Poet, Peace Activist — Host of the Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center in Albany NY, member of 3 Guys from Albany, & photographer who has “the world’s largest collection of photos of unknown poets.” Active member of Veterans for Peace. For listings of upcoming poetry events see the calendar on www.albanypoets.com & on www.poetz/hudson.
Back at the Social Justice Center, a wonderful night of the voices of “regulars” & new voices too. We began the reading invoking the night’s muse, poet Bob Kaufman with a couple of his poems. Tonight’s featured poet is frequently first on the sign…
A busy poetry day for me. After the Poetry + Prose reading in Troy I high-tailed it down to Kingston to the Arts Society of Kingston, 97 Broadway, for a special reading by 10 hosts of area open mics. Unfortunately Cheryl Rice who had been scheduled t…
The second Sunday at 2 reading at the Arts Center of the Capital District in Troy, NY, with tag-team hosts Nancy Klepsch & me, Dan Wilcox. It was an eclectic mix of writers (which, of course, was the intent when the Arts Center started this open m…
After competing in the Slam for the last few times, & coming in 2nd in Slam #10, I was a judge for the first time tonight. I read in the open mic & not in the Slam, & thus eligible to be a judge. I have my “issues,” as folks like to…
The house was packed for the 2 featured poets, Stu Bartow & Paul Pines, but, of course, much thinned out by the time the last open mic reader hit the stage. But first, our host, Carol Graser, began with a poem titled “A Bowl of Warm Air” by Moniza…
Since 2005 this has been an annual event, first at the Lark Tavern, now at McGeary’s on Clinton Square in Albany (NY). We started in 2005 when Poets Speak Loud! began as an open mic on the last Monday in January. Tom Nattell, who had been the host of…
After the Yes! Reading I raced (not quite) up Central Ave. to WAMC’s Linda Auditorium for the monthly gathering of UGT. I thought I’d be late, but Mojavi had just taken the stage & was talking about getting smacked as a kid by his mother in the supermarket. He must’ve been soooo cute!
Somehow there has (almost) always been conflicts in the world of Albany arts with this series that brings in a variety of young writers/artists tied to the academic world. But tonight the conflict was what the newspapers, in referring to a non-plane crash, a “near-miss”
I stopped in a the UAG Gallery on Lark St. in Albany, NY on the First Friday Gallery Walk to take in their exhibit “Occupy the UAG,” art from/inspired by the Occupy Albany movement. The art was compelling, varied and affordable.
At some of the previous Slams here at Valentines, notably #9, the scores were so uniformly high, no matter what was performed, that it was like the judges were all clones, or smoking on the same crack pipe.
Unbeknownst to me, the December version of this regular monthly open mic held at the UAG Gallery that had been titled “Occupy the Word” had been postponed. So this month’s version of the St. Poem series was on the theme of political pieces inspired by the Occupy Albany.
Nancy Klepsch and; I were back together again as co-hosts after a couple of months of playing tag-team. It has always surprised me how many folks show up on a Sunday afternoon for poetry, but, hey, I like surprises.
The Hudson Valley Writers Guild supports the efforts of writers in all genres by sponsoring readings, workshops, and contests and providing a number of valuable resources for the entire literary community.
