Wilcox’s website for his write-up.

T.G. Vanini to Read at Poetry on the Loose

2010-04-28T12:11:00.001-04:00

T. G. Vanini will perform his work at the next program in the Poetry on the Loose Reading/Performance Series. The event will be held at 7 West Street in Warwick at 4:00 p.m. on May 1st. Following the feature, others are welcome to read original work. Admission is free. Please enter through the side door on the right side of the building.

Vanini is an extraordinary poet and lyricist whose original words and music, influenced by classical and folk traditions, are featured on his two recordings with his trio, The Princes of Serendip: most recently What She Said, which came out on Jaiya Records in 2008. Vanini's solo album growth & gravity was released by Rose Hill Records in 1996. (Vanini had previously played with an English folk-dance band named Black Pig, a French folk-rock outfit called Menerval, the strange and beautiful Breaking Ground, and the inimitable Fighting McKenzies.)

T. G. sometimes acts the part of Laurence Kirby, a Cambridge-educated mathematics professor who teaches at Baruch College. Some of the results of his reckless mixture of poetry and math may be seen at http://faculty.baruch.cuny.edu/vanini/.

The next reading on June 5 will feature Donna Spector.

For further information, contact: William Seaton / Poetry on the Loose, Inc. by calling (845) 294-8085 or send an email to seaton@frontiernet.net

WORDSpring This Thursday in Saranac Lake

2010-04-26T15:43:00.001-04:00

This looks like a great poetry event up in Saranac Lake. If you are in the Northern NY area, this is the reading to be at. Three incredible poets will be performing. Here is the info from the Adirondack Center for Writing:

The Adirondack Center for Writing and North Country Community College have joined forces to present three outstanding performance poets on this Thursday, April 29^th!

If you think poetry readings are dull and dusty, think again. A performance by three spoken word poets Thursday, April 29th at 7 p.m. will have you on your feet. North Country Community College and the Adirondack Center for Writing present WordSpring!, a rare night with Liza Jessie Peterson, Jon Sands, and Jeanann Verlee. In short, these three are to poetry what hip hop is to music: cutting edge, full of rhythm and style and bound to smash stereotypes.

The trio, will take the stage at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, April 29^th at the David W. Petty Lecture Hall on the North Country Community College Campus in Saranac Lake. The event is free and open to the public.

A revolution is taking place at the forefront of the poetry world, with writers performing on stage in the competition format of the “slam,” with words being taken from the page and turned into captivating performances that leave audiences hooting, hollering, and nodding their heads.

Liza Jessie Peterson is a classically trained actress and alumnus of the renowned National Shakespeare Conservatory and has been a student of the legendary coach to the stars, Susan Batson, since 1994. Liza has performed her poetry on HBO’s Def Poetry. Known most for her exceptional poetic skills, Liza began her poetry career at the famed Nuyorican Poets Café in 1995 and was a vital member of the enclave of notable poets who were part of the “underground slam poetry” movement before it attracted television cameras and national obsession. It was this electric group of artists that inspired Russell Simmons to bring “slam poetry” to HBO.

Liza has also appeared in several feature films and has written several plays. Liza has taught creative writing and poetry to youth at Rikers Island and in high risk communities for over a decade.

Jon Sands has been a full-time independent teaching & performing artist since 2007. He's a recipient of the 2009 New York City-LouderARTS fellowship grant, and has represented New York City multiple times at the National Poetry Slam, subsequently becoming an NPS finalist. Jon has performed and facilitated workshops with university and arts organizations throughout North America, and is currently the Director of Poetry and Arts Education Programming at the Positive Health Project, a syringe exchange center located in Midtown Manhattan, as well as a Youth Mentor with Urban Word-NYC. Jon's poems have appeared in decomP magazinE, Suss, The Literary Bohemian, Spindle Magazine, The November 3rd Club, and others. He is also one-fourth of the nationally acclaimed electricity-fest, The SpillJoy Ensemble. Jon lives in New York City, where he makes better tuna salad than anyone you know.

Jeanann Verlee is an author, performance poet, editor, activist, and former punk rocker who collects tattoos and winks at boys. Her work has appeared and been accepted in numerous publications, including The New York Quarterly, PANK, FRiGG, decomP, Danse Macabre, and “Not A Muse,” among others. Her first book of poetry, “Racing Hummingbirds,” will be published by Write Bloody Press in March 2010. Verlee was the highest-scoring individual poet at the 2008 National Poetry Slam Finals, is the 2009 NYC-Urbana iWPS Champion, and has represented New York City multiple times at the National Poetry Slam as both competitor and team coach. She proudly serves as co-curator for the Urbana Poetry Slam reading series at the Bowery Poetry Club. Verlee has performed and facilitated workshops at schools, theatres, bookstores, dive bars and poetry venues across North America. She shares an apartment with her dog and a pair of origami lovebirds. She believes in you.

The John Ashbery Poetry Series at Bard College Presents Chilean Poet Raúl Zurita

2010-04-26T09:50:00.001-04:00

The John Ashbery Poetry Series presents Raúl Zurita reading from his work with translator Anna Deeny on Wednesday, April 28. The reading is free and open to the public and begins at 6 p.m. in Weis Cinema in the Bertelsmann Campus Center.

Raúl Zurita was born in Santiago, Chile in 1951. He started out studying mathematics before turning to poetry. His early work is a ferocious response to Augusto Pinochet’s 1973 military coup. Like many other Chileans, Zurita was arrested and tortured. When he was released, he helped to form the radical artistic group CADA, and he became renowned for his provocative and intensely physical public performances. In the early 1980s, Zurita famously sky-wrote passages from his poem “The New Life” over Manhattan. Later (still during the reign of Pinochet) he bulldozed the phrase Ni pena ni miedo (Without pain or fear) into the Atacama Desert, where it can still be seen. For fifteen years, Zurita worked on a trilogy which is considered one of the signal poetic achievements in Latin American poetry: Purgatory appeared in 1979, Ante-paradise in 1982, and The New Life in 1993. Raúl Zurita is one of the most renowned contemporary Latin American poets and is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the National Poetry Prize of Chile. Translations of Purgatory and Ante-paradise were published in the United States in the 1980s. A new book, INRI, translated by William Rowe, was published by Merick Press in 2009. A new bilingual edition of Purgatory, translated by Anna Deeny, was also published in 2009, by The University of California Press.

Anna Deeny (Ph.D. UC Berkeley) is a Lecturer in the History and Literature Department at Harvard University. In addition to Raúl Zurita’s Purgatory (Univ. of California Press, 2009), Anna Deeny has translated a selection of his most recent poems, forthcoming from House Press in 2010. Deeny is currently working on a book called Consciousness unto Itself, a study of the relationship between poetry and the processes of thought in Latin American and US Literature.

For more information about the reading, call Angela Kozlakowski at 845-758-7887 or e-mail akozlako@bard.edu.

Poets Speak Loud Featuring Jason Crane on Monday, April 26

2010-04-23T14:33:00.001-04:00

Poets Speak Loud is coming back to Tess' Lark Tavern on Monday, April 26with monthly open mic for poetry and spoken word with featured poet Jason Crane.

Jason Crane is a jazz broadcaster and writer. He’s a husband and father. And he rides a bicycle.

Jason hosts the online jazz interview show The Jazz Session, featuring in-depth interviews with jazz musicians from around the world. (http://www.thejazzsession.com)

Jason’s first collection of poems, Unexpected Sunlight, is forthcoming in 2010 from FootHills Publishing. His work has been published in Blue Collar Review and will soon appear in qarrtsiluni. Jason's poems and a complete biography are available atwww.jasoncrane.org.

POETS SPEAK LOUD takes place at Tess' Lark Tavern (453 Madison Ave., Albany). Signup starts at 7:00PM, poetry starts at 8:00PM.

Yes! Reading This Friday, April 23, With Kazim Ali

2010-04-22T10:33:00.001-04:00

This coming Friday, the Yes! Reading Series continues at the Social Justice Center with Kazim Ali. He was a SUNY Albany student years ago as well as a featured poet at Don Levy’s old reading at the Albany Art Gallery. Here is the info from the curators of Yes!

Yes! Reading Series is delighted to host Kazim Ali this Friday, 7:30pm at the Social Justice Center. Please find a poster attached and feel free to distribute this invite far and wide. This is our last reading of the Spring semester and we look forward to ending with a full flushed blossom-sing!

Poet and Professor, Kazim Ali is a UAlbany alumni the author of two books of poetry, The Far Mosque (Alice James Books), winner of Alice James Books' New England/New York Award, and The Fortieth Day (BOA Editions, 2008). He is also the author of the novel Quinn’s Passage (blazeVox books), named one of "The Best Books of 2005" by Chronogram magazine, The Disappearance of Seth (Etruscan Press, 2009), Bright Felon: Autobiography and Cities (Wesleyan University Press, 2009) and Orange Alert: Essays on Poetry, Art, and Architecture of Silence (Michigan UP, forthcoming).

He is an assistant professor of Creative Writing at Oberlin College and teaches in the low-residency MFA program of the University of Southern Maine. His work has been featured in many national journals such as Best American Poetry 2007, American Poetry Review, Boston Review, Barrow Street, jubilat and Massachusetts Review.He teaches at Oberlin College and the Stonecoast MFA program and is a founding editor of Nightboat Books.

United 4 Thacher, This Saturday, April 24

2010-04-21T09:35:00.001-04:00

Albany Poets is very proud to be a part of this event to bring awareness to the closing of Thacher Park. We have a long history with the park as the first two Albany Word Fest’s were held there in 2001 and 2002. We are teaming with 518Fever.com to bring artists, musicians, and poets together for this great day of entertainment in Schenectady. Local poets Don Levy, Dan Wilcox, A.C. Everson, Cara Benson, and Carol Graser will be performing at the Robb Alley stage from 6pm-8pm Saturday evening.

Here is the info from our friends at 518Fever.com:

UNITED 4 THACHER: A CELEBRATION OF THACHER PARK

518Fever.com is working with Proctor's Theatre to put on a Support Event for Thacher Park.

Sponsored by 518Fever.com. Fly 92.3, Proctor's Theatre, Gauchos Catering & DePaula T-Shirts.

We will have a Physical Petition Signing Table that will be mailed to the Governor's office. This is Your Way to Show Your Support for Thacher Park!

- Friends of Thacher Park will be collecting donations

- Live Music Performances by:

GE Theatre:
Cathy Blanch & The Murres (5-5:45)
Joe Nacco Band (6-6:45)
What She Said (7-7:45)
Lunic (8-8:45)

Signatures Wine Bar Performers:
Taylor Fleming (6-7)
James Dowen (7-8)
Danielle Gaudin (8-9)

- Local Artists will be Displaying their Art in the Proctor's Robb Alley courtesy of Schenectady Art Night

Children Activities from 5 - 8pm include:
- Face Painting
- Ladybug the Clown and Balloon Maker
- Storytelling
- The Puppet People

- Local Poets to Perform on Robb Alley stage courtesy of Albany Poets

- Bike show courtesy of Broadway Choppers

- Performances from Merritt Dance Center Performing Arts and Acro Team

- Flowers available from Fantasy Floral

- Various promotional tables, displays and exhibits from Local Businesses and Venues

This Event is in Need of your Support!
Volunteers, Sponsors, Entertainers, Performers, Artists and Promoters.

Please Support this Event by Inviting your Friends and Family to Attend as well.

You can find this event on Facebook as well - CLICK HERE

This is going to be a great event that hopefully can bring a lot of support for one of the finest parks in the country. See you Saturday.

VoX: 04.30.10 Open Mic For Local Poets & Musicians - New & Reloaded!

2010-04-15T09:37:00.001-04:00

Poet and promoter R.M. Engelhardt has just sent out the announcement for the new and improved V0x reading at the Fuze Box. According to recent posts and bulletins on Facebook, the VOX series will now feature poetry and music as well as help raise money for various causes here in Albany and abroad. The first event will take place on Friday, April 30. Money donated during the reading will go to the American Humane Society.

Here is the event info from Albany At Night:

VoX - ALBANY'S Open Mic For Local Poets & Musicians At The FuzeBox ON FRIDAY APRIL 30th 2010 At 8pm

THIS MONTH WE ARE CELEBRATING NATIONAL POETRY MONTH! AND? We Present... "THE SHAKESPEAREAN EXPERIMENT"

Thats Right Kids. This Month Is Also Shakespeare’s Birthday & In Honor of the Bard We Want You to Bring Your Favorite Shakespeare Poems, Prose Piece Or? Re-Do, Re-Mix or Re Create It! Bring Your Own Poems As Well & Read, Have A Few Drinks!

NOTE: POETS* WRITERS*MUSICIANS ARE WELCOME!

VoX @ The Fuzebox.
On Friday, April 30th at 8pm. 12 Central Avenue, Albany, NY.
This Month We Are Celebrating National Poetry Month as well celebrating Shakespeare's Birthday! The challenge? To recreate his poetry thru music or in your own voice. Sing it. Scream it. Change it. Awaken the voice of the bard!

Your $4.00 donation goes towards a great cause now each & every month!
This Month's Cause Is The AMERICAN HUMANE SOCIETY!

*8pm Start time*
$4.00 Donation Requested

FuzeBox, 12 CENTRAL AVENUE, ALBANY, NY

VOX! Always Held On The Last Friday of Each Month!
Sponsored By: ALBANY AT NIGHT

For more information, contact R.M. Engelhardt and/or Albany At Night on Facebook.

Celebrating National Poetry Month in New Paltz

2010-04-13T14:27:00.001-04:00

The 2010 Albany Word Fest is not the only poetry event happening this weekend in the upstate New York literary community. Here is some info on a reading happening Saturday afternoon in New Paltz. Still plenty of time to make it back up to the UAG for day two of the Word Fest.

Celebrating National Poetry Month
4:30 p.m., Saturday, April 17 at the Elting Memorial Library, 93 Main St., New Paltz

Award-winning poets Will Nixon and Matthew J. Spireng will help celebrate National Poetry Month with a reading from their work at the Elting Memorial Library.

Nixon will read poems from his new book, Love in the City of Grudges. Spireng will read poems that focus on poets–mostly famous, and sometimes not—and poetry.

Matthew J. Spireng, of Lomontville, is a lifelong Ulster County resident and former resident of New Paltz. His book Out of Body won the 2004 Bluestem Poetry Award and was published in 2006 by Bluestem Press at Emporia State University. His chapbooks are: Young Farmer; Encounters; Inspiration Point, winner of the 2000 Bright Hill Press Poetry Chapbook Competition; and Just This. His book What Focus Is is forthcoming in 2011 from Word Press.

Will Nixon's new poetry book, Love in the City of Grudges (FootHills Publishing), ranges from childhood reveries to the misadventures of a young man in gentrifying Hoboken in the 1980s to a series of poems that mixes family history with Night of the Living Dead. His previous collection, My Late Mother as a Ruffed Grouse (FootHills Publishing), described his move from mid-town Manhattan to a Catskills log cabin in 1996. With Michael Perkins he is the co-author of Walking Woodstock: Journeys into the Wild Heart of America's Most Famous Small Town, a book that began as essays for the Woodstock Times and became the #1 paperback bestseller of 2009 at the Golden Notebook, Woodstock's indepeNdent bookstore. Will Nixon lives in Woodstock. His website is willnixon.com.

Third Thursday Poetry Night Featuring Paul Pines

2010-04-09T15:41:00.001-04:00

The Official Unofficial kick off the 2010 Albany Word Fest is the Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center. Here is the info from host Dan Wilcox:

the Poetry Motel Foundation presents Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center (33 Central Ave., Albany, NY) Thursday, April 15, 7:00 sign up; 7:30 start.

Featured Poet: Paul Pines

& the official unofficial start of Albany WordFest 2010!

-- with an open mic for community poets before & after the feature: $3.00 donation, suggested; more if you got it, less if you can’t.

Your jazzy, poetic host: Dan Wilcox.

Paul Pines is the author of two novels, The Tin Angel (Morrow, ‘83), and Redemption (Rocher, ‘97). My Brother’s Madness (Curbstone, ‘07), a memoir, enjoyed wide critical acclaim. Pines’ seven books of poetry are: Onion, Hotel Madden Poems, Pines Songs, Breath, Adrift on Blinding Light, Taxidancing and Last Call at the Tin Palace. He lives in Glens Falls, New York, where he practices as a psychotherapist and hosts the Lake George Jazz Weekend.

2010 Albany Word Fest Update

2010-04-08T11:41:00.001-04:00

We are just eight short days away from the biggest poetry and spoken word event in the Capital Region. Here is an update on Word Fest weekend and who is scheduled to perform.

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Albany Poets is proud to present the 2010 Albany Word Fest featuring the poetry, spoken word, and music of upstate New York. This year’s event will take place on Friday, April 16 and Saturday, April 17, 2010 at the UAG Gallery (247 Lark Street, Albany).

The 2010 Albany Word Fest will start off on Friday evening with a very special Youth Open Mic at 5:00PM. This is a chance for all of the young poets and performers of the area to share their work. All poets who wish to participate in this open mic can sign up at the gallery.

At 7:00PM, the 12-Hour Open Mic begins. After the success of the first night long open mic last year, we have decided to do it again. This open mic for poetry and spoken word will be held from 7:00PM – 7:00AM.

Poets who wish to participate in the open mic can sign up online by going to the Albany Word Fest website, www.albanywordfest.com until April 15. Poets will also be able to sign up at Professor Java’s Wide Open Mic on Monday, April 12.

Thom Francis, President of Albany Poets explains, “The first Albany Word Fest was held in 2001 in Thatcher Park. It featured poets from all over the upstate area sharing their words all day and into the evening in a beautiful outdoor setting. Through all of the Word Fests since then, we have kept the same idea in mind; invite the poets and spoken word artists from all over the capital region and beyond to
share their words and show that ‘poetry lives in Albany’.”

This year we have a great list of new poets and poets who have been a part of the local literary community for years. Artists and poets already scheduled to perform include Jan Tramontano, Judith Prest, Erica Wolfe, Justin Miller, ILLiptical, Cecele Kraus, Poets from the Hudson Valley Writers Guild, Todd Fabozzi, John Raymond, Jacqueline Renee Ahl, Carol Graser, Barbara Garro, Jason Crane, Tim Verhaegen,
Joe Hesch, Matt Galletta, Joanne Trapanese, Nancy Denofio, Cheryl A. Rice, Julie Lomoe, Robb Smith, Karin Maag-Tanchak, Adarro Minton, Tess Lecuyer, Bob Sharkey, Jacqueline Kirkpatrick, Shannon Lynette, Robert Eaton, Shannon Shoemaker, Therese Broderick, R.M. Engelhardt, Christopher James, Justin Parrinello, Robert Milby, Christopher "Pinky" Gazeent, The Poet Essence, Shaun Baxter, Joe Hollander,
Adrianna Delgado, Anthony Bernini, AVERY, Carli McCoy, Dan Wilcox, W.D. Clarke, and Don Levy. The open mic is open to all poets and spoken word artists with no style or content restrictions. Admission is based on donation.

On Saturday at 8:00PM, day two of the 2010 Albany Word Fest brings the annual Psycho Cluster F*#k to the UAG Gallery featuring poetry, music and spoken word from Rebecca Schumejda, Nathan Graziano, The Johnnie Bravehearts, Ed Rinaldi, Murrow, Ms. Bliss, Q Diamond, Eloquence, Poetyc Vyzyonz, Sunshine, Souljourner Truth, and more. Admission for this event is $5.00. This event is open to all ages.

Again this year, Albany Poets will be streaming the whole two day event live on www.albanypoets.com for all of those who are not able to make it to the UAG Gallery to be in the audience.

The 2010 Albany Word Fest is sponsored by Albany Poets, Tess’ Lark Tavern, UAG Gallery, and the very generous donations of supporters of the arts in upstate New York.

For more information, up-to-date event news, open mic sign up, flyers, handouts and more, go to www.albanywordfest.com

Schedule of Events:
Friday, April 16
5:00PM – Youth Open Mic at UAG Gallery (247 Lark St., Albany)
7:00PM – 12-Hour Friday Night Open Mic at UAG Gallery (247 Lark St., Albany)

Saturday, April 17
8:00PM – Psycho Cluster F#*k at UAG Gallery (247 Lark St., Albany)

Caffe Lena Open Mic With Featured Poet Jeanetta Calhoun Mish, Wednesday, April 7

2010-04-06T12:04:00.001-04:00

On the first Wednesday of every month, Caffè Lena presents:

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic
Wednesday, April 7
7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start
Featured Poet:
Jeanetta Calhoun Mish
$3
Hosted by Carol Graser
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs
www.caffelena.org 583-0022

Jeanetta Calhoun Mish is a native Oklahoman returned home after twenty years to earn her Ph.D. in American Literature at the University of Oklahoma and to grow good tomatoes. Her second poetry collection, Work Is Love Made Visible, was published by West End Press in March 2009 won the 2010 Western Heritage Award. She has participated in poetry readings and workshops for more than 20 years at acclaimed venues including the Woody Guthrie Free Folk Festival, Telluride Institute’s Native American Writers Program; The Taos Poetry Circus Invitational Reading; Red Dirt Book Festival; Scissortail Creative Writing Festival, and The Knitting Factory in New York City. Jeanetta’s chapbook, Tongue Tied Woman, won the Edda Poetry Chapbook Competition for Women in 2002. She is currently the Visiting Poet-Scholar at World Literature Today. www.tonguetiedwoman.com

Woodstock Poetry Society Featuring Jacqueline Ahl and Joann Deiudicibus

2010-04-06T09:44:00.001-04:00

Phillip Levine is hosting this event this coming Saturday in Woodstock. Check it out if you can. Always a good time and worth the trip.

Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival (www.woodstockpoetry.com) as part of the Woodstock Arts Consortium is sponsoring the following poetry event as part of the Woodstock "Second Saturdays" Art Events. For a full listing of "Second Saturday" events, see: www.artsin woodstock .org.

Poets Jacqueline Ahl and Joann Deiudicibus will be the featured readers when the Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival meets at the Woodstock Town Hall, 76 Tinker Street, on Saturday, April 10th at 2pm. Note: WPS&F meetings are held the 2nd Saturday of every month at the Woodstock Town Hall.

The readings will be hosted by Woodstock area poet Phillip Levine. All meetings are free, open to the public, and include an open mike.

Jacqueline Ahl - Jacqueline Renee Ahl, daughter of a painter and a hang gliding pilot, is currently the Specialist for Disabilities and Learning at SUNY New Paltz, where she earned her BA and MA. She served as Director of the SUNY New Paltz Creative Writing Mentoring Program from 2000-2005, working with emerging writers in the areas of fiction, poetry, playwriting, and screenwriting. She also served as Executive Grant Writer and performer for Arts for Peace, a local organization of artists and activists. She now spends her summers teaching writing, philosophy, and theater courses for the Summer Institute for the Gifted at Vassar College. Jacqueline has been a featured reader at many Hudson Valley NY events and venues, including Celebration of the Arts (COTA), Poetry on the Loose, “Calling All Poets,” Voices of the Valley (sponsored by Poets and Writers), and Arts on the Bridge. She has appeared as visiting poet for the Language Arts program of the Northest Center for Special Care, and hosted "Plath and the Public Eye: A Two Day Celebration of the Work of Sylvia Plath" at SUNY New Paltz in 2004. Her publication credits include Riverine: An Anthology of Hudson Valley Writers, Chronogram, and Vanguard Voices of the Valley--Poetry 2007. Her absurdist work Fear Itself, most recently produced in St. Louis, MO, has won three national and international awards: the Tin Ceiling 2008 Playwriting Competition, Best New Play for 2005 (one-act Division) in the Brevard Little Theatre International Playwriting Competition, and Honorable Mention in the Writer's Digest 77th Annual Writing Competition (Stage Play Script category). Jacqueline is most interested in experimental pieces that bridge the genres of poetry and drama, and is working on a series of performance poems for multiple voices. She lives in a tiny cottage on the outskirts of Gardiner, NY with an astounding mountain view, and shares a birthday with Maurice Sendak. She is also the Sylvia to Joann's Anne.

Joann Deiudicibus - Joann K. Deiudicibus is a writing instructor and Staff Assistant for the Composition Program at SUNY New Paltz, where she earned her MA in English (2003). She has been published in The North Street Journal, Orange Review, Literary Passions, Fortunate Fall, Chronogram, WaterWrites, and the Shawangunk Review. Her work was selected for The Woodstock Poetry Festival, 2003. She is the Associate Editor (poetry) for two new publications: WaterWrites: A Hudson River Anthology (Codhill Press) and the Twentieth Anniversary Special Edition of the Shawangunk Review (forthcoming November 2009.) Her interests include writing assessment reports, vacuuming, revising, and all things Anne Sexton.

Here's our 2010 schedule of featured readers:
May 8th, 2010 – Alison Koffler; Barry Wallenstein
June 12th, 2010 – Joan I. Siegel; Mary Makofske
July 10th, 2010 – Carl Rosenstock; Richard Levine
August 14th, 2010 – Bert Shaw; Lee Gould
September 11th, 2010 – Dennis Doherty; James Sherwood (at Woodstock Community Center)
October 9th, 2010 – Amy Ouzoonian; Tyler Wilhelm
November 13th, 2010 – Lea Graham; Reagan Upshaw
December 11th, 2010 – Open Mike & Annual Business & Planning Meeting

Also, why not become a 2010 Member of the Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival?
Membership is a nominal $15 a year. (To join, send your check to the Woodstock Poetry Society, P.O. Box 531, Woodstock, NY 12498. Include your email address as well as your mailing address and phone number.) Your membership helps pay for hall rental, post-office-box rental, the WPS website, and costs associated with publicizing the monthly events. One benefit of membership is the opportunity to have a brief biography and several of your poems appear on the Woodstock Poetry Society website.

Albany Poets Presents…BAD LYRIC NIGHT Tonight at Valentines

2010-04-06T09:24:00.001-04:00

Albany Poets Presents, hosted by El Presidente Thom Francis returns to Valentines on the first Tuesday of each month starting at 8:00PM.

We are kicking National Poetry Month off with Albany Poets Presents...Bad Lyric Night!

This was a big hit the last time we did it a few years ago. Be sure to be at Valentines for recitation of some of the worst song lyrics of all time.

Of course, we will still have an open mic for poetry and spoken word.
We will have prizes for the Best Reading of the Worst Lyrics and other fun throughout the night.

Come over and join local poets and spoken word artists for an evening of conversation, cocktails, coffee, and, of course, poetry. The signup starts at 7:00PM for anyone who wants to take the stage and share their work.

ALBANY POETS PRESENTS takes place at Valentines Music Hall (17 New Scotland Ave.) on the first Tuesday of each and every month.

Frequency North: Writebloody Publishing Poetry Showcase

2010-04-01T13:23:00.001-04:00

On Thursday, April 15, the day before the 2010 Albany Word Fest, Dan Nester is hosting some big name poets at St. Rose for Frequency North. Here is the info:

Frequency North: Writebloody Publishing Poetry Showcase with Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz, Derrick Brown, and “Mighty” Mike McGee

With incendiary writers, a grassroots DIY ethos, and a unique books that use modern painters, photographers and rock album designers for all our book cover art, it’s no surprise that Filter Magazine says that Writebloody Publishing (writebloody.com) is “quickly becoming the number one indie press on the market.” Join us this evening for a showcase of two of Writebloody’s authors, Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz (another return visitor to the series, having read in the 2007-2008 series), “Mighty” Mike McGee, and press founder Derrick Brown.

Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz is the author of the nonfiction book, Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam (Soft Skull Press, 2008), as well as the author of five books of poetry, most recently Everything is Everything (Write Bloody Press, 2010). When not on tour, she can be found loitering at NYC’s Bowery Poetry Club, where she helps run the Tuesday night poetry slam series, NYC-Urbana, and dates the surly barkeep, poet Shappy Seasholtz. Her website is at http://www.aptowicz.com.

Derrick Brown, a former paratrooper for the 82nd Airborne, gondolier, magician, and fired weatherman, now travels the world and performs his written work. From Nashville, he is dedicated to bringing American poetry into rock and roll status. He has consistently been the opening act for indie rock act Cold War Kids and has been booked with The White Stripes and performed with Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. His work has been featured in books with Jeff Tweedy of Wilco, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, Viggo Mortensen, Jeff Buckley and Jim Carroll. As one of the most original and well-traveled writer/performers in the country, Derrick Brown has gained a cult following for his poetry performances all over the U.S. and through Europe. To date, Brown has performed at over 1200 venues and universities internationally including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, La Sorbonne in Paris and The Nuyorican Poets Café in NYC. Known for a moving show that incorporates spoken word, minimalist music, and even sound fx, Brown is unique for being an outstanding performer but is foremost a page poet. He has won the California Independent Book Critics’ Award in 2004, and his performance poetry has won six first-place poetry slam finishes in Venice Beach, England, and Germany. His website is at http://www.brownpoetry.com.

“Mighty” Mike McGee is an international spoken word artist, writer, performer, speaker, slam poet and comic. He has performed in thousands of venues all over North America, and was one of the first Americans ever to perform poetry at the University la Sorbonne in Paris, France. McGee began performing comedy and poetry to audiences at home in San Jose, California in 1998. As a Poetry Slam competitor in the U.S., Mike has competed at the National Poetry Slam on team San José several times. In 2003, McGee won the coveted National Poetry Slam Individual Grand Championship, besting over 300 nationally ranked poetry slammers. He has since toured over 300,000 miles throughout the United States and Canada where fellow National Poetry Slam Indy Champ, Shane Koyczan and beat-boxer poet extraordinaire C.R. Avery (of Vancouver, B.C.) joined him to form the group Tons of Fun University in 2004. They have since headlined music festivals across Canada, bringing their unique blend of poetry-laden “talk rock” to massive audiences all over the great north. In 2006, McGee became the first person to win two separate individual titles by being crowned the 2006 Individual World Poetry Slam Champion, besting over 70 of the world’s best ranked slam poets. His “stand-up poetry” has been written about in Writer’s Digest magazine, and been featured on NPR, HBO and CBC. Mike McGee books internationally and is on tour damn-near 300 days a year. His website is at http://www.mikemcgee.net.

This event is free and open to the public at the College of St. Rose, St. Joseph Auditorium on Thursday, April 15 starting at 7:30PM.

Afternoon Poetry “Hug” Today in Woodstock

2010-04-01T10:11:00.001-04:00

Afternoon Poetry "Hug" (not Slam) today, Thursday, April 1, 3-5pm at Oriole 9 (17 Tinker St, Woodstock, NY). Free.

A Poetry Slam - -NOT! This is a Poetry Hug and you

are invited to perform and or listen. Let's support each other's desire to perform in front of an appreciative audience.

THIS IS A HUG AND NOT A SLAM.

Oriole9 in Woodstock has made there place available on April 1, Thursday from 3-5pm. The owners of Oriole9 would love to have events during these hours on Thursdays. They offer an intimate environment for varied types of performances. If you would like to participate as a performer for the first event please contact Phillip Levine either by email (pprod@mindspring.com) or phone (845)246-8565. For other types of performers please contact Bob Malkin @bob@waterfallrental.com or phone (845)246-6666

If you would like to hear some terrific poetry performances just show up.

2010 Albany Word Fest

2010-03-26T09:47:00.001-04:00

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Albany Poets is proud to present the 2010 Albany Word Fest featuring the poetry, spoken word, and music of upstate New York. This year’s event will take place on Friday, April 16 and Saturday, April 17, 2010 at the UAG Gallery (247 Lark Street, Albany).

The 2010 Albany Word Fest will start off on Friday evening with a very special Youth Open Mic at 5:00PM. This is a chance for all of the young poets and performers of the area to share their work. All poets who wish to participate in this open mic can sign up at the gallery.

Mary Panza, Vice President of Albany Poets, says, “We are very excited to be back at the UAG for this year’s Word Fest. We are really looking forward to the Youth Open Mic. We feel this opens the Word Fest to the next generation of poets, performers, and spoken word artists.”

At 7:00PM, the 12-Hour Open Mic begins. After the success of the first night long open mic last year, we have decided to do it again. This open mic for poetry and spoken word will be held from 7:00PM – 7:00AM.

Thom Francis, Albany Poets President, adds, “This year we are celebrating the 9th anniversary of the Albany Word Fest. We started out in 2001 with a handful of poets gathered in Thatcher Park. Last year over 80 poets and spoken word artists got up to the mic at the UAG Gallery to share their work. We are hoping for even more growth this year at our 12 Hour Open Mic.”

Poets who wish to participate in the open mic can sign up online by going to the Albany Word Fest website, www.albanywordfest.com. Performers will also have a limited opportunity to sign up at the event itself. Each poet will have 10 -15 minutes to share their work. This year we will be featuring poets from Albany, Schenectady, Woodstock, Voorheesville, and other parts of the area. The open mic is open to all poets and spoken word artists with no style or content restrictions. Admission is based on donation.

On Saturday at 8:00PM, day two of the 2010 Albany Word Fest brings the annual Psycho Cluster F*#k to the UAG Gallery featuring poetry, music and spoken word from Rebecca Schumejda, Nathan Graziano, The Johnnie Bravehearts, Murrow, Urban Guerilla Theater, and more. Admission for this event is $5.00. This event is open to all ages.

The 2010 Albany Word Fest is sponsored by Albany Poets, Tess’ Lark Tavern, UAG Gallery, and the very generous donations of supporters of the arts in upstate New York.

Be sure to check www.albanywordfest.com often for more details on the 2010 ALBANY WORD FEST.

Poets Speak Loud, Monday, March 29, Featuring Avery

2010-03-25T09:14:00.001-04:00

Poets Speak Loud poetry open mic is coming back to Tess' Lark Tavern on Monday, March 29 with featured poet AVERY.

POETS SPEAK LOUD takes place at Tess' Lark Tavern (453 Madison Ave., Albany). Signup starts at 7:00PM, poetry starts at 8:00PM

Avery Stempel has been writing poetry and reading at open mics for over a decade. His poetry writing stemmed from living with a great group of writers throughout his undergraduate studies at Siena College with whom he wrote and shared often. He was a featured performer at the Siena Earth Day celebration in 1998 where he read poetry for 40 minutes after co-performing with a college band that had composed some music to go along with one of his poems, “Blossoming Flower.” Since his college days he has written off and on, but nothing serious until November of 2008 when he began attending a Troy open mic event at Oliver’s Naturals, a vegetarian café. Being surrounded by an engaging circle of artists once again he began writing and performing regularly. In January of 2009 he reconnected with his poet friends from Siena College via an online poetry exchange that has grown to become “Different States of Poetry.” This collaborative group of writers co-creates a poem every month. There is currently a facebook group “Different States of Poetry” where the poets of the group can share their work and create collaborative poems. Avery has never had any collected works published, but has volumes upon volumes of poetry he has written. He currently works at RPI in the Experimental Media Performing Arts Center.

This Friday ... The Poetry Returns!

2010-03-24T16:08:00.001-04:00

This just in from R.M. Engelhardt regarding the next V0x at the Fuze Box this coming Friday.

Poetry is just the evidence of life.
If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash.”
~ Leonard Cohen

++++++++++++

On FRIDAY, March 26th!
VoX AT THE FUZEBOX

Albany’s Open Mic for Poets Poetry & The Spoken Word
12 Central Avenue, Albany, NY

With This Month's Featured Poet?

NO FEATURED POET!!!

OLD SCHOOL POETS OPEN MIC NIGHT!

That's right. This Month we are holding the traditional Open Mic For Poets & Poetry Here In Albany,NY That began many years ago here in the same spot when it was the QE2 and that still carries its spirit onward!

*New Poets as well as old school poets are welcome!
* All styles of poetry are welcome!
THIS IS WHAT IT'S ABOUT!
THE POETRY!

Start-time 8pm

Hosted By Poet R.M. Engelhardt
* $4.00 Requested Donation

www.AlbanyatNight.com
"We Make The Scene"

This open mic, usually with a featured poet, happens on the last Friday of each and every month at the Fuze Box. More information can be found on R.M. Engelhardt’s pages on Facebook and, of course, www.AlbanyAtNight.com.

Half Moon Books Poetry Reading on Saturday, April 3 in Kingston

2010-03-24T14:51:00.001-04:00

The Albany Poets Kick it in Kingston at Half Moon Books

Dan Wilcox is the host of the Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center in Albany, N.Y. and is a member of the poetry performance group "3 Guys from Albany". As a photographer, he claims to have the world's largest collection of photos of unknown poets. He has been a featured reader at all the important poetry venues in the Capital District & throughout the Hudson Valley and is an active member of Veterans for Peace.

He also publishes poetry under the imprint, A.P.D. (albany’s poetic device, another pleasant day, etc.). Recently, Benevolent Bird Press published a chapbook of his poetry, "boundless abodes of Albany". You can read his Blog at dwlcx.blogspot.com.

Mary Panza, Vice President of Albany Poets is Albany’s poetry diva. She originated and hosted the poetry open mic at Border’s and has been a driving force in the poetry community for a number of years. Mary has also been active in promoting, hosting, and participating in many arts events through out Upstate New York.

Mary has been the host of the Singer/Songwriter stage at the annual LARKfest street fair since 2004 and was one of the first poets to perform in the 25 year history of the arts event in 2006. Mary has published a number of poetry chapbooks and was the producer of Volume, a compilation of Albany area poets performing their work at local readings and open mics. Mary is the host of Albany Poets’ monthly poetry open mic, Poets Speak Loud, at the Tess' Lark Tavern.

Mary also served as the Poetry Editor for short lived Capital Region edition of Chronogram Magazine.

R.M. Engelhardt, Poet & writer, has published several books over the last decade including Nod~Logos~Alchemy~The Last Cigarette: The Collected Poems of R.M. Engelhardt & others. His current experimental book of poetry & prose is called “Versus”. His work has also been published by many journals both in print including Retort, Verve, Industrial Nation, Sure! The Charles Bukowski Newsletter, Copious Amounts, Thunder Sandwich, The Angry Poet, Zygote In My Coffee, Full of Crow & many others. R.M. currently lives in Albany, NY http://www.rmengelhardt.com

MURROW is an Albany based spoken word and music duo consisting of poet Thom Francis and guitarist/bassist/noise maker Keith Spencer. MURROW has been featured at such events as LarkFEST, The Albany Word Fest, Poets Speak Loud, and many others in the upstate New York region. They combine Thom's striking words with Keith's music to tell a story to the audience.

Half Moon Poetry Reading
April 3, 2010 at 6:30pm
35 North Front Street, Kingston NY 12401
(845) 331-5439

Dan Wilcox at the Split This Rock Poetry Festival

2010-03-24T10:35:00.001-04:00

Dan Wilcox recently traveled down to Washington, D.C. for the Split This Rock Poetry Festival. While he was there enjoying the work of some great poets including Martin Espada and Patricia Smith he also held a workshop on “how to build a poetry reading”.

Dan has chronicled the entire weekend on his blog, talking about the performances, the poets, and the workshops.

Check out Dan’s blog to read about everything you missed in Washington.

Lierary Gazette Call For Submissions

2010-03-24T09:42:00.001-04:00

No place like home: The Literary Gazette calls for submissions

The Literary Gazette, published annually by The River Reporter newspaper in Narrowsburg, NY, is looking for submissions to its 2010 issue. The theme of the issue is Home, and any poems, essays and short short fiction on this theme will be considered. There are many ways to define and relate to home. Home can be a house, a landscape, a person, a country, a belief, an emotion, a memory and so on.

The Literary Gazette will appear on newsstands through the summer and fall. We accept all styles and formats. Poems must be limited to 50 lines and stories and essays no longer than 700 words. Please include a short (limit 50 words) bio with your submission. The Literary Gazette will be published on July 1. Editorial deadline is Friday, May 14. Submit word documents to marygreene@riverreporter.com or hard copies to Literary Gazette, PO Box 150, Narrowsburg, NY 12764. There is no reading fee, and there is a limit of five entries per person. Entries cannot be returned. Writers selected for publication will receive five contributors’ copies of the publication.

For questions email editor Mary Greene at marygreene@riverreporter.com or call 845/252-7414, ext. 30.

Word Thursdays Celebrates Women's History Month With Open Mic Reading of America's Great Women Writers

2010-03-24T09:39:00.001-04:00

At 7:00PM on Thursday, March 25, Word Thursdays at Bright Hill Literary Center, 94 Church Street, Treadwell, NY will celebrate Women's History Month with an open mic reading of some of American's great women poets and writers, including Grace Paley, Willa Cather, Deborah Digges, Emily Dickenson, Louisa May Alcott, Elizabeth Bishop, Vickie Hearne, Gwendolyn Brooks, Katherine Anne Porter, Charlotte Perkins, Shirley Jackson, Flannery O'Connor, Sylvia Plath, Eudora Wlety, May Swenson, Lucille Clifton, and others.

Readers may bring their own material or read from work supplied by Word Thursdays; readers may also read from work they have written in homeage to the contributions of American's female literary artists. The reading will take place in the Word & Image Gallery at Bright Hill, now showing an exhibit of works by the Word Thursdays Literary Workshops for Kids Winter Program. Admission of $3 for adults and free for those 18 and under. Refreshments will be served, and all are welcome.

Word Thursdays/ Bright Hill Press's 2010 programs are made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts, the A. Lindsay and Olive B. O'Connor Foundation, the Tianaderrah Foundation, the Otis A. Thompson Foundation, the Dewar Foundation, the A. C. Molinari Foundation, Price Chopper's Golub Foundation, Stewart's Shops, the Delaware National Bank of Delhi, and other area businesses, and its members and friends. For futher information and for information about Bright Hill Press and its programs, contact Bright Hill Center at 607-829-5055 or email the Center at wordthurs@stny.rr.com.

Robert Kelly To Read At College of Poetry

2010-03-24T09:37:00.001-04:00

Robert Kelly, one of America ’s most distinguished poets, will read his work at Warwick ’s College of Poetry on April 10 at 4:00 p.m. The College is located at 7 West Street , Warwick , New York . Admission is $10 for the general public but is included with tuition for guest poets enrolled in this term’s workshops. Light refreshments will be served. Please enter by the side door.

Kelly’s most recent volume is Fire Exit which William Seaton praised in Chronogram, saying “attentive and off-hand graceful, the language is redemptive.” Since his first volume Armed Descent in 1961, Kelly has been one of the most productive of American writers, publishing over fifty books of poetry as well as fictions, essays, and other prose works. A volume of selected work called Red Actions: Selected Poems 1960-1993 was published in 1995. He has been influential as well as an anthologist, particularly for A Controversy of Poets.

Kelly has received many honors and awards, including a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation, the Los Angeles Times First Annual Book Award, and an Award for Distinction from the National Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.

He is sometimes identified as a “deep image” poet. When Kelly first used the term in his essay "Notes on the Poetry of Deep Image" in his magazine Trobar, he was referring to the Spanish canto jondo (deep song), the work of Lorca, and the earlier Symbolists. In later work, the poet’s notion of the vernacular's "vulgar eloquence" was expanded and fortified by the influence of poets Robert Duncan and Charles Olson. As Kelly once stated in an interview, "When I began to know their work, and explore their solutions, real and imaginary, to the isolation of the ego in a world of music, I began to speak less of deep image." To him “what we hear in poetry is groans from the battlefield where time struggles against space.” Many readers would agree with Guy Davenport who commented, “his poems are mysteries to be pondered, something to dream on rather than to puzzle out.”

He currently serves as Asher B. Edelman Professor of Literature and Co-Director of the Program in Written Arts at Bard College , where he has taught since 1961. He has taught as visiting writer or on temporary appointments at such institutions as Yale, USC, and SUNY/Buffalo.

The College of Poetry is a program of the Northeast Poetry Center . For further information call (845) 294-8085 or write seaton@frontiernet.net.

Frequency North/CLMP present CAPITAL LIT!

2010-02-15T12:47:00.001-05:00

This weekend Albany will be rocking with poetry! Here is the info from Daniel Nester about a great day of poetry, literature, small press, karaoke, and of course…fun!

Attention Albany Lit Lovers! Start 2010 off right with all the literary magazines and books you can carry off from CAPITAL LIT, CLMP’s first-ever Albany Lit Mag & Small Press Fair.

Hundreds of regional and national independent literary publishers will converge to sell their journals for only $2 an issue and books for $4 each. Many publishers will attend in person to meet Albany’s eager readers, so don’t miss this opportunity to discover literature you are unlikely to find in a single store, and meet the publishers and editors who do the real work of keeping American Literature vibrant and vital.

An offering of Frequency North, the aggressively eclectic visiting writers reading series at Saint Rose, and the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, CAPITAL LIT will bring to Albany hundreds of regional and national independent literary publishers who will sell their journals for only $2 an issue and books for $4 each. The all-day festival includes a panel discussion on publishing, readings by some of the region’s most notable authors and the Albany debut of Karaoke + Poetry = Fun!

Schedule

12-6 Book fair, Saint Joseph Auditorium
1pm Potlach with Colie Collen
2pm Indie Publishing Discussion

5pm Reading and discussion with Shane Jones, Tobias Seamon and Barbara Louise Ungar

Shane Jones is a graduate of The University at Buffalo, and currently resides in Albany, New York. His poetry and short fiction have appeared in numerous literary journals, including: New York Tyrant, Unsaid, Typo, and Caketrain. His first novel, Light Boxes, will be published by Penguin Books in June, 2010. Director Spike Jonze (Where The Wild Things Are, Being John Malkovich) purchased the film option for Light Boxes in July 2009.

Tobias Seamon is author of the novel The Magician's Study and a poetry chapbook Loosestrife Along the River Styx. He also wrote and directed the short mockumentary "Amerikan Partizan," which premiered at the 2007 Edwood Filmfest. A collection of stories The Emperor's Toy Chest and a novella The Fair Grounds are both forthcoming from the UK-based press PS Publishing. A contributor with the online magazine The Morning News, he lives in Albany.

Barbara Louise Ungar's newest book, The Origin of the Milky Way, published last year, won the Gival Press Prize for Poetry. Barbara Louise Ungar is the author of Thrift. Her poems have appeared in Salmagundi, The Minnesota Review, The Literary Review among others. She is an Associate Professor of English at The College of Saint Rose.

7pm Karaoke + Poetry = Fun at Valentine's
17 New Scotland Avenue
Featuring Eric Auld, Cara Benson, R.M. Englehardt, Geof Huth, Murrow, Tara Needham, Mary Panza, Tobias Seamon, Alifair Skebe, Dan Wilcox
Come and sign up to read and sing!

Admission is free and open to the public. This program is made possible in part through support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

Some Tuesday Poetry News

2010-01-05T11:34:00.001-05:00

Happy New Year! All of us here at Albany Poets wish you the best in the new year.

Here is some upstate New York poetry news concerning some upcoming events and other things going on the community.

TONIGHT, Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 8:00PM

Albany Poets Presents NO GIMMICK OPEN MIC
Valentines, 17 New Scotland Ave, Albany

We start off the new year with our monthly open mic for poetry, music, and spoken word. Old school open mic. No gimmicks, no themes. Sign up starts at 7:00, reading starts at 8:00.

Poet Rock Ritual
The Putnam Den, 63A Putnam Street, Saratoga Springs

If you are up in the Saratoga are tonight be sure to check out what Margot Malia Lynch is doing up at the Putnam Den with her weekly open mic of words and music.

The weekly poetry open mic continues!
Please join us at The Putnam Den every Tues.
Sign up is at 8
$5 suggested donation
21+

Poetry Slam
then the Poet Rock Ritual: open mic for poets and any kind of word artist. You will be backed up by a live band:
Chris Turano on Drums
Marc Latzky on Bass
and a mystery Guitarist.

Margot is hosting.

Happy new decade

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic
Caffe Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs

More poetry in Saratoga! Here is the info from host Carol Graser:

the first Wednesday of every month Caffè Lena presents:

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic
Wednesday, January 6
7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start
Featured Poets:
Barbara Vink
$3
Hosted by Carol Graser
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs
www.caffelena.org 583-0022

Barbara Vink has been coordinating the Voorheesville Public Library Every Other Thursday Night Poets since its onset in 1991. She also hosts Poetry Performance Day events, and has been in a performance trio for several years with Tom Corrado and Larry Rapant. She has read her poetry at many local venues and was one of the editors and contributors to the anthology Poetry Don't Pump.

Friday, January 8

No Gimmick Open Mic at the UAG
UAG Gallery, 247 Lark Street, Albany

No Gimmick Open Mic at the UAG is Albany Poets’ open mic series for poetry and spoken word held at the UAG Gallery on the second Fridays of the month during the fall and spring semesters.

We return Friday, January 8 to kick off the new year with your words.

The UAG Gallery is located at 247 Lark Street, Albany NY. The readings start at 7:00PM. This is a free event.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Woodstock Poetry Society
Woodstock Town Hall, 76 Tinker Street, Woodstock

Poets Bruce Weber and Laurie Byro will be the featured readers when the Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival meets at the Woodstock Town Hall, 76 Tinker Street, on Saturday, January 9th at 2pm. The readings will be hosted by Woodstock area poet Phillip Levine. All meetings are free, open to the public, and include an open mike.

Bruce Weber - Bruce Weber is the author of five published books of poetry, "These Poems are Not Pretty", "How the Poem Died", "Poetic Justice", "The First Time I Had Sex with T. S. Eliot", and the just released "The Break-up of My First Marriage". Bruce’s work has appeared in numerous magazines, as well as in several anthologies including recently in Up is Up, But So Is Down: Downtown Writings, 1978-1992, and Riverine: An Anthology of Hudson Valley Writers (New Paltz, NY: Codhill Press, 2007). He has performed regularly in the tri-state area, both alone and with his performance group, Bruce Weber’s No Chance Ensemble, which has produced the CD "Let’s Dine Like Jack Johnson Tonight". He is the organizer of the Unorganicized Sunday Reading at ABC NO RIO, editor of the broadside Stained Sheets, and the producer of the long running Alternative New Year’s Day Spoken Word/Performance Extravaganza. By day, Bruce is Senior Curator at the National Academy Museum, and splits his time between his homes in New York City and Saugerties, New York.

Laurie Byro - Laurie Byro's short stories and poetry have appeared in a dozen or so small presses. Additionally, her work has been published in The Literary Review, Single Parent, Redactions, Aim, Chaminade Review, Chronogram, Grasslimb, Re:al Journal, The New Jersey Journal of Poets, Red Rock Review, The Paterson Literary Review among others. Her work can be googled in on-line e-zines and in the Guardian Unlimited on-line workshop. She was thrice nominated for “The Pushcart Prize” and has won or placed in 27 IBPC competitions. Her work was recently published in The Poetry of Place Anthology (honoring William Carlos Williams). Her children’s poem "A Captain's Cat" has appeared in Cricket Magazine and a textbook "Measuring up to the Illinois Learning Standards". In 2009, Mayor Barra proclaimed Laurie Byro as the “Official Poet Laureate of Allendale, NJ.” Her work draws on myth and fairytale and her experiences of foreign places in the years she worked as a travel agent. Her poetry insists upon the continuing importance of fantasy, mystery and “the other” in our lives. Laurie is head of circulation at a library in New Jersey where she facilitates a poetry circle.

Poets Speak Loud Tonight at Tess’ Lark Tavern

2009-12-28T12:35:00.001-05:00

Tonight we will be gathering around the fire, rather the stage, at Tess’ Lark Tavern (453 Madison Ave., Albany) for our monthly open mic for poetry and spoken word hosted by Mary Panza. This time around we are having a straight-up, old school, no-holds-barred, in between Christmas and New Years Day open mic with no special guests or featured poets.

Come out with your poetry and family holiday stories to share!

Poetry and Spoken Word in Albany This Week

2009-12-16T12:03:00.001-05:00

Here is some information on some poetry and spoken word events and open mics coming up this week. It appears that this month’s VoX at the Fuze Box has been moved from the last Friday to this coming Friday for the holidays…mystery.

Third Thursday Poetry Night
Thursday, December 17, 7:00PM
Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany

the Poetry Motel Foundation presents Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany, NY

Thursday, December 17
7:00 sign up; 7:30 start
Featured Poet: Urayoán Noel

-- with an open mic for community poets before & after the feature: $3.00 donation, suggested; more if you got it, less if you can’t.

Your host: Dan Wilcox & the annual visit from Sanity Clause.

Urayoán noel is the author of Kool Logic/La Lógica Kool (bilingual press; a 2006 books of the year selection by el nuevo día) and Boringkén (ediciones callejón/la tertulia, 2008). Other works include the artist’s book Las Flores del Mall (2000) and various text-sound collaborations with composer Monxo López, some of which are featured on the dvd Kool Logic Sessions (bilingual press) and on the cd included with Boringkén.

Originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico, he divides his time between Albany and the Bronx, NY, and teaches literature and creative writing at the University at Albany.

v0x
Friday, December 18, 8:00PM
Fuze Box, 12 Central Ave., Albany

V O X :
ALBANY'S POETRY OPEN MIC
Special Mystery Edition

WHISKEY, RYE & POEMS .
At The Fuze Box

ON FRIDAY December 18th, 2009

Albany, NY's Open Mic For Poets
POETRY & THE WORD
*8pm Start time*
$4.00 Donation Requested

WHISKEY, RYE & POEMS ...
The Mystery "Noir" Edition. Bring your detective prose & mystery poems, even dress the part!

If you don't have any bring some excerpts by your favorite writer.

Hosted by R.M.Engelhardt
FuzeBox, 12 CENTRAL AVENUE, ALBANY, NY
Always Held On The Last Friday of Each Month.

HVWG Holiday Open Mic
Sunday, December 20, 2:00PM
Perfect Blend, 376 Delaware Ave., Delmar

The Hudson Valley Writers Guild will host "Season's Readings," an open mic for writers with a holiday theme on Sunday, December 20, at 2 p.m., at Perfect Blend in Delmar. Writers are invited to read two pieces on holiday (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, etc.) or holiday-related themes, such as kindness or generosity: one piece from a famous or published author other than themselves, and one piece that they have written. Hot coffee and warm words: what a great way to slow down for a couple hours this season!

The Perfect Blend is located at 376 Delaware Avenue, Delmar, at the 4 Corners. Hosts are Jill Crammond Wickham and Carolee Sherwood. There is no cover charge, but please bring canned goods or other nonperishable food items for donation to the local food bank. The event is open to the public. Bring family and friends for a new holiday tradition!

Approximately 30 minutes prior to the event start time, a sign-in sheet will be available for those interested in reading. To keep the reading moving along, please select poems no longer than one page. If reading prose, please limit each piece to excerpts of 400 words per piece.

CONTACT: For more information, email hvwginfo@gmail.com.

For the complete calendar of events, go to www.albanypoets.com/events. While you are there, be sure to subscribe to calendar so you can always know what is going on in upstate poetry and spoken community.

“Poet Rock Ritual” Coming to Saratoga Every Tuesday Starting Tuesday, Dec. 15

2009-12-09T16:31:00.001-05:00

Just got this in from Margot Malia Lynch about a new music/poetry/spoken word series up in Saratoga. Sounds very interesting and should be a great time, especially considering where the inspiration came from.

Margot Malia Presents: POET ROCK RITUAL
An open mic for poets backed up by live musicians.

Every Tues night
Starting December 15th

PUTNAM DEN
Saratoga Springs, NY
(where backstreet billiards used to be, an alley street between phila and caroline, walking distance from caffe lena's, the library..)
518-584-8066

Sign up @8
830 SLAM (if there's enough people...)
9pm POET ROCK RITUAL
This is going to be a very interesting and organic process. I have a clear vision of how I would like it to go but new projects like this take time to get in the groove. I hope you'll stop in a be a part of the process. I've been wanting to bring the poetry and music phenomenon to my hometown for several years and am ECSTATIC it's happening.
$3 wines
2 for one well drinks
$3 suggested donation

The Putnam Den just opened up this summer and is a FABULOUS, huge NYC warehouse like spot. There's couches, plenty of breathing space, murals.

I remember when I was going to the Poetry Jam in boston from the beginning. It feels awesome to be a part of a growing and evolving creative community. The Poetry Jam is celebrating it's 13TH YEAR. www.poetryjam.com Let's make this!

Your help in spreading the word is awesome to me.

MUSICIANS! CONTACT ME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BEING A PART OF THIS. If you are a good listener and think you can support the mood of any kind of poem and improvise with others. Margotproductions@yahoo.com

Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival Reading, Saturday, Dec. 12

2009-12-09T16:21:00.001-05:00

Who says business and poetry don’t mix? This weekend in Woodstock:

Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival will hold its annual Annual Business & Planning Meeting (& Open Mike) at the Woodstock Town Hall, 76 Tinker Street, on Saturday, December 12th at 2pm. Note: WPS&F meetings are held the 2nd Saturday of every month at the Woodstock Town Hall, except during the winter months when we meet at the Woodstock Community Center (56 Rock City Road).

The readings will be hosted by Woodstock area poet Phillip Levine. All meetings are free, open to the public, and include an open mike.

Here's our 2010 schedule of featured readers:

January 9th, 2010 – Bruce Weber; Laurie Byro
February 13th, 2010 – Richard Boes Memorial
March 13th, 2010 – Roger Michell; Philip Memmer
April 10th, 2010 – Jacqueline Ahl; Joann Deiudicibus
May 8th, 2010 – Alison Koffler; Barry Wallenstein
June 12th, 2010 – Joan I. Siegel; Mary Makofske
July 10th, 2010 – Carl Rosenstock; Richard Levine
August 14th, 2010 – Bert Shaw; Lee Gould
September 11th, 2010 – TBA
October 9th, 2010 – Tyler Wilhelm; TBA
November 13th, 2010 – Lea Graham; Reagan Upshaw
December 11th, 2010 – Open Mike & Annual Business & Planning Meeting

Busy Week of Poetry in the Area

2009-11-15T11:25:00.001-05:00

A busy week here in the upstate poetry and spoken word community. Here is some information on two of the readings coming up. For a complete list of events, go to the Events Calendar.

Wednesday, November 18
7:00PM
Cock N Bull Restaurant
Parkis Mills Rd, Galway, NY 12074

You very well may have heard about the Open Mic to be held at the Cock n Bull Wed., Nov. 18 at 7pm-9pm. I am writing to ask you all to come and share in this fun event. This isn't your usual open mic. We are expecting a host of performing artists -- readers, singers, musicians from the community of Galway and beyond. If you want to share your talent, sign up is at 6:30. If you want to just enjoy the events, the fun begtins at 7. Or you can come earlier and have a bite to eat. The bar will be open for those who wish to have a drink.

This event is sponsored by the Galway Public Library, the biggest little library in the state. Please come and support the library and have a good time. It's free, though a small donation will be welcomed. Oh, and there's free refreshments, compliments of the Cock n Bull. What more could you ask?

Thursday, November 19
7:00PM
Third Thursday Poetry Night
Social Justice Center
33 Central Ave., Albany, NY

Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany, NY on Thursday, November 19 with a 7:00 sign up; 7:30 start

Featured Poet: Barbara Adams -- with an open mic for community poets before & after the feature: $3.00 donation, suggested; more if you got it, less if you can’t.

Your turkey host: Dan Wilcox

Barbara Adams is the author of two books of poems, and a book of literary criticism on Laura Riding. She is a retired Professor of English at Pace University. Born in Manhattan, she has lived in the mid-Hudson valley most of her life. Her poems appear in the two anthologies of Hudson River writers, "Riverine" and "WaterWrites."

21st Annual Day of the Poet Contest on Thanksgiving Saturday, Nov 28

2009-11-15T11:06:00.001-05:00

After the Thanksgiving holiday and all the Black Friday madness, be sure to go over the Colonie Library and check out this great annual poetry and spoken word event.

POETS' CORNER at the COLONIE TOWN LIBRARY and the SPC present the 21st Annual DAY OF THE POET --a poetry reading contest

Saturday, November 28, 2009 at the Colonie Town Library (William K.Sanford Library), 629 Albany Shaker Road, Loundonville, NY (near the Times Union Building off the Northway)

Reading starts at 10:00AM. Entrance fee: $3.00

Day of the Poet also features open stage readings by past champions and other local poets not competing.

How it works:
Competing poets are given three rounds. Poets present their original work only. Rounds are timed at two, three and four minutes respectively.

Poets are judged based on:
1. timing( get it close to the mark.)
2. presentation
3. content( profanity is discouraged unless used well. It is a library.)

Note: No artificial timing devices (watches, timers, alarm clocks, folks in the audience waving hands) are allowed. Timing is a unique feature of this contest. Poets have to depend on their own internal clocks. Preparation ahead of time to stay close to the time targets is recommended.

Prize amounts:
$200 First Prize
$50 Second prize
Third place prize is based on Entrance fees

To register or for more information call Timothy Lake at 518-274-0131.

Past First Place Winners:
1989- J.J. Clarke
1990-Roberta Waugh
1991- Paul Genega
1992- Judith saunders
1993-Frank Murphy
1994- Kym Flemming
1995-James Patrick Casey
1996- Sylvia Barnard
1997- Laura Minita( age 8)
1998-Anne Goodwin
1999-Viktor Batorsky
2000-Edward Sherlock
2001-Margaret Black
2002-Therese Broderick
2003-Todd Broomhead
2004-Serafina Whelen
2005-Kathy O'Brien
2006-Timothy Lake
2007-Alan Casline
2008-Miriam Axel-Lute
2009- who knows? Maybe you will take this spot in an auspicious list of competitors.

Poetry at the UAG Gallery This Friday, Nov 13

2009-11-11T11:25:00.001-05:00

Albany Poets and Jawbone are once again combining forces to bring poetry to the UAG Gallery. This Friday Jawbone will present a reading with James Belflower and Lucyna Prostko followed by our monthly open mic for poetry and spoken word.

Here is the information from the good folks at Jawbone:

Jawbone is pleased to host a first book release party/reading this Friday, November 13th at 6:30pm in the United Artists Guild Gallery (247 Lark Street). Please come early and enjoy a refreshment/chat with the authors.

An open mic hosted by Albany Poets will follow at 8pm.

We hope that you will attend and support two very talented poets and PhD Candidates.

COMMUTER by James Belflower: Modeling the courage of the witness as a compelling poetic subjectivity, COMMUTER attempts to encourage response by negotiating notions of the self. Juliana Spahr calls COMMUTER "a painfully beautiful and transformatively aestheticized book."

James Belflower is the author of Commuter (Instance Press) and And Also a Fountain, (NeOpepper Press) a collaborative echap with Anne Heide and J. Michael Martinez. He won the 2007 Juked Magazine poetry prize and his work appears, or is forthcoming in: Jacket, EOAGH, Denver Quarterly, Apostrophe Cast, First Intensity, Reconfigurations, Konundrum Engine and O&S, among others. He curates PotLatchpoetry.org, a website dedicated to the gifting and exchange of poetry resources.

Infinite Beginnnings—Lucyna Prostko's fierce, quiet book shines like the
wooden boat in "Homecoming" that "beckons the winds with all its power." Prostko makes poetic speech feel somehow inevitable, yet unexpected and fresh; there is nothing self-conscious, no straining for high art, in her mastery. "The human stories in her poems haunt me. . . . Clear-eyed and steadfast in her honesty, Prostko doesn't pretend to easy understanding of the mystery she touches at the deep heart of our being, but her love for the world is palpable in every poem"--Joan Larkin, Judge, Bright Hill Poetry Book Competition.

Lucyna Prostko was born in 1971 in Poland, where she grew up in a small village of Solistowka in Mazury. From an early age, she has been immersed in the stories of her grandparents' lives who have been tragically affected by the outbreak of World War II. She came to New York City at the age of 19. She received her BA degree in English from Hunter College and MFA in poetry from New York University, where she was awarded The New York Times Fellowship. She has been writing poetry in both Polish and English, and her work has been influenced by both Polish and American poets, in particular Boleslaw Lesmian, Czeslaw Milosz, Tadeusz Rozewicz, Wislawa Szymborska as well as Emily Dickinson, T.S. Eliot, Galway Kinnell, Philip Levine, Sharon Olds, and Louise Gluck. Her poetry has appeared in The Bitter Oleander, Fugue, Washington Square, Painted Bride Quarterly, Ellipsis, Quiddity, Five Points, and other literary magazines and in her collection, Infinite Beginnings, judged winner of the Bright Hill Press Poetry Book Competition by Joan Larkin and published by Bright Hill in 2009. She has been teaching literature and creative writing for the past ten years. She currently teaches at Queensbury High School in upstate New York and pursues Ph.D. in English at SUNY Albany. She lives on Hunt Lake in the Adirondacks with her husband, Mirko.

The evening starts at 6:30PM with the “No Gimmicks Open Mic” hosted by Mary Panza will begin after the two featured poets at 8:00PM. Sign up for the open mic will be available throughout the night.

Spoken Word and Hip Hop at Valentines Tonight

2009-11-06T10:02:00.001-05:00

Poetry, spoken word, music, hip hop and more is happening tonight at Valentines as The Intangible Collective is coming into town for what is sure to be a great show. If you remember, these guys were a big part of the Psycho Cluster F*#k at the 2006 Albany Word Fest (Download Albany Poets Podcast #13 mp3).

Here is the info from Dan Stalter:

Static After The Storm
Friday 11/6 // Valentines 9PM // $5 Cover // 18+

The world ends often. Every moment offers the opportunity of new beginnings, as our past becomes engulfed in the apocalypse of our future. If you survive, the choice becomes yours: wallow in despair or effect change upon circumstance. 28 of us chose creation. This is Intangible. This is Collective. This is the Static After the Storm.

The Intangible Collective will kick off the evening with a full set of spoken word poetry at 9pm. A handful of local Albany Poets [editors note: Murrow and Dan Wilcox, among others] will also read. Following the poetry we will shift gears and bring Hip Hop to the stage. Headling the set will be Xkwisit, Killa Kev, Absolute, & DJ SG. Representing the Intangible Hip Hop faction will be Fascious, Bamboo MC, & B.Nice

For more information: http://www.intangiblecollective.com and http://www.valentinesalbany.com