TABLE OF CONTENTS_______________________________________
- Quotes
- Poem of the Month
- Book of the Month
- Website of the Month
- News Items / Writing Workshops
- Poetry Calendar for April
- Subscription and Contact Information
I:__QUOTES________________________________________________
We can only approach the gods through poetry.
– Thomas Moore
I don’t think you can write a poem for more than two hours. After that you’re going round in circles, and it’s much better to leave it for twenty-four hours, by which time your subconscious or whatever has solved the block and you’re ready to go on.
– Philip Larkin
Meanness, the very thing that is unforgivable in human social life, in poetry is thrilling and valuable. Why? Because the willingness to be offensive sets free the ruthless observer in all of us, the spiteful perceptive angel who sees and tells, unimpeded by nicety or second thoughts. There is truth-telling, and more, in meanness.
– Tony Hoagland
II:__POEM OF THE MONTH__________________________________
PETIT, THE POET
Edgar Lee Masters (1868 – 1950)
Seeds in a dry pod, tick, tick, tick,
Tick, tick, tick, like mites in a quarrel—
Faint iambics that the full breeze wakens—
But the pine tree makes a symphony thereof.
Triolets, villanelles, rondels, rondeaus,
Ballades by the score with the same old thought:
The snows and the roses of yesterday are vanished;
And what is love but a rose that fades?
Life all around me here in the village:
Tragedy, comedy, valor and truth,
Courage, constancy, heroism, failure—
All in the loom, and oh what patterns!
Woodlands, meadows, streams and rivers—
Blind to all of it all my life long.
Triolets, villanelles, rondels, rondeaus,
Seeds in a dry pod, tick, tick, tick,
Tick, tick, tick, what little iambics,
While Homer and Whitman roared in the pines?
III:__BOOK OF THE MONTH_________________________________
Each month we highlight a book of poetry by a Connecticut author.
DOWN BY THE RIVERSIDE WAYS
by Susan Allison
Early reviewers of Down by the Riverside Ways, Susan Allison’s second book, have been enthusiastic. John Basinger writes, “Some poets produce highly polished and showy zirconium studded with many well-behaved commas. Susan Allison has created poems that seem to have become naturally what they are as diamonds emerge from carbon under pressure, not laid out on black velvet, but set in mother earth.”
In addition to being elemental, this book is seismic in its joys and furies. The poet is as unrestrained in her pleasures as she is passionate in her hatred of a host of wars waged against the least among us. She treats us to the sensual joys of a childhood spent partly near the rivers and marshlands of the Connecticut shoreline and partly in rural Kentucky, where she reveled in rambunctious rebellion, then moves us to Middletown, Connecticut, which becomes a metaphor for Middle America. In this very real and very mythical place, Allison celebrates new pleasures: “The good life / comes through your eyes / and your ears and your skin / the way a wild animal comes at you / when it is just curious.” In town and also down by “the fish-rank muck, soft and warm and full of suck” of the river that runs through it, there is erotic and marital love. And there is also the love of a mother for her cub. Seldom has a poet sung so sweetly of so many sorts of love. These include her love of the “sidewalk legends” who inhabit her town, the street people, the prostitutes, the jump-roping children, the sanely mad, the old men down on their luck, the activists, the drunks, the visiting troubadours—all the characters that make this book as rich in local heroes as any Winesburg, Ohio or Spoon River, Illinois.
Susan Allison lives in Middletown with her husband, Stephan, and son, John. Born in Derby, Connecticut, and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, she calls poetry and wanderlust the two main constants in her life. After mountain-climbing and hitch-hiking through East Africa, she returned to Wesleyan University to earn a BA in African Studies in 1985. Shortly after graduation, she discovered used and rare bookstores, which became new destination points for her wanderlust until she opened her own, Ibis Books & Gallery, in 1989. The bookstore was transformed in 1991 into NEAR, Inc./The Buttonwood Tree, an arts and cultural performance space on Main Street in Middletown..
$16.00 (ISBN: 978-0-9817883-3-3)
Antrim House
Susan Allison will be reading from and signing copies of her book, Down by the Riverside Ways, in Middletown on the 5th and the 7th and in Farmington on the 26th. See the Poetry Calendar below.
IV:__WEBSITE OF THE MONTH______________________________
CONNECTICUT POETRY SOCIETY
April is National Poetry Month, but I say let’s keep it local: Join the Connecticut Poetry Society. For annual dues of $25 (due in April), you’ll get two poetry journals, Long River Run and Connecticut River Review, newsletters, member-only contests, and the ability to enter multiple national contests for reduced fees.
ct-poetry-society.org
V:__NEWS ITEMS / WRITING WORKSHOPS____________________
April 1 - April 30 2009
Tuesdays through Saturdays
1:00pm - 5:00pm
ILLUSTRATED POEMS EXHIBIT
Through the years, Hartford Public Library has created a number of broadsides to complement its poetry programming. Many of these drawings were done by former Hartford Public Librarian Kathleen Brophy. In celebration of National Poetry Month, the Hartford History Center will display a number of these beautifully illustrated poems in its glass cube cases. On display during the Hartford History Center’s public hours: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 1:00pm - 5:00pm.
Hartford Library
500 Main Street
Hartford, CT
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Saturday, April 19 2009
10:00am - 5:00pm
SUNDAY WRITING RETREATS
with Sharon Charde
Many of us sense that there are stories within us that need to be told, but cannot find the time, space or circumstances in our busy lives to do so. This series of Sunday writing retreats with Sharon Charde will provide that opportunity. The retreats are intense community writing experiences. Together we create a safe and supportive writing environment that encourages risks we would never take alone. We are fed by the listening of others, the rest from our busy lives, the delicious lunch. There is no critical feedback, only focused attention and deep acceptance.
The group is limited to eight women, many who attend on a regular basis. The cost is $75 per session, or $60 if you sign up for four or more. The dates for 2009 are 4/19, 5/17, 6/14, 7/12, 8/16, 10/18, 11/15, and 12/13. (In October, the annual Block Island Writing Retreat will be held from Friday, Oct. 2 - Sunday, Oct. 4). The location is Lakeville, CT, at the home of Sharon Charde. See her web site (http://www.sharoncharde.com/) for more information and testimonials from women who have attended in the past. Write her at sharchar@sbcglobal.net to register or to ask other questions.
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Thursday, June 4 - Sunday, June 7 2009
WRITERS ON THE SOUND / WRITERS CIRCLE ANNUAL RETREAT
Some vacancies still available!
All activities are optional, leaving plenty of time for writing, reflecting, socializing, hiking the facility’s 40 wooded acres or visiting area attractions. Writers of all experience levels and in all genres are welcome to join our talented and friendly group. Receipts are available for reimbursement or tax purposes.
- Hands-on writing workshop called “Don’t Write—Think!”, featuring Davyne Verstandig, a poet, English professor and director of the Litchfield County Writers Project
- Informal workshops on haibun and on combining text and art
- Small-group poetry and prose feedback sessions
- Early-morning freewrites
- A lively moderated discussion on a writing-related topic chosen by attendees
- Large group Saturday-night share
- Other activities to be announced.
Thursday night, June 4 - Sunday afternoon, June 7
Wisdom House, Litchfield, CT
Costs include lodging, meals, an opening night wine-and-cheese reception, unlimited coffee and tea, all retreat activities and access to a printer and other shared supplies.
Three-night retreat (Thursday-Saturday nights), single room: $345
Three-night retreat, shared room: $285 per person
Two-night retreat (Friday-Saturday nights), single room: $245
Two-night retreat, shared room: $200 per person
Day guest: $75
A $100 deposit holds your space. The balance is due by May 1.
For more info on the retreat, visit http://www.writersonthesound.org/. Information about applying and paying for the retreat can be found there. For more info on the venue, visit http://www.wisdomhouse.org/. For questions or more information, contact Anne Stuart, annestuart[at]earthlink.net.
VI:__POETRY CALENDAR FOR APRIL_______________________
Please contact venues for any possible cancellations due to holidays or inclement weather.
Wednesday, April 1 2009
5:00pm
MCC POETRY CLUB OPEN MIKE
All are welcome to attend an open mike hosted by the Manchester Community College Poetry Club. Poets will read their work, and local wordsmiths are invited to participate. Free and Open to the Public. Contact: 860-512-3283
Fireside Commons, Learning Resource Center
Manchester Community College
Great Path
Manchester, CT
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Wednesday, April 1 2009
7:30pm
POEMALLEY at Curley’s Diner
Read poetry, discuss writing and other topics of interest.
Curley’s Diner
62 West Park Place
Stamford, CT
203-327-3716
ayarmal@earthlink.net
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Wednesday, April 1 2009
7:30pm - 10:00pm
WEDNESDAY NIGHT POETRY SERIES
featuring Robert Riche
April is National Poetry Month, so come and be foolish at our April Fool’s Day Open Mike.
Our feature, Robert Riche, was winner of the March 18 Slam at WNPS. He is a poet, novelist, award winning playwright and screen writer, a Breadloaf Writer’s Conference Scholar, a National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient, etc., etc. Mr. Riche will read work from his new book of poetry, On the Line, and other poems. He has one previous chapbook, Eternity and Other Mundane Matters, and has published poems in the Alsop Review’s online Magazine, Octavo. If you heard him in the slam - you will know how amazing this guy really is. He is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts grant, a Connecticut Foundation for the Arts grant, Advanced Drama Research grant; a winner of the prestigious Stanley Drama Award.
WNPS, the longest running weekly poetry series in Connecticut, boasts an open mike, feature poets, a Q&A with the feature, and a poetry critique workshop. For more info, visit the website: http://www.wedpoetry.net/.
Molten Java Coffee Roasters, LLC
102 Greenwood Avenue
Bethel, CT
203-739-0313
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Wednesday, April 1 2009
9:30pm - 11:00pm
POETRY NITE at the Huntington Street Café
Poetry Nite every Wednesday at the Huntington Street Café. Run by Sammy and Natalie, it’s open to everyone. Stop by to check the scene or even read a little something. Walk in and you’ll be added to the list.
Email Pollie_Vack@yahoo.com for info.
Huntington Street Café
90 Huntington Street
Shelton, CT
203-925-9064
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Thursday, April 2 2009
6:30pm
BETSY REYNA in Windsor
Bessy Reyna, Hartford Courant opinion columnist and award winning Latina poet will read from some previous writings and some new work. She will have her books available for signing and purchase.
Suggested donation $10/door. Students free.
Windsor Art Center
40 Mechanic Street
(off Rt 159 in downtown Windsor behind CVS at the Freight House)
Windsor, CT
860-688-2528
info@windsorartcenter.org
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Thursday, April 2 2009
7:00pm
CURBSTONE PRESS READING SERIES at Hygienic Galleries
presents Glenn Shea
Hygienic Art continues its evenings of monthly poetry readings in association with Curbstone Press from Willimantic with Glenn Shea, a Connecticut poet whose work draws on local scenes as well as his travels. He has read his work in venues ranging from local schools and museums to venues in the UK and to Shakespeare and Co. in Paris. He is the author of two chapbooks, and his first full-length collection will be published by Salmon Press in Galway in 2010. After the reading, Shea will be available for questions and discussion.
Continuing in the Curbstone Press Reading Series, Hygienic will host readers on the first Thursday of the month. This reading is sponsored by the Robert N. Rue Education Fund at Curbstone Press, established in honor of Dr. Rue, who died in September 2007, honoring his lifelong commitment to education and good writing.
Hygienic Galleries
79 Bank Street
New London, CT
For more information, contact Hygienic Art at 860-443-8001, email gallery@hygienic.org, or at http://www.hygienic.org/.
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Thursday, April 2 2009
7:00pm - 10:00pm
THURSDAY NIGHT POETRY
Open Mike Poetry Reading at Bean & Leaf. Old poets read, new voices heard. A new venue with “a killer sound system and lots of delicious teas and coffee and pastries.” Visit the website for more information: http://www.bean-leaf.com/.
Bean & Leaf cafe
13 Washington St.
New London, CT
860-701-0000
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Thursday, April 2 2009
8:00pm
HEATHER McHUGH at UConn
Heather McHugh is the author of seven collections of poetry including Eyeshot, which was short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize, and Hinge & Sign, a finalist for the National Book Award and a New York Times Book Review “Notable Book of the Year.” She has also published three books of translations, including the poems of Paul Celan, and a book of critical essays, Broken English. Recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest Award, and the Guggenheim Foundation, McHugh is a Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. McHugh’s poems “are both comic and profound” wrote Publisher’s Weekly. “Their depth comes from the belly laugh of the Medusa.” Sponsored by The Hartford Financial Services, Inc.
Konover Auditorium
Thomas J. Dodd Research Center
405 Babbidge Road
Storrs, CT
860-486-5027
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Friday, April 3 2009
12:00pm
HEATHER McHUGH at Hartford
Heather McHugh is the author of seven collections of poetry including Eyeshot, which was short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize, and Hinge & Sign, a finalist for the National Book Award and a New York Times Book Review “Notable Book of the Year.” She has also published three books of translations, including the poems of Paul Celan, and a book of critical essays, Broken English. Recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Lila Wallace/Reader’s Digest Award, and the Guggenheim Foundation, McHugh is a Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. McHugh’s poems “are both comic and profound” wrote Publisher’s Weekly. “Their depth comes from the belly laugh of the Medusa.” Sponsored by The Hartford Financial Services, Inc.
Greater Hartford Classical Magnet School
85 Woodland Street
Hartford, CT
860-486-5027
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Friday, April 3 2009
5:30pm
CENTRAL GALLERY POETRY READING SERIES
presents Pat O’Brien and Edwina Trentham
Admission is free. Refreshments served.
Central Gallery at the Clayhouse
665 Boston Post Road
Old Saybrook, CT
http://www.centralgallery.net/
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Friday, April 3 2009
6:00pm
OPEN MIKE FRIDAY
There is an open mike each Friday at LaSalle Market. Poets, musicians, local talent of any type is invited. Stop by and check it out—then show us what you’ve got.
LaSalle Market
104 Main Street
Collinsville, CT
http://www.lasallemarket.com/
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Friday, April 3 2009
6:30pm
CADY McCLAIN in Torrington
Emmy award winning actress, poet and musician Cady McClain will be reading some of her work and discussing her career with Davyne Verstandig at the UConn Torrington campus. The evening is part of the Litchfield County Writers Project’s celebration of National Poetry Month. A book sale and book signing follow the discussion.
Free and open to the public. More information available at www.lcwp.uconn.edu/events.htm.
M. Adela Eads, Francis W. Hogan Lecture Hall
UConn Torrington Campus
855 University Drive
Torrington, CT
For further information regarding this event, please contact Fiona de Merell at 860-626-6852 or lcwp@uconn.edu.
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Saturday, April 4 2009
1:00pm - 4:00pm
CADUCEUS 6
Poetry reading to launch Caduceus 6, The Poetry Anthology of the Yale Medical Group Poets at Art Place. Contributing poets, including Polly Brody, Faith Vicinanza, and Elizabeth Thomas, will read their work.
Admission is free.
The Yale Bookstore At Barnes & Noble
77 Broadway
New Haven, CT
203-777-8440
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Saturday, April 4 2009
7:30pm
CONFLUENCE
Where Words and Music Meet - Confluence, a group that blends poetry and music, will perform at the New Milford Railroad Station.
Confluence is poet J.D. Scrimgeour and musician/composer Philip Swanson (piano and trombone) perform an hour-long program of poems by Scrimgeour, Alan Feldman, Yusef Komunyakaa and Rainer Maria Rilke set to a variety of music: jazz, blues, classical. Much of the music is composed by Swanson, but the program also includes work by Ravel and others.
This program, sponsored by the New Milford Commission on the Arts, is free and open to the public.
Railroad Station
11 Railroad Street
New Milford, CT
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Saturday, April 4 2009
7:30pm
AN EVENING OF READINGS
4th Biennial Word-Art Show, which runs through April 12, displays the synergy that happens when visual art and words come together. The show includes paintings, poems, sculpture and other media (i.e. screenings, dance and/or theatre). On April 4th, there will be an "Evening of Readings" and champagne reception with poetry readings by Bonnie Enes, Victoria Muñoz, Tom Nicoterra, Sherri Bedingfield, Virginia Shreve, and Joan Pavlinsky, among others.
Gallery on the Green
Rte. 44 and Dowd Ave.
Canton, CT
For further information, call 860-693-4102 or visit http://www.galleryongreen.org/.
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Sunday, April 5 2009
2:00pm
SUSAN ALLISON book launch
Early reviewers of Down by the Riverside Ways, Susan Allison’s second book of poems, have been enthusiastic. John Basinger writes as follows: “Some poets produce highly polished and showy zirconium studded with many well-behaved commas. Susan Allison has created poems that seem to have become naturally what they are as diamonds emerge from carbon under pressure, not laid out on black velvet, but set in mother earth.”
This book is seismic in its joys and furies. The poet is as unrestrained in her pleasures as she is passionate in her hatred of a host of wars waged against the least among us. She treats us to the sensual joys of a childhood spent partly near the rivers and marshlands of the Connecticut shoreline and partly in rural Kentucky, where she reveled in rambunctious rebellion, then moves us to Middletown, Connecticut, which becomes a metaphor for Middle America. In this very real and mythical place, Allison celebrates new pleasures: “The good life/ comes through your eyes / and your ears and your skin / the way a wild animal comes at you / when it is just curious.”
The Buttonwood Tree
605 Main Street
Middletown, CT
860-347-4957
thebuttonwoodtree@gmail.com
www.buttonwood.org
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Sunday, April 5 2009
2:00pm - 4:00pm
BEAN & LEAF OPEN MIKE POETRY READING
hosted by Tom Weigel
Old poets read, new voices heard in a new venue with “a killer sound system and lots of delicious teas and coffee and pastries.” Visit the website for more information: http://www.bean-leaf.com/
Bean & Leaf Cafe
13 Washington St.
New London, CT
860-701-0000
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Sunday, April 5 2009
4:00pm
READINGS BY THE RIVER
presents Cheryl Della Pelle
Cheryl Della Pelle will read from Down To The Waters. Cheryl is an educator, meditation instructor, master gardener, and talented in poetry performance. Poet’s Open Mike to follow.
Admission: $10.00/event. 20% discount for students.
Free for Open Mike participants
Farmington River Literary Arts Center at Millrace Books
40 Mill Lane
Farmington, CT
millracebookshop.com
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Sunday, April 5 2009
4:30pm - 6:00pm
POETRY POTLUCK AT THE SANCTUARY
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 this first Sunday of August at The Sanctuary in East Haddam to discuss poetry and build community.
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.
Hosted by Greg Coleman, Suzy Lamson, and Edwina Trentham.
The Sanctuary at Shepardfields
59 Bogel Road
East Haddam, CT
(From Daniels Road, turn left onto Bogel, then look for the “Labyrinth & Yurt” sign. It’s a dirt driveway.)
For more information call 860-319-1134 or visit http://www.sanctuaryatshepardfields.org/activities.html.
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Monday, April 6 2009
1:00pm
SARAH GLAZ
April is National Poetry Month and National Mathematics Month. To celebrate the conjunction, Sarah Glaz will read from the anthology Strange Attractors: Poems of Love and Mathematics at The Litchfield County Writers Project.
University of Connecticut math professor, Sarah Glaz, along with JoAnne Growney, edited the wonderful collection, Strange Attractors: Poems of Love and Mathematics, a book spans three thousand years of poetry. As the American mathematician David Eugene Smith wrote, “What, after all, is mathematics but the poetry of the mind, and what is poetry but the mathematics of the heart?” In this entertaining collection, Glaz shows the affinity of math and poetry. Glaz was born in Romania and studied at the University of Tel Aviv and Rutgers. She served on the board of Ibis Review and has published several poems and translations. She is also the author of Commutative Coherent Rings.
UConn Torrington Campus.
855 University Drive
Torrington, CT
860-626-6800
www.torrington.uconn.edu/about/events.html
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Monday, April 6 2009
7:00pm
THE LOVE JONES EXPERIENCE
Spoken Word and Song event. All poets welcome.
$5.00 cover. Hosted by Darlene Brandon Scott.
The Russell
103 Pratt Street
Hartford, CT
http://www.therussell.net/
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Monday, April 6 2009
7:30pm
ANYTHING GOES!
Anything Goes! for this open mike - spoken word, poetry etc. We have a piano and congas. Refreshments available.
Hosted by Jennifer Shafer Wood. Meets every Monday.
7:30pm sign up; 8:00pm start. $3.00 donation.
The Buttonwood Tree
605 Main Street
Middletown, CT
860-347-4957
thebuttonwoodtree@gmail.com
http://www.buttonwood.org/
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Monday, April 6 2009
7:30pm - 9:00pm
POETRY BEAT
Poetry open mike at Las Vetas Lounge.
Las Vetas Lounge
1462 Post Road
Fairfield, CT
203-255-1958
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Monday, April 6 2009
9:00pm
BEATNIK 2000
Music and poetry every Monday night, hosted by Ed Leonard. No Cover.
www.cafenine.com/schedule.html
Cafe 9
250 State Street
New Haven, CT
203-789-8281
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Tuesday, April 7 2009
7:00pm - 9:00pm
FIRST TUESDAY POETRY (Middletown)
featuring Colin Haskins and Susan Allison
Colin Haskins is the author of three books of poetry, including Habitual Intemperance, and is Executive Director of the Riverwood Poetry Series.
Susan Allison will be reading from her just-published second book of poetry, Down by the Riverside Ways, which has been described as “seismic in its joys and furies.” Copies of her book will be available for purchase.
Broad Street Books hosts a monthly poetry reading, First Tuesday Poetry Series, with a featured poet followed by an open mike, on the first Tuesday of every month at 7:00pm. Admission is free.
45 Broad Street
Middletown, CT
Broad Street Books
For more information, contact Brian Mitchard at 860-685-READ
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Tuesday, April 7 2009
7:15pm
FIRST TUESDAY POETRY (Norwalk)
Event Canceled. From the host, "Unfortunately - First Tuesday Poetry will be on sabbatical until further notice. We thank you for your patience and hope this is a short and temporary break."
The First Tuesday Poetry group meets every month at Barnes & Noble Booksellers. Please come and listen to local poets, bring a favorite poem, read your own poems too. We offer a mix of guest poets, featured regular readers, Open Mike, and Occasional Workshop sessions.
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
Shoprite Plaza
360 Connecticut Avenue
Norwalk, CT
203-866-2213
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Tuesday, April 7 2009
8:00pm
FORREST GANDER
Poet, translator, essayist, and novelist, Forrest Gander is the author of more than a dozen books, including the poetry collections Eye Against Eye, and Torn Awake, and the highly acclaimed novel As a Friend. His essays on poetry and poetics have appeared in numerous publications, including The Nation and the Boston Review. A collection of his essays, A Faithful Existence, was published in 2005. He is the editor of the bilingual anthology of poetry Mouth to Mouth: Twelve Contemporary Mexican Women Poets, and he is the translator of No Shelter: The Selected Poems of Pura López Colomé, and Firefly Under the Tongue: Poems by Coral Bracho. He has also translated work of Bolivian poet Jaime Saenz with Kent Johnson, including Immanent Visitor: The Selected Poems. Gander is Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Brown University.
Free and open to the public. Seating is limited. Presented by the Wesleyan University’s Distinguished Writers Series. His visit was organized by visiting writer Martine Bellen.
Wesleyan University
Russell House
350 High Street
Middletown, CT
www.wesleyan.edu/writing/distinguished_writers
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Wednesday, April 8 2009
6:30pm - 8:30pm
CALLING ALL POETS
presents Mary Elizabeth Lang, Ameen-Storm Abo-Hamzy, and Stanford M. Forrester
Mary Elizabeth Lang teaches writing at SCSU. Her poetry has appeared in The Prose Poem, Connecticut Review, Underwood Review, Connecticut Artists, and High Tide. She has coauthored two books on child and family issues and has contributed numerous articles to newspapers and magazines. She is a fellow of the Connecticut Writing Project, a member of Artemis Rising, an environmental advocate, an amateur naturalist and a member of the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association.
Ameen-Storm Abo-Hamzy is an award-winning poet who teaches for the Litchfield Performing Arts, coaches wrestling for Region One, and is founder of Evolution Ink, a community outreach arts program. His poetry has been published in The Voice, The Day Keeper Journal, The Chameleon, The Underwood Review, The Vietnam Veterans’ Journal, and Our Heritage. His experiences living in Beirut left him with a passion for achieving lasting peace among nations. He has performed on MTV, at the Seeds of Peace camp in Maine, in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East.
Stanford M. Forrester is a past president of the Haiku Society of America and editor of bottle rockets: a collection of short verse. His poems have appeared in 33 publications in the US, Canada, England, Ireland, Romania, Japan and Australia as well as in 22 anthologies, including Haiku edited by Peter Washington in the Everyman’s Pocket Poetry Series published by Knopf and American Zen: A Gathering of Poets published by Bottomdog Press Press. Most recently he has received an artist fellowship from the Greater Hartford Arts Council.
“Calling All Poets” is an opportunity to hear other poets as well as express your own voice through poetry. Participants are invited to bring favorite original, classic, contemporary, or haiku poem. 6:20pm sign up.
The reading will be held downstairs. Admission is free. Hosted by Victoria Muñoz.
The Silas Bronson Library
267 Grand Street
Waterbury, CT
203-574-8223
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Wednesday, April 8 2009
7:00pm
INESCAPABLE RHYTHMS
Alchemy Juice Bar supports both established and emerging poets through its new poetry reading and open mike series, “Inescapable Rhythms.” The event takes place on the second Wednesday of each month. A featured poet gives a half hour reading (7:00pm) followed by an open mike (7:30pm), in which members of the audience are invited to share their work.
The series takes its title from the Wallace Stevens poem, “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” Stevens, a major American Modernist poet, was a Hartford resident.
Alchemy Juice Bar
203 New Britain Ave
Hartford, CT
Email questions to: ahenchey@hotmail.com
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Wednesday, April 8 2009
7:00pm
ELIZABETH THOMAS
Welcome National Poetry Month 2009 and Elizabeth Thomas, poet and founder of UpWords Poetry. Thomas has served on three CT National Poetry Slam teams, is a Master Teaching Artist for the CT Commission on Culture and Tourism, and an advocate for teen writers. Enjoy the reading and chat with the author, with book signing to follow at program end.
East Hampton Public Library
105 Main Street
East Hampton, CT
To Register, call 860-267-6621 or register online at engagedpatrons.org
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Wednesday, April 8 2009
7:30pm
POEMALLEY at Curley’s Diner
Read poetry, discuss writing and other topics of interest.
Curley’s Diner
62 West Park Place
Stamford, CT
203-327-3716
ayarmal@earthlink.net
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Wednesday, April 8 2009
7:30pm - 10:00pm
WEDNESDAY NIGHT POETRY SERIES
featuring Lisa Starr
Lisa Starr, Rhode Island’s poet laureate, moved to Block Island in 1986 and never wanted to leave. An inn-keeper (the Hygeia House), a mother, a basketball coach and a champion of fun and freedom of speech, her family, and poetry, she’s a two-time Rhode Island poetry fellowship winner, a former college instructor, waitress with 2 full-length collections of poetry: Days of Dogs and Driftwood and This Place Here, and her individual works appear in journals and publications around the country. Starr is the founder of the Block Island Poetry Project.
WNPS, the longest running weekly poetry series in Connecticut, boasts an open mike, feature poets, a Q&A with the feature, and a poetry critique workshop. For more info, visit the website: http://www.wedpoetry.net/.
Molten Java Coffee Roasters, LLC
102 Greenwood Avenue
Bethel, CT
203-739-0313
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Wednesday, April 8 2009
9:00pm
POETZ REALM
Blessings from the Poetz Realm. The venue goes down every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month. Admission is $5.00 for regular patrons and free for whomever signs up for the open mike. There is a feature for each show. Features have included: Ngoma, Fredrick Douglas, Mo Jarvis, Baub Bidon, E da Storyteller, Shanna Melton, Kamal Imani, Influence, Ainsley Burrows, and others.
Hosted by E da Storyteller and Baub Bidon.
Innovation Center
955 Connecticut Ave
Bridgeport, CT.
poetzrealm.com
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Wednesday, April 8 2009
9:30pm - 11:00pm
POETRY NITE at the Huntington Street Café
Poetry Nite every Wednesday at the Huntington Street Café. Run by Sammy and Natalie, it’s open to everyone. Stop by to check the scene or even read a little something. Walk in and you’ll be added to the list.
Email Pollie_Vack@yahoo.com for info.
Huntington Street Café
90 Huntington Street
Shelton, CT
203-925-9064
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Thursday, April 9 2009
7:00pm
SECOND THURSDAY POETRY SERIES
presents Elizabeth Thomas
The Guilford Poets Guild’s Second Thursday Poetry Series presents Elizabeth Thomas, a widely published poet, performer, advocate of the arts and teacher. The author of three books of poetry, she has read her work throughout the United States. Much of her energy and time is devoted to designing and teaching writing programs for schools and organizations in many parts of the country. These programs promote literacy and the power of written and spoken word. As an outstanding advocate of youth in the arts, Elizabeth Thomas is a coach and organizer with Brave New Voices: International Youth Poetry Slam and Festival. She is also the founder of UpWords Poetry, a company dedicated to promoting programs for young writers and educators, based on the belief that poetry is meant to be heard out loud and in person. She hosts a website at www.upwordspoetry.com.
Admission is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
The Greene Art Gallery
(Red barn behind Whitfield’s Cafe)
29 Whitfield St.
Guilford, CT
Contact: 203-453-2036, 203-453-8836
guilfordpoetsguild.wordpress.com
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Thursday, April 9 2009
7:00pm - 9:00pm
CHARLOTTE CURRIER
Event Canceled.
Charlotte Currier will be at Broad Street Books to read from her book Shadow & Light: A Retrospective. Charlotte began writing poetry seriously in the 50s in New York City studying with Stanley Kunitz. Later under the tutelage of Stanley Plumly she received an MA in creative writing at Louisiana State University where she also taught writing for many years. But it was teaching a variety of creative writing courses in the Graduate Liberal Studies Program at Wesleyan University that refined her skills as a teacher and as a writer.
Admission is free.
45 Broad Street
Middletown, CT
Broad Street Books
For more information, contact Brian Mitchard at 860-685-READ
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Thursday, April 9 2009
7:00pm - 10:00pm
THURSDAY NIGHT POETRY
Open Mike Poetry Reading at Bean & Leaf. Old poets read, new voices heard. A new venue with “a killer sound system and lots of delicious teas and coffee and pastries.” Visit the website for more information: http://www.bean-leaf.com/.
Bean & Leaf cafe
13 Washington St.
New London, CT
860-701-0000
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Friday, April 10 2009
6:00pm
OPEN MIKE FRIDAY
There is an open mike each Friday at LaSalle Market. Poets, musicians, local talent of any type is invited. Stop by and check it out—then show us what you’ve got.
LaSalle Market
104 Main Street
Collinsville, CT
http://www.lasallemarket.com/
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Friday, April 10 2009
7:00pm
JOSHUA BECKMAN
with Erin Hutchinson
New Haven born poet Joshua Beckman presents Take It, his latest collection that “wears its heart on its sleeve” (Slope Online) and describes a degraded yet wondrous world. He is the author of six books of poetry and two poetic collaborations with Matthew Rohrer, Nice Hat. Thanks., and Adventures While Preaching the Gospel of Beauty. He is an editor at Wave Books and has translated numerous works of poetry and prose, including Poker by Tomaz Salamun, which was a finalist for the PEN America Poetry in Translation Award. He is also the recipient of numerous other awards, including a NYFA fellowship and a Pushcart Prize. He lives in Seattle and New York.
Also meet Erin Hutchinson, local middle schooler and a regular reader at our Open Mike Nights, as she shares her work before Beckman.
Admission is free. Reservations are required at all events. To reserve a seat, call RJ Julia at 203-245-3959 or 800-74-READS or email books@rjjulia.com.
RJ Julia Booksellers
768 Boston Post Road
Madison, CT
203-245-3959
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Saturday, April 11 2009
1:00pm - 3:00pm
OPEN MIKE at Yale Bookstore
Poetry Open Mike for poets to share their original poems. Admission is free.
The Yale Bookstore At Barnes & Noble
77 Broadway
New Haven, CT
203-777-8440
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Saturday, April 11 2009
4:30pm - 6:00pm
CENTRAL GALLERY POETRY READING SERIES
presents Cathleen Calbert And Richard Tietjen
Admission is free. Refreshments served.
Central Gallery at the Clayhouse
665 Boston Post Road
Old Saybrook, CT
http://www.centralgallery.net/
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Sunday, April 12 2009
2:00pm
PARADISE LOST
performed by John Basinger
In celebration of John Milton’s 400th anniversary, John Basinger will be performing a different book of Paradise Lost every Sunday afternoon at the Buttonwood Tree. Come witness an extraordinary reciting of a fascinating book!
All readings start at 2:00pm, but please call to confirm. The event is free; donations are gratefully accepted. Also, visit the website at http://www.paradiselostperformances.com/
The Buttonwood Tree
605 Main Street
Middletown, CT
860-347-4957
thebuttonwoodtree@gmail.com
http://www.buttonwood.org/
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Sunday, April 12 2009
2:00pm - 4:00pm
BEAN & LEAF OPEN MIKE POETRY READING
hosted by Tom Weigel
Old poets read, new voices heard in a new venue with “a killer sound system and lots of delicious teas and coffee and pastries.” Visit the website for more information.
Bean & Leaf Cafe
13 Washington St.
New London, CT
860-701-0000
http://www.bean-leaf.com/
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Monday, April 13 2009
7:00pm
THE LOVE JONES EXPERIENCE
Spoken Word and Song event. All poets welcome.
$5.00 cover. Hosted by Darlene Brandon Scott.
The Russell
103 Pratt Street
Hartford, CT
http://www.therussell.net/
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Monday, April 13 2009
7:00pm
GRAND OPENING AUTHOR SERIES
presents Christina Pugh
The Grand Opening Author Series continues with award-winning poet Christina Pugh. She is the author of Rotary, the winner of the Word Press First Book Prize in 2004. Her second book of poems, Restoration, was published in October 2008. Her poetry has appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, TriQuarterly, Ploughshares, and other publications. In addition to her own poems, she has also published numerous articles on poetry and poetics.
We are pleased Christina has agreed to come to Darien (especially during National Poetry Month) and to be part of our Grand Opening Author Series. Please join us for this special program.
Refreshments will be served.
Darien Library
1441 Post Road
Darien, CT
203-655-1234
http://www.darienlibrary.org/
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).
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Monday, April 13 2009
7:15pm
MONDAY NIGHT POETRY in STAMFORD
Monday Night Poetry meets on the second Monday of each month at Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Stamford Town Center. Please come and listen to local poets, bring a favorite poem, or read your own.
Barnes & Noble Booksellers
Stamford Town Center
100 Greyrock Place Suite H009
Stamford, CT
203-323-1248
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Monday, April 13 2009
7:30pm
ANYTHING GOES!
Anything Goes! for this open mike - spoken word, poetry etc. We have a piano and congas. Refreshments available.
Hosted by Jennifer Shafer Wood. Meets every Monday.
7:30pm sign up; 8:00pm start. $3.00 donation.
The Buttonwood Tree
605 Main Street
Middletown, CT
860-347-4957
thebuttonwoodtree@gmail.com
http://www.buttonwood.org/
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Monday, April 13 2009
8:00pm - 10:00pm
FRESHWATER COFFEE HOUSE
featuring Creative Writing Poetry Students
Reading by students from Edwina Trentham’s class. An open mike follows the featured reading. Refreshments will be served. The event is free and open to the public.
The Coffee House in Cafeteria II
Asnuntuck Community College
170 Elm Street
Enfield, CT
For information contact Edwina Trentham at 860-253-3105 or etrentham@acc.commnet.edu.
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Monday, April 13 2009
9:00pm
BEATNIK 2000
Music and poetry every Monday night, hosted by Ed Leonard. No Cover.
www.cafenine.com/schedule.html
Cafe 9
250 State Street
New Haven, CT
203-789-8281
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Tuesday, April 14 2009
4:00pm
"David Jones & Charles Olson in Time & Space"
A Talk by Poet/Bookmaker/Publisher Charles Alexander
Charles Alexander is the author of several books of poetry and is the director of Chax Press, which recently issued the portfolio Charles Olson: Language as Physical Fact. He is a former director of Minnesota Center for Book Arts and now lives in Tucson, AZ.
A special viewing of manuscripts from the Charles Olson Papers at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center will follow the talk.
Free & open to the public. Sponsored by Archives and Special Collections, Thomas J. Dodd Research Center
Contact: Melissa Watterworth, Curator of Literary Collections, melissa.watterworth@uconn.edu.
Class of '47 Room
Homer Babbidge Library
University of Connecticut
369 Fairfield Way
Storrs, CT
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Tuesday, April 14 2009
7:00pm - 9:00pm
STUDIO 59 POETRY CIRCLE - DOWNTOWN
Come and share your love of poetry or a poem you would love to share. Bring copies of your poem if you want to join the feedback session after the readings.
Open mike hosted by Joan Pavlinsky. No cover. BYOB. Piano available. Art for sale.
Studio 59 Downtown
55 Main St.
Torrington, CT
860-482-6801
studio59poetry@gmail.com
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Wednesday, April 15 2009
6:30pm
13th ANNUAL MAD RIVER LITERARY FESTIVAL
presents Elizabeth Thomas and Jim Kelleher
The 13th Annual Mad River Literary Festival at Northwestern Connecticut Community College presents a poetry reading featuring Elizabeth Thomas and Jim Kelleher.
Founders Hall Auditorium
Northwestern Connecticut Community College
Park Place East
Winsted, CT
JTreat@nwcc.commnet.edu
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Wednesday, April 15 2009
7:30pm
POEMALLEY at Curley’s Diner
Read poetry, discuss writing and other topics of interest.
Curley’s Diner
62 West Park Place
Stamford, CT
203-327-3716
ayarmal@earthlink.net
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Wednesday, April 15 2009
7:30pm - 10:00pm
WEDNESDAY NIGHT POETRY SERIES
featuring Rose Drew
Rose Drew is a bio-anthropologist who works with human skeletons. She is currently living in York England in (never-ending) pursuit of a PhD. Her day job consists of interpreting lifestyle and behavior from skeletal remains; but at night she can be found reading her poems anywhere there’s a mike and a gathering of people. She has been told her poetry is “too dark”, whatever that means. She has been published in anthologies, journals, newsprint, books. Rose has been hosting a poetry open mike either in CT or York for over 6 years: where else can you give running commentary and a monologue every single month?
WNPS, the longest running weekly poetry series in Connecticut, boasts an open mike, feature poets, a Q&A with the feature, and a poetry critique workshop. For more info, visit the website: http://www.wedpoetry.net/.
Molten Java Coffee Roasters, LLC
102 Greenwood Avenue
Bethel, CT
203-739-0313
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Wednesday, April 15 2009
9:30pm - 11:00pm
POETRY NITE at the Huntington Street Café
Poetry Nite every Wednesday at the Huntington Street Café. Run by Sammy and Natalie, it’s open to everyone. Stop by to check the scene or even read a little something. Walk in and you’ll be added to the list.
Email Pollie_Vack@yahoo.com for info.
Huntington Street Café
90 Huntington Street
Shelton, CT
Phone: 203-925-9064
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Thursday, April 16 2009
12:15pm
ALLAN K. SMITH READING SERIES
presents Kevin Prufer
Kevin Prufer’s newest book, National Anthem, was named one of the five best poetry books of the year by Publishers Weekly. Among his other publications are The Finger Bone and Fallen from a Chariot; the latter was named one of the best books of the last quarter century by the editors of The Bloomsbury Review. With Wayne Miller, Prufer has recently edited New European Poets and continues to edit Pleiades: A Journal of New Writing. The recipient of three Pushcart prizes and numerous awards from the Poetry Society of America, Prufer is professor of English at the University of Central Missouri.
This is a common hour event. Lunch will be provided for pre-registered participants only. To reserve a spot,
please email common-hour@trincoll.edu.
Sponsored by the English Department.
Rittenberg Lounge
Mather Hall
300 Summit Street
Trinity College
Hartford, CT
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Thursday, April 16 2009
6:30pm
WORD OF MOUTH POETRY SERIES
featuring Susan Kinsolving
Susan Kinsolving’s three books of poems are The White Eyelash, Dailies & Rushes, a finalist for The National Book Critics Circle Award, and Among Flowers. Her books have been critically acclaimed by The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Poetry, Publishers Weekly, and Vanity Fair, among others. Her poems have appeared numerous journals and anthologies. She has been awarded poetry fellowships to France, Italy, Scotland, and Switzerland.
On the third Thursday of each month, Word of Mouth Poetry Series celebrates an eclectic mix of poetic voices. Free. Refreshments. Open mike. Outstanding featured readers. In a casual setting. Open to all members of the public and others. For more information, please contact allwordofmouth@gmail.com or mcguireschwartz@gmail.com.
Doors Open at 6:30. Open mike at 7:00. Please arrive a few minutes early to sign up for open mike.
The Institute Library
847 Chapel Street
New Haven, CT
Word of Mouth is an affiliate of Arts and Literature Laboratory. Please visit our website at http://www.allgallery.org/.
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Thursday, April 16 2009
7:00pm
HAITI THROUGH ITS POETS
“Haiti through its Poets” - Enjoy an evening of poetry with Jean-Dany Joachim, creator and producer of the City Night Reading Series in Boston and New York.
Ferguson Library
South End Branch
34 Woodland Avenue
(located in the South End Community Center)
Stamford, CT
203-351-8280
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Thursday, April 16 2009
7:00pm - 9:00pm
WINTONBURY LIBRARY POETRY SERIES
featuring Dana Sonnenschein
Our special guest for National Poetry Month is Dana Sonnenschein. Author of three full-length collections of poetry, she is a professor of literature and writing at Southern Connecticut State University. Her poems have appeared in The MacGuffin, Seneca Review, The Briar Cliff Review, and The Spoon River Poetry Review.
An open mike follows the featured poet. The open mike theme is “Memory.”
Wintonbury Branch Poetry Series, now in its eleventh year, presents a featured poet followed by a themed open mike. For more information, please call the Wintonbury Branch at 860-242-0041.
Wintonbury Branch Library
1015 Blue Hills Avenue
Bloomfield, CT
www.prosserlibrary.info/wintonbury_branch.htm
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Thursday, April 16 2009
7:00pm - 9:00pm
MISHI-MAYA-GAT Spoken Word & Music Series
presents Sam Cornish
7:00pm - Featured Musicians: C- is made up of four MCC faculty members, Ken Klucznik, Patrick Sullivan, Mike Stefanowicz, and Dr. Andy Paterna, as well as an MCC graduate, singer Holly June Jacobs. C- mix original songs with some interesting covers by Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and Wilco. Proceeds from their CD are donated to various charities that the band supports.
8:00pm - Featured Poets: Sam Cornish is the City of Boston’s first Poet Laureate. Mayor Thomas M. Menino made the announcement at the 2008 State of the City Address, calling Cornish “an ideal first Poet Laureate.” Cornish’s new book of poems, An Apron Full of Beans, is described as an African-American sequel to Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. Written with influences from the blues, spirituals, and the language of writers such as Langston Hughes and Margaret Walker, the poems grow out of the historical and personal reminiscences of these artists and their traditions. The poems are both biographical and autobiographical, as they revisit American history through the art forms of film noir, science fiction, the blues, jazz, and other aspects of American history and popular culture. His previous books include Songs of Jubilee, Folks Like Me, and Cross a Parted Sea.
Free and Open to the Public. Sponsored by the MCC Foundation.
Hosted by Stephen Campiglio.
Fireside Commons, Learning Resource Center
Manchester Community College
Great Path
Manchester, CT
For more information or directions, please visit the Mishi-maya-gat web page at http://www.mcc.commnet.edu/faculty/spoken.php or call 860-512-2824.
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Thursday, April 16 2009
7:00pm - 10:00pm
THURSDAY NIGHT POETRY
Open Mike Poetry Reading at Bean & Leaf. Old poets read, new voices heard. A new venue with “a killer sound system and lots of delicious teas and coffee and pastries.” Visit the website for more information: http://www.bean-leaf.com/.
Bean & Leaf cafe
13 Washington St.
New London, CT
860-701-0000
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Thursday, April 16 2009
7:30pm - 9:00pm
THIRD THURSDAY OPEN MIC
Open mike poetry reading on the third Thursday of every month at the Stamford Borders.
Borders
1041 High Ridge Road (near Merritt Parkway exit 35)
Stamford, CT
Phone: 203-968-9700
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Friday, April 17 2009
1:00pm - 2:45pm
POETRY DISCUSSION GROUP
Retired English professor Alan Holder leads this once-a-month poetry discussion, which take place on the third Friday of the month at 1:00pm. Each month a different poet’s work will be up for discussion. New members always welcome.
A limited number of free copies of the book to be discussed will be available for approximately one month before the meeting. See the library’s Circulation Desk. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.
Location: Dayton Program Room
Ridgefield Library
472 Main Street (Route 35)
Ridgefield, CT
203-438-2282 or
rdgprograms@biblio.org
http://www.ridgefieldlibrary.org/
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Friday, April 17 2009
6:00pm
OPEN MIKE FRIDAY
There is an open mike each Friday at LaSalle Market. Poets, musicians, local talent of any type is invited. Stop by and check it out—then show us what you’ve got.
LaSalle Market
104 Main Street
Collinsville, CT
http://www.lasallemarket.com/
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Friday, April 17 2009
6:30pm
SUSAN KINSOLVING
and Jack Gilpin
Acclaimed poet Susan Kinsolving and actor Jack Gilpin will be reading selected poems of Tennessee Williams at the Torrington UConn campus. The evening is part of the Litchfield County Writers Project celebration of National Poetry Month at UConn Torrington campus.
Free and open to the public. More information available at www.lcwp.uconn.edu/events.htm
M. Adela Eads, Francis W. Hogan Lecture Hall
UConn Torrington Campus
855 University Drive
Torrington, CT
For further information regarding this event, please contact: Fiona de Merell at 860-626-6852 or lcwp@uconn.edu.
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Saturday, April 18 2009
2:00pm - 3:00pm
FAVORITE POEM PROJECT
The Connecticut Poetry Society presents the Favorite Poem Project. You are invited to come and read aloud your favorite poem from one of your favorite poets. You will be given the opportunity to discuss your poem selection and its meaning to you. Children and adults are invited. Please call 860-247-8960 to register for the free program.
Wilson Branch Library
365 Windsor Ave
Windsor, CT
860-247-8960
www.windsorlibrary.com/wilson.htm
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Saturday, April 18 2009
7:30pm - 9:30pm
STUDIO 59 POETRY CIRCLE - BARBER STREET
featuring Eileen Albrizio
An evening of dynamic poetry readings with the masterful piano music of Timothy Alexandre Wallace.
Our featured reader is Eileen Albrizio, a writer of poetry and prose, whose works have appeared in numerous literary publications. She is the author of three print volumes of poetry: Messy On The Inside, Rain - Dark As Water In Winter, Perennials: New & Selected Poems (Nominated for the 2008 CT Book Award) and On The Edge, a recitation of her poetry on CD. She has been a recipient of prestigious fellowships, has penned several plays, two novels, and is currently working on a compilation of short fiction. Ms. Albrizio a former broadcast journalist and NPR host also holds a BFA in Theatre and an MA in English from CCSU. She has taught poetry and creative writing in several colleges and cultural institutions. Read more at her website: www.angelfire.com/art/albrizio.
$10.00 Cover. Light refreshments, BYOB.
Studio 59 - Barber St.
59 Barber St.
Torrington , CT
860-482-6801
studio59poetry@gmail.com
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Sunday, April 18 2009
8:00pm
WINCE
Wince is an open mike reading featuring your relics of adolescent embarrassment. Bring your teenage diaries, stories, or anything else that makes you laugh, blush, and wince. Share them during our experiment in collective humiliation.
Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St
Hartford, CT
860-232-1006
info@realartways.org
http://www.realartways.org/
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Sunday, April 19 2009
1:00pm
PARADISE LOST
performed by John Basinger
Please note the time change for this week! John's performances are usually held at 2:00pm. Next week's time TBD.
In celebration of John Milton’s 400th anniversary, John Basinger will be performing a different book of Paradise Lost every Sunday afternoon at the Buttonwood Tree. Come witness an extraordinary reciting of a fascinating book!
All readings start at 2:00pm, but please call to confirm. The event is free; donations are gratefully accepted. Also, visit the website at http://www.paradiselostperformances.com/
The Buttonwood Tree
605 Main Street
Middletown, CT
860-347-4957
thebuttonwoodtree@gmail.com
http://www.buttonwood.org/
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Sunday, April 19 2009
2:00pm - 4:00pm
BEAN & LEAF OPEN MIKE POETRY READING
hosted by Tom Weigel
Old poets read, new voices heard in a new venue with “a killer sound system and lots of delicious teas and coffee and pastries.” Visit the website for more information.
Bean & Leaf Cafe
13 Washington St.
New London, CT
860-701-0000
http://www.bean-leaf.com/
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Sunday, April 19 2009
3:00pm
JANET KRAUSS
The Poet’s Voice, yearly readings in Fairfield County libraries by outstanding poets, returns to the Darien Library. Poet Janet Krauss will read her poems at this annual event.
Janet Krauss is a widely published poet and teaches literature and writing at St. Basil College and Fairfield University. She is the recipient of the Fairfield Adjunct Award of the Year, 2006, and was twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize in poetry. “In the room of the spirit, Janet Krauss fills all the seats” - Paul Dry, Paul Dry Books, Inc.
A reception will follow. The reading is supported by the Horace E. Manacher Poetry Fund and contributions to the Darien Library Annual Campaign.
Conference Room on the Mezzanine Level
Darien Library
1441 Post Road
Darien, CT
203-655-1234
http://www.darienlibrary.org/
Additional parking for evening and weekend Library programs on Thorndal Circle (behind Nielsen’s).
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Sunday, April 19 2009
4:00pm
READINGS BY THE RIVER
presents Michael Cervas
Michael Cervas will read from Inside The Box. Michael teaches English at Westminster School and directs The Westminster Poetry Series. Poet’s open mike to follow.
Admission: $10.00/event. 20% discount for students. Free for Open Mike participants
Farmington River Literary Arts Center at Millrace Books
40 Mill Lane
Farmington, CT
http://www.millracebookshop.com/
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Monday, April 20 2008
6:00pm - 8:00pm
CPS POETRY WORKSHOP in DANBURY
The Danbury Chapter of the Connecticut Poetry Society holds a writing workshop at the Danbury Library on the third Monday of each month. Newcomers are welcome! Bring poems for sharing and discussion (about 6 copies to pass around, if possible).
For information, contact: dmh2000@sbcglobal.net
Danbury Library
Upstairs Conference Room
170 Main Street
Danbury, CT
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Monday, April 20 2009
6:30pm
BRUCE COHEN
Bruce Cohen was born in the Bronx, New York and earned both a B.A. and M.F.A. from the University of Arizona. Since 1990 he has been the Director of The Counseling Program for Intercollegiate Athletes at the University of Connecticut. He has two books of poetry: Swerve and Disloyal Yo-Yo, winner of the 2007 Orphic Prize. His poems have appeared in various literary publications including Ploughshares, Poetry, Prairie Schooner, & TriQuarterly. He is a recipient of an individual artist grant from the Connecticut Commission on Culture & Tourism.
UConn Co-op
2075 Hillside Road
Storrs, CT
860-486-5027
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Monday, April 20 2009
7:00pm
THE LOVE JONES EXPERIENCE
Spoken Word and Song event. All poets welcome.
$5.00 cover. Hosted by Darlene Brandon Scott.
The Russell
103 Pratt Street
Hartford, CT
http://www.therussell.net/
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Monday, April 20 2009
7:00pm
POETS SHOWCASE
The Windsor Poetry Writers Group will host a free program at the Library, A Poets Showcase.
During April, the National Poetry Month, the Inner Visions Poets will hold their annual poetry reading at the Windsor Public Library. It will be an evening devoted to spotlighting the poetic works of members of this local poetry writing group. The group meets at the Library on the second and fourth Mondays of each month to share and critique their work. The selected readings for this poetry showcase were developed in these monthly meetings, and were chosen to highlight the activities of the group and the talents of the individual writers. Published poets Janet Henderson and Alice Williams co-chair the group. Everyone is welcome at this special program. Light refreshments will be served.
Poets include Janet Henderson, Paul Gelinas, Bonnie Enes, Dolores Lawler, Bev Titus, Barbara Lawrence, Glyn Dwoden, Norma Bursack, Judy Swanson, Sheryl Woods and Dorothy Mullen
This program is sponsored by the Windsor Poetry Writers Group and the Windsor Public Library. No registration is necessary.
The Windsor Public Library
323 Broad Street
Windsor, CT
860-285-1910
http://www.windsorlibrary.com/
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Monday, April 20 2009
7:00pm
POETRY AND COFFEE
with Jim Kelleher and Christine Beck
The Burlington Public Library and the Canton Public Library present “Poetry and Coffee” with Jim Kelleher and Christine Beck.
Jim Kelleher will be reading from his first book poetry book, Quarry. The poems present a gritty, no-holds-barred depiction of people, creatures and events for which hardship and endurance are the hallmarks.
Our second poet is Christine Beck. Christine will be reading from her anthology, Proposing on the Brooklyn Bridge. Christine is the President of the Connecticut Poetry Society and the Contest Chairperson of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies.
Please register in person or by calling the Canton Public Library 860-693-5800 or the Burlington Public Library 860-673-3331 or by registering online at the library’s website: http://www.burlingtonctlibrary.info/.
Anne Walluk Community Room
Burlington Public Library
34 Library Lane
Burlington, CT
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Monday, April 20 2009
9:00pm
BEATNIK 2000
Music and poetry every Monday night, hosted by Ed Leonard. No Cover.
www.cafenine.com/schedule.html
Cafe 9
250 State Street
New Haven, CT
203-789-8281
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Wednesday, April 22 2009
6:30pm
DICK ALLEN
The Trumbull Library is proud to present Trumbull resident and poet extraordinaire, Dick Allen. An acclaimed performer of his poetry, Dick will read from his seventh collection, Present Vanishing. Dick’s works are often called “poetry for people who don’t like poetry,” and he will read some poems set in Trumbull!
Dick Allen has received poetry writing fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, as well as the Robert Frost Prize for Poetry and The Hart Crane Poetry Prize. His poems have been selected for The Best American Poetry volumes of 1991, 1994, 1998, and 1999, and have appeared in many of America’s leading journals, including Poetry, The Atlantic Monthly, and The New Yorker. He recently retired from his position as Charles A. Dana Endowed Chair Professor at the University of Bridgeport.
About his latest collection, Publishers Weekly wrote, “Present Vanishing wanders through a variety of topics-from the Buddha to Elvis, from frustrations with the internet to the art of buttering bread-and emerges full of gratitude. There are lovely moments of pure musicality in the shorter poems organized in couplets or quatrains. Gracefully assuming many shapes and sizes, these poems are likely to please readers seeking incarnations of the spirits of Whitman and Creeley at their most joyful.”
Come celebrate poetry month! Copies of the books will be available for purchase. Refreshments will be served. Seating is limited for this free event so reserve your seat by contacting the Main Library at 203-452-5197 to register or on-line at http://www.trumbullct-library.org/.
Trumbull Library
33 Quality Street
Trumbull, CT
203-452-5197
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Wednesday, April 22 2009
7:30pm
POEMALLEY at Curley’s Diner
Read poetry, discuss writing and other topics of interest.
Curley’s Diner
62 West Park Place
Stamford, CT
203-327-3716
ayarmal@earthlink.net
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Wednesday, April 22 2009
7:30pm - 10:00pm
WEDNESDAY NIGHT POETRY SERIES
featuring Chris Brandt
Chris Brandt is a writer and political activist—and also a translator, carpenter, furniture designer, and theatre worker. He teaches poetry at Fordham University. His poems and essays have been published in magazines, journals, and anthologies, including Off the Cuffs: Poetry by and About the Police, El signo del gorrion, Liqueur 44, La Jornada, and the anthology Crimes of the Beats. His translations of Cuban fiction have been published in The New Yorker and by Seven Stories Press, and his translations of two volumes of Carmen Valle’s poetry by the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña. Seven Stories published his translation of Clara Nieto’s Masters of War, a history of U.S. interventions in Latin America. Translations of contemporary Cuban poetry will be included in a University of California Berkeley anthology to be published this year.
WNPS, the longest running weekly poetry series in Connecticut, boasts an open mike, feature poets, a Q&A with the feature, and a poetry critique workshop. For more info, visit the website: http://www.wedpoetry.net/.
Molten Java Coffee Roasters, LLC
102 Greenwood Avenue
Bethel, CT
203-739-0313
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Wednesday, April 22 2009
9:00pm
POETZ REALM
Blessings from the Poetz Realm. The venue goes down every 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month. Admission is $5.00 for regular patrons and free for whomever signs up for the open mike. There is a feature for each show. Features have included: Ngoma, Fredrick Douglas, Mo Jarvis, Baub Bidon, E da Storyteller, Shanna Melton, Kamal Imani, Influence, Ainsley Burrows, and others.
Hosted by E da Storyteller and Baub Bidon.
Innovation Center
955 Connecticut Ave
Bridgeport, CT.
poetzrealm.com
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Wednesday, April 22 2009
9:30pm - 11:00pm
POETRY NITE at the Huntington Street Café
Poetry Nite every Wednesday at the Huntington Street Café. Run by Sammy and Natalie, it’s open to everyone. Stop by to check the scene or even read a little something. Walk in and you’ll be added to the list.
Email Pollie_Vack@yahoo.com for info.
Huntington Street Café
90 Huntington Street
Shelton, CT
203-925-9064
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Thursday, April 23 2009
4:00pm
YALE COLLECTION OF AMERICAN LITERATURE READING SERIES
presents G. E. Patterson and Jennifer Moxley.
Poet, critic, and translator G. E. Patterson is the author of To and From and Tug, winner of the Minnesota Book Award. Patterson’s awards include fellowships from the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, Cave Canem, the Djerassi Foundation, the MacDowell Colony, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. After living in the Northeast and on the West Coast, he now makes his home in Minnesota, where he teaches.
Jennifer Moxley is the author of four books of poetry: The Line, Often Capital, The Sense Record, and Imagination Verses. Her memoir, The Middle Room, was published in 2007. She has translated two books by the French poet Jacqueline Risset, The Translation Begins and The Powers of Sleep. She is poetry editor of The Baffler, and contributing editor of The Poker. She works as an Associate Professor at the University of Maine.
Beinecke Library
121 Wall Street
New Haven, CT
For additional information on readings at Yale: beineckepoetry.wordpress.com/readings-at-yale-university.
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Thursday, April 23 2009
7:00pm
DRUNKEN BOAT: 10th Anniversary
Drunken Boat, an international online arts journal, is celebrating its 10th anniversary with a multimedia literary event. For the last decade, Drunken Boat has been publishing the best of more traditional forms of representation, such as poetry and prose, alongside multimedia works of art, such as hypertext, video and sound art, that could only exist online.
Real Art Ways
56 Arbor St
Hartford, CT
860-232-1006
info@realartways.org
http://www.realartways.org/
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Thursday, April 23 2009
7:00pm - 10:00pm
THURSDAY NIGHT POETRY
Open Mike Poetry Reading at Bean & Leaf. Old poets read, new voices heard. A new venue with “a killer sound system and lots of delicious teas and coffee and pastries.” Visit the website for more information: http://www.bean-leaf.com/.
Bean & Leaf cafe
13 Washington St.
New London, CT
860-701-0000
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Friday, April 24 2009
6:00pm
OPEN MIKE FRIDAY
There is an open mike each Friday at LaSalle Market. Poets, musicians, local talent of any type is invited. Stop by and check it out—then show us what you’ve got.
LaSalle Market
104 Main Street
Collinsville, CT
http://www.lasallemarket.com/
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Friday, April 24 2009
7:00pm
OPEN MIKE NIGHT at RJ JULIA
Come read from your newest short story, poem, or essay and feel the rush of taking your work public. All we ask in return? That you limit your time to 5-7 minutes, and that you come prepared to be impressed! Please reserve your spot at the Information counter.
Visit our events page at www.rjjulia.com/events/madison.lasso.
RJ Julia Booksellers
768 Boston Post Road
Madison, CT
203-245-3959
books@rjjulia.com
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Saturday, April 25 2009
10:00am
CHILDREN’S STORY HOUR
Children’s Story Hour will be devoted to poetry, including a reading of Sidney the Silly Who Only Eats 6 by poet and educator M. W. Penn and the opportunity for the children to write original poems.
Admission is free.
The Yale Bookstore At Barnes & Noble
77 Broadway
New Haven, CT
203-777-8440
.......................................................................................
Saturday, April 25 2009
1:00pm - 3:00pm
“FAVORITE POEM PROJECT” READING
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky has always believed that poetry has a vital but little-acknowledged place in the hearts and minds of Americans. Through his Favorite Poem Project, Pinsky set about to document and celebrate that love of poetry. The Yale Bookstore will host two Favorite Poem readings during April (25 & 30), National Poetry Month. These readings will allow diverse members of the greater New Haven community to come together for an afternoon or evening to share unique, personal treasures: the poems they love. The Yale Bookstore will solicit readers of all ages from the community but is particularly interested in providing opportunities for school children (ages 5 to 19) to read their poems. There are several ways to take part. Prospective readers may contact The Yale Bookstore’s Community Relations Coordinator (203-777-8440 x165) to sign up in advance. Each event should allow time for at least 15 readers. If fewer than that number have signed up in advance, there will be an “open mike” for which people may sign up at the time of the readings.
Rules for the Favorite Poem Readings are:
Poems recited may NOT be poems the readers or their friends or relatives have written, but ones they have read and to which they feel a personal attachment. Poems, for example, from the great history of poetry, perhaps by Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, or Robert Frost. A reader might also choose Robert Browning or William Shakespeare or a poem written in another language, along with an English translation.
The readers should be personal, not general, in answering the question, “Why have I chosen this poem from among my favorites?”
Readers are limited to five (5) minutes each to recite the poem and explain their connection to it. If a poem takes longer than five minutes to read, an excerpt will do. Absolutely nothing in writing is allowed, except for the poem. There is to be no reading of prose; participants who speak informally, from the heart, will be far more effective.
The Yale Bookstore At Barnes & Noble
77 Broadway
New Haven, CT
For further information about the My Favorite Poem readings and other poetry events at The Yale Bookstore, please contact: Richard Carlson, Community Relations Coordinator, The Yale Bookstore, 203-777-8440, ext 165 or crc-events@snet.net.
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Saturday, April 25 2009
2:00pm
POETRY MONTH READING IN WEST HAVEN
In honor of the National Poetry Month, the Louis Piantino Library Branch of the West Haven Public Library presents:
Lisa Siedlarz reading from her debut chapbook, I Dream My Brother Plays Baseball.
Tony Fusco, the president of the Connecticut Poetry Society, reading from his new book, Droplines.
Vietnam Veteran poets reading from their book, The Season of Now.
Louis Piantino Branch
(West Haven Public Library)
1 Forest Road
West Haven CT
203-933-9335
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Saturday, April 25 2009
2:00pm
SECOND ANNUAL BILLIE MORRILL POETRY OPEN MIC
In honor of National Poetry Month and former librarian Billie Morrill, poets of all ages and types are invited to share their works in this open mike event.
Free and open to the public. To register, please call 860-739-6926.
East Lyme Public Library
39 Society Road,
Niantic, CT
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Saturday, April 25 2009
2:00pm - 3:00pm
EVERYBODY SAYS HELLO book reading
The Connecticut Poetry Society presents Everybody Says Hello, from 2:00pm - 3:00pm. Eight accomplished poets with publishing credits and poetry awards will do a group reading from the book entitled, Everybody Says Hello. Audience members can participate by asking questions and bringing their own poems to share. Children and adults are invited.
The PIPs (Partners in Poetry) writing group has been meeting since 2000, and this book represents some of their work. Christine Beck, Sherri Bedingfield, Ginny Lowe Connors, Tere Foley, Pat Hale, Bob Jacob, Nancy Kerrigan, and Elaine Zimmerman will each read from the book. Afterwards there will be an open microphone so that poets in the audience may read. Please register
Please call 860-247-8960 to register in advance, especially if you plan to read at the open mike.
Wilson Branch Library
365 Windsor Ave
Windsor, CT
860-247-8960
www.windsorlibrary.com/wilson.htm
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Saturday, April 25 2009
4:30pm - 6:00pm
CENTRAL GALLERY POETRY READING SERIES
presents Jennifer Holley And Brad Davis.
Admission is free. Refreshments served.
Central Gallery at the Clayhouse
665 Boston Post Road
Old Saybrook, CT
http://www.centralgallery.net/
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Saturday, April 25 2009
6:30pm
THE RIVERWOOD POETRY SERIES at Buttonwood
presents “TEACHER’S PoET”
An evening of poetry celebrating promising student writers and the teachers who have influenced them, both sharing their work in an intimate setting.
Suggested donation is $3.00 and a non-perishable food item to be donated to the local soup kitchen/food pantry. Non-perishable food donations welcome to benefit the St. Vincent de Paul Place. Goodwill donations welcome.
The Buttonwood Tree
605 Main Street
Middletown, CT
860-347-4957
thebuttonwoodtree@gmail.com
http://www.buttonwood.org/
http://www.riverwoodpoetry.org/
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Sunday, April 26 2009
2:00pm
PARADISE LOST
performed by John Basinger
In celebration of John Milton’s 400th anniversary, John Basinger will be performing a different book of Paradise Lost every Sunday afternoon at the Buttonwood Tree. Come witness an extraordinary reciting of a fascinating book!
All readings start at 2:00pm, but please call to confirm. The event is free; donations are gratefully accepted. Also, visit the website at http://www.paradiselostperformances.com/
The Buttonwood Tree
605 Main Street
Middletown, CT
860-347-4957
thebuttonwoodtree@gmail.com
http://www.buttonwood.org/
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Sunday, April 26 2009
2:00pm - 3:00pm
GUILFORD POETS GUILD
The Guilford Poets Guild Celebrates National Poetry Month with a reading and open mike in Guilford.
Come and listen and share a poem you love.
Breakwater Books
81 Whitfield Street
Guilford, CT
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Sunday, April 26 2009
2:00pm - 4:00pm
BEAN & LEAF OPEN MIKE POETRY READING
hosted by Tom Weigel
Old poets read, new voices heard in a new venue with “a killer sound system and lots of delicious teas and coffee and pastries.” Visit the website for more information.
Bean & Leaf Cafe
13 Washington St.
New London, CT
860-701-0000
http://www.bean-leaf.com/
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Sunday, April 26 2009
2:00pm - 4:00pm
CONNECTICUT POETRY SOCIETY
Annual Meeting and Poetry Reading
Please join the Connecticut Poetry Society in Celebrating National Poetry Month: The event will include:
- Election of new president. Tony Fusco, editor of Caduceus and former editor of Connecticut River Review, has been nominated as the new President of CPS, a three-year term. We will also take nominations from the floor and then vote. Fusco has published two books of poetry, and recently released his newest book, Droplines.
- Lecture by Emerson Gilmore: What does Keats Mean to You? Gilmore is the President of the Manchester Chapter of CPS, Treasurer, and editor of Long River Run, a poetry journal published by CPS.
- Featured Poets Reading. A reading by CPS members who have published a poetry book in the prior year. This will include Tony Fusco, reading from Droplines, Lisa Siedlarz reading from I Dream My Brother Plays Baseball, and members of Partners in Poetry, reading from Everybody Says Hello.
- Open Mike
- Refreshments
Free and Open to the Public
Visit http://www.ct-poetry-society.org/
Butterworth Hall
University of Hartford
1265 Asylum Ave
Hartford, CT
For info, call: 860-655-3263
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Sunday, April 26 2009
3:00pm - 5:00pm
RENNIE McQUILKIN
Join award-winning poet Rennie McQuilkin for a reading from his latest publication, The Weathering: New & Selected Poems. Founder and director until 2000 of Hill-Stead’s renowned Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, McQuilkin is the acclaimed author of ten collections of poetry, including The Weathering, which contains revised work written from 1970 through 2008 and features 20 new poems. The Weathering has been described as “elegant and tender-hearted” (Gray Jacobik) and “quietly vigilant, affectionate yet scrupulous” (Eamon Grennan). Recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ruth Fox Award of the New England Poetry Club, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Connecticut Center for the Book and numerous other fellowships and awards, McQuilkin has had his poetry published in The Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, The Southern Review, The Yale Review, The Hudson Review, The American Scholar, Crazyhorse, Poetry Northwest, The Gettysburg Review, and elsewhere.
A reception and book signing will follow. Free to members, $10 members-to-be.
Hill-Stead Museum
35 Mountain Road
Farmington, CT
hillstead.org/activities/calendar.html
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Sunday, April 26 2009
4:00pm
READINGS BY THE RIVER
presents Susan Allison
Susan Allison will be reading from her just-published second book of poetry, Down by the Riverside Ways, which has been described as “seismic in its joys and furies.” Susan owns Buttonwood Tree, an arts and cultural performance center in Middletown. Poet’s open mike to follow.
Admission: $10.00/event. 20% discount for students. Free for Open Mike participants.
Farmington River Literary Arts Center at Millrace Books
40 Mill Lane
Farmington, CT
http://www.millracebookshop.com/
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Monday, April 27 2009
7:00pm
THE LOVE JONES EXPERIENCE
Spoken Word and Song event. All poets welcome.
$5.00 cover. Hosted by Darlene Brandon Scott.
The Russell
103 Pratt Street
Hartford, CT
http://www.therussell.net/
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Monday, April 27 2009
9:00pm
BEATNIK 2000
Music and poetry every Monday night, hosted by Ed Leonard. No Cover.
www.cafenine.com/schedule.html
Cafe 9
250 State Street
New Haven, CT
203-789-8281
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Wednesday, April 29 2009
5:30pm
ROBERT PINSKY at YALE BOOKSTORE
Robert Pinsky discussing and signing his book, An Invitation to Poetry: A New Favorite Poem Project Anthology
As Poet Laureate of the United States, Robert Pinsky became a public ambassador for poetry, founding the Favorite Poem Project, in which thousands of Americans—of varying backgrounds, all ages, and from every state—shared their favorite poems. Pinsky believed that, contrary to stereotype, poetry had a vigorous presence in the American cultural landscape. The project sought to document that presence, giving voice to the American audience for poetry.
Pinsky’s first two terms as United States Poet Laureate were marked by such visible dynamism and such national enthusiasm in response that the Library of congress appointed him to an unprecedented third term. Throughout his career, Pinsky has been dedicated to identifying and invigorating poetry’s place in the world.
His books include Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud, the Pulitzer Prize-nominated The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems, 1966-1996, Gulf Music, and a Los Angeles Times Book Awarding winning translation of The Inferno of Dante.
The Yale Bookstore At Barnes & Noble
77 Broadway
New Haven, CT
203-777-8440
Mr. Pinsky appears at The Yale Bookstore as a participant in the Favorite Poem Project of The International Festival of Arts and Ideas. Join him on June 13 at 3:00 pm at the Yale University Art Gallery for a community reading of your favorite poems. For more information, visit the Festival website at http://www.artidea.org/.
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Wednesday, April 29 2009
5:30pm
Screening of SLAM
The New Haven Public Library celebrates National Poetry Month with several events, beginning with a free screening of SLAM, a 1998 Grand Jury Prize-winner at Sundance. This film offers a strong cast, compelling subject matter, an energizing soundtrack, and over-the-top rap poetry.
No charge. Free parking.
New Haven Free Public Library
133 Elm St.
New Haven
860-946-8835
http://www.nhbulletin.blogspot.com/
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Wednesday, April 29 2009
7:00pm
SPRING FLING POETRY SLAM
The Boutwestindies Group and The Russell Café bring to you The Spring Fling Poetry Slam.
Slam criteria: Entrants $5.00 to enter. All styles welcome. $100 for 1st Place and prizes for 2nd and 3rd.
Audience: $7.00 to witness, $5.00 with canned food.
Open Mike begins at 7:00. Slam begins at 8:00. Goin' down at the Russell Cafe, located in downtown Hartford, corner of Trumbull and Platt St. Feel free to contact Zimbabwe at 860-478-5814 or info@boutwestindies.com for entry info or any other inquiries.
All charity proceeds will go to Catholic Charities Migration and Refugees Services on Market St. in Hartford.
For more information, visit: http://www.boutwestindies.com/.
The Russell
103 Pratt Street
Hartford, CT
www.therussellct.com
PRESS FLASH! Look out for $500.00 Slam in July! and $1000.00 Slam in the Fall!
Spring Fling Series 2009, Spring's first poetry slam Label, will run from April 2009 to June 2009, the last Wednesday of every month. The Slam Topic is "Anything Goes." The entrance fee is $7.00. (Or $5.00 dollars with a canned food item. We are raising funds to buy a scanner for Branford Hall Career Institute.) Please feel free to join us.
This is a roll call to all Poets!
A poet is known by their spoken word! -Zimbabwe
P.S. We are still looking for poets!
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Wednesday, April 29 2009
7:30pm
POEMALLEY at Curley’s Diner
Read poetry, discuss writing and other topics of interest.
Curley’s Diner
62 West Park Place
Stamford, CT
203-327-3716
ayarmal@earthlink.net
.......................................................................................
Wednesday, April 29 2009
7:30pm - 10:00pm
WEDNESDAY NIGHT POETRY SERIES
featuring Alison D. Moncrief
Poetry by Alison D. Moncrief has appeared in Images, Soul Fountain, Caduceus, and The Connecticut River Review among others. She has earned multiple degrees—a Master’s degree in English Lit from the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and, by now, an MFA in poetry from New York University—and has taught at the Foote School in New Haven, and as part of the EWP program at NYU. She lives in East Rock with her husband Andy Bromage and “two cats in the yard.”
WNPS, the longest running weekly poetry series in Connecticut, boasts an open mike, feature poets, a Q&A with the feature, and a poetry critique workshop. For more info, visit the website: http://www.wedpoetry.net/.
Molten Java Coffee Roasters, LLC
102 Greenwood Avenue
Bethel, CT
203-739-0313
.......................................................................................
Wednesday, April 29 2009
9:30pm - 11:00pm
POETRY NITE at the Huntington Street Café
Poetry Nite every Wednesday at the Huntington Street Café. Run by Sammy and Natalie, it’s open to everyone. Stop by to check the scene or even read a little something. Walk in and you’ll be added to the list.
Email Pollie_Vack@yahoo.com for info.
Huntington Street Café
90 Huntington Street
Shelton, CT
203-925-9064
......................................................................................
Thursday, April 30 2009
5:30pm - 7:30pm
“FAVORITE POEM PROJECT” READING
Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky has always believed that poetry has a vital but little-acknowledged place in the hearts and minds of Americans. Through his Favorite Poem Project, Pinsky set about to document and celebrate that love of poetry. The Yale Bookstore will host two Favorite Poem readings during April (25 & 30), National Poetry Month. These readings will allow diverse members of the greater New Haven community to come together for an afternoon or evening to share unique, personal treasures: the poems they love. The Yale Bookstore will solicit readers of all ages from the community but is particularly interested in providing opportunities for school children (ages 5 to 19) to read their poems. There are several ways to take part. Prospective readers may contact The Yale Bookstore’s Community Relations Coordinator (203-777-8440 x165) to sign up in advance. Each event should allow time for at least 15 readers. If fewer than that number have signed up in advance, there will be an “open mike” for which people may sign up at the time of the readings.
Rules for the Favorite Poem Readings are:
Poems recited may NOT be poems the readers or their friends or relatives have written, but ones they have read and to which they feel a personal attachment. Poems, for example, from the great history of poetry, perhaps by Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, or Robert Frost. A reader might also choose Robert Browning or William Shakespeare or a poem written in another language, along with an English translation.
The readers should be personal, not general, in answering the question, “Why have I chosen this poem from among my favorites?”
Readers are limited to five (5) minutes each to recite the poem and explain their connection to it. If a poem takes longer than five minutes to read, an excerpt will do. Absolutely nothing in writing is allowed, except for the poem. There is to be no reading of prose; participants who speak informally, from the heart, will be far more effective.
The Yale Bookstore At Barnes & Noble
77 Broadway
New Haven, CT
For further information about the My Favorite Poem readings and other poetry events at The Yale Bookstore, please contact: Richard Carlson, Community Relations Coordinator, The Yale Bookstore, 203-777-8440, ext 165 or crc-events@snet.net.
......................................................................................
Thursday, April 30 2009
6:00pm
LONG RIVER REVIEW release party
Celebrate the new issue of the Long River Review and enjoy readings by student winners of prestigious annual awards, including the Collins Literary Prizes and the Jennie Hackman Memorial Award for Short Fiction.
UConn Co-op
2075 Hillside Road
Storrs, CT
860-486-5027
......................................................................................
Thursday, April 30 2009
6:00pm
FAVORITE POEM COMMUNITY READ
Bring your favorite poem to read aloud or recite, or just come to listen! Favorites will be collected for submission to the International Festival of Arts & Ideas for a Community Reading on June 13 with former poet laureate Robert Pinsky.
The only rule: This Favorite Poem Project is NOT for poems that you or someoneyou know have written. Please select your favorite from among the rich legacy of published poetry, whether in English or in translation from another language.
No charge. Free parking. For more information, 203-946-8835 or www.nhbulletin.blogspot.com.
New Haven Public Library
133 Elm Street
New Haven, CT
Note: During April the library is helping Christian Community Action collect food donations for their food pantry. Please consider bringing a non-perishable item when you visit the library!
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Thursday, April 30 2009
6:30pm
RIVERWOOD POETRY SERIES at Wood
presents An Evening to Celebrate New Publications!
featuring Christine Beck and Lori Desrosiers.
Christine Beck is president of the Connecticut Poetry Society and Contest Chairperson of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies. Her poems have been published in the anthology Proposing on the Brooklyn Bridge, J Journal, Connecticut River Review, Long River Run, and Caduceus. Her poems have also won contests in the Connecticut River Review and the National Federation of State Poetry Societies. She is an attorney and instructor of legal studies at the University of Hartford. Her textbook, Forensic Evidence in Court: A case Study Approach, was published in 2008 by Carolina Academic Press.
Lori Desrosiers grew up on the banks of the Hudson River in New York, but now calls Westfield, MA, her home. Her new chapbook of poetry, Three Vanities, is a recent release by Pudding House Press. Her poetry has been published in BigCityLit, The Equinox, Blue Fifth Review, Ballard Street Poetry Journal, November 3rd Club, Common Ground Review, Silkworm, and Gold Wake Press’ five-poem mini-chapbook series. She is the Editor of Naugatuck River Review, a journal of narrative poetry, and also publishes Poetry News, an online newsletter of poetry-related events in the CT/MA region. Lori teaches English at Westfield State College. She earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing/Poetry from New England College.
Come early to enjoy a musical prelude by Michael Zapatka on piano and Haley Schmidt on flute. Refreshments will be served.
Public is invited. Admission is free. Donations of non-perishable foods will also be accepted for the benefit of St. Vincent de Paul.
Wood Memorial Library
783 Main Street
South Windsor, CT
860-289-1783
http://www.woodmemoriallibrary.org/
http://www.riverwoodpoetry.org/
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Thursday, April 30 2009
7:00pm
POETRY AND JAZZ
A Tribute to Herb Davison
A tribute to our beloved friend and fellow poet, the late Herb Davison. Features poet Eleni Begetis and jazz vocalist Richard “Cookie” Thomas. Share your original or favorite poems in memory of Herb.
Ferguson Library
South End Branch
34 Woodland Avenue
(located in the South End Community Center)
Stamford, CT
203-351-8280
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Thursday, April 30 2009
7:00pm - 10:00pm
THURSDAY NIGHT POETRY
Open Mike Poetry Reading at Bean & Leaf. Old poets read, new voices heard. A new venue with “a killer sound system and lots of delicious teas and coffee and pastries.” Visit the website for more information: http://www.bean-leaf.com/.
Bean & Leaf cafe
13 Washington St.
New London, CT
860-701-0000
......................................................................................
Thursday, April 30 2009
7:30pm
RENNIE McQUILKIN
Join award-winning poet Rennie McQuilkin for a reading from his latest publication, The Weathering: New & Selected Poems. Founder and director until 2000 of Hill-Stead’s renowned Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, McQuilkin is the acclaimed author of ten collections of poetry, including The Weathering, which contains revised work written from 1970 through 2008 and features 20 new poems. The Weathering has been described as “elegant and tender-hearted” (Gray Jacobik) and “quietly vigilant, affectionate yet scrupulous” (Eamon Grennan). Recipient of a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ruth Fox Award of the New England Poetry Club, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Connecticut Center for the Book and numerous other fellowships and awards, McQuilkin has had his poetry published in The Atlantic Monthly, Poetry, The Southern Review, The Yale Review, The Hudson Review, The American Scholar, Crazyhorse, Poetry Northwest, The Gettysburg Review, and elsewhere.
Seabury Retirement Community
200 Seabury Drive (off Wintonbury Avenue)
Bloomfield, CT
For information: 860-286-0243, 800-340-4709, or info@seaburyretirement.com.
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Thursday, April 30 2009
8:00pm
SHARON CHARDE
and Tom Lombardi
Sharon Charde is a retired family therapist and a writing teacher who has been published in over 20 journals and anthologies and has won a number of awards for her poems, including six Pushcart nominations. She has edited and published an anthology of poetry, I Am Not A Juvenile Delinquent, the product of her weekly writing workshops at Touchstone, a residential treatment facility where she has volunteered since 1999. She won first prize in the Flume Press 2005 chapbook competition, and Bad Girl At The Altar Rail was published in September 2005. Four Trees Down From Ponte Sisto, a chapbook of poems about her son’s death and its aftermath, won first prize from the Dallas Poets Community in 2006, and Backwaters Press published her full-length collection, Branch In His Hand, in 2008. She won the first Litchfield County Inge Morath Award in 2005, given for the significant social impact she has had in the arts, and the “Making A Difference For Women Award” from Soroptimist International of Greater Waterbury, Conn., in 2007. She has led women’s writing retreats in Lakeville, CT, and Block Island, R.I., since 1990, and has lived in Lakeville with her husband, John, since 1970.
Novelist Tom Lombardi, a graduate of Southern’s creative writing program and author of the young adult novel, My Summer on Earth, will read from his work. His writing has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, McSweeney’s Quarterly, and other publications.
Location: Engleman Hall D253
Southern Connecticut State University
501 Crescent Street
New Haven, CT
Contact Information: Tim Parrish, 203-392-6745
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