POETS SPEAK LOUD is a monthly open mic for poetry and spoken word with a featured poet. This mic is hosted by local poets Thom Francis and Mary Panza.

POETS SPEAK LOUD is 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.

The next POETS SPEAK LOUD is October 29 featuring Phillip Levine followed by an open mic for poetry, music, and spoken word.

Phillip Levine is a poet, an actor, a director & a yurt dweller. He is a four-year alumnus of the Chenango Valley Writers' Conference where he worked with Bruce Smith, Tom Sleigh and Kelly Cherry. He was a scholarship attendee and invited reader in 2002, 2003 and 2004. He has been a featured reader at numerous venues in NYC and the Mid-Hudson Valley, including The Cornelia Street Cafe, The Bowery Poetry Club and ABC No Rio. Phillip is poetry editor for the Mid-Hudson Magazine Chronogram and the online journal Entelechy: Mind and Culture. He has been the host for 3+ years of the poetry open-mic every Monday night "forever"at the Colony Cafe in Woodstock, NY, and is the president of the Woodstock Poetry Society. He was a recent guest of Paul Elisa on WAMC-FM (NE Public Radio), of Doug Gruntheron WDST-FM, a featured poet at both the 2001 and 2002 Woodstock Poetry Festivals and competed in the 2000 National Poetry Slam.

PREVIOUS FEATURES

January 31, 2005: A Tribute to Tom Nattell
Tom was one of the foundations of the lively poetry reading scene in Albany. During the 1980’s & 1990’s he coordinated the annual 24-hour Readings Against the End of the World and ran the monthly poetry open mic at the QE2. He also initiated Albany’s first Poets Action Against AIDS and has run the Poets in the Park program each July at the Robert Burns statue. He wrote a bi-weekly column, “Simple Life”, for Metroland, and was a member of the poetry performance group, 3 Guys from Albany.

To read more about the many contributions Tom Nattell made to the Albany community CLICK HERE.

February 28, 2005: Emily Gonzalez
Emily Gonzalez is a graduate from Lehman college in the Bronx, NY. As a student she served as Managing editor of the Meridian, the college newspaper, Chief Editor of Signatures, Lehman’s literary magazine and president of Footnotes, the college literary club.

She was host of The Poet's Say, a monthly poetry open mic in Albany that began as a small poetry discussion group at Borders Books and Music and has been a featured poet at The School of Night, Live in the Living Room, Changing Spaces and The Lark Street Book Shop open mic poetry readings as well as being featured on The Albany Poets website.

She’s had three poems published in Albany’s alternative weekly newspaper, the Metroland, wrote a monthly article for Suite101.com and has been reading and writing poetry since the age of ten.

March 28, 2005: The Poet Essence
I am a 27year old Soul-Blessed woman. When I write, I speak of knowledge learned and experienced, not "collegially" taught. These poetic verses are not to be associated with the typical reading material so frequently distributed as best seller's because of clout and degrees. I am an Activity Director, who thrives to please the elderly, as well as enhancing the quality of life so frequently ignored in the geriatric population. ( Dementia/Alzheimer's). I have been a classified poet for a little over 13years, it is now in my middle stages of life I recognized my gift of free speech. I look to ignite an idea, thought or a solution within each individual I come in contact with. My ultimate goal is to be mimicked through-out history now and then...

I have performed in the following places: ShowTime at the Apollo, Harlem ,NY performed about 7x within the last 2 years taking first place on October 5,2002, November 13, 2002, and returning for the showdown winning third place December 20, 2003. Most recently performed on April 28, 2004. Open mike spots includes: Featured Poet @ Chingy's ( Phila. Pa), Blue Note,( NY, NY), New Age Cabaret ( Albany, NY) June 15, 2004@ Bayou Cafe Albany, NY Performed @ Valentine's open mike, Fuze box, Lark Tavern, Soul Kitchen, etc.,African American Blackfest (2 years in the row), Local Block parties etc., Mother's Earth cafe ( Albany, NY).

April 25, 2005: Cheryl A. Rice
I am a Long Islander by birth, although I have made New York's Hudson Valley my home for more than twenty years. I am a member of Voices of the Valley, a poetry performance troupe, the Poetry Society of Woodstock, the Academy of American Poets, and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Worker. I have been featured at or organized open poetry mics from Albany to Middletown. I am the founder and host of the 'Sylvia Plath Bake-Off', held each year in Kingston, NY, perhaps the world's only combination open mic/baked goods competition. I was honored to be one of the many local poets featured at the first annual Woodstock Poetry Festival in August of 2001, and hosted an open mic during the 2002 edition.

I hold a B.S. in Secondary Education/English from the State University of New York, College at New Paltz, and completed a year of graduate work at the University at Albany. I have also had the pleasure of attending two poetry workshops at The Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY with former NYS Poet Laureate Sharon Olds.

May 23, 2005: Michael Eck
"For those keeping score at home, Michael Eck has recorded and performed with Aimee Mann, Jon Brion, 10,000 Maniacs and Hamell on Trial, (who dedicated his 1992 indie release "A Letter To Mike" to Eck). He has opened shows for Ani DiFranco, Jeff Buckley, Ben Folds Five, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Alejandro Escovedo, Dave Van Ronk, Jonatha Brooke, Richard Buckner, Leon Russell and so many others. He is also the host of the long-running Borders SongWriter's Forum -- which has presented over 100 artists since its inception in 1994."

From michaeleck.com

June 27, 2005: Mother Judge and Gennessee
Mother Judge has been performing her poetry and music to crowds all around the area for a number of years. Mother Judge has hosted open mics and organized many events in support of the talent of the artists, poets, and musicians of the area. She most recently played at the 2005 Albany Word Fest.

Gennessee was born in Rochester, NY, raised in the Dominican Republic and is currently residing in Springfield, MA. In 2001 she began focusing her attention on poetry and in the latter part of that year chose to extend her work into spoken word. She began to meet other poets who shared the same love for performance poetry and held the same passion she had for uplifting communities through the use of this art form. She was soon deeply involved in the creation of Prysmatic Dreams, an online community for poets designed to unite writers from diverse backgrounds to revolutionize the industry.

Gennessee has traveled and performed her work throughout the tri-state area and as a writer, she is working to break down barriers and share her work through performance and art.

July 25, 2005: Yesod and Rich Tomasulo
Yesod-Fredrick Douglas Knowles is a Poet-Educator from Norwich, CT. In 2001, he was a member of the Connecticut National Poetry Slam Team and published his debut chapbook, Free Your Mind and Freedom will Follow. In 2002, he developed Social-Emotional Artistry (SEA), an interactive series of workshops that infuse creative writing and the educating of life skills for youth and adolescents. In 2003, his poem state of emergency was featured in the Martin Luther King Jr. Anthology, published by the Yale Peabody Museum. Also in 2003, the Connecticut weekly magazine The Scope published his poem dejá vu. In 2004 he was the winner of the Top Dog Underdog Competition sponsored by Hartford Stage Company and Hot 93.7 FM Radio. Also in 2004 and 2005, his poem for a day was featured in the production Plays for Poetry by the East Haddam Stage Company.

In 2005, his poems; final trimester, the meaning of life, natural law, moving day, and shall we? from his manuscript Daystar…Leave the Light On, were featured in the 13th Annual Acacia Group Conference at California State University, Fullerton. He placed Third in Folio, a literary journal competition published by Southern Connecticut State University where he is currently enrolled in the English MA program. In 2005, Yesod also completed his debut CD entitled: “The Conduit.”

Rich Tomasulo moved to Albany in 1995, and he's been active in the poetry open mic scene for the last three years. He occasionally ventures into prose. Most of his writing occurs in restaurants.

For a sample of Rich's poetry CLICK HERE.

August 29, 2005: Alan Catlin and A.C. Everson
Alan Catlin has bene publishing in the "littles" and the not so "littles" since the middle 70's. To date he has over forty-five chapbooks of prose and poetry to his credit and he expects a selected poems, Drunk and Disorderly, from Pavement Saw Press in Spring of 2003. He also expects a book of short fiction, Death Angels, from Four-Sep Press by mid-2003 and has the fifth book of his Killer Drink Series, Screaming Mimis, on tap from Butcher Shoppe. He is at work on the sixth book, The Black Hole Martini among several other things.

September 26, 2005: Jil Hanifan
jil hanifan has been a contributor to the arts and poetry scene in albany for two decades. A regular member of the "EveryOtherTuesday" poetry workshop, she has read locally at such events as "Readings Against the End of the World," "Poets Action Against Aids," and more recently, "Fire and Ice" and "Voices and Bells." Her simultenaity, "Hangar Round" is part of the group installation "Words in Transit" currently on display at the Albany International Airport, and a chapbook, "weathergirl: the wind rose" was published by TA'wil Press in Albany. She is currently the Director of the Writing Center at SUNY at Albany.

October 31, 2005: Nicole Peyrafitte
Born & raised in Luchon, French Pyrenees, Nicole Peyrafitte left her hometown, where she was a cook, in 1981. Lived in Toulouse & Paris where she modeled, cooked and worked for theater and local television. Arrived in the United States in 1987. First settled in Southern California and moved to Albany New York in 1992 where she still is. Like the willful child in Marguerite Duras' Les Enfants, she resisted going to school, "because they were trying to teach me things that I didn't know." Each step of her work attempts to fulfill her compulsion to learn through a process of immersion that generates performances incorporating voice/paintings/drawings/ collages/writing & even cooking. Peyrafitte performs locally, nationally and in Europe.

November 28, 2005: Oren Silverman
Oren is originally from Brooklyn, NY and is in his final year at SUNY- Albany. He has spent the last four years preparing himself for having no idea what to do with his life. He has kept his sanity by being a member of the campus poetry group, Spread the Word.

December 26, 2005: Lacy O'Brien

January 30, 2006: A Tribute to Tom Nattell
Tom was one of the foundations of the lively poetry reading scene in Albany. During the 1980’s & 1990’s he coordinated the annual 24-hour Readings Against the End of the World and ran the monthly poetry open mic at the QE2. He also initiated Albany’s first Poets Action Against AIDS and has run the Poets in the Park program each July at the Robert Burns statue. He wrote a bi-weekly column, “Simple Life”, for Metroland, and was a member of the poetry performance group, 3 Guys from Albany.

February 27, 2006: R.M. Engelhardt
Poet & writer R.M. Engelhardt is the host of the monthly open mic/spoken word event LISTEN! at Red Square and has been published in such journals and online zines as Retort!,Poetry Magazine, Outsider Ink.com, Sure! The Charles Bukowski Newsletter, SpokenWar.com, The Georgetown Review, Getunderground.com, Thunder Sandwich, My Favorite Bullet in and many many others. He is also the founder of such poetry groups as Albanypoets.org, The Albany Word Scene as well as the Central Muse Division.

April 24, 2006: Dain Brammage and more
On Monday, April 24 we bring the Word Fest to a close with Poets Speak Loud, our monthly open mic at the Lark Tavern. This month we will have a poetry and spoken word open mic with featured poet Dain Brammage as well as Michael Eck, Nicole Peyrafitte, and the winner of the first Lark Tavern Singer Songwriter Contest for a special benefit for local musician Paddy Kilrain.

May 22, 2006: Amanda Stahl
Amanda Stahl is coming back onto the poetry scene after a rather long hiatus. She previously hosted the "Alchemy of the Word" poetry open mic and was a featured poet at various venues such as Valentine's, Mother Earth's, & Changing Spaces. She writes most often of love~ love lost, love desired, love taken... and everything inbetween. Survivor of all things irrelevant, she is grateful to all of the local poets who have inspired her in every manner of living.

June 26, 2006: Josh McIntyre
Josh grew up in and all around the Capital District, and currently resides in Ballston Spa. He has been writing poetry for nearly a decade now. He writes poetry because he cannot sing. Also, he thought it would help him escape the rigors of grammar he associated with prose writing. He was wrong. But he still cannot sing, so he has worked to improve his craft, taken up reading poetry where he can, and sought out what publishing might be available to him. Josh's work has been published in Metroland, Screed, and Modern Drunkard Magazine (sorry, Mom).

July 31, 2006: Rachel Zitomer
Rachel Zitomer has been coming to Albany poetry open mics for the past four years. The scene is the subject of her dissertation, "In Celebration of the Ephemeral: Contemporary Poetry Reading Communities Beyond Institutions in Albany, NY," for which she received her PhD from SUNY in 2006. "Three Sides to the Looking Glass: A Poem for Albany, NY," a more concise and pleasing (aesthetically and otherwise) version of the dissertation, was published as a chapbook by APD Press in 2004. She is better known by some as the girl who makes oatmeal butterscotch cookies on demand.

August 28, 2006: Alex Albino
Many moons ago a young girl known as Alexandra Albino came to be in a nice quiet of The Bronx in New York on October 27, 1974. As time went on and she began to grow into a lovely young lady there was definitely something about her that set her apart from the rest of her peers in the neighborhood and in school. She said she was weird, others said that it was a phase, and her mother just flat out called her strange since she felt comfortable reading, listening to music and being in her own company. She was easily entertained by a good book and she really did not care for the same things that other kids in the neighborhood did. With no visible friends or ”normal” social adjustment insight it really appeared that Alex was an odd girl.

Writing became a natural outlet for Alex as soon as she could hold a pencil. At first she only shared her writings with who she kindly regarded to as her invisible friends. In time she grew to trust some teachers and even a few friends (yes she was able to socially adjust) with her work. Alex even worked up the nerve to read at the Nuyorican Poets Café open mic a couple of times and was received with open arms. She finished school and said goodbye to the Bronx. Her many travels brought her to Albany where she was interested in the writing/poetry scene but unfortunate timing and not knowing who really to trust or connect with put her on the sidelines for a while.

Then after tortuous years of struggle and anonymity, Alex came back to her roots. Working as the wacky Puerto Rican bartender at Tess’ Lark Tavern she encountered a certain feisty massage therapist / bar maid by the name of Mary Panza and her sidekick Thom (aka Skippy). They opened up Alex’s hopes of sharing her words in a safe and loving environment and eventually managed to bully, oops I mean encourage Alex to sign up for Word Fest in April 2006. Alex made her big debut on April 21st after several scotches to settle her nerves and once again was well received by the poetry community with open arms.

Truly grateful to have been so fortunate as to have such a gracious welcome back, Alex agreed to be the Poets Speak Loud August feature. Her works range from the hardships of the ghetto, love, being a woman and being Latina to her spiritual growth. Her writing style is simple and straight to the point as if you were reading a page straight out of her journal.

September 25, 2006: Pierre Joris

October 30, 2006: Pat Covert Memorial with Deb Bump
This month we have a very special edition of Poets Speak Loud to pay tribute to and celebrate the life and work of local poet and musician Pat Covert. Featured poet for the evening will be long time friend Deb Bump. Deb was originally set to feature with Pat playing guitar. In light of the recent passing of Pat, we will be presenting this night of poetry, music, and spoken word as a memorial to a truly great friend of the upstate arts community.

November 27, 2006: Robert Milby

December 25, 2006: No Reading Tonight - Christmas Holiday

January 29, 2007: TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY AND BERET TOSS

February 26, 2007: TBA

March 26, 2007: TBA

April 30, 2007: 20th Anniversary of the QE2 Open Mic with special guest host Dan Wilcox

May 22, 2007: John Weiler
**Special Night due to Memorial Day Holiday**

June 25, 2007: Carol Graser
Carol Graser hosts the first Wednesday of the month poetry series at historic Caffe Lena in Saratoga Springs. She’s read her poetry at various events and venues around New York State and her work has been published in many literary journals.

July 30, 2007: Marty Mulenex