Poetry Event Review

Poetry from the Loft, Jan. 30, 2007

[From Therese Broderick]

The new "Poetry from the Loft" open mic made its impressive debut on January 30 at the fabulously rustic Cock and Bull Restaurant in Galway. Over twenty writers read to an audience of more than fifty people who had come to celebrate the forthcoming publication of STORY QUILT, a Galway local history project similar to the classic SPOON RIVER ANTHOLOGY. Most of the open mic readers brought poems compiled in STORY QUILT--serious and humorous poems about the blessings and curses of small town life; love and death; friends and family; ponds, animals, and guts on the floor of the barn. Mary Cuffe-Perez from Galway and experienced open mic hostess Carol Graser teamed up to facilitate the event with generous doses of wit and warmth. Mary read her lovely poem 'Identifying Trees" and Carol read her amusing poem about the Black Cobra water slide at Great Escape. The evening also offered live music, a cash bar, free hors d'oeuvres, and a gorgeous all-wood dining room featuring soft ambient lamps, two fireplaces, and a loft platform for the microphone. All in all, an impressive beginning for a new and different kind of open mic. To buy a copy of STORY QUILT, or to receive email notices for future Galway open mics, call Mary Cuffe-Perez at 882-1456.