The 2017 Albany Word Fest will kick off on Monday, April 17 at the Hudson River Coffee House on Quail Street with a Night of Features.
Host Harvey Havel presents a night of poetry, prose, and spoken word from Sylvia Barnard, Brian Dorn, Jacqueline Kirkpatrick, Daniel Nester, and Poetyc Visionz.
Sylvia Barnard is originally from Shelburne, Massachusetts. She was a tenured associate professor of classics at UAlbany where she taught for 44 years until she was thrown out in the Humanities Massacre of 2011. Sylvia has been teaching Latin at the Doane Stuart School as independent study since 2011 and now has 14 students at various levels.
Brian Dorn is a man of his word (which happens to rhyme most of the time). He is a graduate of the University at Albany (NY) and SUNY Adirondack. Many of Brian’s poems can be found in his book, From My Poems To Yours (The Live Versions) and on his website at www.briandorn.com.
Jacqueline Kirkpatrick is native of Nowhere, NY but currently resides in Albany. Her work has been published in Creative Nonfiction, The Rumpus and Thought Catalog. She is a graduate of the now non-existent M.F.A. program at The College of Saint Rose. She is also terrible at writing bios.
Daniel Nester is the author of Shader: 99 Notes on Car Washes, Making Out in Church, Grief, and Other Unlearnable Subjects (99: The Press 2015). Previous books include How to Be Inappropriate (Soft Skull, 2010), God Save My Queen I and II (Soft Skull, 2003 and 2004), and The Incredible Sestina Anthology (Write Bloody, 2014), which he edited. He teaches writing at The College of Saint Rose in Albany, NY.
Poetyc Visionz is a recognized and respected National Poet. He has performed all across the nation and has won a spot on 4 National Slam Teams representing Albany, NY. As a member of the Nitty Gritty Slam Poetry Team, Poetyc Visionz is a 2-time Empire State Slam Champion, a 2014 QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way) Slam Champion and has placed 2nd in the Toronto International Poetry Slam. He currently teaches ELA and History at ACCS Middle School in Albany, NY.
