 Dan Wilcox sent an message around to his mailing list about the National Peace Poetry Project. Here is some information on what they are all about and how they help students through the art of poetry.
"The Project’s purpose is to foster and nourish student’s creative capacities through poetry and art to reflect peace as a source of human strength and enrichment. The NPPP is an outgrowth of a contest and reading that began as the North Country Schools Peace Poetry Contest in 2002. Our goal for the NPPP would be to provide you with resources and expertise to help establish partnership “peace poetry contests” in public and private (K-12) schools across the country similar to one we started at the State University of New York at Potsdam. The concept is a relatively simple one: students write poems about peace; we publish about 80 or so of their poems in a chapbook; and they are invited to campus to read their poems in front of family, friends and the campus community – an event intended to celebrate their accomplishments. Our local contest has partnered with the local Lions Club to present “peace poster” winners at our annual local reading. Examples of these wonderful, vibrant illustrations are soon to be posted on this website to enjoy. The National Peace Poetry Project is also a resource for educators interested in the intersection of peace studies and the creative arts. We publish a yearly newsletter with photos, poems, and teaching ideas geared to help promote peace poetry and these types of contests nationwide." More information on the National Peace Poetry Project
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.
Poets Speak Loud, Jan. 29, 2007[From Dan Wilcox; see his blog at dwlcx.blogspot.com.] "Poets Speak Loud" is the monthly open mic for poets held at Tess' Lark Tavern in Albany, NY on the last Monday of every month, sponsored by AlbanyPoets.com. This month was the 2nd anniversary of the readings & the second anniversary of Tom Nattell becoming star-dust. Tom had been scheduled to be the first featured reader at the new series on January 31, 2005 but died of cancer that morning. The open mic was held that night and became a celebration of his life, work and performances. Tom was a major force (if not THE major force) from back in the 1980s in creating the vibrant Albany poetry scene, with the Readings Against the End of the World, the open mic at the QE2 (held on the last Monday of each month), Poets in the Park, Poets Action Against AIDS, along with his peace work & environmental activism. I was the honorary, guest host; Mary Panza is the usual Diva-in-charge, with El Presidente working the sound. There were 15 readers at the open mic sign up, some who had known Tom, but some who did not. That being in the spirit of all the open readings that Tom ever ran -- that the new poet, the virgin, was as welcome (some would say more so) as the crowd-pleasing old favorite. We had a pantoum (Therese's poem on her daughter in the fitting room), vignettes (Jason Berkowitz's interview, & Dain Brammage's new "Pulse" with Keith), some political pieces (Chris Brodham, Katherine, back from Philly for a too-brief visit), a birthday/cyberspace poem (Nicole), even a new poet (Ruth Putnam) bringing some warmth to the cold night), many others, & of course the needed rant, "This is an Open Mic," from Mary Panza, wrapping up the night. Interesting that the audience/readers included so many hosts of other readings that carry on Tom's tradition: R.M. Engelhardt, Nicole Peyrafitte, Dain Brammage, K.J. Spence, Bob Wright, Shaun Baxter & myself. Then, to the singing of Steve Earl's "The Revolution Starts Now", we (what was left of us, & then some) tramped to the Robert Burns statue in Washington Park, where Tom Francis scrambled up to place the green beret, with hidden duct tape, on Bobbie Burns' cold pate. I read a couple of Tom's poems during the night, & would now like to end with a couple of his thoughts. His last poem was Short or tall flowers are wonderful. And hanging in my house is a Christmas -- sorry, Holiday -- card Tom sent out one year: "Star Dust is Us!"
 Albany Poets will celebrate the second anniversary of its open mic, “Poets Speak Loud,” at Tess’ Lark Tavern on Monday, January 29, 7:00 PM. The event will also commemorate Tom Nattell, local poet and community activist, who died the same day, January 31, 2005. Tom had been scheduled to be the first featured reader at the new series, but died of cancer that morning. The open mic was held that night and was a celebration of his life, work and performances. The event this Monday will end with the annual “beret toss” at the Robert Burns statue in Washington Park in Tom’s memory.
Poets Speak Loud, an open mic sponsored by Albany Poets, is held at the Lark Tavern on Madison Ave. in Albany on the last Monday of each month at 7:00 PM. The usual host is Mary Panza. However, for the second anniversary event the host will be Dan Wilcox, poet and host of the third Thursday open mic at the Social Justice Center. Wilcox was a friend of Nattell’s and both were members of 3 Guys from Albany, a poetry performance group. The event Monday will be a classic open mic, in the style of the monthly open mics run by Tom Nattell at the QE2 on the last Monday of each month in the 1980s and 1990s. While it is expected that some poets will read tribute poems to Nattell, or old favorites from past readings, poets are invited to read poems on any theme and share in the spirit of poetry. The suggested donation for the event is $3.00; Tess’ Lark Tavern is located at 453 Madison Ave. in Albany, NY. For more information about Albany Poets visit the website: www.albanypoets.com. For more information about this event, or about Tom Nattell, contact Dan Wilcox at 518-482-0262 or email to dwlcx@earthlink.net
 There will be a photo exhibit and book release party for the new book, "Vietnam: Our Father Daughter Journey" as a part of Albany's First Fridays gallery show series on Friday, February 2, 2007 from 6:00 - 9:00PM at 52 James Street, 4th Floor, Albany. This event is free and open to the public.
Through photographs and words Ed and Zoeann Murphy share how Vietnam shaped their lives. Their story is personal and political. As father and daughter they encourage all to consider how war and peace impact relationships. Ed Murphy was an intelligence agent in Vietnam and his 25-year-old daughter, Zoeann is a photographer. Ed Murphy directs the Workforce Development Institute; was one of the earliest combat intelligence agents to speak against the war in Vietnam; then his leadership and skills helped build the Vietnam Veterans movement. Zoeann Murphy is a professional photographer, writer and teacher; coordinator of unseenamerica NYS, helping workers become more visible. They live in New York's Capital District. You can order the book right now on Amazon.com.
 Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival as part of the Woodstock Arts Consortium is sponsoring the following poetry event as part of the Woodstock "Second Saturdays" Art Events. For a full listing of "Second Saturday" events, see: www.woodstockartsconsortium.org.
Poets Ron Whiteurs and Matthew J. Spireng will be the featured readers when the Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival meets at the Woodstock Town Hall, 76 Tinker Street, on Saturday, February 10th, 2007 at 2pm. Note: WPS&F meetings are held the 2nd Saturday of every month except for October, when it is held on the 3rd Saturday. Ron Whiteurs - Born in the Bronx, brought up in the hills of Mahwah NJ, Ron (R. Dionysius) Whiteurs has lived in the New Paltz-Rosendale region since 1966. With an MA from SUNY New Paltz, he taught English at that institution in 1970-71 and went on to a long career as unofficial "Poet Laureate" of IBM Publishing in Poughkeepsie. From these scintillating heights his fortunes took a flip/flop/flip like some half-dead fish out of water in the following manner: Performed regularly at the Rosendale Creative Space Co-Op from 1989 to 1992; Performed annually at the Cave Readings at the Widow Jane Quarry in Rosendale from 1991 to 1997; Starred in the Igneous It performance Ox Necks in Tweed on April 3, 1992; Performed at Fountain House, NYC and slammed at the Nuyorican, NYC during these years; Performed at the Woodstock Guild's Byrdcliffe Barn as part of Summerjazz (FM Artists Coalition) in 1992; Performed as main featured poet at the Outloud Festival in Claryville in 1994; Formed the amateur-amateur-amateur rock n' roll band "Glory-Hole Bishops of the Holy See" in which he starred as lead NON-singer and song writer; Recorded four poems in 1993 for the Steve Charney Show ("Knock-On-Wood") on WAMC Albany Public Radio; Featured in the brief biographic film Trapped in Amber by Bart Thrall of Big Time Records; and somehow got himself published in the Rondout Review, The Poets Gallery (Woodstock), Chronogram, Hunger Magazine, and Wuzz Buzzin (Switzerland). Matthew J. Spireng - Matthew J. Spireng’s full-length book manuscript Out of Body won the 2004 Bluestem Poetry Award and was published in 2006 by Bluestem Press at Emporia State University. His chapbooks are Encounters from Finishing Line Press, Inspiration Point (winner of the 2000 Bright Hill Press Poetry Chapbook Competition) and Just This, from Hampden-Sydney College. Since 1990 nearly 500 of his poems have appeared in publications across the United States. He lives in Lomontville in the house in which he was raised as a child. Poet and novelist George Garrett says of Out of Body: “Spireng is a poet with all the good gifts and an unmistakable voice. He is colloquial with dignity and gravitas; direct and accessible, yet always evocative; compassionate without sentimentality. He takes on the great, challenging themes of our poetry, adding his own questions and conclusions. Love and death dance together, loss and joy make music, body and soul wrestle like Jacob and the angel. Out of Body is the work of a poet worthy of our best attention.” The readings will be hosted by Woodstock area poet Phillip Levine. All meetings are free and open to the public. For information about the group, and its activities, visit http://www.woodstockpoetry.com/
 Dain Brammage, The Poet Essence, and Albany Poets were honored on Tuesday night by Prysmatic Dreams at the 2006 Muse Awards.
Dain Brammage received the award for "Best WW CD Cover" for his design of the Freedom Mix tape. Dain was also awarded "Most Inspiring Poet "and "Performer of the Year". The Poet Essence was presented with the "My Way Award". Congratulations to Dain and the Poet Essence for their honors and their work in keeping poetry and spoken word alive. Albany Poets, as an organization, was presented with the Muse Award for "Best Regional Organization". We want to thank everyone over at Prysmatic Dreams and The New Word Order for this award and taking notice that "poetry lives in Albany" For more information on the Muse Awards and a list of all of the winners this year, go to www.prysmaticdreams.com/ and clicking on the button for 2006 PD Muse Awards. Link to 2006 PD Muse Awards
 Albany poet, photographer, activist, open mic host, and all around good guy, Dan Wilcox, has started his very own blog. In a recent annoucement on his email list, Dan says:
"I knew about Blogs & I visit some interesting literary ones from time to time (like Pierre Joris' Nomadics blog), and some friends had already created there own personal Blogs. While I hate the term (it sounds like something the plumber finds in a cracked toilet in a student rental apartment), I decided it would be a way to put out my comments on local readings & my poems as well. So I've created my own Blog, finally, at http://dwlcx.blogspot.com. I've been getting it ready, posting a few entries in advance of going public, & now invite you to "DWx," my Blog. Please visit it whenever you are out & about in Cyberville. I'll try to keep it interesting -- & brief. I'm still playing with it, may vary the layout from time to time, & there some browser issues with getting photos on it, but I'm in it for the words & ideas, not the vacuous strutting as on MySpace. I just hope it doesn't become a literary cyber Golem." Head on over there and read Dan's poems and more at http://dwlcx.blogspot.com
 Free Writing Workshop at Social Justice Center
February 3, 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM and Poetry Reading at 4:30 PM
Suzanne Rancourt will conduct a free creative writing workshop on Saturday, February 3, 2007 at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany, from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. She will also read from her
poetry at 4:30 PM, with participants of the writing workshop. The program is sponsored by the Hudson Valley Writers Guild and is funded in part from Poets & Writers, Inc. with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. Suzanne Rancourt holds an MFA in poetry, and MS in Educational Psychology. She will be using the Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) Writing Method, in which she is certified to lead workshops. The AWA method creates a safe and supportive writing community using a variety of writing exercises and response practices that open our throats as humans to tell our stories as artists. Writers of all ages, skill levels and styles are welcome. The workshop is free. However, space is limited and pre-registration is required, by calling 518-696-3180 The workshop will be followed at 4:30 PM by a reading by Suzanne Rancourt from her own poetry and readings by willing participants of the workshop. The reading is free and open to the public. CONTACT: To register for the workshop, please call 518-696-3180. For more information about the Hudson Valley Writers Guild please call Dan Wilcox at 482-0262.
 Poet Dr. Jennifer Hecht will read from her work on Friday, February 2nd at 7:30 pm at the poetry coffeehouse of FUUSA, the First Unitarian Universalist Society of Albany. Admission is free but donations are accepted.
FUUSA is located in downtown Albany at 405 Washington Avenue. Parking is available nearby in the UAlbany-Hawley lot. For more information, call FUUSA at 463-7135. Dr. Hecht's book THE NEXT ANCIENT WORLD won the Poetry Society of America's 2002 Norm Farber First Book Award. Her most recent book FUNNY won the University of Wisconsin's 2005 Felix Pollak Poetry Prize (PW called it "one of the most original and entertaining books of the year"). Dr. Hecht is also the author of award-winning books of philosophy and history. She teaches in New York City. Visit her website at www.jennifermichaelhecht.com
 In honor of Martin Luther King, here is a link to the complete text with video and audio from his "I Have a Dream" speech that he delivered on August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C., as a reminder that his powerful words are just as relevant today as they were over forty years ago. "And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today! ..." Link to Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream"
JAWBONE, the University at Albany's graduate student-run reading series presents the release of flim forum press' Oh One Arrow on Friday, January 19th starting at 7:00PM at Red Square (388 Broadway). Featuring readings by Pierre Joris, Lori Anderson Moseman, Adam Golaski, Matthew Klane, Eric Gelsinger, Christopher Fritton, and Aaron Lowinger Directions:
Take Central Ave. and continue as Central turns into Washington Ave., then State St.
Take a right on Broadway (bottom of long hill).
The Red Square is on the right, one block down. For more information about flim forum press and Oh One Arrow, go to flimforum.blogspot.com.
 We just want to take this time to remind everyone that the Albany Poets BBS is still online and ready for more new poetry. This is the place to go to put up your poetry or read others work. While there be sure to comment on the poems to keep the community going. The Albany Poets BBS is an online open mic for all to participate and discuss poetry, spoken word, events, and anything else that comes up.
Head on over now and login (or register, it's FREE to join) and step up to the mic. Link to albany poets >> BBS
 Live From The Living Room, a featured reading series with an open mic afterwards is held on the 2nd Wednesday of every month at the Capital District Gay & Lesbian Community Center, 332 Hudson Avenue, Albany, NY. The next reading is January 10th with featured poet Tim Verhagen.
Tim is a member of The Every Other Thursday Night Poetry Workshop held at the Voorheesville Library. He is an insurance regulator for NYS and views the writing as "a joy -filled, spiritual experience". Sign up is at 7pm with 7:30 start time. Hosted by Don Levy with a $2.00 suggested donation. For more info please call (518) 462-6138. This is another straight-friendly reading. Note: There will be no more readings at Billy Jacks. The establishment closed in December of '06 and we want to thank everyone there for giving us such a wonderful space to read in.
 There is a new initiative in town based at the Social Justice Center on Central Ave. The Actual Theatre Company’s mission is to create a sustained Playwright’s workshop to build community, diversity, and inclusion by creating dynamic, original theater that represents the stories of real people in a manner that a diverse audience will find compelling, challenging, and inspiring, mentoring young and emerging local writer’s, so that they may recognize and achieve their potential, with a particular emphasis on inspiring and nurturing their educational as well as professional ambitions and sense of civic responsibility, and contributing to the vitality and vibrancy of the Capital region, by presenting a year-round season featuring the work of our participants.
They are hosting a Writers Salon on Friday January 19th featuring Shannon Turner, Randall Horton, and Lydia Davis For more information, go to http://www.actualny.com/OurJanuary19thSalon.html
 Tomorrow night, Saturday, January 6 at Red Square (388 Broadway, Albany) Alien-Nation Presents Beneath The Mire (R.M. Engelhardt, WMN3, and Kim 13) with local poets Josh Turner, Jason Dalaba, and Thom Francis opening the show starting at 9:00PM.
After the show, stick around for the Alien-Nation Dance Night starting at 11:00PM featuring DJ Addam Bombb from Boston. From R.M. Engelhardt: "Beneath The Mire" is Will Nivins, Kim 13 & myself. A band. This performance at Red Square will be music-poetry/performance from "The Last Cigarette"… Will & Kim are currently members of the band "Sunset Aside". All for this entertainment for only $6.00. Hope to see a lot of the poetry community out to support this new project from Engelhardt, et al.
 It is First Friday again and this month art will be shown at Visions Gallery, 215 Lark Street, Ambrose + Sable, Capital District Federation of Ideas, Froebel Gallery at the eba Dance Theatre, Romaine Brooks Gallery, Upstate Artists Guild, Albany Center Galleries, and the Galleries at Monroe.
The E. Anthony & Co. Jewelery Studio, Elissa Halloran Designs, and Silver Fox Enterprises will also be open showing new works from local artists. After you have checked out all of the art galleries, head over to the Lark Tavern for Guiltless Cult and The Sense Offenders starting at 10:00PM. For more information and a map of the galleries, click here (PDF).
 Happy New Year! Albany Poets is kicking off 2007 with an old school open mic for poets and musicians at Valentines tonight starting at 8:00PM. Sign up for the open mic will begin at 7:00PM.
Poets, spoken word artists, and musicians are all welcome to come out and share their work. Hope to see everyone at Valentines tonight. Also, as a side note, there have been some updates to the website over the past couple weeks. The Albany Poets Podcast page has an updated look and the addition of a web-based audio player to stream the podcasts right from your browser. The events calendar has been updated as well with poetry and music listings for the next few months, so be sure to check that out. And for those of you who have been waiting so patiently, all of the poetry from OTHER:SIX is now online. We will have more updates (new features, photos, podcasts, and poets) to the website throughout the next couple weeks, so be sure to check back often. Link to albany poets >> Albany Poets Presents...
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