Frequency North/CLMP present CAPITAL LIT!

This weekend Albany will be rocking with poetry!  Here is the info from Daniel Nester about a great day of poetry, literature, small press, karaoke, and of course…fun!

Attention Albany Lit Lovers! Start 2010 off right with all the literary magazines and books you can carry off from CAPITAL LIT, CLMP’s first-ever Albany Lit Mag & Small Press Fair.

Hundreds of regional and national independent literary publishers will converge to sell their journals for only $2 an issue and books for $4 each. Many publishers will attend in person to meet Albany’s eager readers, so don’t miss this opportunity to discover literature you are unlikely to find in a single store, and meet the publishers and editors who do the real work of keeping American Literature vibrant and vital.

An offering of Frequency North, the aggressively eclectic visiting writers reading series at Saint Rose, and the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, CAPITAL LIT will bring to Albany hundreds of regional and national independent literary publishers who will sell their journals for only $2 an issue and books for $4 each. The all-day festival includes a panel discussion on publishing, readings by some of the region’s most notable authors and the Albany debut of Karaoke + Poetry = Fun!

Schedule

12-6 Book fair, Saint Joseph Auditorium
1pm Potlach with Colie Collen
2pm Indie Publishing Discussion

5pm Reading and discussion with Shane Jones, Tobias Seamon and Barbara Louise Ungar

Shane Jones is a graduate of The University at Buffalo, and currently resides in Albany, New York. His poetry and short fiction have appeared in numerous literary journals, including: New York Tyrant, Unsaid, Typo, and Caketrain. His first novel, Light Boxes, will be published by Penguin Books in June, 2010. Director Spike Jonze (Where The Wild Things Are, Being John Malkovich) purchased the film option for Light Boxes in July 2009.

Tobias Seamon is author of the novel The Magician's Study and a poetry chapbook Loosestrife Along the River Styx. He also wrote and directed the short mockumentary "Amerikan Partizan," which premiered at the 2007 Edwood Filmfest. A collection of stories The Emperor's Toy Chest and a novella The Fair Grounds are both forthcoming from the UK-based press PS Publishing. A contributor with the online magazine The Morning News, he lives in Albany. 

Barbara Louise Ungar's newest book, The Origin of the Milky Way, published last year, won the Gival Press Prize for Poetry. Barbara Louise Ungar is the author of Thrift. Her poems have appeared in Salmagundi, The Minnesota Review, The Literary Review among others. She is an Associate Professor of English at The College of Saint Rose.

7pm Karaoke + Poetry = Fun at Valentine's
17 New Scotland Avenue
Featuring Eric Auld, Cara Benson, R.M. Englehardt, Geof Huth, Murrow, Tara Needham, Mary Panza, Tobias Seamon, Alifair Skebe, Dan Wilcox
Come and sign up to read and sing!

Admission is free and open to the public. This program is made possible in part through support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency.

Some Tuesday Poetry News

Happy New Year!  All of us here at Albany Poets wish you the best in the new year. 

Here is some upstate New York poetry news concerning some upcoming events and other things going on the community.

TONIGHT, Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 8:00PM

Albany Poets Presents NO GIMMICK OPEN MIC
Valentines, 17 New Scotland Ave, Albany

We start off the new year with our monthly open mic for poetry, music, and spoken word.  Old school open mic.  No gimmicks, no themes.   Sign up starts at 7:00, reading starts at 8:00.

Poet Rock Ritual
The Putnam Den, 63A Putnam Street, Saratoga Springs

If you are up in the Saratoga are tonight be sure to check out what Margot Malia Lynch is doing up at the Putnam Den with her weekly open mic of words and music.

The weekly poetry open mic continues!
Please join us at The Putnam Den every Tues.
Sign up is at 8
$5 suggested donation
21+

Poetry Slam
then the Poet Rock Ritual: open mic for poets and any kind of word artist. You will be backed up by a live band:
Chris Turano on Drums
Marc Latzky on Bass
and a mystery Guitarist.

Margot is hosting.

Happy new decade

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Caffe Lena Poetry Open Mic
Caffe Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs

More poetry in Saratoga!  Here is the info from host Carol Graser:

the first Wednesday of every month Caffè Lena presents:

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic
Wednesday, January 6
7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start
Featured Poets:
Barbara Vink
$3
Hosted by Carol Graser
Caffè Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs
www.caffelena.org     583-0022

Barbara Vink has been coordinating the Voorheesville Public Library Every Other Thursday Night Poets since its onset in 1991. She also hosts Poetry Performance Day events, and has been in a performance trio for several years with Tom Corrado and Larry Rapant.  She has read her poetry at many local venues and was one of the editors and contributors to the anthology Poetry Don't Pump.

Friday, January 8

No Gimmick Open Mic at the UAG
UAG Gallery, 247 Lark Street, Albany

No Gimmick Open Mic at the UAG is Albany Poets’ open mic series for poetry and spoken word held at the UAG Gallery on the second Fridays of the month during the fall and spring semesters.

We return Friday, January 8 to kick off the new year with your words.

The UAG Gallery is located at 247 Lark Street, Albany NY. The readings start at 7:00PM. This is a free event.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Woodstock Poetry Society
Woodstock Town Hall, 76 Tinker Street, Woodstock

Poets Bruce Weber and Laurie Byro will be the featured readers when the Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival meets at the Woodstock Town Hall, 76 Tinker Street, on Saturday, January 9th at 2pm. The readings will be hosted by Woodstock area poet Phillip Levine. All meetings are free, open to the public, and include an open mike.

Bruce Weber - Bruce Weber is the author of five published books of poetry, "These Poems are Not Pretty", "How the Poem Died", "Poetic Justice", "The First Time I Had Sex with T. S. Eliot", and the just released "The Break-up of My  First Marriage".  Bruce’s work has appeared in numerous magazines, as well as in several anthologies including recently in Up is Up, But So Is Down: Downtown Writings, 1978-1992, and Riverine: An Anthology of Hudson Valley Writers (New Paltz, NY: Codhill Press, 2007). He has performed regularly in the tri-state area, both alone and with his performance group, Bruce Weber’s No Chance Ensemble, which has produced the CD "Let’s Dine Like Jack Johnson Tonight". He is the organizer of the Unorganicized Sunday Reading at ABC NO RIO, editor of the broadside Stained Sheets, and the producer of the long running Alternative New Year’s Day Spoken Word/Performance Extravaganza. By day, Bruce is Senior Curator at the National Academy Museum, and splits his time between his homes in New York City and Saugerties, New York.

Laurie Byro - Laurie Byro's short stories and poetry have appeared in a dozen or so small presses. Additionally, her work has been published in The Literary Review, Single Parent, Redactions, Aim, Chaminade Review, Chronogram, Grasslimb, Re:al Journal, The New Jersey Journal of Poets, Red Rock Review, The Paterson Literary Review among others. Her work can be googled in on-line e-zines and in the Guardian Unlimited on-line workshop. She was thrice nominated for “The Pushcart Prize” and has won or placed in 27 IBPC competitions.  Her work was recently published in The Poetry of Place Anthology (honoring William Carlos Williams).  Her children’s poem "A Captain's Cat" has appeared in Cricket Magazine and a textbook "Measuring up to the Illinois Learning Standards". In 2009, Mayor Barra proclaimed Laurie Byro as the “Official Poet Laureate of Allendale, NJ.”  Her work draws on myth and fairytale and her experiences of foreign places in the years she worked as a travel agent. Her poetry insists upon the continuing importance of fantasy, mystery and “the other” in our lives. Laurie is head of circulation at a library in New Jersey where she facilitates a poetry circle.

Poets Speak Loud Tonight at Tess’ Lark Tavern

Tonight we will be gathering around the fire, rather the stage, at Tess’ Lark Tavern (453 Madison Ave., Albany) for our monthly open mic for poetry and spoken word hosted by Mary Panza.  This time around we are having a straight-up, old school, no-holds-barred, in between Christmas and New Years Day open mic with no special guests or featured poets.

Come out with your poetry and family holiday stories to share!

Sign up starts at 7:00PM, the open mic begins around 7:45.

Poetry at the UAG Gallery This Friday, Nov 13

Albany Poets and Jawbone are once again combining forces to bring poetry to the UAG Gallery.  This Friday Jawbone will present a reading with James Belflower and Lucyna Prostko followed by our monthly open mic for poetry and spoken word.

Here is the information from the good folks at Jawbone:

Jawbone is pleased to host a first book release party/reading this Friday, November 13th at 6:30pm in the United Artists Guild Gallery (247 Lark Street). Please come early and enjoy a refreshment/chat with the authors.

An open mic hosted by Albany Poets will follow at 8pm.

We hope that you will attend and support two very talented poets and PhD Candidates.

COMMUTER by James Belflower: Modeling the courage of the witness as a compelling poetic subjectivity, COMMUTER attempts to encourage response by negotiating notions of the self. Juliana Spahr calls COMMUTER "a painfully beautiful and transformatively aestheticized book."

James Belflower is the author of Commuter (Instance Press) and And Also a Fountain, (NeOpepper Press) a collaborative echap with Anne Heide and J. Michael Martinez. He won the 2007 Juked Magazine poetry prize and his work  appears, or is forthcoming in: Jacket, EOAGH, Denver Quarterly, Apostrophe Cast, First Intensity, Reconfigurations, Konundrum Engine and O&S, among others. He curates PotLatchpoetry.org, a website dedicated to the gifting and exchange of poetry resources.

Infinite Beginnnings—Lucyna Prostko's fierce, quiet book shines like the
wooden boat in "Homecoming" that "beckons the winds with all its power."  Prostko makes poetic speech feel somehow inevitable, yet unexpected and fresh; there is nothing self-conscious, no straining for high art, in her mastery. "The human stories in her poems haunt me. . . . Clear-eyed and steadfast in her honesty, Prostko doesn't pretend to easy understanding of the mystery she touches at the deep heart of our being, but her love for the world is palpable in every poem"--Joan Larkin, Judge, Bright Hill Poetry Book Competition.

Lucyna Prostko was born in 1971 in Poland, where she grew up in a small village of Solistowka in Mazury. From an early age, she has been immersed in the stories of her grandparents' lives who have been tragically affected by the outbreak of World War II. She came to New York City at the age of 19. She received her BA degree in English from Hunter College and MFA in poetry from New York University, where she was awarded The New York Times Fellowship. She has been writing poetry in both Polish and English, and her work has been influenced by both Polish and American poets, in particular Boleslaw Lesmian, Czeslaw Milosz, Tadeusz Rozewicz, Wislawa Szymborska as well as Emily Dickinson, T.S. Eliot, Galway Kinnell, Philip Levine, Sharon Olds, and Louise Gluck. Her poetry has appeared in The Bitter Oleander, Fugue, Washington Square, Painted Bride Quarterly, Ellipsis, Quiddity, Five Points, and other literary magazines and in her collection, Infinite Beginnings, judged winner of the Bright Hill Press Poetry Book Competition by Joan Larkin and published by Bright Hill in 2009. She has been teaching literature and creative writing for the past ten years. She currently teaches at Queensbury High School in upstate New York and pursues Ph.D. in English at SUNY Albany. She lives on Hunt Lake in the Adirondacks with her husband, Mirko.

The evening starts at 6:30PM with the “No Gimmicks Open Mic” hosted by Mary Panza will begin after the two featured poets at 8:00PM.  Sign up for the open mic will be available throughout the night. 

Spoken Word and Hip Hop at Valentines Tonight

Poetry, spoken word, music, hip hop and more is happening tonight at Valentines as The Intangible Collective is coming into town for what is sure to be a great show.  If you remember, these guys were a big part of the Psycho Cluster F*#k at the 2006 Albany Word Fest (Download Albany Poets Podcast #13 mp3).

Here is the info from Dan Stalter:

Static After The Storm
Friday 11/6 // Valentines 9PM // $5 Cover // 18+

The world ends often. Every moment offers the opportunity of new beginnings, as our past becomes engulfed in the apocalypse of our future. If you survive, the choice becomes yours: wallow in despair or effect change upon circumstance. 28 of us chose creation. This is Intangible. This is Collective. This is the Static After the Storm.

The Intangible Collective will kick off the evening with a full set of spoken word poetry at 9pm. A handful of local Albany Poets [editors note: Murrow and Dan Wilcox, among others] will also read. Following the poetry we will shift gears and bring Hip Hop to the stage. Headling the set will be Xkwisit, Killa Kev, Absolute, & DJ SG. Representing the Intangible Hip Hop faction will be Fascious, Bamboo MC, & B.Nice

For more information: http://www.intangiblecollective.com and http://www.valentinesalbany.com

Tribute to Poe at the Fuze Box THis Friday

This coming Friday is the “annual” Edgar Allan Poe tribute event and open mic R.M. Engelhardt’s monthly VoX series at the Fuze Box.  Local poets and musicians will be performing some of Poe’s work and there will be an open mic for poetry and spoken word. 

Here is the (slightly edited for formatting purposes) info from Rob.

ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30th, 2009 THE FUZE - BOX PRESENTS :

ALL HALLOW’S EVE, A RECKONING: 200 YEARS
A TRIBUTE TO EDGAR ALLEN POE
To Benefit THE ALBANY DAMIEN CENTER

WITH PERFORMANCES OF POE’S WORK BY:
- Murrow 
- Mary Panza 
- John Weiler 
- Terry Bat-Sonja
- AC Everson
- The Black Heart Contingency 
- R.M. Engelhardt

Many Others … Plus An Open Halloween Mic!

Come Celebrate HALLOWEEN ! Costumes Encouraged!!!

On FRIDAY, 8pm 
OCTOBER 30th 2009 
AT THE FUZE BOX
12 CENTRAL AVENUE, ALBANY, NY
(518) 432-8866

$8.00 Donation to the Damien Center

And Afterwards?
The Party Begins w/D.J. Strange & THE NECROMANCERS BALL!!!

10pm!

Come & join us for a glass of ABSINTHE!

R.M. ENGELHARDT
www.rmengelhardt.com

Poetry at The UAG Begins Friday, September 11

That’s right, for our third year, Albany Poets is bringing poetry back to the UAG Gallery on the second Friday of the month.

ALBANY POETS PRESENTS SECOND FRIDAY OPEN MIC @ THE UAG GALLERY!

Albany Poets is proud to present a NO GIMMICKS OPEN MIC every second Friday at the UAG Gallery, 247 Lark Street in Albany.

You are the feature.  You set the tone.  Anything goes! 

The series dates are:
Friday September 11th
Friday October 9th
Friday November 13th
Friday December 11th
7pm sign-up, we will start around 7:45.
Hosted by Thom, Mary and Keith

When the page turned on poetry event

Dan Wilcox has an article in today’s Times Union where he looks back on the poetry and events that Tom Nattell started here in Albany in the 80’s.

“I returned to Albany in 1986 and found myself at the beginning of the poetry open mike scene that has put Albany on the nation's poetry map. At that time there were a few poets who read at the music open mike at the Eighth Step on Willett Street, but the energizing force was the annual Readings Against the End of the World, a fundraiser for the Albany Peace & Energy Council.”

When the page turned on poetry event -- Times Union

Upcoming Poetry Readings and Events

Busy week in poetry coming up.  Things kicked off yesterday with Dan Wilcox’s annual birthday tribute and reading of Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself”.  Here is some information on Tuesday’s Albany Poets Presents and Wednesday’s Caffe Lena Open Mic up in Saratoga. 

Albany Poets Presents, Tuesday, June 2

Albany Poets Presents, hosted by Thom Francis returns to Valentines on Tuesday, June 2 starting at 8:00PM.

Come over and join local poets and spoken word artists for an evening of conversation, cocktails, coffee, and, of course, poetry. The signup starts at 7:00PM for anyone who wants to take the stage and share their work.

Albany Poets Presents takes place at Valentines Music Hall (17 New Scotland Ave.) on the first Tuesday of each and every month.

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic,  Wednesday, June 3 featuring Bill Wunder

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic on Wednesday, June 3.  7pm sign up, 7:30 readings start with featured poet: Bill Wunder.  $3.  Hosted by Carol Graser at Caffe Lena, 47 Phila Street, Saratoga Springs.  For more information contact www.caffelena.org or call 583-0022.

This poetry month is sponsored by Joe and Carol Bruchac in memory of Kate O'Connell, a true lover and supporter of poetry.

Bill Wunder is the author of Pointing at the Moon (WordTech Editions, 2008) and a chapbook, A Season of Storms (Via Dolorosa Press, 2002). His poems have twice been nominated for The Pushcart Prize, and in 2004 he was named Poet Laureate of Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Bill has been a finalist in The T. S. Eliot Prize two times, and the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards four times. He has read and lectured in local schools, colleges, on public television. His poems and short stories have been widely published, most recently in the Innisfree Poetry Journal, The Manhattan Review and The Paterson Literary Review. Bill serves as Poetry Editor of The Schuylkill Valley Journal, and lives with his two black labs in Bucks County.

Be sure to check the Poetry Calendar and if there are any events, readings, or open mics that we are missing, feel free to send us an email and we will add it to the calendar.

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.

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.

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.

Poetry At The UAG With Matt Galletta And Margot Malia Lynch, Tonight

Big night for poetry tonight in Albany.  Three featured poets, two poetry events, and an open mic.

Tonight Albany Poets comes back to the UAG Gallery with poets Matt Galletta and Margot Malia Lynch.  We will be streaming this reading on the website.  Go to www.albanypoets.com/video.asp and check it out if you are not able to make it to the gallery.

The reading starts at 7:00PM.  The UAG Gallery is located at 247 Lark Street, Albany.  Right across the street from Ben & Jerry’s.

After this reading, join us as we walk up the street to The Fuze Box for VoX, an open mic for poetry and spoken word hosted by R.M. Engelhardt with featured poet Marcus Kwame Anderson. 

Albany Poets TV – Live From Poets Speak Loud, Tonight

After the success of broadcasting the Valentines open mic at the UAG a couple weeks ago, we are going to be streaming tonight's Poets Speak Loud open mic at the Lark Tavern live on albanypoets.com starting at 7:30PM. 

Go to www.albanypoets.com/video.asp to check it out.  And while you are watching, feel free to click on the “Chat” button and leave a comment about the reading. 

This video page also features performances from previous events and readings and is being updated with new videos every couple days.

Poetry Workshops? Where and When?

I recently received an email from a local poet who pointed out that with all of the attention that the local poetry and spoken word scene has been getting over the past few weeks, the main focus has been on the open mics and not much has been said about all of the poetry and writing workshops in the area. 

So, now I want to know from you, where are all of the poetry workshops in the area?  Post a comment and let us know and we will compile a list and have them as part of the Poetry Calendar on the website.

Poetry Goes High-Tech

Vince Gallagher from Capital News 9 sat down recently with Mary Panza and Thom Francis to talk about the local poetry scene, poetry and spoken word on the web, and how everyone can now get involved. 

Poetry has always been one of the truest form of expression, whether spoken or written. There's an organization that has a mission to increase awareness and activity of poetry here in the Capital Region, and today, poets can literally be heard around the world.

"Anything that has to do with spoken word, we're trying to bring people together and we're trying to bring people out," said Albany Poets Vice President Mary Panza.

Click here to read the article and watch the video report from Capital News 9.

And while you are on there site, you can also check out the report they did for the 2006 Albany Word Fest.  The second day of the open mic took place at Valentines and Capital News 9 was there to cover the story.

Recording From Albany Poets Presents Now Available

The audio recording from last nights Albany Poets Presents open mic at Valentines is now available for download.

Albany Poets Presents – February 3, 2009

Thom Francis hosts as Albany Poets returns to Valentines with poetry and spoken word from Dan Wilcox, Dominick, Ja3son Crane, R.M. Engelhardt, Miss Sally, Moses Kash, and Chris Brabham.

You can also stream these recordings by going to the Albany Poets Podcast page and using the player on the right of the page. 

Albany Poets Presents, Tuesday, Feb 3

Albany Poets is returning to Valentines on Tuesday, February 3 for our monthly open mic for poetry and spoken word. This month, in addition to all of the great poetry, we will have information on the Albany Word Fest that is coming up in April.

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.

Sign up starts at 7:00PM, the reading starts at 8:00PM. Valentines is located at 17 New Scotland Ave., Albany (right between Washington Park and Albany Med).

Recording From Poets Speak Loud Tom Nattell Tribute Now Available

In case you missed last night’s Poets Speak Loud Fourth Anniversary Open Mic / Tom Nattell Tribute / Beret Toss or if you were there and want to take the reading along with you, go to the Albany Poets Podcast page and download the recordings.

Poets Speak Loud - January 26, 2009, Part 1

Dan Wilcox hosts the Fourth Anniversary Open Mic / Tom Nattell Tribute / Beret Toss at the Lark Tavern with poetry and spoken word from Alan Catlin,  A.C. Everson, Julie Lamoe, Mary Panza, Josh McIntyre, Dan Stalter, Cheryl A. Rice, R.M. Engelhardt, and Mr. Lee.

Poets Speak Loud - January 26, 2009, Part 2

We continue the Fourth Anniversary Open Mic / Tom Nattell Tribute / Beret Toss at the Lark Tavern after a little break with poetry and spoken word from Dan Wilcox, Jason Krane, John Allen, Tess Lecuyer, Todd Fabozi, Chris Brabham, Amanda Rose, D. Rizzo, Shannon Shoemaker, Sylvia Barnard, and Scott Casale.

Poetic tribute to Tom Nattell - timesunion.com

The local poetry scene has been getting quite a lot of coverage over the past few weeks.  Today, the Times Union has a post on its Creative Capital blog about tonight’s Poets Speak Loud tribute to Tom Nattell (pictured on the right with Allen Ginsberg in 1990 in front of the QE2).

Until his death in 2005, Tom Nattell was the undisputed dean of the Albany poetry scene. Even though he was battling cancer, the 52-year-old Nattell was slated to be the featured poet at the inaugural installment of “Poets Speak Loud,” a monthly series of open-mike poetry readings held at Tess’ Lark Tavern in Tavern. But Nattell passed away on the morning of his scheduled 2005 reading, and the evening was transformed into a tribute to the poet and his belief in the power of poetry to build community. That first “Poets Speak Loud” evening was capped off - literally - when the poets paraded to the statue of poet Robert Burns in Washington Park, where they placed a beret atop Burns’ bronze head - a beret similar to the one that Nattell frequent wore.

Click the link below to read the whole article by Greg Haymes.

Poetic tribute to Tom Nattell - Local arts - Creative Capital - timesunion.com - Albany NY

Forum Follows Function

In this weeks edition of Metroland, there is an article about the local small press  poetry scene.  Thom Francis, Mary Panza, Dan Wilcox, Chris Rizzo, Rachel Zitomer, Matthew Klane and many others were interviewed for this article discussing the current Albany scene, its history, and where it may be going from here.  The article also talks about the recent small press book fair at the UAG Gallery.

Albany Poets (albanypoets.com) is as much an organizational body, networking apparatus, and community of friends as it is a poetry press. “The important thing is that we provide a microphone and a Web site because it is your right to express yourself,” Panza says. “We want to give you the forum to do that.”

Click the link below to read the entire article on the Metroland site or go out and pick up a copy for yourself.

Forum Follows Function - Metroland Online - Feature

Capital Region Poets React to Inauguration Poem

Albany Poets own Mary Panza and Dan Wilcox are featured on the Times Union site reacting to Elizabeth Alexander’s poem at President Obama’s inauguration.

“She was speaking about the immigrant experience. The kitchen table is the meeting place for so many different ethnic cultures in this country. I’m third generation Italian, and in our household everything was decided around the kitchen table,” said Panza, who also hosts the Poet Speak Loud readings on the last Monday of each month at Tess’ Lark Tavern.

Click the link below to read the entire article.

Capital Region Poets React to Inauguration Poem

Small Press reading at UAG This Saturday

The folks that brought you the very successful small press fair at the UAG Gallery (247 Lark Street, Albany) for First Friday a couple of weeks ago are coming back for a special poetry reading this coming Saturday at the UAG.

From 2:00PM – 5:00PM poets and representatives from Albany Poets, Flim Forum Press, Fence Books, A.P.D. Press, and Anchorite Press will be reading their work and talking about small press in Albany.  Some of the poets scheduled to read are Eric Gelsinger, Rebecca Wolff, Anthony Bernini, Colie Collen, Pierre Joris, Thom Francis, and R.M. Engelhardt.

Be sure to check this event out on Saturday afternoon and support local small presses by purchasing their books.

OTHER:TEN is Coming…

You read that right.  OTHER:TEN, the long awaited tenth issue of Albany Poets’ magazine will be available during the small press open house at the UAG Gallery that was mentioned earlier. 

We would like to take this time to apologize to our readers and contributors for the delay on getting this issue out.  Due to circumstances beyond our control…

We hope to see everyone at the UAG this coming Friday to check out some of the small press poetry that is being published right in our own backyards.

Small Press Poetry at UAG

First Friday, January 2nd, 5-9pm at the UAG Gallery, 247 Lark Street.

The Upstate Artists Guild (UAG) Gallery, as part of their January “New Beginnings” show, will be hosting a Publisher’s Open House for many of the poetry small presses producing books in Albany, NY.

Across poetics, aesthetics, and institutional status, contributing presses will include: Flim Forum Press, Fence Books, A.P.D. Press, Anchorite Press, and Albany Poets.

This will be an opportunity for interested gallery-goers to engage with some of the independent, underground, and/or experimental writing and publishing happening here in Albany today.

The show opens on First Friday, January 2nd, and will last throughout the month. Free to the public. For more information, call (518) 426-350, or email: klane@flimforum.com.

Happy Holidays From Albany Poets

Happy Holidays from all of us here at Albany Poets!

We will return to Tess' Lark Tavern, Monday, January 26th for our Anniversary/Beret Toss/Tom Nattell Tribute. Our host for that evenings event will be Dan Wilcox! Dress warm!

Albany Poets has a huge year planned with our annual events and some surprises along the way.

Thank you for your continued support.

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.

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.

OTHER: Wants You!

First of all, we want to thank everyone involved in WORD FEST 2008. The audiences were great, the performances were stellar and the UAG was once again so generous in lending their time and space to us.

Now here is what Albany Poets is asking from you:

We need contributors, editors, artists, photographers, and especially volunteers to help out with OTHER:. We want to take it to the next step and we need your ideas and hard work to make it happen. Are you good at writing reviews? Are you handy with a stapler? We need you and everyone in between to make OTHER: what it was meant to be: YOURS!!

We are having an informational meeting to discuss the future of OTHER: on Tuesday May 13th at 7:30pm. The location will be decided by the number of people interested. If you are interested in joining TEAM OTHER: contact Thom Francis at thom@albanypoets.com. Introduce yourself, your experience, and your interests.

2008 Albany Word Fest Update

So far this years Albany Word Fest (This Weekend! April 18-19) is looking like it will be the biggest and best yet!

Four days until the 2008 Albany Word Fest and there is still time to sign up online for the Friday Night Open Mic at the UAG Gallery.  So far there are 75 poets signed up for the open mic with the online signup closing tomorrow evening.  Poets who do not sign up online will be able to sign up at the open mic at the UAG on Friday night.

Also, we are very excited to announce THE POET ESSENCE will be performing at the Psycho Cluster F#*k on Saturday night.  The Poet Essence is one of Albany's best spoken word artists and it is a real honor to have her as part of this years event.

Saturday's annual Psycho Cluster F#* will also be featuring The Johnny Bravehearts (Mary Panza, John Weiler, Monica Roach), The House Band of the Apocalypse (Thom Francis, K.J. Spencer, Aaron Christiansen), a multimedia performance from poet Nicole K with VJ Fongaboo of Twisted Pair Visuals, plus more acts to be announced this week...

The 2008 Albany Word Fest will also be the place to grab your copy of the long awaited, much anticipated OTHER:NINE.   The ninth issue of our litery magazine will be available featuring Maria Barr, Shuan Baxter, Chris Brabham, Seth Brown, Scott Casale, Michael J. Conner, Stephen H. Donohue, Tom Harmon, Nicole Karas, Adam Kress, Penny Meacham-Cornelius, Lisa Nolan, T. Kilgore Splake, Leigh Vandebogart, Dan Wilcox, and Hollice Danielle Wiles. Plus, an updated listing of all of the poetry readings and open mics in the area, the return of Miss Mona, and more.

We will launching some new features on the Albany Poets website for the Word Fest including an online open mic, a new look for the OTHER: site, and updated poets profiles and poems.

For more information on the 2008 Albany Word Fest and to sign up for the open mic, go to www.albanywordfest.com

2008 Albany Word Fest

It is that time of year again...Albany Word Fest! 

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Albany Poets is proud to present the 2008 Albany Word Fest featuring the poetry, spoken word, and music of upstate New York.  This year’s event will take place on Friday, April 18 and Saturday, April 19, 2008.

The 2008 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).  

Poets who wish to participate in the open mic can sign up online by going to the Albany Word Fest website. Performers will also have a limited opportunity to sign up at the event itself.  Each poet will have three minutes to share their work.  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 2008 Albany Word Fest brings the annual Psycho Cluster F*#k featuring music and spoken word from The Johnny Bravehearts (Mary Panza, John Weiler, Monica Roach), The House Band of the Apocalypse (Thom Francis, K.J. Spencer, Aaron Christiansen), and more to be announced.  Admission for this event is $5.00.  This event is open to all ages. 

Also, throughout the 2008 Albany Word Fest, Albany Poets will release OTHER:NINE, the long awaited new issue of Albany Poets’ literary magazine as well as the launch of many new features to the Albany Poets website including an online open mic, new poetry from local poets, updated photo galleries, performance videos, and more.

The 2008 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.  For more information, up-to-date event news, open mic sign up, and more, go to www.albanywordfest.com

Poetry at the UAG

This Friday poetry returns to the UAG Gallery with poets Jacqueline Jones LaMon and Carol Graser. 

Jacqueline Jones LaMon is the Associate Director of the Indiana University Writers' Conference. A Chancellor's University Fellow and an associate poetry editor of the Indiana Review, she is in her third year of her MFA studies in poetry at Indiana University Bloomington. Her poetry has appeared/will appear in Crab Orchard Review, Natural Bridge, Fugue, and WarpLand among other journals. Her first novel, In the Arms of One Who Loves Me, was published by One World/Ballantine Books in 2002. (2005)

Carol Graser hosts a monthly poetry series at Saratoga Springs legendary Caffe Lena and has performed her work at various events and venues around New York. Her poems have appeared in many literary journals. Foothills Publishing has just published her first book of poetry, The Wild Twist of Their Stems.

Albany Poets and Jawbone Productions Reading series present Poetry @ the UAG on the second and fourth Friday's of each month starting at 7:00PM.  This series is sponsored by Scratch Bakery Cafe.

Poets Speak Loud Featuring John Raymond

The next Poets Speak Loud will be on Monday, March 31 at Tess' Lark Tavern with featured poet John Raymond followed by an open mic for poetry and spoken word.

John Raymond is a local rapscallion who is coming out of seclusion to take part in Albany's open mic poetry scene.  He enjoys music, backpacking, and smoked meats.

We will also have the sign up sheet for the 2008 Albany Word Fest Friday Night Open Mic for all of those poets and spoken word artists that have not had a chance to sign up for upstate New York's largest open mic

Poets Speak Loud is a monthly open mic for poetry and spoken word with a featured poet. This mic is hosted by Mary Panza and held at the Lark Tavern (453 Madison Ave., Albany) on the last Monday of each month. Sign-up for the open mic is 7:00pm, start time is 7:30pm.

Poets Speak Loud Featuring Nicole Karas and Janice McNeal Tonight at the Lark Tavern

That's correct! We are once again at Tess' Lark Tavern (453 Madison Ave, Albany) for our Feb edition of PSL.

We are happy to have the double bill of Nicole Karas and Janice McNeal. Oh yeah, it is ladies night.

We are hoping the writers strike is over for you as well! Come on out and talk about politics, sex, religion, the oscars, the weather, your landlord, or your feet. You know all the things your mother told you not to talk about in mixed company.

$3 requested donation. 7pm sign-up and we start between 7:30 and 8pm.

Poetry at The UAG

Jawbone and Albany Poets are proud to bring poetry back to the UAG Gallery on Lark Street.  The series started on January 25 with Thom Francis and Michael Peters and continues tonight with a special reading from Flim Magazine featuring Jaye Bartell, Jennifer Karmin, Michael Ives, and Deborah Poe. 

The next reading will be on February 22 with poets Rusty Barnes, Jason Tandon, Rebecca Schumejda, Dan Wilcox, and Margot Lynch. 

Be sure to check back for the complete schedule for this new series of Poetry at the UAG.

Jawbone Returns This Friday with Michael Peters and Thom Francis

This coming Friday (January 25) Albany Poets and Jawbone are bringing poetry and spoken word back to the UAG Gallery on Lark Street with a new season of this long-running series featuring both local artists and visiting poets from around the country.

The doors open at 6:30PM with the poetry beginning at 7:00PM with writer, poet, and musician Michael Peters and Albany Poets own Thom Francis.

About Michael Peters

The “writing” attributable to “Michael Peters”—his poetry, his visual poetry, his fiction, his critical writing—has appeared in publications such as SleepingFish, Word for/Word, Lungfull, Xtant, Tool a Magazine, Spinning Jenny, Posted, American Weddings, and Kostelanetz’s Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes, to name a few. His visual poetry has appeared in galleries, anthologies, and exhibits, and can be found in various special collections and avant-garde libraries, among these: The Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry. As a musician and a sound-text performer, most notably in Poem Rocket, his recordings have been released on a variety of independent labels. In 2007, Atavistic (the avant jazz and rock label based out of Chicago), released Poem Rocket’s fourth full-length recording, a double-CD titled Invasion! Vaast Bin; n Ephemerisi is his first book.

For more, go to: http://www.calamaripress.com/vaast_bin.htm

About Thom Francis

Thom Francis, an upstate New York native, has been a writer and spoken word artist since he was old enough to understand, and therefore question the nature of the world in which we all exist. His skepticism, an attribute that seems to have been instilled in Thom since birth, has only been strengthened by the struggles in which he has encountered throughout the course of his thirty years of survival. These various struggles have made Thom an extremely strong and empathetic person, as well as the perfect candidate to pursue a calling in which he exposes the peculiarity exhibited by the human race. His work, based upon personal experience as well as general observations, always reveals an outlook commonly overlooked by the average observer.

Since Thom has been involved in the Albany area poety scene he has been featured at such open mics and events as The School of Night (Valentines), Vox (Albany Center Galleries), Web of Consciousness (C@fe Web), Live from the Living Room (Capital District Gay & Lesbian Community Center), Open Spoken (Colony Café, Woodstock), Kill Your TV, Feed Your Ears (Lark Street Bookshop), Third Thursday Poetry Open Mic (Lark Street Bookshop), Poets in the Park (Washington Park), the Albany Word Fest 2001, 2002 (Thacher Park), 2003 (Valentines), 2006 (UAG Gallery), and 2007 (Tess' Lark Tavern), and LARKfest 2006 and 2007.

For more, go to: http://www.albanypoets.com/poets/francis

Poets Speak Loud, January 28

The annual Poets Speak Loud Tom Nattell Memorial Open Mic and Beret Toss will take place on Monday, January 28 (the Last Monday of the month) at Tess' Lark Tavern, Madison Ave., Albany, NY starting at 7:30PM.  The guest host will be Dan Wilcox, the host of the monthly Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center.  The event includes an open mic for community poets and a post-reading parade to the Robert Burns statue in Washington Park to place a beret on the head of Robert Burns in honor of poet and environmental activist Tom Nattell who left us in January 2005 to join that Great Open Mic in the Sky.  The reading is free, but donations to support the Tom Nattell Peace Poetry Prize are appreciated.

Albany Poets sponsors "Poets Speak Loud", a poetry reading and open mic, on the last Monday of every month at the Lark Tavern at 7:30PM.  Tom Nattell was the host and organizer of the annual Readings Against the End of the World, Poets in the Park, and the open mic at the QE2 held on the last Monday of the month, among many achievements.  He had been scheduled to read at the first Poets Speak Loud! in January 2005, but died that morning.

Albany Poets Presents The Worst Song Lyrics In The World

The next Albany Poets Presents (Tuesday, November 6, starting at 8:00PM) at Valentines will be an open mic with a bit of a twist. 

Last month Mary Panza laid down the challenge...perform the best dramatic reading of the worst song lyrics and you win a featured reading at the Poets Speak Loud open mic at the Lark Tavern in the future, even if you have already featured. 

I then gave an example of what we are looking for by reading the lyrics to the extremely famous song, Escape by Rupert Holmes:

I was tired of my lady, we'd been together too long.
Like a worn-out recording, of a favorite song.
So while she lay there sleeping, I read the paper in bed.
And in the personals column, there was this letter I read:

"If you like Pina Coladas, and getting caught in the rain.
If you're not into yoga, if you have half-a-brain.
If you like making love at midnight, in the dunes of the cape.
I'm the lady you've looked for, write to me, and escape."

If you do not have any bad lyrics with you on Novemeber 6, don't worry, you can still read your own poetry through out the evening at the open mic.

Remember that the December edition of Albany Poets Presents is the Second Annual Airing of Grievances and Feats of Strength.  Stay tuned for more details on the "most innovative, interesting, and irrelevant annual event at a poetry and spoken word open mic in upstate New York".

Albany Poets Presents Tonight at Valentines

We hope you had a great weekend and were able to rest up because October is promising to be another great month of poetry.

Tonight is Albany Poets Presents at Valentines, 17 New Scotland Avenue, Albany NY. 7:30 sign-up, 8:00PM start. Hosted by our own Fancy Leader, Thom Francis.

Wednesday is Cafe Lena in Saratoga.

Thursday is vOLUME at Prof Java in Colonie.

Wednesday October 10th is Live From The Living Room at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Albany. *This is a straight friendly reading.*

Friday, October 12th, 7:00PM, UAG Gallery on Lark Street in Albany, we are proud to present Allen Fisher. For more info on the event go to www.albanypoets.com

Yikes, that is just the first two weeks of October.  Remember to pace yourselves through poetry.

Allen Fisher in Albany For Two Events

English poet, painter, scholar and publisher Allen Fisher will be in Albany on Friday, October 12, 2007 for two events.

12:35PM: Lecture
HU 354, Humanities Building, University at Albany
Sponsored by the Department of English, The University at Albany

“CONFIDENCE IN LACK”
Allen Fisher's talk will address and skirt around the problems for poetics (and thus poets) with logical thought and ideas of coherence. The thesis is to celebrate a confidence in lack, a celebration of decoherence and the potentials of neg-entropy.

7:00PM: Poetry Reading
Upstate Artists Guild Gallery, 247 Lark Street, Albany NY 12210
Sponsored by Jaw-Bone Reading Series, Albany Poets, and the New York State Writers Institute. 

Allen Fisher is a poet, painter, publisher, editor and art historian, lives in Hereford, Crewe and ‘in transit’, works at the Manchester Metropolitan University, Cheshire, where he is Head of Contemporary Arts. He has exhibited in many shows including London 2003, Hereford 1994 and York 1993. Examples are in the Tate, the Living Museum, Iceland and various private collections. His last four books were Place, Entanglement, Gravity and Singularity Stereo. The third and final volume of the poet’s twenty-three year project Gravity as a consequence of shape will be published later this year by Salt Publishing under the title Leans.

Albany Poets on MySpace

Did you know that there are many poets that are not only on the Albany Poets website, but also on the social networking powerhouse, MySpace? Here are some of the area poets and spoken word artists that can be found on MySpace.

Marcus Andserson and Leo (Inkog and Mr. Gone), Marcus Anderson, Shaun Baxter, Dain Brammage, R.M. Engelhardt, The Poet Essence, A.C. Everson, Thom Francis, Pierre Joris, Margot Malia, Mojavi, Noah Nattell, Daniel Nester, Nicole Peyrafitte, Cheryl A. Rice, James Schlett, Alifair Skebe, K.J. Spencer, Stacey Stump, Dan Wilcox, and Hollice Danielle Wiles.

Of course you can start out with Albany Poets own page and go from there.

For more links to poets and other resources be sure to check out our links page. If you would like to be added to the links page, send us a brief email to info@albanypoets.com and let us know about yourself and your website.

Poetry Returns to LarkFEST This Saturday

Albany Poets will be back at LarkFEST this Saturday on the Hometown Stage and in our very own Poetry Tent on the corner of Lark and Chestnut. The poetry starts at noon in the poetry tent with Chris Brabham and continues throughout the day.

Be sure to come by and pick up your copy of OTHER:EIGHT.

Here is the schedule for the Hometown Stage and the Poetry Tent

11:30 – Last Conspirators
12:00 – Chris Brabham (in the Poetry Tent)
12:10 – Hannah Imbesi
12:30 – Erik Sweet (in the Poetry Tent)
12:40 – Albany Poets Dain Brammage, Mary Panza, and Thom Francis with John Weiler, K.J. Spencer, and more
1:10 – Carol Graser (in the Poetry Tent)
1:20 – Gay Tastee
1:45 – John Raymond (in the Poetry Tent)
1:55 – Ramblin’ Jug Stompers
2:20 – Shaun Baxter (in the Poetry Tent)
2:30 – Jim Gaudet
3:00 – Debra Bump w/John Weiler (in the Poetry Tent)
3:10 – Palatypus
3:50 – Mother Judge and Mitch Elrod
4:25 – Ben Karis
5:00 – Black Fuel

Dain Brammage on The Edge

That headline does not have any hidden meanings, you read that right, Dain Brammage will be on The Edge. 

This Sunday night, September 9, at 10:00PM Dain Brammage and Mary Panza will be on 104.9 FM, The Edge, with Ralph Renna on the Capital Underground show.  Dain will be performing a couple of his poems in the studio during the show.  Dain and Mary will also be talking about the upcoming  LarkFEST event and more. 

For more information on Ralph Renna, Capital Underground, and to listen live on your computer on Sunday night, go to The Edge's website. 

Poets Performing in the Poetry Tent at LarkFEST 2007

Local poets Shaun Baxter, Debbie Bump (with John Weiler on guitar), Caffe Lena open mic host Carol Graser, John Raymond, and Erik Sweet will be performing their poetry and spoken word in the Poetry Tent throughout the day during LarkFEST on Saturday, September 15. 

Check back for information on more poets and artists that will be performing at this years event.

OTHER:EIGHT To Be Released at Valentines on Tuesday, September 4

As announced last night at Poets Speak Loud at the Lark Tavern, we will be releasing the newest issue of OTHER: next Tuesday, September 4 at Valentines (17 New Scotland Ave., Albany) during our monthly open mic for poetry, music, and spoken word. 

OTHER:EIGHT has poetry from Lilibet Ana, Farrah Nayka Ashline, Alan Catlin, Michael Conner, Ann E. Cotrupi, Brian Dorn, The Poet Essence, A.C. Everson, Melissa Foster, Matt Galletta, Jean Holland, Adam Kress, Ford McLain, Steven Minchin, Richard Morell, Sara Murphy, Natalie N. Narine, John Raymond, J. Eric Smith, and Melissa Stafford. 

Also in this issue is a short story from Shaun Baxter, an updated listing of all of the poetry readings and open mics in the area, and a preview of who will be performing at LarkFEST 2007 on September 15.

To preview the poetry in this issue and to check out previous issues, go to www.albanypoets.com/other.

We are now in the process of getting them out to coffee shops, bookstores, and any other location that is willing to carry it.  If you know of a place that would be interested in carrying OTHER:, or if you would like to volunteer to distribute OTHER: throughout the area, send an email to info@albanypoets.com and let us know.

The No Gimmick Open Mic at Valentines is held on the first Tuesday of each month with sign up starting 7:00PM and the open mic beginning at 8:00PM.

POETS SPEAK LOUD Featuring K.J. Spencer

Albany Poets returns to the Lark Tavern for our monthly open mic for poetry and spoken word, Poets Speak Loud, with featured poet K.J. Spencer on Monday, August 27.

K.J. Spencer has been a part of the poetry and music community for many years.  He one of the founders of Think3, a journal from Troy.  He is currently the host of the vOLUME:Music and Poetry series at Professor Java's in Colonie.

POETS SPEAK LOUD takes place at Tess' Lark Tavern (453 Madison Ave., Albany) on the last Monday of each month and is hosted by Mary Panza.  Sign up begins at 7:00PM, the featured poet goes on stage goes on stage at 7:30PM with the open mic following. 

For more poetry open mics and events in and around the Albany area, go to www.albanypoets.com/events. 

LarkFEST 2007

Albany Poets is returning to the Hometown Stage at LarkFEST on Saturday, September 1

5.  We will be presenting poetry and spoken word from local poets and artists on the stage and in the poetry tent through out the day. 

More information on who will be performing at this years event will be announced in the coming weeks, so be sure to check www.albanypoets.com and www.larkstreet.org often for updates.

Read More >>

Poetry This Week

Here are a couple of the poetry and spoken word events that are going on this week in and around Albany.

Wednesday, June 20 at 7:30pm - the Night Sky Cafe Open Mic

Zounds! The Night Sky Cafe Poetry Open Mic

402 Union St, Schenectady, NY. Featuring James Schlett with an open mic hosted by Shaun Baxter with his zany postcards.

Thursday June 21 at 7:00pm – The Third Thursday Poetry Night

The Poetry Motel Foundation presents Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center (33 Central Ave., Albany, NY ) featuring poet Liz King with open mic for poets before and after the feature.
Liz King is a graduate student and a library clerk.  She fancies herself a photographer and a short story writer; likes to jot down observations & notes and call them "poetry"; over-analyzes everything and talks to herself more often than you know; eavesdrops in restaurants.  

There is a $3.00 suggested donation for this poetry reading. For more inofrmation, contact host Dan Wilcox at dwlcx@earthlink.net

Saturday, June 23 at 8:00pm – UUCC Wordsworth Coffeehouse

Come and see and hear redoubtable poets Olga Kronmeyer and Teresa Marta Costa read their smashing poetry at the UUCC Wordsworth Coffeehouse at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Sawkill Rd, Kingston, NY. Admission is $5.00 (or $2.50 if you reaf your own poetry). Open reading hosted by Shirley Powell. For more info, email Shirley at pshirley234@aol.com

For more poetry events and open mics, check out the events calendar.

Poets "Under Cover" in Washington Park

On Saturday, July 7, the Poets in the Park series will begin its 2007 season at the Robert Burns Statue in Washinton Park. 

From host Dan Wilcox:

Poets in the Park has been celebrating poetry in July at the Robert Burns statue in Washington Park, Albany, NY since 1989. The series, formerly run by the late Tom Nattell and now hosted by Dan Wilcox, will continue with readings on Saturdays, July 7 through July 28; the readings start at 7:00 PM and are free & open to the public; donations are accepted. The Robert Burns statue is near where Henry Johnson Blvd. passes through Washington Park and crosses Hudson Ave.

The first reading in the series, on July 7, will be “Under Cover: Albany Poets read Albany Poets” in which the poets will be reading the poems of other local poets. This program is being coordinated by Thom Francis of Albany Poets(www.albanypoets.com)

The schedule of readings is:
July 14: Catilin Meissner & Chris Brobham
July 21: P. R. Dyjak & Barbara Louise Ungar
July 28: Alison Koffler & Dayl Wise

Please bring your own chairs or blankets to sit on. Rain dates for each event are the following Sunday, same time, same place.

Poet in the Park is ponsored by the Poetry Motel Foundation. For more information contact Dan Wilcox, at dwlcx@earthlink.net; 518-482-0262.

New Photos of Poetry Events and Open Mics

We have just posted new photos from recent poetry and spoken word events and open mics in the photos section of the website.

These three new galleries are from the Night Sky Café Open Mic (Wednesday, May 16, 2007), Poets Speak Loud (Tuesday, May 22, 2007) and the Song of Myself Reading in Washington Park (Thursday, May 31, 2007).

Also, be sure to check out Dan Wilcox’s blog to read his reviews of the events. Just click on the event title to go to his website, Night Sky Café, Poets Speak Loud, Song of Myself.