On Monday, May 27, since it is a holiday and the weather is getting nicer, we will be welcoming two featured readers to Poets Speak Loud. Local literary giants Mary Panza and Avery will be teaming up for a great one-two punch of poetry and spoken word as they are both also celebrating their birthdays.
These two poets are familiar faces in the Albany poetry community. Mary was the originator of the Borders open mic on Wolf Road in the late-90’s. She was one of the producers responsible for the great CD Volume (which you can purchase here) that documented the poetry scene as it was at that time. Recently Mary has been the featured poet at Caffe Lena in Saratoga as well as voted Best Local Poet 2013 in Metroland’s Reader Poll.
Mary Panza has been a mainstay on the Albany Poetry scene since 1988. She has been witness to countless open mics, naked poets, fires, drunks, chapbooks, career changes, organizations (both coming and going), festivals and great poetry and spoken word.
She is Vice President of Albany Poets and host of POETS SPEAK LOUD! a monthly open mic held the last Monday of each month at McGeary’s in Albany.
Mary has begun to document her life as a mother, former swimsuit model and international playgirl in her bi-weekly column(exclusively on the Albany Poets website), entitled Housewife Tuesday.
Avery is one of the most creative poets on the scene right now mixing words and imagery and taking the audeience on a journey of sound and emotion as he performs. Avery is also an accomplished slam poet, he recently participated in the 2013 Team Nitty Gritty Grand Slam at Valentine’s for a spot on this years slam team representing Albany and Nitty Gritty Slam.
Avery is a psycho-spiritual philosopher poet and board member of the Albany Poets from upstate New York. He has been turning everyday experience, cosmic insight and philosophic questioning into lyrical portraits and sharing them in the Albany area for over 15 years. He has performed as a feature at Poets Speak Loud at The Lark Street Tavern, at the Pride Center in Albany, at the St. Poem Series on Lark Street, and at the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in Wappingers Falls, NY.
Poets Speak Loud is a monthly open mic for poetry and spoken word with a featured poet hosted by local poet Mary Panza at McGeary’s (4 Clinton Square, Albany) in downtown Albany on the last Monday of each and every month for the past eight years. Sign-up for the open mic is 7:00pm, we start around 8pm.
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