Albany’s very own Dan Wilcox will be joined by author Alan Salant as the featured readers at the next COW event in Kingston on Saturday, March 3. There is also an open mic at this monthly series hosted by Phillip Levine.

COW (Chronogram Open Word): Poetry/Prose/Performance is hosted by Chronogram’s poetry editor Phillip Levine, it runs on the first Saturday of every month at 7pm at the BEAhive (314 Wall St).  The series, produced by Chronogram and BEAHIVE, continues on Saturday, March 3rd, 7pm with Alan Salant, Dan Wilcox.

Alan Salant is the author of Ablong (2010), a short novel about a brilliant mathematician who enters an altered state whenever he eats broccoli, and of The Expedition Sets Out (2011) a collection of poems; both books were published by The Oliver Arts and Open Press and are also available via Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  This is his first public reading.  Alan was deeply influenced by a summer camp many years ago near Kingston, New York, where people sat by the banks of the Hudson River talking about the meaning and astonishment of life; he has, in many ways, never left.  Alan can be reached at sfallik@nyc.rr.com.

Dan Wilcox is the host of the Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center in Albany, N.Y. and is a member of the poetry performance group “3 Guys from Albany”.  As a photographer, he claims to have the world’s largest collection of photos of unknown poets.  He has been a featured reader at all the important poetry venues in the Capital District & throughout the Hudson Valley and is an active member of Veterans for Peace.

He also publishes poetry under the imprint, A.P.D. (albany’s poetic device, another pleasant day, etc.).  His own poems have been published in Out of the Catskills, Post Traumatic Press 2007, Chronogram, Poetica and in numerous small press journals and anthologies, on the internet, as broadsides & in self-published chapbooks.  His chapbook boundless abodes of Albany is available from Benevolent Bird Press of Delmar, NY.

BEAHIVE - 314 Wall St, Kingston, NY
Info: Phillip Levine — (845)246-8565 / pprod@mindspring.com
$5 / free for BEAHIVE members

All shows are held at BEAHIVE in Uptown Kingston (314 Wall St.). Doors open at 7pm; start time is 7:30. Features perform for approximately 20 to 25 mins. each, with open mic before and after. Cover charge is $5; free for BEAHIVE members. Drink included.

Phillip X Levine is a poet, editor and performer. He is poetry editor forChronogram and president of the Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival. From 2001-2008, he hosted a popular weekly reading series at The Colony Cafe, one of the most storied venues for poets and musicians in Woodstock, NY. This OPEN WORD series is an evolution of The Colony series.

Chronogram is a free monthly magazine that nourishes and supports the creative and cultural life of the Hudson Valley.

BEAHIVE  is a new kind of collaborative space for work and community. Its ultimate aim is to support a Local Living Economy, one that is locally rooted and human-scale. BEAHIVE opened in Beacon in May 2009 as the first such space in the Hudson Valley and partnered withChronogram to open a second location in Uptown Kingston in December 2009.

The Northeast Poetry Center’s College of Poetry has announced two workshops to be offered during the summer term to run from March 17 until May 5.  Each workshop will meet for two hours a week during the eight week course in the rear room of 7 West Street in Warwick.  Enter by the door on the right side of the building.  Tuition for each is $150. Enrollees are regarded as “guest poets,” and workshops are presented in a casual and open manner designed to be useful for writers of all levels of experience.

The Saturday morning course, meeting from 10 a.m. to noon is titled At Play in the Fields of Poetry: Honing Chapbook Manuscripts.  In this experiential workshop, led by Lynn Hoins, participants will explore the aesthetics and practical concerns of putting together a poetry manuscript. The first four weeks will concentrate on the individual poems in a manuscript, considering clichés, imagery, musicality, metaphors, and similes. Through workshop methods the group will ask if the poems need pruning, can they go deeper, are there enough layers, do they suffer from vagueness? Are they too esoteric, too simple? They will also discuss the many practical criteria to apply to original poems: voice, tense, agreement, parallel form. During the second four weeks, the focus will shift to the manuscript as a whole. In this stage, the leading questions change.  Do we have the best possible order of poems? Is there a theme? Do any of the poems say the same thing? Do the poems flow well from one to the next? Are there any holes in the manuscript that need to be filled? Is there a good balance between previously published and new work? Is the quality of the poems uneven? By the end of this series, we hope to have a polished manuscript to submit, and a plan about where it can be submitted.

Lynn Hoins’ poetry has appeared in journals including Earth’s Daughters, Main Channel Voices, and The Wawayanda Review.  She has two chapbooks from published by Finishing Line Press: You Were Always Music and Called by Stones. She teaches poetry workshops for The College of Poetry, Northeast Poetry Center as well as journaling and creativity workshops in other settings.

On Saturday afternoons from 1:30 – 3:30 Steve Hirsch will lead a workshop on  Buddhism and Meditative Practice in Poetry.  According to Hirsch, “From the early classical forms of the Chinese and Japanese monk-poets to the ‘dharma-poetics’ of the modern Beats, the life and teachings of the Buddha have influenced some of the world’s greatest poetry for more than 2500 years. The only way to truly understand Buddhism is to practice meditation and see for yourself.”  The course will introduce students to a broad range of contemplative literary traditions as well as provide basic meditation instruction and dharma teachings. Each class will involve readings of great poets who practiced or reflected on Buddhism and Buddhist themes as well as discussions, extensive writing practice sessions, and a variety of dynamic meditation practices. Through this exploration participants will develop new tools for writing as well as for living and uncover what Buddhists call “original mind.”

Steve Hirsch is a poet, musician, digital media tech guru, and editor/publisher of the literary magazine Heaven Bone. He studied writing and theatre at Naropa Institute in Boulder , Colorado where he was a student and apprentice of Allen Ginsberg and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. In recent years he has been riding his Harley all over the Northeast, studying Buddhism, poetry and writing with Natalie Goldberg, and playing Latin and African drums as a founding member of the drum circle “Spirithawk.”  He has been leading poetry workshops and giving poetry readings nationally for over 25 years. He is the author of Ramapo 500 Affirmations(Flower Thief, 1998) and his poetry has appeared in Hunger, Napalm Health Spa Report, For Immediate Release, Pudding, Big Scream, Hazmat Review, Muse Apprentice Guild, and Etcetera.

This project is made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts’ Decentralization program administered by Arts in Orange .

The Northeast Poetry Center is a nonprofit corporation whose annual programs include three terms of writing workshops, three visits by Distinguished Visiting Poets, publication of the Wawayanda Review, twelve readings in the associated Poetry on the Loose Reading/Performance Series, as well as numerous free workshops, seminars, and talks.

For further information or to register for a course, see www.collegeofpoetry.com, call William Seaton at 845-294-8085, or write seaton@frontiernet.net.

The Arts Center of the Capital Region and the Hudson Valley Writer’s Guild are joining forces to present Write Here!. Taking place on Saturday, March 10 from 9am – 5:15pm at The Arts Center, Write Here! is “a mini conference for and about writers and writing in and around the Capital Region of New York State”.

Registration and a Book Fair begins at 9am. Admission to the event is $15/$12 to members of the Arts Center or Hudson Valley Writer’s Guild with workshops & panel discussions throughout the day.

What does it mean to be a writer living, working and creating in the Capital Region of New York State, and how does this place inform your craft? The Arts Center partners with the Hudson Valley Writer’s Guild to explore options, share resources, and network within the diverse local writing community.

Download the brochure here: http://www.artscenteronline.org/www/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/WriteHere_Form.pdf

The Arts Center of the Capital Region and Hudson Valley Writer’s Guild proudly present: Write Here! A mini conference for and about writers and writing
in and around the Capital Region of New York State

SATURDAY, MARCH 10, 2012
At the Arts Center of the Capital Region, 265 River St. Troy, NY 12180

REGISTRATION/BOOK FAIR at 9AM
Table space available. Full table( 53” x 23”) – $50, Half table $25
To reserve a table, call 518.273.0552 x 233

SESSION ONE: 10:00 – 11:00AM

“WAR STORIES” Workshop
This workshop will include a presentation of two replicable projects that were developed as a way to articulate a response to war; an academic course ,created and developed by Claudia Hough and Dr. Elaine Handley at SUNY Empire State College, called War Stories: Reading and Writing About the Impact of War and a theater performance that was developed as a result and will be directed by Dr. Cynthia Bates. The creative process and lessons learned will be examined, particularly new understandings about giving voice to a subject as multi-dimensional and politically and emotionally powerful as war. The session will also feature a reading of a piece of the script and encourage questions and discussion by the participants. Claudia Hough, Dr. Cindy Bates and Dr. Elaine Handley, all of Empire State College

Submittors and Rejectors: Local Editors and Publishers Discuss Their Work
Many writers would like to submit their work and get published, but may want to ask some questions first. What places are right for my work? How do I send my work out? What are editors looking for, and what are they thinking when they read my submission? Local publishers and editors from the area talk about their work and what goes into putting together a literary journal or small press. A question-and-answer period will follow.
Moderator: Daniel Nester, Managing Editor, We Who Are About To Die Panelists: David Holub, editor and publisher, Kugelmass: A Journal of Literary Humor; Nancy White, president and editor, The Word Works; Rob Arnold, Managing Editor, Fence; Matthew Klane, editor and publisher, Flim Forum Press; Chloe Caldwell, “Love and Music” columnist, The Faster Times; Benjamin Harris, editor-in-chief, Thoughtsmith

SESSION TWO: PLENARY 11:15 – 12:30

Main Panel Discussion: The Writing Life
Our main panel discussion will address the aspects of cultivating the “writing life” prepublication. The panel, moderated by Amy Halloran, will feature Robyn Ringler, David Goldschmidt, Dan Wilcox and Elaine Handley. What are the structures, personal and social, that make a writer write? These writers will discuss the habits that help them get at the work of writing, including the not-so-simple matters of scheduling, focus and attention, online and live peer critique groups, classes, collaborations, and poetry readings.

LUNCH: 12:30 – 2PM

Pre-order box lunch from Nighthawk’s Kitchen or visit one of Troy’s eateries.

SESSION THREE: 2PM – 3PM

Poetry in the Classroom: Writing and Sharing Poetry with School-Age Children
This workshop will explore of methods for teaching poetry across the curriculum including:

• Using art to teach poetry
• Teaching poetry of self-expression
• Teaching young students how to read their work aloud
• What to do with the work after it is created: literary magazines for kids
• Collaborations between writing and other arts

Jill Crammond, Susan Riback, Ralph Fahrenstock from Bethlehem Children’s School

A local poet, Jill Crammond has been teaching art and creative writing in and around the Capital District for nearly twenty years. Her traveling art studio, Miss Jill’s Artist Studio, is making its current home inside the Bethlehem Children’s School. There she shares with children ages two – twelve the joys of painting, drawing and writing poetry.

Spoken Rhythm: Slam! Hip Hop and the Spoken Word
This panel looks at the differences and similarities between hip hop, slam poetry and performance/spoke word artists. Does hip hop play a major role in slam poetry? Where do we draw the line between Rhyme and quatrains? Do we consider hip hop poetry? What are the latest movements within these art forms? Panel Moderator Mojavi Founder/Director, Urban Guerrilla Theatre

SESSION FOUR: 3:15 – 4:15 PM

Social Networking for Writers: How to build community in social networks and digital media. Ideas and best practices including:

• uses: writing practice, networking, promotion, etc.
• groundwork
• commitment
• content
• “traditional” platforms: blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn
• fun & emerging: instagram, pinterest, etc.
• memes & special months
• real life elements

Carolee Sherwood, social media conversation manager

Poetry of Place
Three poets talk about how they use what is outside to enrich their experience of what they are and what is shared with others through their work. Alan Casline will start the presentation followed by Alan Catlin and then Bernadette Mayer. Question and discussion time will follow the three presentations. Alan Casline will present on developing a “coloring book” with emphasis on the “mythological present” using poetic examples from his work. Alan Catlin will explore the idea of how place influences art through a reading and brief discussion of poems from Only the Dead Know Albany and Death in the Afternoon on Becker Street. “Becker Street” Catlin writes “is the cross street thirteen houses down.” Bernadette Mayer will discuss her ideas on Poetry of Place and will share poems and photographs from her Helens of Troy book soon to appear from New Directions Press.

HAPPY HOUR: 4:15 – 5:15PM

Toast new friends and ideas!

The Celebration continues for Urban Guerrilla Theatre as we celebrate Black History Month and LOVE. This showcase continues on the beautiful performance space known as The Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio (339 Central Ave., Albany).

This month’s featured guests are incredible performers, singers and poets including world renown Slam Poet Jamaal St. John, Stefano Nu Soul (from Ohio), Naf Keen (from Pittsburgh), Floetik (from Detroit), and the ever incredible songstress Neeco Piper.

Plus, songs by C-Jay, Sibie, and Alicia Ortiz, Hip Hop from Alion and BlackWhite, and poetry from Tenesha Smith, Leslie Michelle, Jess Listen To MyWordz, Kat So Poetic. Music from the UGT Band and sounds by John Jamz

And that is just on the stage.

This show will also feature live art by Beth and Becky, vending by Royal Touch of Arbonne, food by The Corner Store

This show is sponsored by Young Fresh and Fly.

Advance tickets are $15, $20 at the door.

“UGT is a place where all Art forms collide, where art is not stagnant or stale, but alive and is entertaining and soul stirring…”

Our good friends over at the Yes, Reading! are setting up shop at the Social Justice Center this coming Friday, February 24 with three authors releasing their new books, the photogrpahy of Kim Dunham, and some home brew. This is going to be a great event that should not be missed.

Yes! Poetry and Performance Series
BOOK RELEASE!
Friday, February 24th at 8pm
Albany Social Justice Center, 33 Central Avenue

Come celebrate the new books of 3 local authors: Lori Anderson Moseman, NF Huth, and Julianna Spallholz.
Also: the photos of Kim Dunham!
and more home brew from Aaron Wittman!
See you there!

Lori Anderson Moseman‘s new book is All Steel (Flim Forum). Anderson Moseman is the author of Temporary Bunk (Swank Books), Persona (Swank Books), Cultivating Excess (The Eighth Mountain Press) and Walking the Dead (Heaven Bone Press). She’s been a forester tech, a farm reporter, educator and editor. She founded Stockport Flats press in the wake of Federal Disaster #1649, a flood along the Delaware River.

NF Huth is the author of Radiator (Laughing/Ouch/Cube, an imprint of Leafe Press), and the chapbooks, 3 Words (Serif of Nottingham Editions), A Space for It (from the This is Visual Poetry series), and sansound (dbqp). She publishes found sound at clickbuzzchirp.blogspot.com, and images that are pointy and blue at pointyblue.tumblr.com. She lives and writes in a strangely stone house in Schenectady, New York.

Julianna Spallholz has collaborated and performed her short and very short fiction with musicians, visual artists, a DJ, and a chef. Her work has appeared in Caketrain, Denver Quarterly, the Indigest podcast series, and elsewhere. She teaches writing and English in upstate New York and is at work on a second collection of short fictions. The State of Kansas, her debut collection, was published by GenPop Books.

Kim Dunham‘s photographs have been featured at various local shows and at All Over Albany. You can find her work via Flickr, as well as on her blog:www.kimshappyaccidents.blogspot.com.

For those on Facebook, here is the event announcement.

Photo credit: Kim Dunham

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Albany Poets is proud to present the 2012 Albany Word Fest featuring the poetry, spoken word, and music of upstate New York.  This year’s event will take place on Sunday, April 15 – Saturday, April 21, 2012

“This is by far the biggest Word Fest to date with eight events over seven days at six different venues in the heart of Albany.” Thom Francis, Albany Poets President, says, “Almost 12 years ago a bunch of poets gathered at Thatcher Park for a day of poetry and art. Now we are holding our 11^th Word Fest spanning an entire week. The dream of creating a true, community focused literary festival, representing the diverse and talented poets of upstate New York has come true.”

Mary Panza, Albany Poets Vice President adds, “This years Word Fest is what we have been working towards for years!  It has always been our dream to celebrate National Poetry Month with a week of events.  There is something for everybody!  From haiku’s to slam to straight up open mics to karaoke to featured performers; there are many ways to express yourself.”

The week will kick-off on Sunday, April 15 at 2:00pm with Pitchapalooza at The College of St. Rose followed by a cocktail party and meet and greet at McGeary’s that will also feature a special spoken word performance.

The poetry open mics start on Monday, April 16 at the UAG Gallery with the monthly Saint Poem Reading Series hosted by local poetry veteran R.M. Engelhardt.

On Tuesday, April 17 the spoken word continues with the Nitty Gritty Slam at Valentines.

On Wednesday the Word Fest comes to the Social Justice Center with “A Yes! Word Fest Communal Reading Experiment”.

Thursday evening we are back at the SJC with the Third Thursday Poetry Night hosted by Dan Wilcox with a featured reading by Christopher The Poet.

On Friday, April 20, Urban Guerilla Theatre takes over The Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio, with their monthly mic of poetry, music, spoken word, comedy, and fashion.

The final day 2012 Albany Word Fest is Saturday, April 21, with over 12 hours of activities. This year Albany Poets is partnering with the Albany Public Library and the Hudson Valley Writers Guild to bring the Word Fest Open Mic to the main branch of the library on Washington Ave.

Poets who wish to participate in the open mic can sign up online by going to the Albany Word Fest website, www.albanywordfest.com starting on Thursday, March 15 until Sunday, April 15.  Performers will also have a limited opportunity to sign up at the event itself.  The open mic is open to all poets and spoken word artists with no style or content restrictions.

After the Open Mic, starting at 7:00PM, the 2012 Albany Word Fest comes to a close upstairs at Valentines featuring poetry, music and spoken word from upstate New York artists including poets from the Nitty Gritty Slam series and the second Karaoke + Poetry = Fun!, hosted by Daniel Nester.

Admission for this event is $10.00. This event is 18+ (21+ to drink) with a picture ID required.

The 2012 Albany Word Fest is sponsored by Albany Poets, Hudson Valley Writers Guild, Albany Public Library, WEXT, Valentines, Urban Guerilla Theatre, Frequency North Reading Series at The College of St. Rose, Professor Java’s Coffee Sanctuary, McGeary’s, and the very generous donations of supporters of the arts in upstate New York.

For more information on the individual events of this Word Fest go to www.albanywordfest.com.

Schedule of Events:

Sunday, April 15
2:00 PM – Pitchapalooza
The College of Saint Rose, Standish Rooms, Saint Rose Events and Athletics Center, 420 Western Ave., Albany
Pitchapalooza is American Idol for books (only without Simon). Twenty writers will be selected at random to pitch their book. Each writer gets one minute—and only one minute! In the last month, three writers have gotten publishing deals as a result of participating in Pitchapalooza.

6:00 PM- Word Fest Family Potluck and Kickoff
McGeary’s, 4 Clinton Square, Albany
Join Albany Poets as we kick off Word Fest week with a cocktail party / meet and greet with an Albany Poets Founders Reading at McGeary’s, home of Poets Speak Loud.

Monday, April 16
8:00 PM- Saint Poem Reading Series
UAG Gallery, 247 Lark St., Albany
Host R.M. Engelhardt’s monthly open mic for poetry and spoken word featuring a tribute to poet e.e. cummings.

Tuesday, April 17
7:00 PM- Nitty Gritty Slam
Valentines, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany
Albany’s poetry slam continues with host Mojavi and Slam Master Dain Brammage.

Wednesday, April 18
7:00 PM- Yes! Word Fest Communal Reading Experiment
Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany
A special, experimental, Word Fest edition of Yes, Reading!

Thursday, April 19
7:00 PM- Third Thursday Poetry Night
Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany
Dan Wilcox hosts this open mic for poetry and spoken word featuring Christopher The Poet.

Friday, April 20
7:00 PM- Urban Guerilla Theatre
The Linda, 339 Central Ave., Albany
Albany Poets is very proud to team with UGT for the very special April / Poetry Month / Word Fest edition of Urban Guerilla Theatre.

Saturday, April 21
10:30 AM-2012 Word Fest Open Mic
Albany Public Library Main Branch, Washington Ave., Albany
The annual Word Fest Open Mic will take place from 10:30am – 5pm featuring Metroland’s Best Poets of 2012, the finals of the Haiku Battle, special open mic sessions for children, high school students, and adults. Signup begins online on Thursday, March 15. More details to come.

7:00 PM-Karaoke + Poetry = Fun
Valentines, 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany
We head home to close out the 2012 Word Fest with featured poets from the Nitty Gritty Slam, music from some of the finest local talent, the return of Daniel Nester’s Karaoke + Poetry = Fun, and much more.

A busy poetry day for me. After the Poetry + Prose reading in Troy I high-tailed it down to Kingston to the Arts Society of Kingston, 97 Broadway, for a special reading by 10 hosts of area open mics. Unfortunately Cheryl Rice who had been scheduled to read was not there. The MC/host for tonight was Lew Gardner, who started off us off with one of his poems, “Thoughts While Down-wind of the Catfood Factory” (with a nod to William Wordsworth). Lew limited each of us to 8 minutes, & brought along his kitchen timer, which ended up becoming one of the characters in the night’s event.

Going in reverse alphabetical order, first up was Chris Wood (Heyday Poetry Series, Half-Moon Books, Kingston). Appropriately he started off by reading a tribute to the hosts of open mics, “Receiving the Host,” then a poem on a meteor shower “Outside of Beauty,” another outside poem, “Waiting for Dawn,” & ending with a song from Van Morrison’s 1968 album, Astral Weeks. I was up next with 2 poems about the readings & poets of Albany, “Where Were the Professors?” & “One Poem (for Changing Spaces Gallery)” & ended with the new hot pants poem, “Southwest Flight 2095, Seat 8A,” just as the bell rang at the last line.

Glenn Werner‘s poems are meditative & philosophical, usually set outdoors, “Winter Harbor Maine,” “What the Cherry Tree Said,” “St. Joan Confessional,” & the portrait of a social scene, “The Gators of Venice, Florida.”

Micky Shorr had some of Albany Poets read at her venue at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Kingston a few months ago. Tonight she started off with the funny memoir, “Sex Education,” then what a poet writes about, “Not Just Whining.” Also, “Vitals,” a memoir of dinner “Digestive Disorder,” “Body Love,” & a poem about the murder of a Yeshiva boy in Brooklyn “Many Wars.” She ended with a poem for her new grandson, “First Year.”

Last year I read with other veteran’s on Memorial Day at Michael Platsky‘s open mic at the Harmony Cafe in Woodstock. He read a couple of long pieces for, & inspired by, Allen Ginsberg, “Letter to Ginsberg” & “America 2011″ & as he read the word “telephone” towards the end of the poem, the timer bell went off, as if it had been rehearsed.

Robert Milby is the whirling dervish of mid-Hudson & environs poetry venues. His poems were also inspired by the outdoors world, “Deer on a January Night,” “Beethoven’s 9th Piano Sonata” (Autumn to Winter), then a poem on how poets’ lives end “Van Gogh,” & “Hudson River in Winter,” love & magic & remembering another gone poet.

Phillip Levine currently hosts Chronogram Open Word in Kingston & the Woodstock Poetry Society. He started off with a poem referencing the readings once held at the Colony Cafe, a poem about himself, “Tonight’s Feature.” “My Night in Treadwell” was “a prose song” about being the featured poet at Bertha Roger’s series, & he ended with what sounded like a dream poem “No Bottom Lake.”

Judith Lechner hosts Writers’ Night at Cafe Mezzaluna in Saugerties. She began with some haiku, then the love poem “Long Running Box Office Hit;” “Island Clocks” was about Mexico, & in “The Web” her thoughts build a refuge for her.

Mike Jurkovic, who runs Calling All Poets at the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, began with a memoir of his youth in New Jersey, & ended with a poem about the evacuation route out of the State. In between he read about youthful playing with works, a couple of poems on revolt, “Zuccoti” & “Growing Old Rebels” & a short ecological piece.

Teresa Costa‘s poems are generally short so she could get a lot in in 8 minutes. Many of her poems were outside too, in her garden, watching a thunder storm, “Life in the Woods,” “Goddess Gone Fishing,” a wonderful love poem to her husband, & “The 6th Day” with its play on the word “image.”

It was a novel idea to get so many of the poetry open mic hosts in the same room at the same time to listen to each other.   & there were many other fine poets from the area listening in the audience as well.

First one up was Bob Sharkey who said he had finished last year’s poem-a-day assignment, now on to a word-a-day, & so into “Another Deposition,” then to a piece about a confrontation at a party, “Benefit” (in honor of New York photographer Bill Cunningham) , then “Doctor Doctor.” Carolee was back after an absence with a new poem, “Crows on the 1st Cold Night of February,” then what I think is a first, read one of her Blog posts, “The Sun Mother-Fucker.”

Harvey Havel, who as a prose writer does not read out much, read a thoughtful piece on a black man dressed as a Muslim un-codes the world & helps a white, Christian drunk. Tim Verhaegen plumbed the depths of his family relationships to analyze why he hates abused victims memoirs, & left us laughing.

Casey Wald was a first-timer here & read an ironically touching memoir of phone calls from bill collectors for a debt from her deceased son. Of course February is Black History Month & D. Alexander Holiday was here, as he said, to represent, with “Little Brown Baby” by Paul Lawrence Dunbar & another poem on Bessie Smith, then his own poem “Monsters” from his latest book Emails from Satan’s Daughter (Xlibris), stretching his 5 minutes to 12. To celebrate the birthday of Charles Darwin, Howard Kogan read 2 pieces on a theme, first “God’s Regrets” (i.e. “why Man?” Of course, it was Mark Twain who noted that God created Man because he was “disapppointed in the monkey”), then pondering human insignificance, “Evolution.” Ron Drummond (who often reads sci-fi fiction) presented a dramatic reading of an excerpt of his play set in England in 1576, with a young William Shakespeare.

David Wolcott returned to his memoir, today with a section about his big break into government energy policy during the Carter administration. Joe Krausman pondered the impact of cars on our psyches (& live) in his poem “The Wheeled God,” then a poem about revival sauces & a Christian Mass & “Unanswered Prayers.” A school teacher, my co-host Nancy Klepsch read a 6-word memoir she had written with her students, then one of her student’s marvelous results, then to a work-in-progress, playing with repetition on the language of war. Heather Haskins read a prose selection, “Collusion,” from a longer memoir, in which she meets her aunt’s long-time abuser, a most uncomfortable tale. Brett Axel rounded out the afternoon with a sestina-in-progress, contrasting politics of the nation & of a household, then the hilarious “I Rule” from his book Rules (Minimal Responsibility Press, 2004).

This continuing open mic is at the Arts Center, 265 River St., Troy, NY on the 2nd Sunday of most months at 2PM — open to writers in all genres — & it’s Free!

What a great crowd at Professor Java’s this past Monday night for the February, pre-Valentines Day, Wide Open Mic. Kevin Peterson took the reigns as host and quickly eased into the role like a natural. The evening was a great mix of poetry and music, new faces and old friends, love and (healing) hate, and of course, some of the best coffee in the area.

New poets to the mic included Tracey Continelli and Lisa Edmunds. They were joined by local poets Avery, Carol Jewell, Mary Panza (complete with a pinata), and Poetyc Visionz. The musical acts for the evening were an ecclectic mix featuring Marc Hecker (who apparently has a problem with the Star Spangled Banner), a returning Greg Guba, the bass player for the Normanskill Saxons, and The Ghouls.

[Show as slideshow]

We’ll be back next month on Monday, March 12. Sign up starts at 7:15, open mic starts at 8:00.

The 2012 Albany Word Fest is almost here. This year we are taking the Word Fest to the next level by expanding the event to one full week of poetry and spoken word featuring Open Mics, Featured Poets, Nitty Gritty Slam, Urban Guerilla Theatre, Haiku Battle, Metroland’s Best Poets, Karaoke + Poetry = Fun, and much, much more.

If you are a fan of Shark Tank, Dragon’s Den, or any competition / reality TV series, you will love this. We are very excited to announce Pitchapalooza as the official kick-off event of the 2012 Albany Word Fest, taking place at the College of St. Rose on Sunday , April 15 at 2:00pm.

Pitchapalooza is American Idol for books (only without Simon). Twenty writers will be selected at random to pitch their book. Each writer gets one minute—and only one minute! In the last month, three writers have gotten publishing deals as a result of participating in Pitchapalooza.

This event is co-presented by Frequency North: The Visiting Writers Reading Series at The College of Saint Rose and Albany Poets as part of Word Fest. Following Pitchapalooza Albany Poets will be hosting a good old fashion family potluck supper at Albany Poets HQ, right down the street from St. Rose.

We will be announcing more events and surprises in the next couple of days including details on how you can be a part of the 2012 Albany Word Fest Open Mic.

The 2012 Albany Word Fest is brought to you by Albany Poets, Urban Guerilla Theatre, Hudson Valley Writers Guild, WEXT, Valentines, Albany Public Library, McGeary’s, and the very generous donations of supporters of the arts in upstate New York.