Two Hudson Valley poets with their own distinctive voices, Ken Holland and Mary Panza, will be the featured readers when Poetry at the Hudson meets at the Athens Cultural Center, 24 Second Street, on Saturday, October 20, 2007 at 2 p.m. An open mike will be part of the event.
Ken, who lives in East Fishkill, has had fiction and poetry published in a dozen-plus literary journals, including the Portland Review, the Laurel Review, Poem, American Poets & Poetry, and Lullwater Review. He has poetry forthcoming in Blue Unicorn. The story published in the Laurel Review was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Ken placed second in this year’s Vanguard Voices Poetry Competition, judged by Eamon Grennan, and he is the recipient of a New York State Arts Council writing fellowship based on a fiction competition in which he placed first. He works for one of the major publishing houses in New York City and has been making that long commute for the last twenty-five years.
Mary, a mainstay of Albany poetry since 1988, is the vice president of Albany Poets, a non-for-profit dedicated to bringing poetry and spoken word to the Capital Region and beyond. She originated and hosted the poetry open mike at Border’s; is the host of the Albany Poets’ monthly poetry open mike, “Poets Speak Loud,” at the Lark Tavern; has been the host of the singer/songwriter stage at the annual LarkFEST street fair since 2004; and is the poetry editor for Chronogram: Capital Region Edition. Mary has been published in countless underground zines over the last nineteen years.
The readings will be hosted by area poet Bob Wright. There is a suggested donation of $3. To reach the Cultural Center, proceed on NY 385 into the village of Athens and turn west onto Second Street; it is the second building on the right. For additional information, call 518-444-4561.
