Writing from Art Workshop at AIHA

The Hudson Valley Writers Guild and the Albany Institute of History and Art are sponsoring a workshop, “Writing from Art,” which will focus on poetry and other creative writing inspired by the exhibit Impressionist Giverny. Award winning Albany poet and teacher Therese Broderick will join with Erika Sanger, Director of Education of the Albany Institute, to conduct the workshop. The workshop includes writing, mentoring, discussion of the exhibit, and sharing of work. The exhibit has an emphasis on landscapes, with the same site rendered by different painters.  The themes of place, viewpoint, and interpretation will be featured. The option of writing en plein air at Albany Washington Park is offered, as well as writing in the museum from the exhibit works. A Reading of works will be held Friday, Nov. 7 at the museum’s Albany First Friday evening.

Artists from America and Europe transformed Giverny village from a sleepy hamlet to a colorful and thriving artists' community. IMPRESSIONIST GIVERNY traces the evolution of art produced in the village and the impact of this artist community.

Saturday, Oct. 4, 2008 10 am - 3 pm · WORKSHOP and Friday, Nov. 7, 2008 6:30 pm · READING at the Albany Institute of History and Art; 1215 Washington Ave., Albany.

$25 for members of sponsors (above); $30 non-members.

To register, contact Erika Sanger at sangere@albanyinstitute.org or 518.463.4478 X404

About the Hudson Valley Writers Guild
The Hudson Valley Writers Guild, founded in 1983, is a non-profit membership organization of over 200 writers throughout the region. The Guild serves as an information clearinghouse for the local writing community, and it furthers writing and reading in the region through its public programs, peer workshops, and special member benefits.

Richard Jeffrey Newman to Read at Poetry on the Loose

Richard Jeffrey Newman will read his poetry at the next program in the Poetry on the Loose Reading/Performance Series.  The event will be held at Baby Grand Books at 7 West Street in Warwick at 4:00 p.m. on October 4.  Following the feature, others are welcome to read original work.  Admission is free.

Poet, translator, essayist and educator, Richard Jeffrey Newman is the author of a book of original poetry, The Silence Of Men (which includes a foreword by Yusef Komunyakaa), and of Selections from Saadi’s Gulistan and Selections from Saadi’s Bustan, translations of two masterpieces of 13th century Iranian poetry. In addition, he co-translated with Prof. John Moyne a selection of work by Rumi titled A Bird in the Garden of Angels,.

Newman’s poems and essays have appeared in a wide range of journals, including Salon.com, The American Voice, Prairie Schooner, and Birmingham Poetry Review. In addition, he has completed a verse translation of a book-length section of the Shahnameh, the Persian national epic, for which he is seeking a publisher. Richard Jeffrey Newman is Literary Arts Director of Persian Arts Festival, sits on the advisory board of The Translation Project. He is Associate Professor of English at Nassau Community College in Garden City, New York, where he coordinates the Creative Writing Project.

Newman says, “I first called myself a poet when I was 22 years old. That choice saved my life. Giving myself to the language, claiming the language as mine to work, was a paradox I did not even understand that I was entering; and yet entering that paradox gave me my voice back (how I lost it is a story too long to tell here). It also gave me - and I am not being melodramatic - a reason to live.”

In his translations, which were commissioned by the International Society for Iranian Culture, he has focused on finding verse forms in English that can embody the spirit and content of the poetic masterpieces he has been asked to work with, the formal characteristics of which are virtually impossible to reproduce in English. Newman’s work as a translator has also led him to investigate the reception of classical Iranian literature in the English-speaking world.

This event was funded in part by Poets & Writers, Inc. with public funds from The New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

On November 1, Jake St. John, Colleen Keenan, and Dave Spinelli of the New London (Connecticut) school of poets will read.

For further information, contact: William Seaton/ Poetry on the Loose, Inc. at 845-294-8085 or email seaton@frontiernet.net

Albany Poets Presents Featuring Vanessa Place and Matthew Klane, Tues Oct. 7 at Valentines

Albany Poets in association w/ Flim Forum + Les Figues Press is hosting a special edition of Albany Poets Presents at Valentines (17 New Scotland Ave., Albany) on Tuesday, October 7th featuring Vanessa Place and Matthew Klane. 

Vanessa Place is a writer and lawyer, and co-director of Les Figues Press. She is the author of Dies: A Sentence (Les Figues Press), a 50,000-word, one-sentence novella; the post-conceptual novel La Medusa (Fiction Collective 2), and the forthcoming Notes on Conceptualisms (Ugly Duckling Presse), in collaboration with appropriation poet Robert Fitterman, and a nonfiction book, The Guilt Project: Rape and Morality (Other Press). Other work has appeared in other publications, including Western Humanities Review, Northwest Review, Insert Fold Magazine, Greetings #10, 4th Street: A Poetry Bimonthly, Contemporary Literary Criticism, Bookforum, and theextraroom (Ger.). Her collaboration with artist/performer Lamya Regragui will debut at Cent Quatre in Paris/Los Angeles in 2009, and she is collaborating with conceptual artist Stephanie Taylor on the film “Murderous Square Dance at the Spiral Jetty.” Place is a co-founder of Les Figures Press, described by critic Terry Castle as “an elegant vessel for experimental American writing of an extraordinarily assured and ingenious sort.”

Matthew Klane is co-editor and founder of Flim Forum Press, publisher of the experimental poetry anthologies Oh One Arrow and A Sing Economy. His book, B____ Meditations, is forthcoming, this fall, from Stockport Flats Press. His recent chapbooks include Sorrow Songs, Friend Delighting the Eloquent, and The-Associated Press. Also: The Meister-Reich Experiments, an evolving hypertext, online at www.housepress.org. Other recent work can be found in The New Chief Tongue and online at Open Letters Monthly and Otoliths. He currently lives and writes in Albany, New York.

$3 suggested donation

ALBANY POETS PRESENTS is Albany Poets’ monthly open mic for poetry, spoken word, and music. See: www.albanypoets.com. 

FLIM FORUM PRESS, founded in 2005, is an independent press that provides SPACE to emerging poets working in a variety of experimental modes. See:
www.flimforum.blogspot.com.

Award Winning Songwriter James Krueger and Poet Bob Wright to Give Performance at Arts Upstairs Gallery

Songwriter James Krueger and Poet Bob Wright will give a performance at Arts Upstairs Gallery on Saturday, October 4 at 7:30 PM. Hailed by judges as "an extraordinarily talented writer with a real talent for poetic imagery" Krueger is a two time honor award winner in the Great American Songwriting Contest. A founding member of the Woodstock Poetry Society and acting coordinator for six years, the Athens, NY poet Bob Wright has been published in periodicals and anthologies throughout the US such as Oxalis and Yankee Magazine. The Arts Upstairs Gallery is located at 60 Main Street in Phoenicia, NY. You can find out more about this program by calling 845-594-2249.

A man of few words, great insight and much humor, Athens, NY poet Bob Wright has been writing poetry for some 20 years. He has actively been reading his work at various venues in the Northeast for many years as well as hosting several regular poetry readings in the Hudson Valley. Currently he is the host of a bimonthly poetry reading at the Athens Cultural Center and is the curator of the web-based Hudson Valley Poetry Calendar (www.poetz.com/hudson), a reasonably comprehensive listing of poetry events in the counties along the Hudson River. He was one of the founders of the Woodstock Poetry Society and for six years acted as its coordinator. Before that, in its last year, he served as president of the Stone Ridge Poetry Society, in Stone Ridge, New York. His poetry has been published in such diverse periodicals as Oxalis, Yankee, the Christian Science Monitor, Freefall Magazine, Heliotrope, and the North Dakota Quarterly. One of his poems appeared recently in Riverine: An Anthology of Hudson Valley Writers, published by Codhill Press.

James Krueger has been writing and performing his own music since the age of fifteen. His richly poetic songs backed by his unique finger-style guitar playing celebrate the beauty of the Catskill region, gently connecting listeners to the natural world without ever forcing a message. A review in the Chronogram described Krueger's music as "something you'll put on and won't take off" adding that his music and lyrics "reflect a deep, healthy connection with nature." Krueger is the recipient of numerous grants and has performed for such diverse groups as the North American Bluebird Society, National Artists for Mental Health, the Sierra Club, The New York Maple Growers' Association and the Thendara Mountain Club. He has released four solo CDs including his latest title, a live recording called Live in Denver, NY. You can hear James Krueger's music and find out more about him by visiting his web site www.jameskrueger.com.

The Arts Upstairs is a cooperative gallery that regularly showcases quality local art. The theme of the artwork hanging on October 4 will be "Pot Luck."

What: Performance by poet Bob Wright and songwriter James Krueger
Where: The Arts Upstairs Gallery, 60 Main Street, Phoenicia, NY
When: Saturday October 4, 7:30 – 9:00 PM
Cost: $5
Contact: info@jameskrueger.com or 845-594-2249

Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic Featuring Philip Memmer on Wednesday, Oct. 1

This month sponsored by the members of the Story Quilt Committee of the Galway Public Library

Philip Memmer is the author of two books of poems, most recently Threat of Pleasure, which was published in June 2008 by Word Press. Word Press also published his Sweetheart, Baby, Darling in 2004. He is also the author of three chapbooks of poems, including Greatest Hits (Pudding House Publications), The Apartment (piccadilly press) and For Resident (FootHills Publishing). His third collection of poems, Lucifer: A Hagiography, was selected for the Idaho Prize from Lost Horse Press, and will be published in February 2009.

Philip Memmer's poems have appeared widely in literary journals, including Poetry, Poetry Northwest, Southern Poetry Review, Mid-American Review, Epoch, Tar River Poetry, and many others. His work has also appeared in several anthologies, including 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day, edited by Billy Collins.
Memmer is the director of the Arts Branch of the YMCA of Greater Syracuse, where he founded the Downtown Writer's Center in 2001. He is the editor of Two Rivers Review, associate editor for Tiger Bark Press, and the current poetry editor of the journal Stone Canoe.

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic
Wednesday, October 1
7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start
Featured Poet: Philip Memmer
$3
Hosted by Carol Graser
Caffe Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs
www.caffelena.org     583-0022

Classic Reader Offers Free Classic Literature Online

Came across this website today that offers over 3,400 works by over 340 authors that you can read right in your browser.   The site, Classic Reader, is ad supported but free to read and browse their huge library.  Click the link below to check it out.

Considering all of the rain and miserable weather that is heading to the Albany area, this site may make the weekend a lot nicer.

Classic Reader Offers Free Classic (duh) Literature Online - Download Squad

Lei Isaacs and Georganna Millman Read in Athens, NY on Oct 18

Two highly esteemed Hudson Valley  poets, Lei Isaacs and Georganna Millman, will be featured when Poetry at the Hudson meets at the Athens Cultural Center, 24 Second Street, on Saturday, October 18, 2008 at 2 p.m.  An open mike will be part of the occasion. 

Lei was born in the famed Maverick Arts Colony in Woodstock to parents who were professional writers, and she was entirely home-schooled.  Her mother, Marguerite, was a noted Woodstock artist of the 1950's and 1960's.  Active in local journalism for fifty years, she has been published in such periodicals as The Ulster County Townsman, The Woodstock Press, The Woodstock Journal, the Woodstock Times, the Kingston Times, Home Planet News, and Chronogram. Lei is the founder of the women's poetry collective called 3 Free Women and has given numerous spoken-word performances as a member of that collective and as a solo performer.  Among these are readings at The Day Of The Poet, an event that was held annually in Stone Ridge for several years; at the Voices of the Valley poetry series; and at The Arts Society of Kingston.  She has written a number of novels, and a chapbook of her poetry will soon be published.  Outside her writing activities, Lei is an vigorous advocate for persons with disabilities and animal rights.

Georganna graduated from the Adult Creative Writing & Degree Program at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs. She is completing her first full-length book of poetry, titled Formulary, focusing on the landscape and history of the Catskill Mountain region, where she lives with her husband and sons.  Her poetry has appeared in numerous publications, including Blueline, The Margie Review: American Journal of Poetry, Vanguard Voices of the Hudson Valley (sponsored by the Mohonk Mountain Stage Company), and The Literary Gazette.  It has appeared also on Voice-America internet radio for National Poetry Month, April 2008. Georganna has been a featured poet at The Woodstock Poetry Society and at Albany's Poets In The Park. Self-employed as the owner of an independent retail pharmacy, she volunteers as well as a grant-writer for the Woodstock Poetry Society and Festival.

The readings will be hosted by area poet Bob Wright.  There is a suggested donation of $3.  To reach the Cultural Center, proceed on NY 385 into the village of Athens and turn west onto Second Street; it is the second building on the right.  For additional information, call 518-444-4561.

Robert Milby's October Poetry Events

The busiest downstate poet and host Robert Milby has just sent in his October Poetry Events schedule. 

October's Poetry Events:

Thursday, October 2, 2008  7:00pm
Noble Coffee Roasters
3020 Rt. 207 Campbell Hall, NY
Featured:  Lawrence Soehnel plus open mic
$2 donation
845-294-1056

Wed. Oct. 15th,  7:30pm
Muddycup Coffeehouse, 129 Main, Beacon, NY
Featured:  Robert Dunn plus open mic
$2 donation

Fri. Oct. 17th
NO JOEY'S CAFE

Friday, Oct. 17th,  7:00pm
Poetry Cafe
Florida Library 4 Cohen Circle, Florida, NY
Featured:  Barbara Adams, Kenneth Pearson, Robert Milby plus open mic and refreshments
No cover
845-651-7659

Sat. Oct. 18th,  7:00pm
Mudd Poets Poetry Series
Mudd Puddle Cafe
10 Main St.(inside Water St. Market), New Paltz, NY
Featured:  Ken Van Rensselaer, William Seaton plus open mic
$2 donation
845-255-3436

Sat. Oct. 25th, 7:00pm
6th Annual Evening of Ghost Poetry with Theremin Music
The Theremin Ghosts:Carl Welden and Robert Milby hosted by Christopher Wheeling
Mudd Puddle Cafe
10 Main St. (inside Water St. Market), New Paltz, NY        
845- 255-3436
No open mic/$4 cover

Tuesday, Oct. 28th, 7:30pm
Ghost Poetry Night with Theremin Ghosts: Welden and Milby
Rosendale Theatre
408 Main St. Rosendale, NY
845-658-3016
No open mic/$8 cover

Wednesday, Oct. 29th  7:00pm
Ghost Poetry Night w/Theremin Ghosts
Rose Memorial Library
79 East Main St. , Stony Point, NY
No cover, refreshments
Open mic for seasonal poetry

Quite a month ahead!  See you there...
your host, Robert Milby

We will be adding these to the events calendar as well so you will be able to plan your month of poetry from one end of the state to the other.

Poetry Book Donations

This is from our friend Carol Graser:

Dear Friends,

I recently started running poetry workshops at Tryon Girls Center, a New York State juvenile detention center.  I’ve been impressed with what fluid, expressive writing they produce and how much they love poetry. These girls have a lot of difficulty in the classroom but they sit attentively through the poetry workshop, are supportive of each others writing and engage in very profound discussions of the poems I bring for them to read.  They would benefit greatly from more exposure to poetry but unfortunately, their library is doesn’t provide much.

If some of you would be willing to donate a volume or two of poetry (or any book you feel would be relevant to them), it would go long way to helping these kids. The majority of girls in the Tryon are 15- or 16-years-old, although some are as young as 12. Almost 73 percent are African American or Hispanic, and many come from poorer neighborhoods in New York City. The majority of girls have suffered past physical and sexual abuse, and many need mental health care as well as treatment for drug and alcohol addiction.

You can bring your donations to Caffè Lena on poetry night, Wed. Oct. 1. or contact me at cgraser@nycap.rr.com and we’ll figure something out.

If you are able to help Carol out, please do what you can.  This is a great cause and will be a good home for your poetry books.

Roberta Allen and Naton Leslie at the Woodstock Poetry Society

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.

Roberta Allen and Naton Leslie will be the featured readers when the Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival meets at the Woodstock Town Hall, 76 Tinker Street, on Saturday, September 13th at 2pm. Note: WPS&F meetings are held the 2nd Saturday of every month.

The readings will be hosted by Woodstock area poet Phillip Levine. All meetings are free, open to the public, and include an open mike.

Roberta Allen is the author of eight books, including the novel, THE DREAMING GIRL, praised by the Village Voice; two story collections, THE TRAVELING WOMAN and CERTAIN PEOPLE, both praised by The New York Times Book Review; a novella-in-stories, THE DAUGHTER, praised by the VLS; a memoir, AMAZON DREAM, praised by the LA Reader & the VLS; and three writing guides. She is finishing a story collection called NOW THAT HE'S DEAD. She is on the faculty of The New School, has taught in the writing program at Columbia, and teaches private writing classes in New York and Woodstock. Allen is also a visual artist who has exhibited worldwide, with work in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Naton Leslie is the author of a book of narrative nonfiction, That Might Be Useful (Lyon Press, 2005), six volumes of poetry: Three Shadows Are Dark Daughters (1998), Moving to Find Work (2000), Salvaged Maxims (2002), Egress (2004), The Last Best Motif (2004), and Emma Saves Her Life (2007). A collection of his short fiction, Marconi's Dream and Other Stories (2003), won the George Garrett Fiction Prize, and he is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts. He teaches writing and literature at Siena College, in Loudonville, New York.

For more information on this series in Woodstock, contact Philip Levine at 845-246-8565 or pprod@mindspring.com

Donate Your Old Books and Pick Up Some New Ones on Oct 19

Have a lot of books laying around?  Need some new books to read for the fall season?  Well, on Sunday, October 19 from 9:00AM - 4:00PM you can donate your old books and pick up some new ones at the Old Chatham Quaker Meeting Books and Art Sale. 

Old Chatham Quaker Meeting is holding a Book and Art Sale,  Sunday, October 19, 2008 9:00 AM-4:00 PM, rain or shine, near the junction of County Route 13 and Shaker Museum Road.  It is ¼ mile from Powell House Quaker Conference and Retreat Center, 524 Pitt Hall Road off County Route 13, Old Chatham NY. Directions: www.powellhouse.org

There will be a silent auction featuring original art by nine artists in our Quaker meeting and more from the community, including a Matisse print. Also prints, ceramics, jewelry, antiques and gift certificates from local businesses. Starting bids may apply. There will be over 3,000 hard and soft cover books most $.50- $3.00, divided by fiction and non-fiction.  Bake sale items and coffee will be for sale.
This sale is a fundraiser for Old Chatham Quaker Meeting’s new Meetinghouse.   To donate books call  518-781-4452 or to sell your art at a commission call 518-392-2713.

October 19 is also the Shaker  Museum’s free community day for Columbia County residents.

For more information, contact Bob Elmendorf at 518-766-2992

The Hometown Stage at LARKfest 2008

It is that time of year again...LARKfest!  And again this year Albany Poets will be a part of the event bringing poetry, music and spoken word to upstate New York's largest arts festival.

Albany Poets will also have a table with information about our organization, the open mics and poetry events in the area, local poets and spoken word artists, and the new issue of our magazine OTHER.

LARKfest will be on September 20 from 10AM - 5:30PM on Lark Street (between Madison Ave. and Washington Ave.).  The Hometown Stage will be on the corner of Chestnut and Lark with Jazzhands kicking things off at 11:30AM. 

Here is the schedule of events for The Hometown Stage:

11:30 - 12:00  Jazzhands
12:15 - 12:45  Albany Poets and the House Band of the Apocalypse
12:50 -  1:00  Discard Avant Garb Recycled Fashion Show Preview
1:15  -   1:45  MotherJudge & Mitch Elrod with special guests
2:00  -   2:30  Cristo Lewis
2:45  -   3:30  Big Nixon
3:45  -   4:30  knotworking
4:45  -   5:30  Heavenly Echoes

For more information on LARKfest 2008 check out the Lark Street BID website.

Frequency North with David Rees and Rachel Shukert

The following is the announcement from our friend Daniel Nester about the new season of Frequency North at St. Rose:

Mark your calendars! David Rees of "Get Your War On" fame and Rachel Shukert, a Nerve/Salon/Heeb columnist, will come to The College of Saint Rose to kick off the 4th season of the Frequency North reading series!

The time: 7:30pm. The place: Events and Activities Center, 420 Western Avenue, Second Floor.   Details and more information below; call me at 454-2812 or email me (Daniel Nester) at nesterd@strose.edu.

Frequency North,the visiting writers reading series at The College of Saint Rose, kicks off its fourth season on Thursday, September 25, with David Rees, creator of the Internet phenom Get Your War On,and playwright, writer and sometime performer Rachel Shukert.

David Rees was working a crummy magazine job when Operation: Enduring Freedom inspired him to create his cartoon "Get Your War On." The satire about the war on terrorism became an Internet phenomenon. "Get Your War On" now appears in every issue of Rolling Stone, and an animated version is featured on www.236.com. Get Your War On was published in book form in 2003 (Soft Skull Press), followed by Get Your War On II in 2004 (Riverhead Books). This fall, Soft Skull Press publishes Get Your War On: The Definitive Account of George Bush's War on Terror 2001-2008. Sales of the first two Get Your War On books have raised almost $100,000 for land mine removal in western Afghanistan. Rees also is the author of My New Fighting Technique is Unstoppable (Riverhead Books, 2003), Adventures of Confessions of Saint Augustine Bear and My New Filing Technique is Unstoppable (Riverhead, 2004), which appeared as a regular feature in The Guardian of London. Rees lives in Beacon, Orange County.

Rachel Shukert is the author of Have You No Shame?: And Other Regrettable Stories (Random House/Villard), a memoir collection that chronicles, among other high jinks, the writer-performer-provocateur's experience growing up in Omaha, Neb., in that city's only Jewish elementary school. Her most recent theatre project, "Wasp Cove," is a "Dallas"/"Falcon Crest"-type soap opera, which she co-created and co-wrote with Julie Klausner. In it, Shukert plays the actress Pamela Ann Windchime, who plays the character of Donna Kettering. Her writing has appeared in Nerve, Babble, Salon, Heeb Magazine and McSweeney's, and anthologized in 2033: The Future of Misbehavior. Shukert lives in New York City with her husband and her cat.

Rogoff Reading at Skidmore College

Poet Jay Rogoff will be reading at Skidmore College at the Surrey Williamson Inn on North Broadway in Saratoga on Thursday, September 11 at 8:00PM.

Jay Rogoff’s new book of poems, The Long Fault, appeared from Louisiana State University Press in 2008.  LSU will also publish his book of poems concerning dance, The Code of Terpsichore, in 2011.  His earlier books include 1995’s The Cutoff, set in the world of minor league baseball, which won the Word Works Washington Prize, and How We Came to Stand on That Shore, issued in 2003.  He has also published a chapbook, First Hand (1997), about marriage and dairy farming, and, with artist and printmaker Kate Leavitt, Venera, a 2001 limited edition artists’ book, handmade and handset by Leavitt and featuring her four-color intaglio prints.

Rogoff’s poems have appeared in many journals and magazines, among them Agni, The Georgia Review, The Kenyon Review, Literary Imagination, Ploughshares, The Progressive, Salmagundi, Shenandoah, The Southern Review, and The Yale Review.  His criticism on poetry and other arts frequently appears in such journals as The Georgia Review, The Kenyon Review, Salmagundi, Shenandoah, and The Southern Review.  He also serves as The Saratogian’s daily ballet reviewer during the summer New York City Ballet season at SPAC.

Rogoff teaches writing and literature in the English Department at Skidmore College and lives in Saratoga Springs.

For more information, contact 518-580-5150