Poetry News October 26, 2009
****POETRYNEWS****
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Here is your Poetry News for the week of October 26, 2009.
Spoken word events are so prolific in the Pioneer Valley and beyond,
all you need to do is flip over one of the turning leaves and you'll find a poem.
Scroll all the way down for more poetry in CT, Boston, NH and VT.
THIS WEEK check out (scroll down for details):
Thu. Oct. 29 - Karen Johnston & Oonagh Doherty at Green St. Cafe 7pm
November 30/30 Challenge
30 Poems in 30 Days: The Challenge is On!
Northampton poet laureate Lesléa Newman is issuing a challenge to the poets of the Pioneer Valley: write 30 poems in 30 days to raise money for literacy.
Newman got the idea from National Novel Writing month. “Fiction writers write a novel during November,” she explained. “So why not have poets do something similar and raise money for a worthy cause at the same time?”
Poets will download from the Northampton Arts Council (http://www.northamptonartscouncil.org) website pledge sheets and sign up sponsors who donate a dollar amount per poem. “A dollar a poem, a nickel a poem, any amount will be appreciated,” Newman said. Poets will also get a prompt sheet containing 100 poetry ideas to inspire them, such as “Write a love poem to an inanimate object” and “Write a poem that will change the world.”
Poets will write their first poem on November 1st and write a poem every day through November 30th. On Wednesday, December 2nd there will be a public reading and celebration at Forbes Library and all poets who participated in the project are invited to come read a poem that came out of the project.
“It’s a lot of fun,” says Newman, who has written 30 poems in 30 days before. “Remember, they don’t have to be great poems. They just have to be poems. But you may very well surprise yourself.” Newman plans to participate in the project herself, and is actively looking for sponsors.
Money raised from the 30 Poems in 30 Days project will be donated to the Center for New Americans (CNA), a non-profit community-based education and resource center for immigrants, refugees, and other limited English speakers in the Pioneer Valley. The organization offers free English classes, free literacy classes, free child care for students, family literacy, and many other services. Newman’s goal is to raise $3,000 for CNA’s Family Literacy Project. “Thirty poets who each find 3 sponsors to pledge a dollar a poem will almost do the trick,” she said. Newman fully expects to meet and exceed her goal. “There are a lot of poets in the Pioneer Valley,” she said. “And a lot of people committed to raising money for literacy.”
Anyone can participate in the project, regardless of writing experience. To receive a pledge sheet, or to find out how to sponsor the poet laureate, click here.
(Visit http://www.northamptonartscouncil.org to download pledge sheets and for more information.)
To find out more about the Center for New Americans, visit www.cnam.org.
Westfield Poetry
BOOK PRESENTATION BY WRITER AND ACTRESS
Saundra Dubow Azmitia, author of “Do it Differently, Do it Differently!” will speak about her memoir on Wednesday, October 28, 7:00 p.m. at the Westfield Athenaeum.
Coming of age in the forties and fifties under the thumb of a “titan” of a mother whose ambitions for wealth and security for her daughter focused on steering her into marriage with a “good catch,” Saundra wavered between her own instincts and society’s values. Resisting her mother’s traditional standards of a woman’s “proper place” and limited horizons, Saundra struggled to honor her mother and still carve out a meaningful life for herself through the arts and theater. Saundra last appeared in Westfield as Gertrude Stein in a play written expressly for her.
Jarita Davis Poetry Reading
Westfield State College Speaker Series
Monday, November 2, 7pm
Scanlon Living Room
Westfield State College
Westfield, MA
Dr. Jarita Davis is a poet and fiction writer of Cape Verdean descent, raised in North Haven, CT and currently living in Falmouth, MA. Dr. Davis's project, There Should Be More Water, is a cycle of poems examining the shifting identities of Cape Verdean and Cape Verdean-Americans whose culture is marked by a continual migration to and from their island origins. Her work highlights the influences that New England and American culture has had on Cape Verdean immigrants, as well as the influences that Cape Verdeans have had upon their New England communities. A discussion and book signing will follow the poetry reading.
WORD AT THE Y
(POETRY WRITING CLASS)
This class will read great poetry from the canon of modern
American poetry, and use this work as a jumping-off place for their
own writing. This will be a supportive and positive environment in
which to write and discuss poetry. The emphasis will be on
generative writing rather than critique, and promises to be fun as
well as interesting. All levels of poets are welcome.
The next session begins on November 2, 2009
Cost of each 7- week session:
Facility Member: ..........................................................$48
Limited Member: ..........................................................$65
Non-member:..................................................................$70
Day/Time: Mondays 6:30-8:00PM
To register, call the YMCA at 413- 568-8631
Holyoke/Springfield Area Poetry
Starving for Art Presents
open mic Tuesdays
@ Blue Fusion Bar and Grille
487 St. James Ave
Springfield, MA
doors open at 6pm for social hour.
Showtime is 7-9pm
All poets, musicians, singers, and visual artists are welcome.
This event is free
For more info visit http://www.brendaschild.com/
Anthology on Bullies and Bullying
Call for submissions!
Go to: http://www.teatrovida.com/calling-all-writers.html
Journey on the Page
Proprioceptive Writing® with Tzivia Gover
2nd Tuesday of the Month, 6:30-8:30 p.m.
Nov. 10, Dec. 8, Jan. 12, Feb. 9
$65 for 4 Sessions
Holyoke Location (Highlands neighborhood)
To pre-register: tzivia@tziviagover.com or 413.532.8354
Proprioceptive Writing® is a meditative form of writing that allows you to know
yourself more fully by exploring on paper the territory of your mind, memory and
emotions. This writing practice will help you synthesize emotion and imagination,
generating authentic insight and joy.
Proprioceptive Writing® is a regular, disciplined practice in a quiet environment.
This unique method frees the writer within and helps to:
• Focus awareness and build self-trust
• Write and speak with strength and clarity
• Awaken the senses and emotions
• Bring increased energy and power to the creative process
• Focus and deepen the thought process
Tzivia Gover is an author, educator and certified Proprioceptive Writing Teacher.
Visit www.tziviagover.com or email tzivia@tziviagover.com
Word in the Valley and Beyond
Green St. Poetry Series
Green Street Café
Northampton, Massachusetts
The Green St. Poetry Series showcases the voices of emerging and noted poets from the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts and beyond.
Future features at Green Street Cafe:
October 29th — Karen Johnston & Oonagh Doherty
November 5th — Lori Desrosiers & Ellen LaFleche
November 12th — Marie Gauthier & Kim Rogers
If you are a poet and would like to read at Green Street, please contact
Maria Williams-Russell at mariawilliams@gmail.com.
This Fall, Try a Mini Workshop
Get inspired, be encouraged, do a lot of writing
in a group of supportive, fun, dedicated writers
Special four-week fall session
November 11 & 18, December 2 & 9
Wednesdays 6:30 – 9:00 p.m.
Easthampton
$100 before November 4
SUSAN HOWARD CASE MEMORIAL POETRY CORNER
AT THE FORBES LIBRARY
Forbes Library has created a new collection of
the works of local poets named the Susan Howard Case
Poetry Corner. This collection has been named in
memory of a local poet who contributed to the library's rich
poetry community through her volunteer service.
The non-circulating collection consists of poetry books
and chapbooks by Pioneer Valley poets, and locally
published literary journals. "The idea for this collection
developed in response to the abundance of many gifted poets
in our area," said D.M. Gordon, Forbes Library Writer-in-Residence
who created the idea for this new collection.
The collection will be housed in the Arts & Music magazine lounge on the
library's second floor. The items in the collection are to be read in
the library and comfortable seating is available nearby. The library
hopes to grow the collection through donations. Anyone interested in
donating to the collection should contact Lisa Downing, Assistant
Director, at 413-587-1017 or ldowning@forbeslibrary.org.
Anthology of Poems about Northampton
Call for Submissions!
Go to: http://www.nohoanthology.blogspot.com
Jane Schneeloch Reading at Jones Library
On Sunday, October 25, at 2 PM at the Jones Library, 43 Amity Street, Amherst, poet and playwright Jane Schneeloch will read from her new book of poems, Climbing to the Moon, Finishing Line Press.
A native of Springfield, Schneeloch taught English for 35 years and is now the office manager for the Drama Studio in Springfield. Climbing to the Moon, a collection of poems inspired by the art of Georgia O’Keeffe, is her first chapbook. One of her O’Keeffe poems received an honorable mention in the 2008 Springfield Library Poetry Contest. Her other poetry has appeared in Common Ground Review; Equinox; Hello, Goodbye; Peregrine; Poetic Voices Without Borders; Shine; and Survivors Review. Her play In Hiding was produced in 2008 at the Drama Studio.
Schneeloch began this collection after first seeing O’Keeffe’s painting Black Abstraction at Pat Schneider’s writing workshop. Its utter simplicity and geometric forms spoke to her, and she began to examine and write to other of her works. After reading Roxana Robinson’s biography of the artist, she visited O’Keeffe’s home in Abiquiu, New Mexico, where she studied the artist and took in the amazing landscapes that surrounded her. The chapbook comprises twenty-six poems that reflect not only her New Mexico work, but also paintings she completed in New York. Schneeloch’s poem inspired by O’Keeffe’s painting Brooklyn Bridge will soon be published in a collection of poems about the bridges of New York City.
Schneeloch will be joined by other Amherst Writers & Artists authors, who will each give a short reading from their own work. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
FLORENCE POETS SOCIETY .
Next business/sharing meeting Thursday November 12, 6:30pm
ALL POETS OF ALL TYPES AND AGES are welcome, bring one of your original works to share,
(12 to 15 copies will=2 0usually be enough for all to share) The meeting is held at Lilly Library community room and begins at 6:30 PM. Poetry presentation and discussion begins at 7PM
WRITING GROUP
Rich Puchalsky and friends meet every 3rd Thursday
at Lilly Library community Room
at 6:30 PM.
See Rich for details, this group is currently open to join.
LASTLY PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING AS A MEMBER
OF FLORENCE POETS SOCIETY. THE FEE IS $15.00 FOR THE YEAR
FROM SEPTEMBER TO AUGUST. Your membership supports our Fall festival,
SILKWORM our annual journal, (these first two items also are supported in part
by the Northampton Arts Council via a grant)
our website http://www.florencepoetssociety.org/,, our po box, the annual contest,
the JAN SLAM, our spring art gallery reading. and our summer reading
at William Cullen Bryant homestead.
For more information:
Email us at FPOETS@localnet.com or check out our web
page at http://www.florencepoetssociety.org/
Florence Poets Society Readings:
Listen to "Twilite's Poetry Pub" now Weekly!
Enjoy the "Pub" with Carl and Tom every Wednesday from 9-10 am
on Valley Free Radio, WXOJ 103.3 fm, Northampton and now
with improved streaming at http://www.valleyfreeradio.org/ !!!
Poetry to the people!
WXOJ-FM LP 103.3 and streaming at http://www.valleyfreeradio.org/.
Bringing to you a variety of interesting poetry and music!
-----------------------------
All events are free and open to the public except as noted
For more information, Call Tom at (413) 584-5914
or email at: tommytwilite@gmail.com
or: FPOETS@localnet.com or visit:
http://www.florencepoetssociety.org/
or visit: http://www.tommytwilite.com/
POETRY A LA CARTE
on WMUA-Amherst 91.1 FM
5pm to 5:30 pm on Tuesdays this Summer,
streamed live at http://www.wmua.org/.
The program, hosted by Daisy Mathias,
includes reading aloud from past
and contemporary poets, and occasionally
features live interview and
poetry-reading with a local poet.
Poetry at the Leverett Library
6:30 p.m. on the 3rd Tuesday of each month,
Poetry reading at the Leverett Library.
75 Montague Rd. Leverett, MA
For more information contact Petriana at 413. 549.9336
or by email at pmonize@hcc.mass.edu
Greenfield/Shelburne Falls and North
The Hope and Olive
44 Hope Street
Greenfield, MA
Come for brunch and stay for the readings and connecting with new and old friends, who
share your passion for writing and reading. Or arrive at 3 with readings starting at 3:10.
The format will be 3 minute slots. A chance to hear some of the great writers in our area
and to talk, inspire, laugh, and celebrate. We will end at 5 which then you may want to stay
for dinner and just hang.
If interested in reading contact me at paul@humanerrorpublishing.com.
Hope to see you there.
Bart’s Bards
Second Thursdays Open Microphone for Writers
Bart’s Café of Greenfield
286 Main St.
Greenfield, MA
7:00-9:00 P.M.
(Sign up to Read at 6:45)
2009 Featured Readers:
November 12: Pat Fargnoli
December 10: Tim Mayo
2010 Featured Readers:
January 14: Janet Aalfs
February 11: Julie Payne Britton
March 11: Maureen Moore
April 8: Kerry O’Keefe
May 14: Wyn Cooper
June 10: Lori Desrosiers
July 8: Janet MacFadyen
August 12: Marie Gauthier
Sept. 10: Lesle Lewis
October 14: Susie Patlove
November 11: Laura Rodley
For More Information, Please Contact:
Larry Fader (413) 475-3321
(Open Microphone Readings are 5 Minutes or Less)
Free to All
Greenfield Spoken Word
November 17th 7:00
Always the third Tuesday of the month
ARMS LIBRARY READING
Third Friday Prose and Poetry Readings.
7 p.m. at The Arms Library,
Corner of Main and Bridge Streets,
Shelburne Falls, Mass.
413-625-0306.
Held in the upstairs Reading Room, readers should arrive a
couple of minutes early to sign up for a reading slot, and then
have five minutes to share their work.
The building is accessible by entering at lower level
and taking the elevator upstairs.
ALL SMALL CAPS
Speaking of featured readers, we have excellent poets for your ears:
C.A. Conrad
Susie Timmons
Collected Poets Series
The Collected Poets Series highlights the work of established and emerging poets. Each event showcases the remarkable local poets of Western Massachusetts and the finest regional, national, and international talent. The series is usually held every first Thursday of the month.
(Please contact Lea Banks at this email or 413-625-6702 for more information).
Mocha Maya’s Coffee House,
47 Bridge Street,
Shelburne Falls, MA 01370,
413-625-6292.
Wheelchair accessible. Free.
See www.collectedpoets.com or www.mochamayas.com for more information.
2009 Series
Nov. 5 April Ossman, Peter Waldor, and Pamela Stewart
Dec. 3 Mary Koncel and Kate Greenstreet
The Collected Poets Series highlights the work of established and emerging poets. Each event showcases the remarkable local poets of Western Massachusetts and the finest regional, national, and international talent. The series is usually held every first Thursday of the month. See http://www.collectedpoets.com/ for more info about upcoming events.
_____________
Writing Groups
for beginning and experienced writers
Come write in an encouraging supportive environment, experience the
deepening and growth of your own writing, and contribute to the deepening
and growth of others' writing. No experience necessary--only the
willingness to put pen to paper.
Groups meet weekly in Greenfield, are ongoing, and open to all genres. We
follow the Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA) method,
http://www.amherstwriters.com/.
$125 per 5-week session,
6 - 8 people per group.
To join or for more info
call or email Ann McNelly: 413 772 2375, amcnelly@rcn.com
________________
News from Mo and Booksmyth Press
The web site can be accessed with this address:
http://www.thebooksmyth.com/
Web site: http://www.thebooksmyth.com/ submission guidelines now available
The Equinox is available at http://www.thebooksmyth..com/
Word in the Berkshires
Award-winning poet Irene Willis will be reading from her new book,
Those Flames, as well as from her previous two collections on
Thursday, October 29, 6:30 PM
at the Mason Library,
Main Street,
Gt. Barrington, MA
The reading, which is free and open to the public,
will begin at 6:30 p.m.
Refreshments will be served, and books will be available for purchase and signing.
Power of Words, Open Mic
November 17th, Tuesday
7pm to 8:30 pm
This is an open opportunity to share poetry,
readings, music and other spoken word.
Free and open to the public
Berkshire South Regional Community Center
Crissey Rd. Great Barrington, MA
Every third Tuesday of the month.
Please call Garfield at 528 4127 for more information.
Meet These Local Authors and Illustrators
Saturday, November 7th, 10-12
at the Bushnell-Sage Library, Sheffield, MA
For information call 413-229-7004
Sponsored by Friends of the Bushnell-Sage Library
Sheffield. FICTION, POETRY, AND NONFICTION FOR CHILDREN, TEENS, AND ADULTS
Please join us to meet and greet our Berkshire talent! Books available for signing.
David Anderegg
Michael Ballon
Ann-Elizabeth Barnes
Milton Bass
Ruth Bass
Karen Berger
Cheryl Blackburn
Roy Blount
Jim Bouton
Jennifer Browdy de Hernandez
David Carriere
Sharon Charde
Roselle Chartock
Michael Citrin
Jim Ciullo
Steve Donaldson
Emmanual Dongala
Bernard Drew
Susan Dworkin
Marshall Jon Fisher
John Friedman
David Giannini
Louisa Gilder
Michelle Gillett
Richard Greene
Barbara Shook Hazen
Elizabeth Hess
Ben Hillman
David Hodge
Gina Hyams
Miriam Jacobs
Brooke Janis
Jana Laiz
Gary Leveille
Tracy Mack
Sue MacVeety
Kenneth Markel
Marlene Marshall
Charles Parton
Sonia Pilcer
Doreen Rappaport
Seymour “Rob” Robins
Jacqueline Rogers
Bob Ronnow
Andrea Scott
Charles Steinhacker
Matt Tannenbaum
John Toffey
Jessica Treat
Daniel Valenti
Leslie Wheeler
Irene Willis
Richard Wise
Please join us to meet and greet our Berkshire talent! 48 Main Street (Route 7) just south of the center
Books available for signing.
For information call 413-229-7004
In Words, Out Words in Housatonic
In Housatonic, MA there is an open mic for poets and performers
of all styles and ages.
1st Tuesday of each month at
the Deb Koffman Gallery
137 Front Street,
Housatonic, MA 01236. “In Words, Out Words.”
is hosted by John Meeks and there is usually
a $7 suggested donation for heat and electricity.
There are snacks there provided by whoever wants to bring them.
The sign up technically is at 6:30 however the way it works is a
lottery system. If you go to check it out once, then you can put
your name on the contact email list. The following month you
get an email reminding you of the upcoming event.
If it’s your first time performing at In Words, Out Words,
you are guaranteed a spot on the roster as long as you reply
to the reminder email. If you’ve performed there before then
you are put into the lottery system and randomly names are selected.
Sometimes there are still slots open at the door.
The open mic begins at 7 and the featured performer goes on
for about 20 minutes. It usually lasts until between 9 and 9:30.
Zeitgeist Gallery Pittsfield
Monday Poetry Nights
6 to10pm
648 North Street in Pittsfield
call Alan Nidle, the Director at (857) 991-8448 for detail
Lee Writers Group
(every 2nd Tuesday of the month)
at the Lee Library Conference Room.
Develop and hone writing skills through constructively critiquing
others as well as receiving helpful hints and suggestions.
This forum will host a variety of short stories, poetic compilations,
insightful and original essays, and other varieties of writing similarly
tangible in length. The purpose of this group is to embody character
and narrator through obsessive directive fervor with written and
spoken words.
The group will meet every second Tuesday sharing original works
via recitation and distribution and should be prepared to accept
constructive feedback and be able to, in return, deliver such
feedback in a respectable and deliberate manner.
Contact Leewritersgroup@gmail.com
or call 413 243-8116 for further information.
Word in Ware/Palmer
Carpe Stylum! (Latin for Seize the pen!)
meets every Wednesday 6-8pm, usually at the Ware Library
but some meetings are held elsewhere.
This group includes poets, short story writers and novelists.
All are welcome.
Call LuWanda Cheney (413) 277-9676 for a schedule.
Word in Worcester:
Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
October 26th, 7:30PM
Clark University
Dana Commons, Second Floor Lounge
at the corner of Maywood and Florence Streets
Worcester, MA
508-793-7479
Professor Jeffers will present from and discuss her latest project, a book-length series of poems that imagines the life and cultural milieu of the 18th-Century African-American poet Phillis Wheatley, and addresses the challenges of scholarly research when engaging an artistic subject.
www.clarku.edu/offices/publicaffairs/news/press/articles/higgins09fall2009.cfm
The Little "a" Poetry Series
at the Q Cafe, 362 Chandler St in Worcester, MA.
We run the reading every Monday night, the sign-up list for
the open mic goes up at 7:00pm and we get started shortly thereafter.
Worcester Storytellers
Worcester Storytellers meets on the second Friday of each month at the Village Arts Gallery
(1 Ekman Street, Worcester). The reading starts at 8:00 p.m. There will be an open mic followed by a feature.
Worcester Storytellers never charges a cover. They ask you throw some money into the basket to support the artists who feature. For more info please contact dave_@aol.com
The d'Alzon Arts Series: Poetry Reading
takes place at Assumption College (500 Salisbury Street, Worcester) in the Emmanuel d'Alzon Library on the third Friday of each month during the academic year. The format is an open mic for the first half-hour or so, a short break with refreshments and then 2 featured poets.. The reading starts at 7:00 p.m. and typically runs for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Readings run throughout the school year.
New Name - Same Great Poetry
The After Nine Poetry Series - Every Thursday Night
The The After Nine Poetry Series, formerly The Spot,
is a weekly poetry reading in the Ship Room at the Hotel Vernon
(1 Kelly Square, Worcester).
The reading is held in the Ship Room of the Hotel Vernon (1 Kelly Square, Worcester). The official start time is 8:00 p.m. but honestly, things get going closer to 9. Maybe this week will be different.
21+ and proper id is required
Poets Asylum
This week the Poets' Asylum will hold a just-for-fun Open Slam. This will be a two round slam with all the usual rules in play. There will be a small cash prize for the winner. Simply put, poetry slam is the competitive art of performance poetry. It puts a dual emphasis on writing and performance, encouraging poets to focus on what they're saying and how they're saying it. Slam poetry can be moving, funny and deadly serious, sometimes all in the same poem.Poetry slam is the competitive art of performance poetry. It puts a dual emphasis on writing and performance, encouraging poets to focus on what they're saying and how they're saying it. Slam poetry can be moving, funny and deadly serious, sometimes all in the same poem. If that sounds like a good time then join us for some great words.
Come on down to Jumpin' Juice and Java (335 Chandler Street, Worcester). The reading starts at 6:00 p.m. No cover; please throw some money in the bucket to support the feature.
The Dirty Gerund
There's a new poetry reading in town! The Dirty Gerund Poetry Show will be held every Monday night starting at 8:30 p.m. The reading is being held at Ralph's Chadwick Square Diner (148 Grove Street, Worcester) and is hosted by Rushelle Frazier. There will be an open mic every week with a mix of poetry s lams and featured poets.
No cover; donations accepted. 21+
Please join us at our new home,
Shakti Women's Writing Pact
The Shakti Women's Writing Pact meets
every Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m. at
the Java Hut (1073A Main Street, Worcester).
Shakti was created with the intention of enhancing women's
sense of belonging within the poetry community through the
an unmoderated writing circle.
For more information please contact Sou MacMillan at
twobunny@earthlink.net.
THE ECLECTIC WORD, Radio Show
Poet and journalist Victor D. Infante hosts The Eclectic Word, an
Internet radio show that will delve into literature's fringe with poets,
satirists, alternative journalists and even (gasp!) bloggers. We'll be
stepping off the beaten path of literature, taking a close look at the odd,
the eccentric and the cutting-edge. Should be fun.
The show will run at 7 p.m. EST the first and third Friday of every month,
as part of The World Wide Word Radio Network. You can listen to the
shows live, or you can download it later for your listening convenience.
So give it a listen! It's going to be a blast!
CT POETRY
-------------------------------------------------------
Visit the CT Poet Online calendar,
updated weekly: http://www.poetz.com/connecticut
Riverwood Poetry Series Presents
Underwood Cafe, featuring Geri Radasci and Alexandrina (Sandy) Sergio
Thursday, October 29, 6:30 p.m.
Wood Memorial Library
783 Main Street
South Windsor, CT 06074
860-289-1783
Presented by: Riverwood Poetry Series, www.riverwoodpoetry.org.
Entertaining and thought-provoking poetry in a relaxed, café-style atmosphere. Featured Poet, Open mic, Refreshments. Admission is free: donations gratefully accepted. Donations of non-perishable foods will also be accepted for the benefit of St. Vincent de Paul food pantry.
About the featured poets:
Geri Radasci's third poetry collection, Tightrope Walker, is based on works of art. These new poems are intensely personal and impressionistic, not bound by the confines of their sources, although they also throw new light on a wide variety of artwork. Ms. Radacsi has been a journalist, English teacher, communication/media specialist, and freelance writer. Currently, she is Associate Director of University Relations, Emerita, at Central Connecticut State University. Alexandrina Sergio's new collection, My Daughter Is Drummer in the Rock ’n Roll Band offers a rich variety of moods: the sad poems contain moments of wry wit, and the overtly humorous or raucous poems contain deeper undercurrents. Ms. Sergio traces her passion for poetry to her mother’s habit of mixing the works of Celtic poets into bedtime tales. As an English teacher, Sandy coached prize-winning student poets. Subsequent careers in mental health and philanthropy-consulting encroached on writing time, but retirement has allowed broader opportunities.
Riverwood Poetry Series Presents:
Undead Poets' Halloween Party
Saturday, October 31, 6:30 p.m.
The Buttonwood Tree
605 Main Street, Middletown, CT 06457
860-347-4957
Presented by: Riverwood Poetry Series, www.riverwoodpoetry.org.
Can the bards be dead when their words are undying? “No!” cries Riverwood Series, mysterious medium of Connecticut poetry. Come on down, place your hands upon the table, and experience Poe, Millay, Service, Sexton, and more as Riverwood embodies his—or is it her?—favorite dead poets this Halloween. Plus! Make your own favorite poet “undead” in the open mic. You can even come in costume, if the spirit moves you… Suggested donation $3.00. Donations of non-perishable foods will also be accepted for the benefit of St. Vincent de Paul food pantry.
News From Antrim House
Antrim House is pleased to announce that poems by Norah Pollard will be read by Garrison Keillor on “The Writer’s Almanac” this coming Thursday and Friday, October 29 & 30. Most public radio stations carry the program. If you are unable to hear Norah’s poems (“The Sum of a Man” and “She Dreamed of Cows”) on the radio, you’ll be able to listen to (and read) them online at writersalmanac.publicradio.org, where you will also find ancillary information concerning poet and poem.
In addition, Rennie McQuilkin’s poem “The Digging” will be featured on “The Writer’s Almanac” this coming Tuesday, October 27.
Another way to help Norah celebrate her new book, Death & Rapture in the Animal Kingdom, will be to attend her reading at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday, November 15. It will be part of a new poetry series, Poetry on the Line, at the Windsor Art Center, 40 Mechanic St. in Windsor, CT (“the place where verse, artwork and the main line meet”). Norah will be reading with Steve Foley, whose 2007 poetry collection, A Place at the Table, is a book not to be missed. Steve is a splendid reader, as is Norah, so do come to hear them, along with a flute & cello performance by Minta White and Michael Linert. The program is free and will be followed at 3:15 by a reception at which you can join lots of area poets and lovers of poetry as we circle our wagons against these barbaric times.
Rennie McQuilkin’s poetry has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, The Southern Review, The Yale Review, The Hudson Review, Crazyhorse, The Gettysburg Review, The American Scholar, and elsewhere. He is the author of ten poetry collections, the most recent of which is The Weathering: New & Selected Poems (2009); and he has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as the State of Connecticut. He co-founded and for nine years directed the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival. In 2003 he received the Connecticut Center for the Book’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Rennie McQuilkin lives in Simsbury, CT, where he is the publisher & editor of Antrim House Books.
45 Broad Street
Middletown, CT 06457
Saturday, November 7 2009, 6:30 P.M.
Hartford Public Library, 500 Main Street
Connecticut Center for the Book
500 Main Street
Hartford CT 06103.
with help from The Friends & Enemies of Wallace Stevens.
Nancy Eimers is the author of three collections of poetry: A Grammar to Waking (Carnegie Mellon, 2006), No Moon, winner of the 1997 Verna Emery Prize (Purdue University Press), and Destroying Angel (Wesleyan/University Press of New England, 1991). She has been the recipient of a Nation “Discovery” Award, two National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowships and a Whiting Writer’s Award. Her poems have appeared in numerous anthologies and literary magazines, including Best American Poetry 1996, Poets of the New Century, The New Bread Loaf Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry, The Extraordinary Tide: New Poetry By American Women, Paris Review, TriQuarterly, and Field. She teaches creative writing at
This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Tracy Quigley at 860/297-2568, or by email at Tracy.Quigley@trincoll.edu.
From The Bushnell’s Big Read Program:
Dead Poet Slam
For Middle- and High-School Students
Friday, October 23, 2009
The Bushnell’s Autorino Great Hall
7:00 – 9:30 pm
Doors open at 6:30pm
Admission is Free
Cash Prizes for the Top 3 Poets
($50 / $75 / $100)
Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary,
Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore
— from The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
Many consider Edgar Allan Poe the founder of the horror / suspense genre. We’re celebrating his 200th birthday with a special poetry slam. For middle- and high-school students, the Dead Poet Slam dispenses with most of the traditional slam rules to encourage both new and practiced slam poets to experiment with poetry and Poe.
What is a poetry slam? It’s not a boxing match, a poetry reading, or an open mic. It’s definitely not the poetry you remember from grade school. A poetry slam is a competition. Poets sign up to compete and judges are randomly chosen from the audience to score. The goal of the poetry slam has always been to seek a wider audience for poetry, to inspire people from all walks of life to listen to poetry, to appreciate and to respect its power.
Here are the rules:
§ Poems can be any style but must relate in some way to Edgar Allan Poe; e.g., the poet himself, his life and times, subjects or emotions one might find in the horror genre then or now.
§ Each poem must be an original piece performed by the author.
§ For the Dead Poet Slam, participants can read their poems.
§ For the Dead Poet Slam, props are okay.
§ For the Dead Poet Slam, costumes are not only okay, they’re encouraged.
§ For the Dead Poet Slam, musical instruments and prerecorded music are allowed
§ Performances are timed and should not exceed 3 minutes. After a ten-second grace period, a half point is deducted for every additional 10 seconds. The judges do not subtract points. The scorekeeper handles it.
§ Timing starts when the performance begins, usually with the first utterance of sound from the performer.
§ Each poem may only be used once during the competition.
Thanks to a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, admission to the Dead Poet Slam is free. Poets who wish to perform must sign up at The Bushnell the night of the event. Come early. Space is limited.