The Wednesday Night Poetry Series, through 2011

To view the ongoing series of events which is under new management, please go to:  http://wedpoetry.wordpress.com

From 1994 to 2011, the original Wednesday Night Poetry Series offered a weekly poetry meeting, including an open mic, a featured poet and a writing workshop, with an occassional themed open mic. During all those years through many different venues  WNPS welcomed poets, spoken-word artists, writers, (memoir, fiction, literary, plays, blogs etc) monologists, storytellers, songwriters, musicians (acoustic) and also  - listeners!   Attendees were invited to read their own work  or works by their favorite writers.  We were a a small, warm, friendly environment  that gave an encouraging start to many 1st-time readers!    The series never limited its focus to one kind of poetry – features included both well known “page” and “stage” poets, some from academia and some from slam and everything inbetween.

HISTORY:

How did Wednesday Night Poetry get started?  Two words: Faith Vicinanza. A former Newtown resident, IT Exec, creator of Hanover Press, she began the series around 1994, nurtured it, spent time and money on it, promoted it, got the most interesting poets she could find to read and paid them out of her own pocket,

She began the series at a little book store called the Book Review which was in the Sand Hill Plaza on Route 25 in Newtown. The series soon out-grew the Book Review, which had a tiny little cafe area, and Faith moved it to Doctor Java’s Caffeine Emporium on Greenwood Ave. in Bethel. Over the years it has had many venues .

PAST VENUES include:  (dates approximate)

• The Book Review (Newtown) 1993
• Doctor Java’s (Bethel), 1994-1997
• The Chat House (Newtown),
• Bassett’s (Brookfield),
• The Frame Shop (Bethel),
• The Bethel Art Junction,2000-2005
• Molten Java (Bethel),2005-2009
• The Blue Z Coffeehouse (Newtown) for about six months in 2010
• The Garage (Newtown) 2010-2011

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In 2007, the governance of the series changed as well, falling to an “ad hoc” committee with Mark McGuire-Schwartz as “Executive Director” and co-curator, followed by Robin Sampson as “cat-herder,” i.e. “director of weekly operations” and curator from 2009-2011. Robin recently stepped down, and the “ad hoc”  ”self-selected” management committee – made up of mostly newer paricipants – has begun meeting and is steering the ship. This old web-tender is no longer involved and is not up on the latest doings so check the website, listed above..

 

Faith at “Return of the Hosts” 1-27-2010

 

Mark McGuire-Schwartz at “Return of the Hosts”

 

Cheryl Panosian-Haddad at “Return of the Hosts”

 

Dec 14, 2011 – Putting your poetry collection together / Grinch Night!

Dec 14 – Putting Together Your Poetry Collection – a panel discussion

Wondering what to do with all those poems? Thinking of putting together a collection–of any size? A panel of poets will talk and answer questions about their experience and share useful tips. Panelists to include Brad Davis, Claire Zoghb and Leslie McGrath, and one more to be announced.

Claire Zoghb’s full-length collection, Small House Breathing, won the 2008 Quercus Review Poetry Series Award and was published in fall 2009. A chapbook, Dispatches from Everest, is forthcoming from Pudding House Press. Her work has appeared in Connecticut Review, CALYX, Mizna: Prose, Poetry and Art Exploring Arab America, Natural Bridge, Naugatuck River Review, and in the anthologies Through A Child’s Eyes: Poems and Stories About War, Eating Her Wedding Dress: A Collection of Clothing Poems, and the forthcoming CRUSH. Twice a Pushcart Prize nominee, Claire was the winner of the 2008 Dogwood annual poetry competition. Her poem “Boundaries” was selected by Dorianne Laux for an Honorable Mention in the Crab Creek Review’s 2011 Poetry Contest. Her work was recently featured on www.mediterranean.nu. A freelance book designer and graphic artist, she lives and dines with her Lebanese husband Nicolas in New Haven’s Morris Cove neighborhood and works just across the harbor as Graphics Director at Long Wharf Theatre. Her late father-in-law, a native Alexandrian, continues to be her main muse.

Leslie McGrath is a widely published poet and a former managing editor of Drunken Boat , an online journal of the arts. “My poetry is informed by my training in clinical psychology, as well as a background in Spanish language literature,” she said. Her poetry has appeared in Agni online, Alimentum, Beloit Poetry Journal, DIAGRAM, Poetry Ireland, and elsewhere. Her literary interviews have appeared in the Writer’s Chronicle and on public radio. Winner of the 2004 Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry, her first collection of poetry, Opulent Hunger, Opulent Rage, was published by Main Street Rag Press (2009.) She is also the editor, along with Ravi Shankar, of Radha Says, the posthumous poetry collection of Reetika Vazirani, published by Drunken Boat Press. A chapbook, Toward Anguish was published by the Providence Athenaeum, 2007. Read her poem How To Wolf A Cook on Poetry Liner Notes

Brad Davis has assembled several of his own books: the winning chapbook of the 2005 Sunken Garden Poetry Prize, four books with Antrim House, one with Wipf & Stock, and a chapbook (finalist in two contests) with Finishing Line Press. He is also editor of SUNKEN GARDEN POETRY 1992-2011, an anniversary anthology for Hill-Stead Museum and Wesleyan University Press (May 2012). In addition to editing books, Brad has been an editor of literary magazines since high school, founding Paumanok in 1986, Broken Bridge Review in 2003,and Theodate in 2011. He teaches creative writing at the College of the Holy Cross, and has recently judged two chapbook competitions.
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Faith Vicinanza

Faith Vicinanza is poet, author of numerous chapbooks, a workshop facilitator and educator, a publisher and founder of Hanover Press which has published books from many poets around the state including a former state poet laureate. (She also founded the Wednesday Night Poetry Series). Faith is an advocate for peace, an advocate for the environment, an advocate for children and a long time supporter of poetry and small press activity in the state of Connecticut.

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Dec 7, 2011 – Helen R. Peterson

Dec 7, 2011 —   Helen R. Peterson 
Helen R. Peterson, from Canterbury Connecticut, writes poetry and fiction and is coeditor of The Waterhouse Review. Melons and Memory, her first full length book of poetry, was just published by Little Red Tree Press. Her work has appeared in over 100 publications, both nationally and abroad, and has in the past year read at the Bowery Poetry Club and the Out of the Blue Gallery in Cambridge.

Here’s the Amazon page to buy the book:

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Her blog can be found at: http://mspetersonexplains.wordpress.com/

 

Nov 30, 2011 – Leonard Cohen Song Night / Workshop

Nov 30 – Leonard Cohen Lyrics Open Mic followed by a  workshop

Read a poem inspired by a Leonard Cohen song. Read the lyrics or just sing one. Or read a poem you wrote while listening to Cohen’s gravely emotive delivery… Or read anything else you want….

After the open mic Derek will offer his take on found poems, so bring a pair of scissors and an open mind.  ”We’ll explore accidental poetic sources by cutting into old books and newspapers with the hopes of stringing together snips of image and phrase to create something beautiful.” Source texts will be provided.

To expand on possibilities for future found poetry  we can write at home, at the end of the evening Jamie B. will challenge us to write a source-based found poem. Hers are based on published interviews with famous musicians, and they both cite and comment on the original source material in an interesting way. It should be a great evening of poetic possibility.

Please be aware that due to “copyright considerations” The Found Poem Review only considers poem submissions that contain information about the source materials used to create the poem – so note your sources!

 

Nov 16, 2011 – Remembering Dan DeRosa

Nov 16 Remembering Dan DeRosa – – a wonderful, larger-than-life, funny, caring, outrageous poet who was a long-time host of Wedpoetry and a member of the 2008 White Plains National Slam Team. Oh and King of Haiku. For a copy of a flyer for this event click: Remembering Dan DeRosa

For past entries related to Dan:

http://wedpoetrypast.wordpress.com/tag/dan-derosa/

Or a blog about him

 

Nov 9, 2011 – Ravi Shankar

 

Ravi Shankar is co-Director of the Creative Writing Program at Central Connecticut State University and the founding editor of Drunken Boat. He has published five books and chapbooks of poetry, including the 2010 National Poetry Review Prize winner, Deepening Groove. Along with Tina Chang and Nathalie Handal, he edited Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from Asia, the Middle East & Beyond (W.W Norton & Co.), called “a beautiful achievement for world literature” by Nobel Laureate Nadine Gordimer. He has won a Pushcart Prize, been featured in The New York Times and the Chronicle of Higher Education, appeared on the BBC and NPR, and has performed his work around the world. He is currently on the faculty of the first international MFA Program at City University of Hong Kong and Fairfield University’s MFA Program. Norah Jones is not among his daughters.

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Drunken Boat: http://www.drunkenboat.com

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Deepening Groove:   http://www.amazon.com/Deepening-Groove-Ravi-Shankar/dp/1935716085

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Language for a New Century: http://books.wwnorton.com/books/detail.aspx?id=8428

 

Nov 2 – cancelled due to power outage

 

Oct. 26th, 2011 – Halloween Bash with Costumed Open Mic

Oct 26 – The Annual Halloween Bash with Costumed open mic!

The Witches of East Wicky Poo are chanting up something  frightening or conjuring a dead poet or two, spinning spider webs into masks or possibly into the annual Wedpoetry Halloween Bash with costume contests in various categories (to be announced) – prizes – chocolate HALLOWEEN POETRY! Woohoo!

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We are casting a spell – YOU WILL VISIT Wednesday Night Poetry tonight in a COSTUME or be turned into  (gasp) RHYMING METERED VERSE!

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Oct 19, 2011 – Greg Santos

Greg Santos

October 19 – Greg Santos

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Greg Santos is a poet and writing instructor originally from Montreal. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School in Manhattan. Greg’s writing has appeared in The Best American Poetry Blog, McSweeney’s, Poets and Artists, Everyday Genius, Word Riot, and Dingers: Contemporary Baseball Writing (DC Books, 2007), among other publications. He is the poetry editor of the journal pax americana. Greg’s debut poetry collection, The Emperor’s Sofa (DC Books, 2010) was longlisted for the ReLit Awards. He currently lives in New Haven with his wife and daughter.

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Oct. 12 – Open Mic with a twist – The Mashup

Oct 12 –  Open Mic Mashup

Tonight we offer an open mic with a twist. Tonight’s Open Mic “MASHUP” involves this senario: Read two of your own poems and one poem by the person next to you – or one from a chapbook or collection. Some will be on hand to choose from.

The panel talk tonight will be rescheduled due to cancellations by two of the panelists. Ahh well, the best made plans of poets….

 

 

October 5, 2011 – Linda Lerner

Oct 5th – Linda Lerner

Linda Lerner, a New York City Poet, born and raised in Brooklyn, is on her 14th book of poetry, Takes Guts & Years Sometimes, which was published in June by New York Quarterly Books

Previous collections include: Something Is Burning In Brooklyn (2009, Iniquity Press/ Vendetta Books) Living In Dangerous Times (Presa Press, 2007) and City Woman (March Street Press, Fall, 2006, both Small Press Reviews’ Picks). Two previous collections also had that honor; she’s been nominated twice for a pushcart prize. In 1995 she and Andrew Gettler began Poets on the Line, (http://www.echony.com/~poets) the first poetry anthology on the Net for which she received two grants.

She’s published in the New York Quarterly, Onthebus, Louisiana Review, Paterson Literary Review, Ragged Lion Anthology, Chiron Revie, Danse Mcabre, Tribes, Van Gogh’s Ear, Home Planet News, New Verse News, Rusty Truck, et.al. She has read widely across the United States.

She can be heard reading for indifeed at
http://www.indiefeedpp.libsyn.com/
scroll down to archives,
and then click on September 2006–
You can hear me reading three poems
taped at Tribes….

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September 28, 2011 – Kate Rushin

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September 28 – Kate Rushin 

Kate Rushin is the author of The Black Back-Ups (Firebrand Books). Her “The Bridge Poem” appears in This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, a ground-breaking feminist anthology edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa. Recipient of the Rose Low Rome Memorial Poetry Prize and the Grolier Poetry Prize, her work is widely anthologized and has been published in such journals as Callaloo.

A Connecticut resident, Kate currently teaches creative writing at the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts. Previously, she taught at Wesleyan University, where she served as Adjunct Assistant Professor and Visiting Writer in African American Studies. She has read at Hill-Stead Museum’s Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, the Geraldine Dodge Poetry Festival and Smith College Poetry Center, among many other places, and has led workshops for the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies and Cave Canem Foundation. She has served as a judge for the Connecticut State University-IMPAC Young Writers Award, the Connecticut Poetry Circuit Student Poetry Contest, and the NEA’s/Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Out Loud.

Kate received her B.A. from Oberlin College and her M.F.A. from Brown University. She is a former Fellow of The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and a graduate fellow of Cave Canem Foundation.

Due to unexpected events, Ravi Shankar

has rescheduled his reading to Nov. 9.

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