Poetry Workshop and Retreat with Bernadette Mayer

We took a week off after the Word Fest and now we are back with some news and updates for events that are coming up in the poetry and spoken word community.  Here is an email that we received about an upcoming workshop with Bernadette Mayer.

BERNADETTE MAYER & PHILIP GOOD invite you to participate in a weekend workshop on Experimental Poetics. Their home, once a synagogue in days of yore, is located in rural Upstate New York on the historic acreage between Kinderhook and Tsatsawassa creeks at the foothills of the Berkshires.

Exclusive weekend workshop sessions begin May 22 and continue throughout the summer months culminating on the weekend of Oct 10-12. The fee, which includes accommodations, as well as all meals & activities, is $400 (double reservation) or $225 (per person). Since each weekend session is limited to four participants, please RSVP well in-advance. Any inquiries may be sent to the contact information provided below. Guests arrive Friday afternoon and depart Sunday after lunch.

There will be writing assignments with plenty of time for casual conversation. Bernadette Mayer will discuss her Experiments List and encourage participants to expand their poetics to greater levels. The central focus in the workshop will be in-depth Investigations of Traditional Forms Made New. In addition, each participant will receive constructive feedback about their overall work through individual consultation; and all participants will be given an expansive list of reading recommendations. At the conclusion of the weekend the group will collate their new poems into a stapled poetry magazine.

To Reserve/Confirm availabilities, please email poetswksp@yahoo.com, or call (518) 794 - 0234.

Bernadette Mayer (born May 12, 1945 in Brooklyn , NY ) is a poet and prose writer. In 1967 she received a BA from New School for Social Research. She has since edited the journal 0 TO 9 with Vito Acconci and the United Artists Press with Lewis Warsh, and worked as Director of St. Mark¢s Poetry Project. She is also known for her wonderful dancing. 

For info on Bernadette Mayer from The Literary Encyclopedia, go here: http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5897

Joan Murray to Read From “The Pushcart Book of Poetry”

Our friends over at The Arts Center in Troy are having a reading from poet adn editor Joan Murray on Monday, April 27.  Joan will be reading from a new book that she edited highlighting 30 years of the Pushcart Prize for poetry.

Poet and anthologist Joan Murray, a Columbia County resident, will offer up what amounts to a retrospective of some of the most important and influential poetry of the past three decades in a free and public reading on Monday, April 27, at The Arts Center of the Capital Region, 265 River St. in downtown Troy.

In the program, which will begin at 7 p.m., Murray will read a selection of poems from “The Pushcart Book of Poetry: The Best Poems from 30 Years of the Pushcart Prize.”

The anthology, published last year by The Pushcart Press and recently released in a paperback edition, was edited by Murray, who selected the poems from among thousands collected in the annual Pushcart Prize volumes through the years. Each year since 1976, The Pushcart Press has published “The Pushcart Prize – Best of the Small Presses” series, drawing from writing published in the nation’s small but influential literary presses.

Among the poets represented in “The Pushcart Book of Poetry: The Best Poems from 30 Years of the Pushcart Prize.” are such well-known figures as Adrienne Rich, John Ashbery, Seamus Heaney, Derek Walcott, Mary Oliver, Gerald Stern, Lucille Clifton and Billy Collins, along with many lesser-known writers. The works range from the socially-conscious poems of the 1970s to technically ambitious selections from recent years, offering a historical glimpse into the evolving concerns of poetry over the 30 years it spans.

A noted poet herself, Murray is a National Poetry Series Winner, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Winner; a Wesleyan New Poets Series Winner, and Winner of Poetry Society of America's Gordon Barber Award. She is the author of eight books, including five volumes of poetry, most recently Dancing on the Edge, and is editor of the anthology, Poems to Live By in Troubling Times as well as the Pushcart Book of Poetry.

She has been a repeat guest on NPR's Morning Edition and PRI's To the Best of our Knowledge, and has contributed to such publications as The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, The Nation, The New York Times, and The Best American Poetry.

For more information about her reading at The Arts Center, call 518-273-0552 or visit www.artscenteronline.org.

Yes, Reading! This Friday at the UAG Gallery

Matthew Klane sent in the following reminder for this a special reading at the UAG Gallery this Friday.

Yes, Reading! + Flim Forum Press present Joshua Harmon and Andrew Zawacki on Friday, April 24 at the UAG Gallery (247 Lark St., Albany) starting at 7:00PM.

JOSHUA HARMON is the author of Scape (Black Ocean), a book of poems, and Quinnehtukqut (Starcherone Books), a novel. His work has appeared in many journals, including Colorado Review, Denver Quarterly, Iowa Review, jubilat, TriQuarterly, and Verse. A graduate of Marlboro College and Cornell University, he has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, and the Dutchess County Arts Council.

ANDREW ZAWACKI is the author of three poetry books—Petals of Zero Petals of One (Talisman House), Anabranch (Wesleyan), and By Reason of Breakings (Georgia)—and of the chapbooks Arrow’s shadow (Equipage); Georgia (Katalanché), co-winner of the 1913 Prize; Roche limit (tir aux pigeons); Bartleby’s Waste-book (Particle Series); in motion from the Meridian, a collaboration with artist Jennifer Schuberth (Dusie Kollektiv); and Masquerade (Vagabond). His work has appeared in Legitimate Dangers: American Poets of the New Century (Sarabande), Walt Whitman hom(m)age, 2005/1855 (Turtle Point), The Iowa Anthology of New American Poetries (Iowa), Great American Prose Poems: From Poe to the Present (Scribner), and other anthologies. He teaches at the University of Georgia.

You can find out more at the Yes, Reading! Facebook Group page.

Local Poetry On The Air

You can tell when National Poetry Month rolls around each year; the media takes the opportunity to highlight the art in the papers and on radio and television.  This week is no different with two appearances for local poetry.

On Wednesday, April 15, Thom Francis and Mary Panza will be on Channel 13 (WNYT) as part of their Midday News beginning at 11:00am.  Thom and Mary will be talking about the upcoming Albany Word Fest and read a poem or two.

Then on Friday, April 17, Joan Murray will be on the Roundtable program on WAMC (90.3FM / 1400AM) at 11:10am.  On the program Joan will be talking about a new anthology that she edited, The Pushcart Book of Poetry: the Best Poems from 30 Years of the Pushcart Prize, and her upcoming presentation of poems from that volume at The Arts Center in Troy.

Be sure to check out these programs showcasing the poetry and spoken word that lives in upstate New York.

One Week Until The 2009 Albany Word Fest

We are one week away from the 2009 Albany Word Fest! 

The first Albany Word Fest was held in September 2001 in Thatcher Park.  It featured poets from all over the upstate area sharing their words all day and into the evening in a beautiful outdoor setting.  Through all of the Word Fest since then, we have kept the same idea in mind; invite the poets and spoken word artists from all over the capital region and beyond to share their words and show that “poetry lives in Albany”.

This year is no different as we are having a 12-hour open mic for poetry on Friday night starting at 7:00PM at the UAG Gallery (247 Lark Street, Albany).  We already have more than 25 poets signed up for this all night event.  During the open mic we will be having some special featured poets perform including poets from Voorheesville, Albany area poetry workshop participants, and all three of this years “Best Poets” from the Metroland readers poll (Mary Panza, R.M. Engelhardt, and Dan Wilcox).  The open mic will end on Saturday morning with a very special performance by A.C. Everson and Friends.

Saturday night we come back to the UAG with music and poetry from the Rambling Jug Stompers, Margot Malia Lynch, Daniel Nester, Mother Judge, and Murrow. 

Since moving the Word Fest from September to April in 2005, The Albany Word Fest has become spring time tradition here in Albany celebrating not just National Poetry Month, but celebrating the Poets and Poetry of Upstate New York.  Like Dan Wilcox says, “In Albany, everyday is Poetry Month!”

For more information, go to www.albanywordfest.com.  See everyone at the Word Fest!

Albany Poets Presents at Valentines, Tomorrow Night

Just a quick reminder that our monthly open mic for poetry and spoken word, Albany Poets Presents, will return to VAlentines tomorrow night, April 7.  Sign up will begin at 7:00 with the open mic starting at 8:00.

This will also be your last chance to sign up in person for the 12-hour 2009 Albany Word Fest Open Mic taking place on Friday, April 17 starting at 7:00PM and going all night until 7:00AM at the UAG Gallery on Lark Street.  For more information on the Albany Word Fest and to sign up online for the open mic, go to www.albanywordfest.com.

ALBANY POETS PRESENTS is Albany Poets monthly open mic for poetry, spoken word, and music. This event is hosted by Thom Francis.

When we are not having special events, such as the annual Airing of Grievances or the Johnny Cash Tribute Night, this is a No Gimmick Open Mic series. This means no features, no special theme, no mysterious name for the show… just a stage, a microphone, a sign-up sheet, and an audience.

Be sure to come and share your work and see what we are working on to make the show a little more interesting

Sign up begins at 7:00PM, open mic starts at 8:00PM. There is a $3.00 suggested donation for this event.

ALBANY POETS PRESENTS takes place at Valentines Music Hall (17 New Scotland Ave.) on the first Tuesday of each and every month.