Caffe Lena Poetry Festival, April 11

The Albany Word Fest is not the only poetry festival in the area this year celebrating National Poetry Month.  Carol Graser is putting together the Caffe Lena Poetry Festival on Saturday, April 11 (from noon to 10:00PM) with a great lineup of poets, workshops, and activities all leading up to a reading by the legendary Ed Sanders.

Here is the information from Carol:

This year Caffè Lena greets the approaching spring and the arrival of National Poetry Month with a torrent of words: an all-day festival of poetry performance and workshops.

The program will feature twenty-minute readings throughout the afternoon by twelve stylistically varied, widely read poets from NYC, Rhode Island, Maine, the Capital District and the Adirondacks. Included will be Bernadette Mayer, Joseph Bruchac, Sam White, Michael Brown, Lyn Lifshin, Alan Catlin, Steven Huff, Miriam Axel-Lute, Barbara Ungar, Nancy White, Miriam Herrera and Jordan Smith. Workshops will be offered by Joe Bruchac, Michael Brown, Barbara Ungar, Jordan Smith, Miriam Axel-Lute and Steven Huff.

Afterward, we'll Gather for conversation and a meal of appetizers, salads and main course dishes. Bring a dish for 10 people and eat for free, or pay $10 and fill your plate at the eclectic buffet.

Headlining our first Caffè Lena Poetry Festival is Ed Sanders, famed counter-culture figure of the ‘60s, who built a bridge between the Beatnik and Hippy generations.

Please check www.caffelena.org  for a full schedule of readings, workshops, and for information about the potluck dinner.

Upper Delaware Writers Collective Call For Submissions

One more call for submissions to tell everyone about today.

The Upper Delaware Writers Collective (UDWC) invites writers to submit poems for The Green Heron Poetry Project, a publication and performance opportunity. Poems should focus on the theme, “Create the reality that you’re hoping for.”
The UDWC has chosen the Green Heron (Butorides virescens), observed with increasing frequency in the Upper Delaware River Valley, as inspiration to showcase creative, constructive public expression concerning some critical issues of our time. Native Americans attributed to the Green Heron the qualities of self-reliance, determination, aggressive adaptability and innate balance. At a time when the area’s environment, infrastructures, communities, and way of life are on the brink of enormous change, the bird seems to embody characteristics important for our own species.

Submit up to three typed poems, each not more than 25 lines long. Please provide 3 copies of each poem you submit. The title(s) of the piece, author's name, address, phone number and email must appear on a separate page. Do not include your contact information anywhere else on your submission or it will be disqualified. Include a 50-word bio with your submission. Send your work to UDWC, 1258 Crystal Lake Road, Narrowsburg, NY 12764, ATTN: GHPP. Deadline for submissions is June 1. Early submissions are encouraged.

The culmination of the project will be multi-disciplinary events in each of three river towns. Posters of the poems will be paraded to a venue where they will set the stage for a joint poetry reading and music/theater/dance performance. The posters will be permanently displayed in public spaces such as libraries and parks, as well as in commercial establishments such as coffee houses and restaurants, and will be available for sale to the public.

The Green Heron Poetry Project furthers the mission of the UDWC by fostering community engagement in the arts, specifically by facilitating public expression through poetry.  Looking forward, the collective hopes to publish the results of the project in a chapbook in 2010.

This project is made possible in part with funds from the Decentralization Program for Sullivan County, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, administered by Delaware Valley Arts Alliance.

For more information, call 570-685-8774.

Literary Gazette Call For Submissions

The Literary Gazette is seeking poetry and short prose submissions (essays or short fiction) on the subject of bridges-the real kind that cross rivers and roadways, and also the metaphorical bridges that connect us. We are interested in the history and beauty of bridges and their associations, whether old or modern, and also evocative writing that depicts how bridges of friendship, loyalty, compassion, ideas and cultural understanding bring us together. In these hard economic and social times, it is important to remember what connects us, rather than divides us, and to cross the bridges between us as often as we can.

The photographs of Sandy Long on the theme of bridges will be featured in this 2009 issue of the Literary Gazette, to be published by The River Reporter on July 3. The deadline for submissions is May 22.

Submit word documents to editor Mary Greene at marygreene@riverreporter.com or via snail mail to Literary Gazette, PO Box 150, Narrowsburg, NY 12764. Poetry is limited to 40 lines and five submissions per person. Prose is limited to 1,200 words and three submissions per person. There is no reading fee. Submissions cannot be returned. Include a short (up to four-sentence) bio as well as contact information with your submission. Payment for publication is two contributor's copies

For more information email marygreene@riverreporter.com or call 845/252-7414, ext. 30.

Don Levy at Poets Speak Loud, Tomorrow Night at the Lark Tavern

Brace yourselves! Monday, March 30th at Tess' Lark Tavern(453 Madison Avenue, Albany NY) the feature will be none other than DON LEVY!!!!!!! 7pm sign-up. We start around 8pm.

“Although it seems as if Don Levy has been reading his poetry since the year 1, he started reading his work back in 1988 at the legendary open mic at the QE2 hosted by Tom Nattell.  Don was a co-editor of Open Mic: The Albany Anthology and has been on the boards at different times of the Hudson Valley Writers Guild and Albany Poets.  He has been a featured reader at many open mic venues such as Valentines, The Social Justice Center, and Caffe Lena as well as reading in Washington park and at Larkfest.  He has also been a feature at readings in Woodstock, Plattsburgh, and Boston.  He currently runs the live at the Living Room series at the Capital District Gay & Lesbian Community Center at 332 Hudson Avenue.  His favorite dead poet is Frank O' Hara.”

Here is some more information on WORD FEST 2009

The online sign-up for the Word Fest Open Mic is ready for you!

We will have the sign-up sheet available at the Poets Speak Loud open mic at the Lark Tavern on Monday, March 30 and Albany Poets Presents at Valentines on Tuesday April 7.

Poets who want to sign up for the Word Fest Open Mic must enter their name and preferred time slot at www.albanywordfest.com . Be sure to check to see if another poet has already signed up for that time slot. Each poet will have between 10-15 minutes to read their work.

The open mic will go all through the night, so tell your friends to come and check it out.

Go to www.albanywordfest.com for more information and a schedule of events for the 2009 Albany WordFest.

2009 Albany Word Fest

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Albany Poets is proud to present the 2009 Albany Word Fest featuring the poetry, spoken word, and music of upstate New York.  This year’s event will take place on Friday, April 17 and Saturday, April 18, 2009.

The 2009 Albany Word Fest will start off on Friday night with a cocktail party at Tess’ Lark Tavern (453 Madison Ave.) at 5:00PM.  This is a chance for all of the poets and performers to get together, network, and reconnect with each other before the event begins. This is open to all ages.  Must be 21 or older to drink. 

At 7:00PM, the poetry and spoken word begins at the Friday Night Open Mic at the UAG Gallery (247 Lark Street).  This years open mic will be a special 12-hour open mic.

Poets who wish to participate in the open mic can sign up online by going to the Albany Word Fest website, www.albanywordfest.com.  Performers will also have a limited opportunity to sign up at the event itself.  Each poet will have10 -15 minutes to share their work.  Featured at this open mic will be A.C. Everson, groups of poets from Woodstock, Voorheesville, and other parts of area, plus all three of this years Metrolands Best Poets (Mary Panza, Dan Wilcox, and R.M. Engelhradt) and more. The open mic is open to all poets and spoken word artists with no style or content restrictions.  Admission is based on donation.

On Saturday, day two of the 2009 Albany Word Fest brings the annual Psycho Cluster F*#k to the UAG Gallery featuring music and spoken word from The Rambling Jug Stompers, Ed RInaldi, Mother Judge, Margot Malia Lynch, Daniel Nester, Murrow, and much more. Admission for this event is $5.00.  This event is open to all ages. 

The 2009 Albany Word Fest is sponsored by Albany Poets, Tess’ Lark Tavern, UAG Gallery, and the very generous donations of supporters of the arts in upstate New York.

Be sure to check www.albanywordfest.com for more details on the 2009 ALBANY WORD FEST.

Poetry Reading and Workshop With George Wallace in Woodstock, March 17

Utilizing a teaching method he perfected in the Pacific Northwest, George Wallace will stimulate your writing through exercises based on re-discovering and using your imaginative skills. This one day, two-hour workshop encourages you to play with language and practice your skill at triggering ideas for new poems, in a friendly group setting. Imagination-based poetry moves away from critical-evaluative approaches to writing poetry, focusing instead on exercises that enhance the writer’s ability to create space for the imagination to explore, invent, discover and roam.

BIO: George Wallace (AB, MPH, MFA) is an award winning poet and journalist from New York who has performed his work across America and in Europe. Author of eighteen chapbooks of poetry, he has served as editor of Poetrybay (www.poetrybay.com), Poetryvlog (www.poetryvlog.com), Long Island Quarterly, Walt’s Corner and other electronic and hard copy publications. A university lecturer and practicing poet in performance, he has performed his own work and conducted writing workshops worldwide. Wallace's work, which has been translated into fourteen languages, may be found in the collections of the New York State Historic Preservation Office, the California State Archives and the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library; and is archived at Hofstra University's Long Island Studies Institute.

IMAGINATION-BASED POETRY READING BY GEORGE WALLACE AND WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS.  TUESDAY MARCH 17 7-9 PM.  $40 please register by March 15.  Call 845-679-3392 for more information.  9 PM Open to the Public.  6 HILLCREST AVE, WOODSTOCK NY.

Amy Halloran and Matthew Klane At The UAG, Mar 13

Happy Monday! Yes it is early in the week but Albany Poets thought we would give you a reason to make it until Friday!

This Friday, March 13th ALBANY POETS PRESENTS: FRIDAY AT THE UAG, 247 Lark Street. We begin at 7pm!  Featuring Amy Halloran and Matthew Klane.

Amy Halloran writes short stories, prosey poems, and some vaguely agreed upon facts for a wide range of reading publics. Her work is archived on McSweeneys, Pindeldyboz and at her website, amyhalloran.net. She lives in Troy with her husband, their two sons and five hens. The birds lay beautiful green eggs, and some not so lovely brown ones.

Matthew Klane is co-editor/founder of Flim Forum Press, publisher of the anthologies Oh One Arrow (2007) and A Sing Economy (2008). His book is B_____ Meditations from Stockport Flats Press (2008). His latest chapbooks include Sons and Followers, Friend Delighting the Eloquent, Sorrow Songs, and The- Associated Press. Also see: The Meister-Reich Experiments, a sprawling hypertext, online at housepress.org. He currently lives and writes in Albany, NY.

We will be streaming this event live on the web in case you are not able to make it out.  Head over to www.albanypoets.com/video.asp and click on “Launch Live Player” starting at 7:00PM.

Live From The Living Room With Daniel Nester

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 March 11th with Dan Nester.

Dan Nester is a journalist, essayist, poet, editor, and teacher. His first two books, God Save My Queen (Soft Skull Press, 2003) and God Save My Queen II (2004), are both collections on his obsession with the rock band Queen. His third book, The History of My World Tonight (BlazeVOX, 2006), is a collection of poems.

His next book, How to Be Inappropriate, a collection of humorous nonfiction, will be published by Soft Skull Press in 2009.

As a journalist and essayist, his work has appeared in a variety of places, such as Poets & Writers, The Morning News, The Daily Beast, Time Out New York, The Bloomsbury Review, and Bookslut.

His work has been anthologized in such collections as The Best American Poetry 2003, The Best Creative Nonfiction, Vol. 1, and Third Rail: The Poetry of Rock and Roll, Isn't It Romantic? 100 Love Poems by Younger American Poets, and Gamers: Writers, Artists, and Programmers on the Pleasure of the Pixels.

He is an assistant professor of English at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY.

Sign up is at 7pm with 7:30 start time with host Don Levy and $2.00  suggested donation.  For more info call (518) 462-6138.  This is a straight-friendly reading.