Poetry News

*****POETRY NEWS*****

Here is your Poetry News for the week of September 13, 2010.

Poetry events are blowing in like hurricane season in the Pioneer Valley and beyond! Scroll all the way down for more poetry in CT, Boston and other areas. Check out all our links to the right for poetry events everywhere!

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THIS WEEK in Western MA and Vicinity:
Fri. Sept. 10 - Meat for Tea "Cirque de The" Poetry Reading at the Elevens, Northampton 9pm
Sun. Sept. 12 - Poetry Open Mic at Barnes & Noble, Holyoke, 6pm
Fri. Sept. 17 - imagine/Arts reading: Jendi Reiter, Nancy Denig, Brad Davis, Northampton, 7pm

Sat. Sept. 18 - Best Damn Poetry Show with Ryk McIntyre, The Elevens, Northampton, 8pm
Sun Sept. 19 - Gallery of Readers Anthology Reading, Neilson Library, Smith, 4pm

There are many other poetry events in Western MA, Boston, CT and beyond this week - Please scroll down!

WORD IN WESTFIELD

Writer's Retreat and Yoga at the YMCA Goyette Chalet
9am - 4pm on OCTOBER 17 (date change!). Info will be forthcoming.

Fiction and Non-Fiction Writing classes
Friday nights at the YMCA with Sera Rivers. Call the Westfield YMCA or write to Sera at [email protected] for more information.

Class - Writing Your Life Through Poetry - Poetry in Memoir
with Lori Desrosiers at Westfield State University's Continuing Education and Learning in Retirement programs. Wednesday nights for four weeks: Sept. 15 - Oct. 6. Go to http://www.wsc.ma.edu/neighbors/community-education/ for more information.

Josephine Dickinson at Westfield State
will be reading at Westfield State University on October 6, 2010 at 6:30pm in Scanlon Living Room.
Free Admission.

HOLYOKE/SPRINGFIELD AREA POETRY

Barnes & Noble Open Mic
There will be open mic poetry at Barnes & Noble by the Holyoke Mall at 6:pm Sun. Sept 12th.
This open mic is ongoing the second Sunday of the month

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/

WORD IN THE VALLEY AND BEYOND

Cirque de The
Celebrating the release of the Yerba Mate issue of Meat for Tea are The Happy Hour Burlesque Troupe, Mark Schwaber, Friends of Yours, Severe Severe and Planetoid. Poets Kristen Sund, Stephen Lindow and others will read/perform their works.

BEST DAMN POETRY SHOW
Open Mic + Feature Poet: Ryk McIntyre, Saturday, September 18
7:30 Doors open, 8:00 Open Mic, followed by Feature Poet performance
The Elevens | 140 Pleasant St | Northampton MA
21+ / $3-$5 Cover
Hosted by: Tanya Rubins and Dana Wilde Contact: [email protected]

Twentieth Anniversary of the Gallery of Readers series
A reading to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the Gallery of Readers series, and the publication of the 2010 Gallery of Readers Anthology, will be held Sunday, September 19, at 4 p.m., in the Neilson Library Browsing Room at Smith College.
Contributors to the anthology will read from their work, and refreshments will be served.
The anthology, with 44 local contributors and 223 pages, will be on sale at the reading. It contains a wide range of forms, including fiction, poetry, personal essays, and memoir.

The Gallery of Readers series began in 1990, and takes its name from its first location, in Northampton's Forbes Library art gallery. The readers in the series are participants in Robin Barber and Carol Edelstein's Vernon Street Writing Workshops.
For more information on other events in the series, please visit http://www.galleryofreaders.org/galleryofreaders/current.html.

Poetic Recovery Open Mic and Feature
Every Thursday night 6:30-8:00 pm
Thirsty Mind in South Hadley MA 23 College St.

imagine/ARTS
Poetry Reading in Northampton Sept 17 at 7:00PM
70 Main Street (above “Sweeties”)
Seating is limited. Reception and book signing to follow. For more information: 413-585-5830

Jendi Reiter's first book, A Talent for Sadness, was published in 2003 by Turning Point Books. Her poetry chapbook, Swallow, won the 2008 Flip Kelly Poetry Prize and was published in 2009 by Amsterdam Press. Her poetry chapbook, The Happy Endings Support Group, won the 2010 Cervena Barva Poetry Chapbook Prize and is forthcoming from Cervena Barva Press. In 2010 she received a Massachusetts Cultural Council Artists' Grant for Poetry.

Nancy Watkins Denig has returned to Northampton after receiving her undergraduate degree at Smith College and living intervening years elsewhere in the Valley, in Chicago, Frankfurt am Main (Germany), and metropolitan DC. As a writer/landscape architect, Ms. Denig has notable professional publications to her credit, including a biblical theology of man and nature in Landscape Journal. As a poet, she has three chapbooks to her credit with selected works published in Plumb Lines, a literary anthology, and volumes 2, 3, and 4 of Silk Worm, the annual review of the Florence Poets Society. Nancy’s reading at imagine/ART launches her newly released collections, Distaff Diaries and Suites.

Brad Davis has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts and four poetry books with Antrim House. A fifth, Opening King David, is forthcoming with a Portland (OR) publisher. Poems have appeared in Poetry, Paris Review, Connecticut Review, Tar River Poetry, Image, Suss, Michigan Quarterly Review, Cafe Review, Puerto del So, Chautauqua, and elsewhere. In 1995 he won an AWP Intro Journal Award, and in 2005 his poetry chapbook, Short List of Wonders, was selected winner by Dick Allen for the Sunken Garden Poetry Prize and published by the Hill-Stead Museum. He currently teaches creative writing at Eastern Connecticut State University.

Sponsored by imagine/Arts
A voluntary donation $5.00 to help the poor and homeless in Northampton.
$5.00 to continue funding for these kind of events.

THE POETRY CENTER AT SMITH
Tuesday, September 28, 7:30 pm, Sage Hall
presents: RITA DOVE

Rita Dove is an American treasure. Recipient of many of the nation’s highest cultural honors and former U.S. Poet Laureate, her work has won wide critical praise and reflects her interest in music and drama, as well as her commitment to social justice and women's issues. A writer of startling breadth, Dove has written plays, stories, and a novel, in addition to six books of poems, most recently, Sonata Mulattica, which dramatizes the life of the Afro-Polish violin virtuoso Polgreen Bridgetower. Dove’s “magnificent poems pay homage to our kaleidoscopic cultural heritage,” writes The Kansas City Star. She is Commonwealth Professor of English at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.

Supported by Afro-American Studies, American Studies, English Department, Lecture Committee, and the Program for the Study of Women and Gender

A POETICS OF RESISTANCE
The Revolutionary Public Relations of the Zapatista Insurgency
Wednesday 9/29 at 7pm
Food For Thought Books ~106 N. Pleasant Street
Downtown Amherst

Nancy Denig & Dick Greene at Broadside Books
Tuesday September 21, 7PM, Nancy Denig, of Florence and Dick Greene of Northampton, author of Explorations, will be reading poems that are not yet widely known but that move and delight their readers and audiences. Copies of Nancy's and Dick's books are available at Broadside Books and in the Forbes Library Pioneer Valley poets collection. Come to Broadside on September 21 and help Nancy and Dick achieve the broader recognition they so richly deserve.

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.
This season promises a series of really exciting poets with poems to match. Join them Wednesday nights at 7:30. Come, listen.

Our 2010 line-up is as follows:
September 8 - Kristin Bock & James Grinwis
September 15 - Carolyn Cushing & Rachel Polluck
September 22 - Victor Infante & Lea Deschenes
September 29 - Gale Thompson & Caroline Cabrera
October 6 – Cara Benson & Maria Williams-Russell
October 13 – Patricia Lee Lewis & Diana Gordon
October 20 – Samantha Nataro & Miranda Dennis
October 27 – Catherine Sasanov
November 3 – Brian Foley & Elaine Kahn
November 10 – Laura Rodley & Jim Cahillane
November 17 – Tommy Twilite & Paul Richmond
November 24 - No reading – Thanksgiving break
December 1 – Connolly Ryan & Dan Mahoney
December 8 – Lesley Yalen & Seth Landman
December 15 – Christy Crutchfield & Anne Holmes

If you are interested in reading at Green Street, send a note with bio and sample poems to Maria Williams-Russell at [email protected]

FLORENCE POETS SOCIETY
Next business/sharing meeting Thursday August 12, 2010 6:30pm
ALL POETS OF ALL TYPES AND AGES are welcome, bring one of your original works to share,
(12 to 15 copies will usually 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

FLORENCE OUTDOOR POETRY FESTIVAL
Sunday, September 26, 12pm - 5pm
This is our sixth annual festival!

Featured Readers:
W.E. Butts, Poet Laureate of New Hampshire
Regie O'Hare Gibson, 2010 Poetry Fellow Honoree, Mass. Cultural Council
Jendi Reiter, 2010 Poetry Fellow Honoree, Mass. Cultural Council
Janet Aalfs, Former Northampton Poet Laureate
Lori Desrosiers, Winner GBSPA Prize, Publisher Naugatuck River Review, Poetry News

ALSO APPEARING; HOWIE FAERSTEIN, PAUL RICHMOND, RICHARD GREENE, MICHAEL ARRAJ, MARTINA ROBINSON, ROBERT LIPTON, AND MANY OTHER FINE POETS! PLUS MUSICAL GUESTS! AND A BOOK TABLE! PLUS DUCKS AND GEESE! A KIDDIE TRAIN AND A PETTING ZOO! WOW!

See our new web page at www.florencepoetssociety.net
Email us at [email protected]

WRITING GROUP
Martina Robinson 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.

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 [email protected] or check out our web page at http://www.florencepoetssociety.org/

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: [email protected] or: [email protected] or visit: http://www.florencepoetssociety.org/

POETRY A LA CARTE RADIO SHOW
on WMUA-Amherst 91.1 FM

Poetry à la Carte is currently at 4:30 pm to 5:30 pm on Mondays (Summer Session).
Starting September 13, Poetry à la Carte will air 6:00pm to 6:30 pm on Mondays.
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. Area poets are invited to read. For more information contact Petriana at 413. 549.9336 or by email at [email protected]

GREENFIELD, SHELBURNE FALLS AND NORTH

Greenfield Poetry - Spoken Word Festival Oct 9th
On Oct 9th Greenfield will host the second annual Brick and Mortar show
Many venues with Video installations
I was asked to combine the Poetry Festival with this event
The present work in progress schedule is
One performance at 3:-4:30
The second performance will be 6:30 to 8
At this moment we have 6 venues we are working out details with where shows will be
Which means there will be 6 reading going on at once in different places, twice
These rage from a furniture store, coffee house, 2 bookstores, 2 Music stores

There will also be a party at the end of the day at the Greenfield Grill
Where food and drinks will be available and we will have a stage for all the poets who were involved to have some time to read again if they like.

To be a part of the festival, email [email protected]

Slate Roof Press Features Night of Poetry
Leyden, Friday, September 24, at 7 PM: Slate Roof poets Paula Sayword and Susie Patlove, along with guest poet Ann McNelly, will read from their work Friday, September 24th, at the Leyden Town Hall, 16 West Leyden Rd. Slate Roof Press is a member-run press committed to publishing Western Massachusetts poets. Designed by the poets themselves, Slate Roof chapbooks feature letterpress covers, special papers, and hand-sewn bindings. There will be time to inquire about Slate Roof membership and to learn about small press publishing, chapbook design, and promotion.

Charlemont resident Susie Patlove will read from her book, Quickening, published by Slate Roof (2007). Susie was a 2008 finalist for the Mass Cultural Council awards; her poems have appeared on NPR’s “A Writers Almanac” and in Ted Kooser’s “American Life in Poetry,” among other places. Paula Sayword’s first book of poems, What Sleeps Inside, has just been released by Slate Roof Press this summer; her work has previously appeared in Sanctuary and the Naugatuck River Review. A Leyden resident, she was a 2009 semi-finalist in the Naugatuck River Review’s narrative poetry contest and a finalist in the 2006 Poet Seat Poetry Contest. Also from Leyden, Ann McNelly will read from her work; her poems have appeared in The Berkshire Review, Drive-By Poets, and Sanctuary

The program is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served, and Slate Roof Press books will be on display for sale. The recently renovated Town Hall is now wheelchair accessible.

This program is supported in part by grants from the Local Cultural Councils of Ashfield, Greenfield, Hinsdale-Peru, Leyden, and Northfield, local agencies supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. We thank them for their generosity.

"Growing younger toward death every day: finding insight and inspiration in poetry, prose, and song".
New participants are always welcome at a biweekly group, which has been meeting for the past year and a half near Greenfield in western Mass, called "Growing younger toward death every day: finding insight and inspiration in poetry, prose, and song".
Bring and share your own, or a favorite poem, prose piece, or recorded song by others. Also listen to CDs of poet David Whyte reading his own and others' poetry, and discussing its meaning. The line 'growing younger toward death every day' is from Whyte's best-known poem "The Faces at Braga".
We also often read aloud and discuss poems and commentary in John O'Donohue's book "A Book of Blessings", and in the series of books edited by Roger Housden such as "Ten Poems To Change Your Life". Optional pot luck supper at 6. Poetry-sharing begins at 6:45pm. More info: John Berkowitz 413-625-6374 [email protected]

Spoken Word Greenfield is always the Third Tuesday of the month
September 21st will be the next one
Doors open at 7
Open mic of 5 minute slots will start at 7:30
The featured readers for September are
Verbal Teas
Core members have met for about 10 years
3 have placed in the Poet's seat contest
Laura Gail Grohe
Faith Dieleliant Kindness
Barbara Lemoine
Susan Middleton
Pridy Wholey

Hope to see you there
9 Mill St
Greenfield, MA
Donation - Sliding Scale $1 - $5

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.

Collected Poets Series
No CPS Series in August or September. Stay tuned October 7 for Josephine Dickinson and Sharon Dolin. $2– $5 sliding scale. Mocha Maya's Coffee House, 47 Bridge Street, Shelburne Falls, MA 01370, 413-625-6292. Wheelchair accessible. See www.collectedpoets.com or www.mochamayas.com for more information.

2010 Series
No CPS Readings in August or September
October 7 - Josephine Dickinson and Sharon Dolin
November 4 - Barbara Ras and Jennifer Sweeney
December 2 - Aracelis Girmay and Ross Gay

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.

STURBRIDGE POETRY

An Evening of Poetry & Percussion
Saturday, September 25, 7-9 p.m.
Sturbridge Coffee House, 479 Main Street (Rt. 20; next door to Kaizen Sushi) Sturbridge, MA
(508) 347-2288
(Additional parking available in lot across the street.)
FREE (Donations accepted)

Poetry by David Cappella
Cappella is associate professor of English at Central Connecticut State University where he teaches poetry and young adult literature. He has co-authored with Baron Wormser two widely used poetry textbooks, Teaching the Art of Poetry and A Surge of Language. His poem series, Gobbo: A Solitaire’s Opera, won the 2004 Bright Hill Press Poetry Chapbook Competition and was a finalist for the 2006 Bordighera Prize and the 2008 Bright Hill Press Poetry Book Competition. His work has appeared in The Connecticut Review, Diner, The Bryant Literary Review, The Bradford Review, The Providence Journal, and elsewhere.

“Poem & Drum” with Stephen Campiglio & Jay Wood
Campiglio was a finalist in the 2009 Bordighera Poetry Book Prize and has poems forthcoming in Caduceus, Italian Americana, The Worcester Review, and the anthology, New Hungers for Old: 100 Years of Italian American Poetry. His work has also appeared in Natural Bridge, Switched-on Gutenberg, and Urban Spaghetti, among others. He works in Continuing Education at Manchester Community College in CT, where he founded and coordinates the Mishi-maya-gat Spoken Word & Music Series (www.mcc.commnet.edu/faculty/spoken.php).

Wood is an alumnus of the Jazz Studies/Percussion program at the University of North Texas and has played with Edie Brickell, Hillary Tipps, and Catapult. In 1999, he co-founded The Kelvins, an original rock band that garnered considerable success in New England and which was nominated three years in a row for Best Original Rock Band, with Jay nominated as Best Drummer. The Kelvins were the opening act for Living Colour in New Haven, Boston, and Northampton. He is a drum instructor for Dynamic Percussion in Manchester, CT, as well as for Credit-Free Programs at Manchester Community College. His web site is: www.myspace.com/drummerjaywood and he can also be found on Facebook.

WORD IN THE BERKSHIRES

Jerry's Place Poetry
There will be 2--one hour poetry programs starting at 1:30 pm on Sept. 16th at the
Pittsfield Community television station on Federico Drive, Pittsfield
Mass. A Jerry's Place production.This is an ongoing reading every third Thursday.

OUTSPOKEN!
Pittsfield's Monthly Performance Series and Open Mic
(3rd) Thursdays at 8pm
at microTHEATER (311 North St.)
($5 suggested donation)
- Micro Theater: 311 North Street (upstairs) in Pittsfield, MA
(Off street public parking available in Melville Street lot, across from Boys and Girls Club on Melville Street - @ 1 block from theater).
- Open Mic performers can sign up at [email protected]
- For more information, please contact Matt McFadden at [email protected]

Power of Words, Open Mic
Third Tuesdays 7pm to 8:30 pm Hosted by Garfield Reed.
This is an open opportunity to share poetry, readings, music and other spoken word.
Free and open to the public at 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.

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 details

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

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
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 [email protected]

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.

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 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

THE POETS ASYLUM
Sunday, September 12:
Worcester celebrates GLTB* Pride in September with a week of activities organized by the Worcester Pride Association. This week the Poets' Asylum will get in on the act with a Pride poetry open mic and a feature by Jme. Jme, also known as James Caroline, has made a name for himself nationally through slams and features. His work is a rare mix of literary craft and vulnerability, and the intensity of his performances has garnered comparisons to Patti Smith. James was voted Best Local Author in the 2006 Boston Phoenix poll. He is a multiple winner of CPA's for Best Erotic Male Performance Poet and Best Slam Poet Male.

Visit http://www.myspace.com/jme_caroline to hear samples of Jme's work. Then join us on September 12th to hear him live. The Poets' Asylum meets every Sunday at the Nu Cafe (335 Chandler Street, Worcester). The sign-up list goes out at 6:00 p.m. and the reading starts by 6:30. No cover; donations accepted to support the feature.

Please join us at the Nu Cafe (335 Chandler Street, Worcester). The sign-up list goes out at 6:00 p.m. and the reading starts by 6:30. No cover; donations accepted to help cover the cost of sending someone to iWPS.

The Dirty Gerund
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 [email protected].

CONNECTICUT POETRY
Write to Terri Klein at [email protected] to get the new CT Poet newsletter in your email.

Poetry at Asnuntuck Community College
Open mic at the Asnuntuck College in Enfield
Monday, Sept.13th at 7:pm in cafeteria #2

Potluck Poetry
is a monthly gathering of local (and not so local) writers who come together to share their work and listen to others. Original work preferred but not required. Please bring a small donation or dish to share and an open spirit to our beautiful space.
3rd Sunday of every month 5- 7pm.
Yoga Center of Collinsville
(860) 693-9642
10 Front St, Ste 102, Collinsville, CT 06019

Carol Muske-Dukes to read on the University of Hartford Campus!
September 30th @ 12:15 PM Wilde Auditorium (Building 15 on this map: http://www.hartford.edu/about/map/UofH_Map.pdf) Questions? Contact Ben Grossberg @ 1-860-490-2566

Carol Muske-Dukes is California’s Poet Laureate. Muske-Dukes has been a professor of English at the
University of Southern California (USC) since 1993, where she founded the graduate program in literature and creative writing in 1999 and served as director of the program until 2002. She is a regular critic for the New York Times Book Review and the LA Times Book Review, and previously served as a poetry columnist for the LA Times Book Review from 2001 to 2004. Muske-Dukes is the author of seven books of poetry, including her most recent work, Sparrow, which was a National Book Award finalist and An Octave Above Thunder, which was nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She has also written four novels, including Los Angeles Times best-seller Channeling Mark Twain and two collections of essays. Her collection Married to the Icepick Killer: A Poet in Hollywood was listed in the San Francisco Chronicle's Top 100 Books of 2002.

POETRY POTLUCK at The Sanctuary
59 Bogel Road, East Haddam, Connecticut
Poetry Potluck is now meeting every THIRD Sunday of the month
April through December 2010

Do you love poetry?
Would you like to be part of an ongoing poetry discussion group offering food for the mind and the heart?
If so, come and join us on the third Sunday of each month from 4.30-6.00 PM.
This is not about sharing our own work but instead offers us a chance to share the work of poets we love, so you don’t have to be a poet to be part of this group. Just come and bring your love of poetry and a poem you would like to share. Refreshments will be provided.
Hosted by Greg Coleman, Edwina Trentham and Suzy Lamson
For more information call 860-319-1134.

Poetry/Reading Series at Billings Forge
Monday September 13, 7pm—Nancy Kuhl and Ravi Shankar

Nancy Kuhl’s second full-length collection of poems, Suspend, was published in May 2010 by Shearsman Books; her first book, The Wife of the Left Hand, was published in 2007. She is the author of two chapbooks: The Nocturnal Factory and Means of Securing Houses &c. from Mischief by Thunder and Lightning, a limited edition artist's book. She is co-editor of Phylum Press, a small poetry publisher, and Curator of Poetry for the Yale Collection of American Literature at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, where she curates the Yale Collection of American Literature Reading Series.

Ravi Shankar is founding editor and executive director of Drunken Boat, online journal of the arts, co-directs the Creative Writing Program at CCSU and teaches in the first international MFA Program at City College of Hong Kong. His books include Seamless Matter (Rain Taxi), Voluptuous Bristle (Finishing Line), Wanton Textiles (No Tell Books) and Instrumentality (Cherry Grove). With Leslie McGrath, he edited the posthumous poems of Reetika Vazirani, Radha Says and with Nathalie Handal & Tina Chang, Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from Asia, the Middle East & Beyond.

PLUS OPEN MIKE
Location: The Studio @ Billings Forge
563 Broad Street, Hartford, CT 06106
http://wfreadings.blogspot.com/

Wintonbury Branch Poetry Series & Open Mike
Fall 2010 Celebrating 15 years!
my time, my place, my creativity
Third Thursdays 7:00 P.M.

Help us celebrate the opening of our 15th season with a special evening of music and music! Talented singer, song-writing, and guitarist in the folk and R&B traditions, Tony Gabriel opens our series on Oct. 21. Born in Portugal , raised in Hartford , a popular regular in scheduled club dates all over CT, Mr. Gabriel will perform poetic songs from his newly released CD, Walking Distance.

On Nov 18 we welcome Joan Kunsch whose poetry reflects a long career in classical ballet. As associate director of Connecticut ’s Nutmeg Conservatory, teaching and choreography have taken her around the world, from North America to Norway . She will read from her first book, Playing with Gravity, a collection of her poems that includes original translations of contemporary Norway poets which she will read in both languages.

Howard Faerstein rounds out the fall program on Dec 16. Mr. Faerstein’s poems have appeared in numerous journals, such as Nimrod, Common Ground Review, and Painted Bride. His honest, plain-spoken, wry and tender poems show influences of the many homes he’s known: Brooklyn, the Berkshire Hills, Taos , Santa Fe , and Durango . He now lives in Florence MA and teaches American Literature at Westfield State University.

Special thanks to our patrons---for their continued support of this series over the years! It’s still a great supportive place to hear and meet fellow poets and share your poems. An open mike will follow the featured poet at each event.

Wintonbury Branch Library
1015 Blue Hills Avenue
Bloomfield , CT 06002

Award Winning Writer to Read at Trinity
Major Jackson Kicks off Fall Allan K. Smith Reading Series
Major Jackson, an award winning writer and the Richard Dennis Green and Gold Professor at University of Vermont, will start the Fall 2010 Allan K. Smith Reading Series. The series annually hosts between 8 and 10 readings by nationally and internationally acclaimed poets and prose writers. Each reading, free and open to the public, is followed by a short question and answer session, a book signing, and a reception.

Wednesday, September 22 ~ 4:30 p.m.
Reese Room, Smith House on the campus of Trinity College
300 Summit Street, Hartford, Conn., 06106

Upcoming A.K. Smith Events:

Kathy Graber Thursday, October 7 ~ 4:30 p.m., Smith House
Panel: How to Write about Yourself -- And Get Away with It
Thursday, October 21 ~ 4:30 p.m., Smith House
Charles Barber, Janet Burroway, Ben Grossberg, and Nalini Jones

Matthew Dicks Tuesday, November 16 ~ 4:30 p.m., Smith House
Elizabeth Libbey Thursday, December 9 ~ 4:30 p.m., Smith House

This event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact Tracy Quigley at 860-297-2568 or [email protected].

Wednesday Night Poetry Series
The Wednesday Night Poetry Series (WNPS or Wedpoetry) will now meet at “The Garage,” at 53 Church Hill Road, Newtown.

Sept. 8, 2010 - Sylvia Plath
Sylvia Plath - presented/channeled by Faith Vicinanza, plus our traditional open mike and a poem critique session after the reading for those interested, bring 6 or so copies of a poem for feedback.
Faith Vicinanza is a poet, nature photographer, sometimes host of WNPS, I.T. Manager by days, working on her fifth and sixth collection of poetry and a memoir. If you joined her last year for her reading of Mary Oliver, you felt as though Mary was in the room, she brought Mary Oliver to life for a magical evening, and on the 8th of September she will do the same with Sylvia Plath, please join us to celebrate the poet in each of us.

Sept. 15, 2010 – Monica Youn
Monica Youngna Youn is an American poet whose poems have appeared in Oxford Poetry, Gulf Coast, Paris Review, Angi, American Letters & Commentary, Denver Quarterly, Fence, Poetry Review, among others. Read her poem Stealing The Scream on Poets.org. She was raised in Houston, Texas and graduated from Princeton University, Yale Law School with a J.D., and Oxford University with a M. Phil, where she was a Rhodes Scholar. She works as a lawyer at New York University Law School, and teaches at Columbia University. She has been a Stegner, McDowell and Witter Bynner Fellow, had a Yaddo residency and is on the Advising Artists Council, for the Millay Colony for the Arts. She lives in Manhattan.

Mishi-maya-gat Spoken Word & Music Series
at Manchester Community College, Great Path Academy, Community Commons (Use Parking Lot B), Manchester, CT 06040 Sponsored by MCC Foundation Annual Fund Campaign / Hosted by Stephen Campiglio
3rd Thursday of each month; 7-9 p.m.
Free and Open to the Public
For more information and directions: www.mcc.commnet.edu/faculty/spoken.php or call (860) 512-2824.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16 – “Celebrate the Blues!”
8:00 p.m. – Mary Lou Sullivan, reading & signing Raisin Cain – The Wild and Raucous Story of Johnny Winter
Sullivan is an MCC alum and music journalist whose 30-year career has included interviews with such notable artists as B.B. King, Michael Bolton, Joan Rivers, Bruce Springsteen, McCoy Tyner, Albert Collins, Kenny Garrett, Rick Derringer, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, James Montgomery, Charles Calmese, Duke Robillard, Matt “Guitar” Murphy, and Al Anderson. Her first book, Raisin' Cain - The Wild and Raucous Story of Johnny Winter, is the definitive and authorized biography of the Texas guitar legend, and was released by Backbeat Books in May 2010. For more information on Sullivan and the Winter biography, please visit her website at www.JohnnyWinterBook.com.

7:00 p.m. – Chris D'Amato, blues guitar
D’Amato, aka Smokin' Opey, has been playing blues guitar professionally for the past 20 years. He is equally adept in acoustic or electric band settings, and is at home playing many styles of blues and slide guitar, from electric swing to Chicago blues, Piedmont, and Delta blues, with a mix of jazz, psychedelia, and soul. Besides leading his own bands, he is an in-demand sideman on the Connecticut and national blues scene, having performed or shared bills with several great blues musicians, including Albert Collins, Pinetop Perkins, Jaimo, Buddy Guy, Roomful of Blues, Ronnie Earl, Derek Trucks, Edgar Winter, John Mayall, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds. For more information on D’Amato, please visit his web site at www.chrisdamato.net

September Poetry at Broad Street Books
(For this month only, Poetry Night is on the Second Tuesday)
Tuesday, September 14th at 7:00pm
Featuring Don Barkin

Come help us welcome Don Barkin to the store on Tuesday, September 14th and share some of your own poetry too!

Broad Street Books
45 Broad Street
Middletown, CT 06457

-also-

Tune in to J-Cherry Presents every 1st, 3rd, and 5th Tuesday night at 6:30 PM on 88.1 FM WESU in Middletown to hear from local artists from across all genres. On the 1st Tuesday of every month, J-Cherry hosts our featured poet on the show! Tune in on Tuesday, August 3rd at 6:30 PM to hear Don Barkin!

ANYTHING GOES!
The Buttonwood Tree
605 Main Street, Middletown
$3.00 - $5.00 suggested donation
Ongoing: every Monday
This open mike, hosted by J-Cherry, is a warm group that encourages
personal development--come play with us! You'll find Phill is available
to drum along if you like. We have a piano and congas or BYO instrument, poem, dance, or whatever artistic piece of yourself you'd like to
share. We're all in this together--let's have some fun and create
ourselves anew! More info: [email protected]; http://www.buttonwood.org; (860) 347-4957.

BOSTON AREA/CAPE COD POETRY INFO:

POETS OF NEW ENGLAND, 1910-2010
with Frank Bidart, David Ferry, Major Jackson, X. J. Kennedy, Gail Mazur, Mary Oliver, James Tate, Rosanna Warren, and Franz Wright. In celebration of the Centennial of PEN, contemporary New England Poets read their own poems as well as the work of New Englanders of yore. Tsai Performance Center, Boston University / 685 Commonwealth Avenue.Thursday, Sep 23, 7:00pm

CANTAB LOUNGE
Central Square’s world-famous Cantab Lounge presents weekly performances from local and national poets, as well as a chance to present your own work in the open mic or poetry slam. DJ Muse spins before the show and between poets. Upcoming features include:

• Wednesday, September 15
Worcester-favorite-gone-Brooklyn-resident Corrina Bain has worked as an assistant in a detox ward and an abortion clinic, as a rape crisis hotline counselor, and as a volunteer educator responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Mozambique. All four, plus her ten-plus years and three appearances at the National Poetry Slam, inform beautifully her deft and powerful voice. Champion of Champions poetry slam: spring champ Omoizele Okoawo vs. the September 8 winner.

• Wednesday, September 22
Cave Canem fellow and National Poetry Slam champion Lynne Procope was born in Trinidad and comes to us from Brooklyn. She is a poet in residence with the collaborative ensemble Vision Into Art, an editor for Union Station Literary Magazine, and Executive Director of the louderARTS Project, the home of the famous Bar 13 poetry slam. Open poetry slam in the 8x8 series.

• Wednesday, September 29
Geoff Kagan Trenchard has performed poetry on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam, at universities throughout the United States and in numerous detention facilities. He is a mentor for Urban Word NYC, teaches a regular workshop in the ACS facility at Bellevue, and is a member of the internationally performing poetry troupe The Suicide Kings. Open poetry slam in the 8x8 series.

• Wednesday, October 6
Founding member of Emerson’s Gringo Choir, co-director of the 2010 CUPSI tournament, and member of this year’s semi-finalist Cantab Slam Team, Carrie Rudzinski has already made a poetic name for herself from coast to coast. Tonight marks her farewell feature as she embarks on a country-wide tour with the Choir, culminating at the Individual World Poetry Slam in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she’ll serve as our representative to the event. A special $5 cover tonight will help send Carrie to IWPS. No open poetry slam tonight to allow for extended feature time.

Doors for the show open at 7:15. The open mic begins at 8:00, the feature performs at approximately 10:00, and an open poetry slam follows. The show is 18+ (ID required) and the cover charge is $3 unless otherwise noted.

Simone Beaubien, SlamMaster
The Boston Poetry Slam at The Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, Mass.
http://www.slamnews.com [email protected]

The Greater Brockton Society for Poetry and the Arts
Presents
Poetry Series at the Brockton Library
304 Main Street. Our website www.gbspa.org

Sat., September 18, 2010
Catherine Sasanov, Mignon Ariel King, Susan Roney-O'Brien

Our workshops and venue are free, the seats comfortable, the refreshments delicious.
1:00 - 2:00 Prose Workshop (critique & discussion)
2:30 - 4:30 Memoir Workshop
~~~~~
12:00 - 2:00 Poetry Workshop
1:30 - 2:00 Sign up for Open-Mic Reading
2:15 - 3:15 Open-Mic Reading
3:30 - 4:30 Feature Poets

During Open-Mic Reading share your own poetry or read from works of your favorite poets

Upcoming Features (For information on the following poets click on our website)
Sat. Sept 18 – Catherine Sasanov, Mignon Ariel King, Susan Roney-O’Brien
Sat. Oct 16 - Juanita Torrence-Thompson
Sat. Nov 20 - Marie Gauthier, Alice Kociemba , Elizabeth Gordon McKim

Calliope’s Fourth Season
Come Celebrate Poetry: Sundays 3 to 5 PM
West Falmouth Library,
575 West Falmouth Highway (Route 28A)
West Falmouth, MA 02574

­September 26, 2010. Open Mike Sign-up, 2:45 PM. Featured Poets: Sue Standing, Sheila Whitehouse, Irene Willis.
October 31, 2010. No Open Mike. Featuring: Bass River Revisionists, Jeffrey Harrison and Jill McDonough.
November 21, 2010. Open Mike Sign-up, 2:45 PM. Featured Poets: Jennifer Barber, Denise Bergman, Myrna Patterson.
No December Meeting.
January 23, 2011. No Open Mike. Featuring: Lead Pencil Poets, Catherine Sasanov and Skye Shirley.
February 27, 2011. Open Mike Sign-up, 2:45 PM. Featured Poets: January O’Neil, Dzvinia Orlowsky, Jadene Felina Stevens.
March 27, 2011. Open Mike Sign-up, 2:45 PM. Featured Poets: Wendy Mnookin, Max Money, Tam Lin Neville.
May 1, 2011. Open Mike Sign-up, 2:45 PM. Featured Poets: Marguerite Bouvard, Robin Clarke, Anna Ross.
June 5, 2011. Open Mike Sign-up, 2:45 PM. Featured Poets: Linda Bamber, Dorothy Derifield, Alice Weiss.

$5 donation. Refreshments. Alice Kociemba, 508-566-1090
[email protected] or www.calliopepoetryseries.com for details on poets and directions.

Last Thursday Open Mic at The Cultural Center of Cape Cod
307 Old Main St.,
S. Yarmouth, MA
co-hosts Joe Gouveia and Barry Hellman:
The last Thursday of every month, 7pm.
Open mic and featured poet.
Bring your own refreshments.
Arrive early to sign up for open mic.
For updated info on this and other Cape activities go to:
http://home.comcast.net/~bmhellman

CHECK OUT http://home.comcast.net/~bmhellman FOR MORE INFORMATION AND DETAILS ABOUT CAPE COD POETRY AND ALL OF THESE EVENTS.

Lowell Poetry Slam and Open Mic
Every FIRST Thursday at Brew'd Awakening! Only poets can compete in the slam and win the prize... but the mic is open to musical performers as well. Whether you come to perform, compete or just enjoy some coffee and great local talent, don't miss this event! 7:00pm - 9:30 pm *Sign-up between 6:30-7:00* The event is free and open to the public—so come on down for an evening of good company and some terrific regional voices!
Brew'd Awakening Coffeehaus
61 Market Street
Lowell, MA 978-454-BREW
For more info, please email [email protected]

OPEN BARK
meets @ the Out Of The Blue Art Gallery, 106 PROSPECT ST. (the home of Stone Soup) CENTRAL SQUARE, CAMBRIDGE. SIGN-UP AT 8:00pm OPEN MIC STARTS @ 8:15pm,
FEATURE @ 9:00pm Come and perform or listen!

Lizard Lounge Poetry Jam Sunday Night!
Cambridge Common 1667 Mass. Ave., Cambridge $5 Cover Every Sunday Poetry Slam: 8:00 pm,
Feature: 9:30 pm, Open Mike: 10:30 pm 617-547-0759 http://poetryjam.org/

Stone Soup Poetry
Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery (located on 106 Prospect Street in Cambridge) with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. http://stonesouppoetry.blogspot.com/

Newton Free Library Poetry Reading Series
The series meets the second Tuesday of every month open mic after features. Starts 7PM For complete information go to http://newtonfreelibrarypoetryseries.blogspot.com/ Director: Doug Holder http://authorsden.com/douglasholder

Cambridge Community Television
Tuesdays at 11:00 PM Saturdays at 10:30PM Catch the latest from the Boston Poetry Slam I
NFO: [email protected]

LETRA Poetry Nights
in LAWRENCE MASS Every TUESDAY at Julio's 99 Club 99 Essex Street Lawrence, MA
Doors open at 7pm open mic starts at 8pm Admission $3.00 For more information or for directions please call
Michelle Richardson at 978-423-7045

NH/VT POETRY

Brattleboro Literary Festival
September 30 - October 3, 2010
Maxine Kumin, Josephine Dickinson, Ravi Shankar, Marilyn Nelson
and many more poets featured!!
For full schedule and information go to:
http://brattleboroliteraryfestival.org/

Two Poets on War
Thursday September 23, 7 p.m. at The Putney Public Library, 55 Main Street, Putney, VT: Poets Rodger Martin (The Battlefield Guide: Harpers Ferry, Antietam, Gettysburg, Hobblebush Books) and Pam Bernard (Bood Garden: An Elegy for Raymond, Turning Point Books) will read from their new collections and lead a general discussion about what lead them to write about war.

Pam Bernard, a poet, painter, editor, and adjunct professor, received an MFA in Creative Writing from the Graduate Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College, and BA from Harvard University in History of Art. Her many awards include a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry, two Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowships, the Grolier Prize in Poetry, and a MacDowell Fellowship. She has published three full length collections of poems, the latest of which is a series of poetic narratives about the Great War, entitled Blood Garden: An Elegy for Raymond. Ms. Bernard lives in Walpole, New Hampshire, and teaches creative writing at New Hampshire Institute of Art and River Valley Community College.

Rodger Martin has been awarded an Appalachia award for poetry and is a New Hampshire State Council on the Arts Fellow in fiction. His work has been published in literary journals throughout the United States and China. He and six colleagues have been featured in a new book On the Monadnock: New Pastoral Poetry released in China in 2007. He is managing editor of The Worcester Review, teaches journalism at Keene State College and directs New Hampshire's Poetry Out Loud Project.

For directions to the Putney Public Library, please call (802) 387-4407 during business hours or use Google Map.
For a VT poetry events calendar go to: http://www.phayvanh.com/

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News for Poetry News should be sent to [email protected]. Please send your announcements in text only - do not format (no special fonts, colors, etc.) Send by Wednesday for Thursday publication. Thank you, Lori Desrosiers - Publisher.