Albany Poets… in Pittsfield on Monday, February 18

Albany Poets is very proud to be a part of the 10×10 Poetry Festival in Pittsfield on Monday night, February 18. Local poets Shannon Shoemaker, Kevin Peterson, Algorhythm, Jill Crammond, Dan Wilcox, and Mojavi will be representing the poets and spoken word artists of Albany at one of the seven poetry events that will be taking place during this week-long arts festival. The 10×10 Poetry Festival is another great event series from our friends at WordXWord.

WordXWord presents the second annual 10×10 Poetry Festival, February 17 – 23, 2013 as part of the 10×10 Upstreet Arts Festival. This celebration of words will include performances from a wide range of writers and poets ranging from up-and-coming teen writers to well-established, published professionals, including a special appearance by poet, performer and LGBTQ advocate Joanna Hoffman to close the festival. All events will take place at Y Bar, 391 North Street, Pittsfield, MA and will begin promptly at 8P. Admission is free.

The 10×10 Upstreet Arts Festival is a collaboration with Barrington Stage Company and the City of Pittsfield and coordinated through a steering committee that includes the Beacon Cinema, Berkshire International Film Festival (BIFF), Berkshire Museum, Lichtenstein Center for the Arts and the City of Pittsfield, Mission Bar + Tapas, and y bar. For more information, visit discoverpittsfield.com/10X10, find 10X10 Upstreet on Facebook, or contact the City of Pittsfield’s Office of Cultural Development at 413-499-9348.

Here is the schedule of poetry readings for the whole week. We also have all of this information on the Albany Poets calendar (that you can subscribe to).

February 17
Young Poets
The week kicks off Sunday evening with talented young, high-school aged poets from six different schools in Berkshire County. Poets include Rachel André (Pittsfield High School), Katelyn Snow (McCann Tech), Meagan Fraser (Miss Hall’s School), Kyle Clairmont (Drury High School), Jan R. Jurchak (Bard College at Simon’s Rock), Ingrid Olsen (Drury), Jeanette Lambert (Berkshire Arts And Technology Charter School), and Caitlin Mayes (BART).

February 18
Albany Poets -> Pittsfield
Second up on the schedule is a diverse group of slam, spoken word, and page poets from Albany Poets including Kevin Peterson, Jill Crammond, Mojavi, Dan Wilcox, Shannon Shoemaker, Algorhythm, and Thom Francis.

February 19
Writers Room Open Mic hosted by Gabriel Squailia
The WXW Writers Room Open Mic night takes on a special character to celebrate 10×10 Upstreet. Host Gabriel Squailia will keeps things moving and the energy up – this is NOT your grandmother’s open mic night!

February 20
Melissa Quirk
Melissa Quirk is a poet, performer, and teacher who has performed in various local slams, including Western Mass championships and the first WXW slam. Ms Quirk who frequently finds herself in the neutral corner as WXW’s favorite slam master, takes center stage for a program of her original work.

February 21
Nakeida Bethel-Smith (aka Lady Nakeida)
Pittsfield’s Lady Nakeida appeared as part of WXW’s Page+Stage program last summer. For 10×10 Nakeida returns to present a program of her original work. “I’m a woman of many shoes, you never know which pair I’m wearing, but know I’ll wear them well and confidently!”

February 22
Marie-Elizabeth Mali
Marie-Elizabeth returns to the Writers Room with selections from her published and newer work. Ms Mali is the author of Steady, My Gaze (Tebot Bach, 2011) and co-editor with Annie Finch of the anthology, Villanelles (Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets, 2012).

February 23
Joanna Hoffman
Joanna Hoffman is a poet, performer, teaching artist and LGBTQ advocate and ten-year veteran of competitive performance poetry, or slam. Joanna has featured at schools, venues and festivals across the country, including the Smithsonian Institution and the Atlanta Queer Poetry Festival. Her work has appeared in decomP, Spindle,Sinister Wisdom and as part of the recent GirlChild Press anthology, Women’s Work and the Jewish lesbian poetry anthology Milk and Honey. Her full-length book of poetry will be published by Sibling Rivalry Press in August 2013.

All of the readings for WXW 10×10 Poetry Festival (February 17 – 23) take place at yBar, 391 North Street, Pittsfield, MA starting promptly at 8:00pm. For more information, go to the WordXWord website – WXW365.org.