The 2018 Albany Word Fest is right around the corner. In just 10 days our week-long celebration of the poetry and spoken word kicks off at the Hudson River Coffee House.
Once again this year we have a little something for everyone – featured performances, open mics, the launch of the sixth edition of Up The River, the 24-hour Readings Against the End of the World, and the just announced 6th Annual Word Fest Invitational Slam.
A Festival of Featured Poets and Performances
The week begins on Monday, April 16, with The Word Fest Night of Features – an evening of poetry and prose featuring regional poets and writers Harvey Havel, Danielle Pouliot, Adam Tedesco, Joe Krausman, Poetyc Visionz, and Olivia McKee, hosted by Brian Dorn at the Hudson River Coffee House.
On Wednesday. April 18, we head over to Restaurant Navona for Albany Poets Presents. For the 2018 Word Fest edition, we welcome local poet, writer, artist, and performer D. Colin to share her work and then take questions from the audience about life, inspirations, writing, and more.
For the third reading of the week, poet W.D. Clarke is the featured reader at the Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center on Central Avenue. There will be an open mic before and after the feature for poets to share their work.
24 Hours of Words
For the biggest event of the 2018 Albany Word Fest, Albany Poets and the English Department at UAlbany are once again presenting Readings Against the End of the World, a 24-hour read-a-thon to benefit the South End Children’s Cafe.
The event will begin Friday, April 20 at 7:00 p.m. at the Husted Hall Café on the UAlbany Downtown campus, and will continue until Saturday, April 21.
Online sign up for the open mic portions of Readings Against the End of the World is now open at http://bit.ly/2018RAEW.
Some of the over 50 poets already signed up include: Brian Dorn, Betty Zerbst, Luis “L-Majesty” Pabon, Don Levy, Tess Lecuyer, R.M. Engelhardt, Matt Galletta, Karen Fabiane, James Duncan, Therese Broderick, Charlie Rossiter, Avery Stempel, Algorhythm, Howard Kogan, Bob Sharkey, Alan Casline, Sylvia Barnard, Nancy Klepsch, Jan Tramontano, Carol Graser, Teresa Costa, D. Alexander Holiday, Karen Schoemer, Alan Catlin, Cheryl A. Rice, The Poet Essence, and Mike Jurkovic.
Two of the special performance blocks include a midnight theater and a Saturday morning youth reading:
Players in Search of an Audience, A Theatrical Potluck
Saturday, April 21 Midnight until 1:30 am.
Readings, Theater Games, Impromptu Performances, Bewitching Fun for the Witching Hour!
RAEW Young Writers
Saturday, April 21st 9–11 am.
Sign up: Parents can sign up children under 16 during one of the ½ hour blocks. We are currently accepting about 10 readers for each ½ hour block (9:00-9:30, 9:30-10:00, 10:00-10:30, and 10:30-11:00). Young writers may read prose, poetry, or a favorite author. Please make sure your young writer’s material is appropriate for a youth audience. Email Prose.poetry.and.more@gmail.com to register and more information
Sunday Slam!
Finally, on Sunday, April 22, the 2018 Albany Word Fest comes to an end as Nitty Gritty Slam welcomes teams from all over the Northeast to compete for prizes and bragging rights in the 6th Annual Word Fest Invitational Slam starting at 2:00 p.m. at Troy Kitchen in downtown Troy. This event is the perfect exclamation point on an amazing week of open mics, featured readings, and dynamic poetry and spoken word.
The 2018 Albany Word Fest is sponsored by Albany Poets, English Department at UAlbany, Hudson Valley Writers Guild, Restaurant Navona, The Low Beat, McGeary’s Irish Pub, The Social Justice Center, Troy Kitchen, and the very generous donations of supporters of the arts in upstate New York.
