The Wednesday Night Poetry Series, RIP WNPS

From 1994 to 2011, the original Wednesday Night Poetry Series offered a weekly poetry celebration. The format included an open mic, a featured poet and a writing workshop. 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 first-time readers & poets!   The series never limited its focus to one kind of poetry. Featured readers included both well-known “page” and “stage” poets from academia, slam and everything in between.

In 2011 the series changed its governance, hosts and web-editor. It continued for one more year, using a mainly a workshop format with sporadic features. The last feature, on September 26, 2012, was Neil Silberblatt who went on to run the Voices of Poetry Series.

Check http://wedpoetry.wordpress.com for that final year. RIP WNPS.

For an ongoing weekly series check out Poem Alley which meets in Stamford at Curley’s Diner.

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WNPS – its founding, past venues, governance

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) 1994
• 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 (102 Greenwood Ave, Bethel),2005-2009
• The Blue Z Coffeehouse (Newtown) for about six months in 2010
• The Garage (Newtown) 2010-2011
• in 2012 – back home at Molten Java’s new digs at 213 Greenwood Ave

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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 (which includes founder Faith Vicinanza), 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 at “Return of the Hosts”

 

Cheryl at “Return of the Hosts”