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 HudsonValley. BEAHIVEwww.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 HudsonValley and partnered with Chronogram to open a second location in Uptown Kingston in December 2009.
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.
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’sOPEN 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 14th.” 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.
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.
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.)
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.
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
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 LenaPoetry 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.
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.
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
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 5that 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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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.)
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.
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.artsinwoodstock.org.
Poets Joan I. Siegel and Mary Makofskewill 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.
Albany Poets Presents comes to 
The first Wednesday of every month Caffè Lena presents: Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic 
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, 
On Thursday June 9th 7:00 PM with featured poets Aleathia Drehmer & Michael Heinrich
Get ready for the 
Literary reading from two acclaimed New York writers on Wednesday, June 15 at 7PM at 
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. 
National Poetry Month is starting off strong with another busy week of poetry and spoken word here in the area leading up to the 
Even in the summer, the Albany poetry scene is very active. We have some great 
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 
This month 
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. 
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. 
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 
Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival (