Poet and Poetry events.... 17 events! *as of 3-31-08
4/3/2008 7 PM: VCU Visiting Writers Series. Award-winning poet Terrance Hayes (Wind in a Box) reads selected works. Sponsored by VCU’s English Department and the MFA Program in Creative Writing. At VCU, Student Commons, Richmond Salons I & II, 907 Floyd Ave. For more details contact 828-1329 or visit www.has.vcu.edu/eng,
4/4/2008 7 PM "Richmond Writers Series" kicks off with the 30th Annual Brodie Herndon Memorial Poetry Reading featuring Ron Smith. Sponsored by Friends of the Richmond Public Library. Held in conjunction with First Friday Cultural events. Free and open to the public. Reception follows reading and book signing. At Richmond Public Library, Main Branch, 101 E. Franklin St, 646-4514.
4/5/2008 8 PM: SlamRichmond’s "Open Minds Open Mic". All readers welcome. $5 admission. At ArtSpace Gallery, Zero E 4th St, 232-6464, www.artspacegallery.org/aboutus.htm. For more details visit www.myspace.com/slamrichmond or email slamrichmond@gmail.com.
4/6/2008 3-5 pm National Poetry Month Reading featuring Derek Kannemeyer and others, open mike, art6, 6 East Broad Street
4/9/2008 7:30 PM: 22nd Annual James Branch Cabell Lecture. "A Party of Poets" Keynote speaker: Ellen Bryant Voigt. With Buffy Morgan, Deborah Nystrom, Lucinda Roy, Ron Smith and David Wojahn. Moderated by Mary Flinn, Blackbird's senior editor. Sponsored by VCU Libraries, Friends of the Library and the James Branch Cabell Library Associates. Free and open to the public. Book signing and reception follows. Parking (fee applies) in the W Main St and W Cary St parking decks. For special accommodations, please call 827-1165 or 827-1163 before April 4, 2008. At VCU Student Commons, Richmond Salons, 2nd Floor, 907 Floyd Ave, www.library.vcu.edu.
4/10/2008 6:30 PM: Award winning poets Susan Settlemeyer Williams and Sandra Beasley read. At Fountain Bookstore, 1312 E. Cary, 788-1594.
4/12/2008 8 PM: SlamRichmond’s Qualifier 7: "We are Family!" $5 admission. At ArtSpace Gallery, Zero E 4th St, 232-6464, www.artspacegallery.org/aboutus.htm. For more details visit www.myspace.com/slamrichmond or email slamrichmond@gmail.com.
4/13/2008 2 – 4 PM: Shockoe Poets Open Mike Readings (2nd and 4th Sundays) at Shockoe Espresso & Roastery, 104 Shockoe Slip. Contact Shann Palmer for information (335-9403 or shannp@gmail.com).
4/17/2008 6-8pm National Poem in Your Pocket Day, come by art6 for a poem to take home. 6 East Broad St.
4/17/08 6:30 p.m. Cheryl Pallant Reads for Poetry Month Location: Fountain Bookstore, Inc.Description: Join us as we welcome back one of Virginia's most passionate poets.Cheryl Pallant is a writer, poet,... More info on this event
4/17/2008 8 PM: VCU Visiting Writers Series. Pulitzer Prize recipient Claudia Emerson (Late Wife) and distinguished writer Clint McCown (Dead Languages) read selected poems. Sponsored by VCU’s English Department and the MFA Program in Creative Writing. At VCU, Student Commons, Richmond Salons I & II, 907 Floyd Ave. For more details contact 828-1329 or visit www.has.vcu.edu/eng, events link.
4/19/2008 8 PM: SlamRichmond’s "Open Minds Open Mic". All readers welcome.$5 admission. At ArtSpace Gallery, Zero E 4th St, 232-6464, www.artspacegallery.org/aboutus.htm. For more details visit www.myspace.com/slamrichmond or email slamrichmond@gmail.com.
4/20/2008 3 – 5 PM: "Bend Your Ear". Open mike poetry, every 3rd Sunday. At art6, 6 E. Broad Street, 343-1406, www.art6.org.
4/21/2008 7 PM: "Prompted!" A reading of short fiction, non fiction and poetry inspired by prompts. Featuring Ann Archer, Lisa Jones Crowley, Kathryn DiPasqua, Foust, Gayla Mills and Liz Sheehan. At the Ashland Starbucks, 704 England St. For more information call 550-1481.
4/25/08 6pm, movable feast VCU graduate student readings 1708 Gallery
4/26/2008 8 PM: SlamRichmond’s Championship Invitational 2008: "We are Family!" $5 admission. At ArtSpace Gallery, Zero E 4th St, 232-6464, www.artspacegallery.org/aboutus.htm. For more details visit www.myspace.com/slamrichmond or email slamrichmond@gmail.com.
4/27/2008 2 – 4 PM: Shockoe Poets Open Mike Readings (2nd and 4th Sundays) at Shockoe Espresso & Roastery, 104 Shockoe Slip. Contact Shann Palmer for information (335-9403 or shannp@gmail.com).
other readings- call before going, may have moved
Open Mic @ Precious Memories, 8pm, 3229 Idlewood Ave 23221 check the webpage for special events
Tuesday Verses THE OPEN MIC at Tropical Soul Restaurant, 314 North 2nd Street, Richmond, VA 23219 - Damage: $5 all night. Doors open at 8pm. For info call (804) 304-6857
THURSDAY One Mic Thursdays 8pm @Skyy Lounge, 4 W. Broad 23220
THURSDAY Bring Your Own Beats 8pm @ Ramakins, 818 W. Broad, 23220
MONDAY Open Mic @ Nomega Studios, 7pm 913 W. Grace St. 23224 $2
WEDNESDAY Open Mic @ Black Moon Cafe, 9pm 1303 Hull St., 23224 free
Other calendars:
check the James River Writers calendar for other literary events
and the Richmond.com arts calendar
the Fountain Bookstore events calendar
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
ComedySportz and the ART CHEERLEADERS
Tonight at the 10pm show-
see I Prov work their musical magic, aided and abetted by the lovely and delicious Art Cheerleaders.
A good time will be had by ALL!
seriously funny business...
see I Prov work their musical magic, aided and abetted by the lovely and delicious Art Cheerleaders.
A good time will be had by ALL!
seriously funny business...
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Are you common?? Gotta love stats
From the Virginia Quarterly Review:
The ten most common titles of submissions that we’ve received in the past year:
Remember
Smoke
Revelation
Work
Grace
Waiting
Insomnia
Voyeur
Butterfly
Reunion
and (from their blog)
Those Vital Clichés
By Waldo Jaquith
March 14th, 2008
This was supposed to be a blog entry about how authors submit poetry to us covering clichéd topics that there’s just no way we’re going to print. But then I did the math, calculating the percentage of our submissions and published work that contain any of a dozen mainstays of poetic terminology, and found that precisely the opposite is true.
submitted/published
water 19.9%/24.8%
death 14.1%/15.2%
blood 11.7%/13.8%
stone 11.1%/16.0%
bone 9.1%/ 7.8%
poetry 7.6%/10.3%
heart 7.5%/6.7%
fish 7.0%/5.3%
birth 5.5%/7.4%
darkness 3.9%/17.0%
rust 3.3%/2.5%
cat 2.3%/2.8%
The ten most common titles of submissions that we’ve received in the past year:
Remember
Smoke
Revelation
Work
Grace
Waiting
Insomnia
Voyeur
Butterfly
Reunion
and (from their blog)
Those Vital Clichés
By Waldo Jaquith
March 14th, 2008
This was supposed to be a blog entry about how authors submit poetry to us covering clichéd topics that there’s just no way we’re going to print. But then I did the math, calculating the percentage of our submissions and published work that contain any of a dozen mainstays of poetic terminology, and found that precisely the opposite is true.
submitted/published
water 19.9%/24.8%
death 14.1%/15.2%
blood 11.7%/13.8%
stone 11.1%/16.0%
bone 9.1%/ 7.8%
poetry 7.6%/10.3%
heart 7.5%/6.7%
fish 7.0%/5.3%
birth 5.5%/7.4%
darkness 3.9%/17.0%
rust 3.3%/2.5%
cat 2.3%/2.8%
Sunday, March 23, 2008
An Easter Poem
Easter
Rises with the sun
in a cacophony of Alleluias
wearing white before Memorial Day,
mouth full of daffodils and lilies,
saying "Shake off the darkness,
put out your candles, and see."
Rises with the sun
in a cacophony of Alleluias
wearing white before Memorial Day,
mouth full of daffodils and lilies,
saying "Shake off the darkness,
put out your candles, and see."
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Happy Birthday, Billy Collins!
From The Writers Almanac 3-22-08
Today is the birthday of poet Billy Collins, (books by this author) born in New York in 1941. Collins is both a critically acclaimed and popular poet, a unique combination in the world of modern poetry. Collins began writing poems at age 12. He devoured all the poetry he read, especially the contemporary poems in Poetry magazine. In an interview, Collins explained, "I remember reading a poem by Thom Gunn about Elvis Presley, and that was a real mindblower because I didn't know you could write poems about Elvis Presley. I thought there was poetry (what you read in class) and then when you left class there was Elvis. I didn't see them together until I read that poem."
Collins began selling his poems to Rolling Stone for $35 a pop in the 1970s. He married Diane Olbright in 1977 and published his first book of poems, Pokerface, that year, but it wasn't until the publication of Questions About Angels in 1991 that he began drawing critical attention. His other major poetry collections are The Apple that Astonished Paris (1988), The Art of Drowning (1995), Picnic, Lightning (1998), Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems (2001), Nine Horses: Poems (2002), and The Trouble with Poetry and Other Poems (2005). Collins' style is light, humorous, and fond of extended metaphor. He uses mundane situations as diving boards into the larger philosophical questions of life.
His poem "Forgetfulness" starts this way:
The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,
as if, one by one,
the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.
Collins said, "Usually I try to create a hospitable tone at the beginning of a poem. Stepping from the title to the first lines is like stepping into a canoe. A lot of things can go wrong."
It's also the 40th anniversary of the death of A1C Kenneth E. Baker, Jr of Detachment 13, 30th Weather Squadron, Binh Thuy AB, meteorologist. he was the older brother of a high school friend and we had been corresponding. I never met him in person. He was scheduled to come home March 25th. My poem "Warrior" was published in the Memorial Day 1998 issue of Echoes Magazine. It was my first published poem, it appeared first in the magazine, right after the table of contents.
Today is the birthday of poet Billy Collins, (books by this author) born in New York in 1941. Collins is both a critically acclaimed and popular poet, a unique combination in the world of modern poetry. Collins began writing poems at age 12. He devoured all the poetry he read, especially the contemporary poems in Poetry magazine. In an interview, Collins explained, "I remember reading a poem by Thom Gunn about Elvis Presley, and that was a real mindblower because I didn't know you could write poems about Elvis Presley. I thought there was poetry (what you read in class) and then when you left class there was Elvis. I didn't see them together until I read that poem."
Collins began selling his poems to Rolling Stone for $35 a pop in the 1970s. He married Diane Olbright in 1977 and published his first book of poems, Pokerface, that year, but it wasn't until the publication of Questions About Angels in 1991 that he began drawing critical attention. His other major poetry collections are The Apple that Astonished Paris (1988), The Art of Drowning (1995), Picnic, Lightning (1998), Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems (2001), Nine Horses: Poems (2002), and The Trouble with Poetry and Other Poems (2005). Collins' style is light, humorous, and fond of extended metaphor. He uses mundane situations as diving boards into the larger philosophical questions of life.
His poem "Forgetfulness" starts this way:
The name of the author is the first to go
followed obediently by the title, the plot,
the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel
which suddenly becomes one you have never read,
never even heard of,
as if, one by one,
the memories you used to harbor
decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain,
to a little fishing village where there are no phones.
Collins said, "Usually I try to create a hospitable tone at the beginning of a poem. Stepping from the title to the first lines is like stepping into a canoe. A lot of things can go wrong."
It's also the 40th anniversary of the death of A1C Kenneth E. Baker, Jr of Detachment 13, 30th Weather Squadron, Binh Thuy AB, meteorologist. he was the older brother of a high school friend and we had been corresponding. I never met him in person. He was scheduled to come home March 25th. My poem "Warrior" was published in the Memorial Day 1998 issue of Echoes Magazine. It was my first published poem, it appeared first in the magazine, right after the table of contents.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
martial arts the right way
Here
After pouring out money to 'belt factories' when my son was young- he has finally found a local school where the real thing is taught.
My highest recommendations
Sometimes it's more than ceremonies and demonstrations, it's real.
I wish poets had such a place for working on their poetry.
After pouring out money to 'belt factories' when my son was young- he has finally found a local school where the real thing is taught.
My highest recommendations
Sometimes it's more than ceremonies and demonstrations, it's real.
I wish poets had such a place for working on their poetry.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Wearing of the Green
"I'd like to kiss you, but I just washed my hair."
Playwright Paul Green, written for Bette Davis
Playwright Paul Green, written for Bette Davis
Saturday, March 15, 2008
A poem for the ides of march
Ply
A holy man once told me
there were many steps
to the kingdom of heaven.
A different prophet claimed
to be holy was to be cheesy,
and there were no steps at all.
Though intrigued by covenants,
celestial pie leaves me impossibly
hungry now, pale and earthbound.
Like the golden starred certificates
given at the end of the school year
to the pretty girls, athletic boys,
I have no delusions to dispel,
this ant carries only its own weight,
hardly enough, yet still a burden.
It is the only set of stairs I know.
In the end, between floors,
I will leave nothing, take nothing
In the beginning, there was hope
leaking from all I gathered about me,
gone before I was fully awake.
Know this then: your voice
binds me to this place. Hold me
hostage, accept no ransom.
A holy man once told me
there were many steps
to the kingdom of heaven.
A different prophet claimed
to be holy was to be cheesy,
and there were no steps at all.
Though intrigued by covenants,
celestial pie leaves me impossibly
hungry now, pale and earthbound.
Like the golden starred certificates
given at the end of the school year
to the pretty girls, athletic boys,
I have no delusions to dispel,
this ant carries only its own weight,
hardly enough, yet still a burden.
It is the only set of stairs I know.
In the end, between floors,
I will leave nothing, take nothing
In the beginning, there was hope
leaking from all I gathered about me,
gone before I was fully awake.
Know this then: your voice
binds me to this place. Hold me
hostage, accept no ransom.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Tonight! Girls in cheerleader outfits! Comedy! Music!
If you are an iProv fan, mark your calendar for March 28th at 10 P.M. The Art Cheerleaders, based in Richmond, Virginia, are a group of artists that use cheerleading as a medium for satirical, political and social commentary on the arts and their place in our society. The Art Cheerleaders join iProv's eclectic mix of improvised song and dance. Don't miss this show! Tickets are just $10!
Girls in cheerleader outfits! Comedy! Music!
I mean, seriously- come on over!
Girls in cheerleader outfits! Comedy! Music!
I mean, seriously- come on over!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Style bumped the story- for what??
Who knows? There must have been something much more important to fawn over or make fun of so the wonderful all musical show I-Prov at ComedySportz every 2nd and 4th Friday at 10pm could be bypassed.
Maybe Doug Wilder farted or something, that could've been it. Or some suck-up, oops, I mean stuck-up Fan fluke who'd rather have a Hummer and a Glen Allen McMansion but pretends to give a rat's ass about 'performance art' barfed out another painting.
Would've been nice to get a little ink- it's the only all-music-improv troupe in the country- together for over a year, with amazing results. These folks do a full half-hour musical parody of BROADWAY musicals. They've birthed babies- there on stage!- they've saved the Muffin Tops and even make up choreography RIGHT ON THE SPOT!
Audiences needed- word of mouth- it costs so much to put ads all over, a kind word from a newspaper, even a weekly, would help so much- BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- it was more important to diss the costumes for "Little Women" out at Swift Creek Mill (which are actually just fine, apparently the reviewer thinks local theaters have movie-style budgets, and besides, maybe she didn't get the underlying story of the genteel poor, but hey!)
Oh great- now they'll probably send HER to review it- and I'll just bet she "doesn't get" improv.
It's really fun and funny- call 266-YESS for reservations for the 10pm show Friday night. If you reserve, it's cheaper.
Oh yeah- in the interest of disclosure I know the piano player. And one of the waitresses.
Yeah
Maybe Doug Wilder farted or something, that could've been it. Or some suck-up, oops, I mean stuck-up Fan fluke who'd rather have a Hummer and a Glen Allen McMansion but pretends to give a rat's ass about 'performance art' barfed out another painting.
Would've been nice to get a little ink- it's the only all-music-improv troupe in the country- together for over a year, with amazing results. These folks do a full half-hour musical parody of BROADWAY musicals. They've birthed babies- there on stage!- they've saved the Muffin Tops and even make up choreography RIGHT ON THE SPOT!
Audiences needed- word of mouth- it costs so much to put ads all over, a kind word from a newspaper, even a weekly, would help so much- BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- it was more important to diss the costumes for "Little Women" out at Swift Creek Mill (which are actually just fine, apparently the reviewer thinks local theaters have movie-style budgets, and besides, maybe she didn't get the underlying story of the genteel poor, but hey!)
Oh great- now they'll probably send HER to review it- and I'll just bet she "doesn't get" improv.
It's really fun and funny- call 266-YESS for reservations for the 10pm show Friday night. If you reserve, it's cheaper.
Oh yeah- in the interest of disclosure I know the piano player. And one of the waitresses.
Yeah
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
poems at your fingertips
This is definitely cool- almost as cool as if I had a mobile device to read these on
Check THIS out
National Poetry Month will be here soon! I already have my decorations up!
and just for the record- what IS a mobile device?
Check THIS out
National Poetry Month will be here soon! I already have my decorations up!
and just for the record- what IS a mobile device?
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
A new poem
a new poem-
and I won the caption contest over at Avoiding the Muse scroll down to Wed March 5
Accountable
She takes her groceries from the car
to the kitchen, where space can be made
for all her burdens, there is a place for each
can of dark red kidney beans,
stewed tomatoes, she has a plan:
maybe chili or soup, ingredients
got cheap because the weather warms,
to be put by until the price of gas drives
her to the pantry for stashed supplies.
With every trip in and out, she ponders
who it is that doesn't have to plan by price,
scout for bargains, anticipate trouble before
it comes, as sure as she measures each day
a paycheck meted out before it's earned.
Tomorrow she'll tally minutes into dollars,
how long to mop, to dust, ashamed to covet
the snap of sweet-smelling sheets, fresh
clean towels, the work she does for strangers.
She knows all about them, what food they eat;
takes small comfort in thinking them sad-
and for that slice of time, all they have
is hers, no matter what she left at home.
and I won the caption contest over at Avoiding the Muse scroll down to Wed March 5
Accountable
She takes her groceries from the car
to the kitchen, where space can be made
for all her burdens, there is a place for each
can of dark red kidney beans,
stewed tomatoes, she has a plan:
maybe chili or soup, ingredients
got cheap because the weather warms,
to be put by until the price of gas drives
her to the pantry for stashed supplies.
With every trip in and out, she ponders
who it is that doesn't have to plan by price,
scout for bargains, anticipate trouble before
it comes, as sure as she measures each day
a paycheck meted out before it's earned.
Tomorrow she'll tally minutes into dollars,
how long to mop, to dust, ashamed to covet
the snap of sweet-smelling sheets, fresh
clean towels, the work she does for strangers.
She knows all about them, what food they eat;
takes small comfort in thinking them sad-
and for that slice of time, all they have
is hers, no matter what she left at home.
Monday, March 03, 2008
Upcoming poetry events 3-3 through 3-16
3/4/2008 – 3/6/2008 13th Annual Literary Festival. Readings by poet Ron Smith, Student Writing Workshops and Readings. Free and open to the public. At John Tyler Community College, both the Midlothian and Chester Campuses. For more information, please contact Sandra Via at svia@jtcc.edu.
3/8/2008 8 PM: SlamRichmond’s “Open Minds Open Mic”. All readers welcome.$5 admission. At ArtSpace Gallery, Zero E 4th St, 232-6464, http://www.artspacegallery.org/aboutus.htm. For more details visit http://www.myspace.com/slamrichmond or email slamrichmond@gmail.com.
3/9/2008 2 – 4 PM: Shockoe Poets Open Mike Readings (2nd and 4th Sundays) at Shockoe Espresso & Roastery, 104 Shockoe Slip. Contact Shann Palmer for information (335-9403 or shannp@gmail.com).
3/15/2008 8 PM: SlamRichmond’s Qualifier 5: “We are Family!” $5 admission. At ArtSpace Gallery, Zero E 4th St, 232-6464, http://www.artspacegallery.org/aboutus.htm. For more details visit http://www.myspace.com/slamrichmond or email slamrichmond@gmail.com.
3/16/2008 3 – 5 PM: “Bend Your Ear”. Open mike poetry, every 3rd Sunday. At art6, 6 E. Broad Street, 343-1406, http://www.art6.org/.
more later...
3/8/2008 8 PM: SlamRichmond’s “Open Minds Open Mic”. All readers welcome.$5 admission. At ArtSpace Gallery, Zero E 4th St, 232-6464, http://www.artspacegallery.org/aboutus.htm. For more details visit http://www.myspace.com/slamrichmond or email slamrichmond@gmail.com.
3/9/2008 2 – 4 PM: Shockoe Poets Open Mike Readings (2nd and 4th Sundays) at Shockoe Espresso & Roastery, 104 Shockoe Slip. Contact Shann Palmer for information (335-9403 or shannp@gmail.com).
3/15/2008 8 PM: SlamRichmond’s Qualifier 5: “We are Family!” $5 admission. At ArtSpace Gallery, Zero E 4th St, 232-6464, http://www.artspacegallery.org/aboutus.htm. For more details visit http://www.myspace.com/slamrichmond or email slamrichmond@gmail.com.
3/16/2008 3 – 5 PM: “Bend Your Ear”. Open mike poetry, every 3rd Sunday. At art6, 6 E. Broad Street, 343-1406, http://www.art6.org/.
more later...
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