We are very excited about this year’s Albany Word Fest. This is by far going to be the biggest event and we can’t wait until everything begins on Monday, April 17.
The week kicks off on Monday evening with a Night of Features at the Hudson River Coffee House on Quail Street. Host Harvey Havel has a great group of readers – Sylvia Barnard, Brian Dorn, Jacqueline Kirkpatrick, Daniel Nester, and Poetyc Visionz – scheduled to begin our week of poetry and spoken word.
Tuesday night brings us to the annual Haiku Battle at The Low Beat. Nitty Gritty Slam is once again hosting this evening of fun competition where two poets battle it out on stage all with just 17 syllables.
On Wednesday Night Albany Poets Presents R.M. Engelhart at Restuarant Navona on New Scotland Ave. Thom Francis will host this reading with the founder of Albany Poets and the poet who originally hosted the first three Albany Word Fests. The reading will be followed by a conversation and Q&A with the audience.
On Thursday night there are two opportunities to be a part of the Word Fest as the poetry heads to the Social Justice Center with the Third Thursday Poetry Night hosted by Dan Wilcox. This monthly poetry series welcomes poets to step up to the mic and share their work along with featured reader Kathleen McCoy.
There will also be the second annual Lark Street Poetry Walk with Daniel Nester‘s students from the College of Saint Rose reciting work on the corners of Lark Street from the Washington Avenue Armory CDTA bus stop to Madison Avenue.
On Friday night the annual Word Fest Open Mic is back but with a twist. We are bringing back the 24-hour Readings Against the End of the World with the UAlbany English Department, to benefit the South End Children’s Café.
Readings Against the End of the World still needs word-lovers and writers to share readings – original work or favorite passages, poems and rants, raps and stories, spoken word and personal visions- to fill the 24 hours with the power of words. The event will kick off Friday, April 21 at 7 p.m. at the Husted Hall Café on the UAbany Downtown campus with readings from some of the participants of the original Readings Against the End of the World – Darby Penny, Nancy Kleptch, Ken Denberg, Charlie Rossiter, and Jeanne Finley.
Finally, on Saturday, April 22, the Word Fest comes to an end as Nitty Gritty Slam welcomes teams from all over the Northeast to compete in the Word Fest Invitational Slam starting at 7:00 p.m. at Troy Kitchen in downtown Troy. Poets from Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, and Rochester will be competing for prizes and bragging rights. Following the team slam, there will be an individual competition open to all.
The 2017 Albany Word Fest is sponsored by Albany Poets, Hudson Valley Writers Guild, The Low Beat, McGeary’s Irish Pub, The Social Justice Center and the very generous donations of supporters of the arts in upstate New York.
Be sure to check www.albanywordfest.com often for details and information on 2017 Albany Word Fest.
