Wednesday, February 25, 2009

POETRY BOMB



It is 2009 and time for another POETRY BOMB! This year's Poetry Bomb is April 19th, at 3:30pm.

What is the Poetry Bomb?
: The Poetry Bomb is a random act of poetry in celebration of National Poetry month. At 3:30pm on April 19th, the Poetry Bomb asks us to leave our homes and perform poetry out in the city, suburbs, parks, wherever people will hear it.

You can put together a poetry show, or you can go it alone as a solitary poet. All this event asks is to take ten minutes (or more) of your time to either showcase to the world that poetry is alive and thriving, or simply enjoy the show.

How do I get involved?
Not only is getting involved easy, we are here to help you through every step of the way. If you wish to read, pick a location that works best for you, and read April 19th at 3:30. Our only request is that you let us know so we can advertise it (if you don't want the exact location advertised, we'll simply mention the city, or area you'll be performing).

If you'd like to organize a show and would like some help, e-mail us at poetrybomb@gmail.com and we'll be happy to lend whatever aid we can.

If you already run a poetry show, and would like us to advertise your show, or would like to help us advertise the Poetry Bomb, please send us an email (poetrybomb@gmail.com) either with your show's information, or a Poetry Bomb flier request (please let us know what file format will work best for you)

Thanks,
The Poetry Bomb Squad
Poetrybomb@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=home#/group.php?gid=128801380106
http://www.myspace.com/thepoetrybomb

the news

POETRYWORDOFMOUTH:
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday
Feb 25
5:30 p.m.
Columbia College Chicago’s Hokin Auditorium
623 S. Wabash Ave., Room 109
BRANDI HOMAN is the author of Hard Reds from Shearsman Books and the chapbook Two Kinds of Arson from dancing girl press. She received her MFA in Poetry from Columbia College Chicago and her MA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. The recipient of a Ragdale Foundation residency, Brandi is Editor-in-Chief of Switchback Books, a feminist press specializing in poetry by women. She writes professionally in advertising and is originally from Marshalltown, Iowa.
JAMES SHEA is the author of Star in the Eye, selected by Nick Flynn as the winner of the 2008 Fence Modern Poets Series. His poems have appeared in various journals, including American Letters and Commentary, Boston Review, Mrs. Maybe, and Verse. He currently teaches at Columbia College Chicago and DePaul University.
Sponsored by the Columbia College Chicago English Department, Creative Writing--Poetry Program http://www.colum.edu/academics/english_department
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday
Feb 27
7 – 9 pm
Molly Malone’s
7652 Madison
Forest Park
After Hours Contributors Open Mic
The new issue is here! And we’re celebrating with a contributors’ open mic. Come hungry and thirsty AND bring friends.
Contributors will receive their copy of the new magazine and the open mic will begin at 7:30. The open mic is limited to contributors to After Hours reading 3-5 minutes of their work. We will begin the reading with contributors to the new issue.
Molly Malone’s is easy to get to by car and there is plenty of parking. Located just west of DesPlaines Ave on Madison Street. Take the Eisenhower I-290 to Harlem Ave and go north to Madison, then go west about 1/2 mile to Molly’s.
By public transportation, take the Blue Line to DesPlaines Ave and then walk about 4 blocks north to Madison, then one more block west to Molly’s.
We hope to see you all there.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday
Feb 28
2:00-5:00 PM
Mercury Cafe
1505 W Chicago Ave
Special Mercury Café Anniversary Mega Reading featuring over 30 poets
Lee Berkson (2), Kevin Blanchard (2:05), Buddah 309 (2:10), Emily Calvo (2:15), Joe Carli (2:20), VITTORIO CARLI (2:25), Balthazar Castillo (2:30), Lynn Fitzgerald (2:35), Dennis Frederick (2:40), Chris Gallinari (2:45), Dave Gecic (2:50), Laural Graham (2:55), Lee Groban (3:00), Jessica Guzales , (3:05) TOM HenkEy (3:10), Tracey Jakubik (3:15), Rachel Javelanna (3:20), Caroline Johnson (3:25), Wayne Allen Jones (3:30), Donna Kiser (3:35), Janet Kuypers (3:40), Bradley Lastname (3:45), LIZ MARINO (3:50), Meg McCarville, (3:55) IxtaccihuaL Mechaca (4:00), Linda Monacelli (4:05), Charlie Neuman (4:10), Nyx (4:15), Donna Pecore (4:20), Denny Petropoulos (4:25), Sid YIDDISH (4:30) Nina Corwin (4:35) Jenene Ravelsloot (4:40) , Earline Strickland (4:45), Erin Teegarden (4:50), TOAST (4:55)
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Saturday
Feb 28
7:00 pm
Viaduct Theatre
3111 N. Western Ave
Last performance of The Art of Unbearable Sensations.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday
Mar 1
7:00 PM
Myopic Books
1564 N. Milwaukee Avenue, 2nd Floor
MYOPIC POETRY SERIES -- a weekly series of readings and occasional poets' talks
Jessica SAVITZ is a graduate from the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and is the current Madeleine P. Plonsker writer in residence at Lake Forest College. Her first book of poems, Hunting is Painting, will be published by Lake Forest College Press/ & NOW Books in the summer of 2010. Her chapbook Fire is the Statue with the Young Face will be printed by Your Beeswax Press this year. Jessica loves poetry and music, especially the songs of Neil Young and Karrie Hopper. She likes to play piano while her dear husband, Michael, accompanies on the xylophone. She also likes to experiment with pairing her poems with the photography of Roxane Hopper and the paintings of Allison Hawkins.
Michael ROBINS is the author of The Next Settlement (UNT Press, 2007), which was selected for the Vassar Miller Prize. He is a contributing editor at Born Magazine http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://%28www.bornmagazine.org%29 and his work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in AGNI, Crazyhorse, A Handsome Journal, Ploughshares and elsewhere. He holds degrees from the University of Oregon and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
Sunday, March 15 - Garrett Brown & Special Guest
Sunday, April 5 - Oni Buchanan & Donna Stonecipher
Sunday, April 19 - Karen Leona Anderson & William Allegrezza
Sunday, April 26 – Arpine Grenier
Sunday, May 24 - Gus Anagnopolous & Carolyn Guinzio
Myopic Books -- 16 years of innovative poetry in Chicago
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday
Mar 6
7:30-9:30
St Paul’s Cultural Center
2215 W North Avenue
Dave Gecic presents Puddin’head Press Night
2+ blocks west of the Damon Blue Line stop
Street parking available
Beer, wine, soft drinks available @ cool-low prices
Free Admission
Donation Requested
The First Friday Poetry Series is a Poetry Green Zone
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday
Mar 8
2:00 PM
Oak Park - Borders
1144 Lake St
Oak Park, IL
TallGrass member is Chicken Soup...contributor.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: Divorce & Recovery
Award-winning freelance writer Marcy Darin has published non-fiction in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Parenting and Ms. Magazine. Her short stories have been published by Outrider Press. Darin's writing has won first-place awards from the National Federation of Press Women, and the Illinois Women's Press Association. She lives in Oak Park with her son, Aaron, and daughter, Aster , and three cats. Her oldest daughter, Abby, is a student at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts.
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Sunday, March 8th at 9 a.m. on channel 21
Monday, March 9th at 3 p.m. on channel 21
Thursday, March 12th at 8 a.m. on channel 19
Saturday, March 14 at 9 p.m. on channel 21
Watch the launch reading of A Writers’ Congress, Chicago Poets on Barack Obama’s Inauguration!
Talk about cool!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Get Your Tickets Now for our Rotating Repertory:
The Changeling and Tallgrass Gothic on sale now!
Rehearsals are underway for our 5th anniversary Rotating Repertory of the Jacobean classic The Changeling, and its 20th century prairie riff Tallgrass Gothic.
For an inside look at this process, visit our artists blog to see design sketches and rehearsal photos-and to read what it's like behind the scenes.
Buy Tickets Now:
Our Special 5th Anniversary
Rotating Repertory
The Changeling
by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley
Directed by Rachel Walshe
Tallgrass Gothic
by Melanie Marnich
Directed by Jennifer Shook
March 12-April 12, 2009
at The West Stage of the
Raven Theatre Complex
Caffeine Theatre is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization.
All donations are tax-deductible.
Caffeine Theatre
P.O. Box 1904
Chicago, IL 60690
(312)409-4778
caffeinetheatre.com
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sunday
Mar 15, 2009
3:00pm - 5:00pm
Old Town School of Folk Music
4544 N. Lincoln Ave.
Milly's (almost) All Kid Revue
One show only!
Starring
Barrel of Monkies
Nora O'Connor
Rock For Kids All Star Choir
Lola the Circus Dog
and much, much more!!!
Phone: 773-728-6000
Email: www.oldtownschool.org
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday
Mar 20
8:00pm - 10:00pm
The Horseshoe
4115 N. Lincoln Avenue
773.248.1366
booking@folkyou.org
Folk You!
The loosest, funnest & most existential singer-songwriter round-robin in Chicagoland! Inspired by round-robin nights held regularly in Nashville, Los Angeles and New York, Chicago-based singer-songwriter
Larry O. Dean started Folk You! in December 2001. Weary of standard acoustic showcases, Dean wanted something more intimate and at the same time, more varied.
Held the third Friday of every month, Folk You! presents a quartet of performers taking the stage simultaneously with naught but their guitars and songs. Interaction is encouraged but there is no script; performers may play and let the songs speak for themselves, or talk about how they came to write them. Backing is also provided on occasion by violist, Derek Walvoord.
Who performs at Folk You! ? Larry hosts and plays, joined by three others. The one throughline is the night must comprise songs that can be played nakedly and stand up alone. Obviously performers well-versed in folk-type solo acoustic situations are welcome, but Dean also encourages songwriters who tend to front electric combos to step out from their role as one of the band and let the songs be heard as they were written.
This month’s guests: CHRISTINE FLORES-COZZA, DAVE LYKINS & RICH MILLER
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday
Mar 28
8 PM
St. Paul’s Church/Acme Art Works
2215 W. North Avenue
Join Us for Nelson Algren’s 100th Birthday Party!
100 years to the day after Nelson Algren’s birth – come celebrate the centennial of the author of such masterworks as Chicago: City on the Make, The Man with the Golden Arm and Never Come Morning in the West Town neighborhood where Algren lived and wrote.
The event is dedicated to Studs Terkel, one of the founders of the Nelson Algren Committee.
A highlight of the evening is the Algren Committee Awards, given to local artists and activists who demonstrate Algren’s ideal of “a conscience in touch with humanity.” This year’s honorees are
Denis Mueller - veteran documentary filmmaker
Ken Dunn - pioneering urban environmentalist, founder of the Resource Center;
Alma Washington - performer and union leader
Previous Algren Committee Award winner Don Rose will speak.
As always, the party will be a tribute to Algren’s work and life and a festival of poetry, music, art and media in the Algren vein.
Participants include poets
Gregorio Gomez
Dan Godston
Charlie Newman,
performance artist Sid Yiddish and company
Algren Committee member Alice Prus reads from the love letters of Simone de Beauvoir
British Algren scholar Josephine Guillfoyle discusses his work.
Algren confidant Art Shay presents never-published pictures from his vast archive
filmmaker Tom Palazzolo explores the lost world of Maxwell Street
photographer Dan Zamudio reveals Chicago’s after-hours neon wilderness.
Musicians include John Garvey and the Frankie Machine Blues Band.
And this year, several traditions return: the birthday cupcakes, prize drawing and closing salute of “Sto Lat” – “May you live a hundred years.” While Algren died in 1981, his legacy and spirit endure.
The Algren Committee was founded in 1989; founders and early members included the late Stu McCarrell, Warren Leming, Nina Gaspich, Alice Prus and Char Sandstrom. Current members include Hugh Iglarsh, Kurt Jacobsen and Charlie Newman.
When the Committee began, none of Algren’s books was in print; now, partly through its efforts, all of his major work is available. The Committee has placed a plaque on Algren’s former home in Wicker Park and dedicated a commemorative fountain at the triangle of Ashland, Division and Milwaukee.
The party is co-sponsored by the Near Northwest Arts Council and Acme Art Works. For more information, call (773) 235-4267 or check the Web site at www.nelsonalgren.org.
Admission is $10, $7 students and seniors, less if you’re broke.
Refreshments will be available.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pilcrow Lit Fest promotes writers and encourages reading by bringing authors, writers, poets, librarians, booksellers, and publishers from around the country together in support of small presses and independent media through small workshops, panel discussions, lectures and author readings.
http://www.pilcrowlitfest.com/
Sunday
May 17
6:30p
Opening Night Cocktails, location TBA
Monday
May 18
Special Evening Event, TBA
Tuesday
May 19
8p
The Cafe
5115 N. Lincoln Ave.
Susan T. Moss features
Now halfway through its second decade, The Cafe is a poets-first salon-style reading series, with all styles- page, stage, slam, hip=hop, experimental- welcome. Held every Tuesday in Chicago's Lincoln Square neighborhood and hosted by Charlie Newman.
Wednesday
May 20
7p
The Whistler
2421 N. Milwaukee Ave
Show 'N Tell Show
a bi-monthly event, where designers of all stripes get together to show their work and talk about design. That's it. No commercial pressure, or institutional big brothers watching. It's fun, and there is alcohol involved.
Hosted by Zach Dodson and Mike Renaud, with commentary by SpokesMom.
Thursday
May 21
10:30p
Strawdog
3829 N. Broadway
2nd Story
a hybrid performance event combining storytelling, wine, and music. A typical 2nd Story evening goes something like this: hang out with your friends and eat and drink and make merry. Four or five times during the night, the lights go down, a spotlight comes up on somebody and they tell a story.
Friday
May 22
Special Evening Event, TBA
Saturday
May 23
10a-5:45p
Trader Todd's (upstairs)
3216 N. Sheffield
Discussion panels & workshops
10a-5:45pMatilda's
3101 N. Sheffield
Discussion panels & workshops
Special Evening Event, TBA
!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

THE NEWS

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Friday
Feb 20
Open mic/feature - 7:00-9:00
The Mercury Café
1505 W. Chicago Av
Vito, as usual, has 3 (COUNT 'EM...#!) fab features:
Kristin La Tour
Tara Keogh
Jenene Ravesloot

No cover charge

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday
Feb 20
9:30 pm
Viaduct Theater
3111 N. Western Avenue

The Partly Dave Show: Please Mister Postman
part of the Rhinoceros Theater Festival 2009
Dan Godston
Scott Hermes
Wells-next-the-Sea

Hosted by Dave Awl,
with co-hosts Christopher Piatt and Diana Slickman

The theme for this edition is "Please Mister Postman": an evening of pieces about letters, mail, and the post office! I'll (Diana Slickman) be co-hosting along with the titular Dave Awl and Christopher Piatt and our super-special guests include Scott Hermes (of the Neo-Futurists and the legendary Cardiff Giant) and Dan

Godston (poet, trumpeter, and curator of the Chicago Calling Arts Festival).

And we have the privilege of presenting the debut of a hot new band as our musical guests! For those of you who remember Analog Radio from the "Way of the Worrier" edition back in 2004 -- well, Dann Morr from Analog Radio is in a brand-new outfit called Wells-next-the-Sea, featuring (I'm told) boys, girls, flutes, fiddles, and I don't know what all kind of mayhem. Should be good!

Tickets: $12 or "pay what you can"

All reservations are handled through the Viaduct Theatre box office at (773) 296-6024.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday,
Feb 20
6 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

Howard Brown Health Center
4025 N. Sheridan Rd., Chicago

Launch Party for Condom Sense: A Real Life Education

Please join us for the official launch of our new multi-disciplinary sex-ed program created by and for youth infected and affected by HIV.

Community partners Howard Brown, Beyondmedia Education, and About Face Youth Theatre are proud to launch Condom Sense: A Real Life Education, a multi-disciplinary sex education program created in collaboration with Chicago-area youth.

The launch begins at Howard Brown with a gathering to showcase the pieces that make up Condom Sense, including Fast Forward, a play by About Face Youth Theatre that tackles the sex education crisis in America, HIV: Hey, It's Viral!, a groundbreaking sex-positive 20-minute video from Beyondmedia Education addressing HIV/AIDS prevention and activism from youth perspectives, and an LGBTQ-inclusive, medically-accurate prevention curriculum developed by Howard Brown's Broadway Youth Center.

A panel discussion will follow the presentation. Refreshments will be served.

Howard Brown Health Center is one of the nation's largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) healthcare organizations. Through a wide array of health, wellness, social service and research programs, Howard Brown cares for more than 28,000 adult and youth clients annually. Among its many programs is the Broadway Youth Center (BYC), which focuses on the needs of LGBTQ youth ages 24 years and under. In the safe and affirming environment of the BYC, youth socialize with their peers and gain access to comprehensive services, including housing or job placement assistance, free HIV and STD testing and medial care and counseling. For more information about Howard Brown or the BYC, please visit www.howardbrown.org

About Face Theatre creates exceptional, innovative, and adventurous plays to advance the national dialogue on gender and sexual identity, and to challenge and entertain audiences in Chicago, across the country, and around the world. About Face has three programming arms: our award-winning Mainstage Season, our innovative New Works Program, and our nationally recognized Education Programs, including the celebrated About Face Youth Theatre and Educational Outreach Tour that collectively reaches approximately 5,000 students and teachers each year. About Face is one of Chicago's most respected theatres, and is a national force in the development of new work about gender and sexual identity. For more information about About Face Theatre please visit www.aboutfacetheatre.com.

Beyondmedia Education collaborates with under-served and under-represented women, youth and communities to tell their stories, connect their stories to the world around us, and organize for social justice through the creation and distribution of media arts. Beyondmedia has partnered with more than 100 community organizations and schools to produce award-winning documentary films, multimedia installations, websites, spoken word performances, and photography exhibits. Beyondmedia specializes in media literacy and production workshops that equip marginalized communities to use these powerful tools to explore their lives, develop their voices, and educate the public to their stories. The work is screened across the U.S. and internationally in film festivals and cultural centers, schools and universities, on television, and via the Internet. For more information about Beyondmedia Education please visit www.beyondmedia.org. Questions?

Contact Jenny Mack, Director of Special Events, at 773.388.8992 or

jennym@howardbrown.org.

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Saturday
Feb. 21
7:30 sign up
8 pm Open Mic
9 pm featured performer
3rd Saturday Coffeehouse:

The Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation
875 Lake Street, in Downtown Oak Park
THIS MONTH'S FEATURES:
Al DeGenova
Jared Smith
An Open Mic for Poets, Musicians, Storytellers & Other Performers at Unity Temple in Oak Park!

Albert DeGenova's most recent collection of poetry is The Blueing Hours (Virtual Artists Collective, 2008). In 2000, he launched the literary/arts journal After Hours, for which he continues as publisher and editor. He is a blues saxophonist and one-time contributing editor to Down Beat magazine. Al and Charlie Rossiter co-authored the book Back Beat (Fractal Edge Press, 2006) a collection of poetry with memoir of which Lawrence Ferlinghetti wrote, "Back Beat beats everything for being beater than the Beats."

Jared Smith's poems have been published in hundreds of journals and anthologies in this country and abroad over the last 35 years. He is the author of 7 volumes of original poetry. He has served on the editorial board of leading poetry magazines such as New York Quarterly and Home Planet News. A past resident of Illinois, Jared will be coming to us all the way from his new home in the foothills of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. A rare opportunity to hear a voice that was long a mainstay of the Chicago poetry scene, a voice that participated in Readings for Peace at Unity Temple.

Join us at Unity Temple, 875 Lake Street (at Kenilworth), Oak Park. 7:30 sign up, 8 pm Open Mic, 9 pm featured performer. Open Mic is limited to 5 minutes. (Sign up early—open mic time is limited.) Charlie Rossiter host. We are acoustic--no equipment provided. $3-$5 donation. Wheelchair accessible. Info at 708-660-9376.

UPCOMING FEATURES:

Mar. 21 - singer/songwriter Carol Williams

April 18 – Milwaukee poet laureate Susan Firer

May 16 – the folk-rock of Just Another Bird

DIRECTIONS:

From Chicago take the I-290 exit at Austin, go north to Lake and west to
Kenilworth

From the West take the I-290 exit at Harlem Ave, go north to Lake and east
to Kenilworth

With the el, exit the Green Line at Oak Park Ave, go north to Lake St;
west to Kenilworth

Parking--there's lots of street parking.

Also a village lot at Oak Park & North Blvd., and another at Lake Street & Forest.

Need more info: 708-660-9376.

We hope you can join us, and please forward this note to interested others.

If you would like to be taken off of our monthly email list, please hit reply and let me know.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday
Feb 21
9pm
Heartland Cafe
7000 N. Glenwood

The Art Against War shows continue. we have the stage at the Heartland Cafe starting at 9p but have moved the shows to Saturdays....our programs give artists and writers from around the area the opportunity to speak out against the wars and present a vision of peace.

The February show is cosponsored by and for the benefit of the AFSC's youth program and Peace Recruiters - CCOMY (Chicago Coalition Opposed to the Militarization of Youth).

Poetry from KING KEITH

PEACE FASHION SHOW (THIS IS NOT TO BE MISSED!)

Music by DONNIE BIGGINS

Our next show will be March 21st - cosponsored by and for the benefit of the

IRAQ VETERANS AGAINST THE WAR.

hope to see you there

$5

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday
Feb 21 & 28
7:00 pm
Viaduct Theatre
3111 N. Western Ave
There are two performances left of The Art of Unbearable Sensations.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday
Feb. 22
1:30-4:30
Evanston Public Library -- Room 108
Church & Orrington
FOURTH SUNDAYS
RHINO POETRY WORKSHOPS and peer exchange

sponsored by RHINO/the Poetry Forum

Leader: Jared Smith

A former Chicagoland resident, Jared Smith is the author of seven critically acclaimed volumes of poetry along with two CDs. His Selected Longer Poems: 1983-2008 is forthcoming from Tamarack Editions. He has served on the editorial boards of The New York Quarterly, Home Planet News, and The Pedestal. Jared is former president of Poets & Patrons, a member of Illinois State Poetry Society and of the Academy of American Poets, as well as a past judge of the Jo-Anne Hirshfield Prize. He currently lives in Colorado.

Jared's topic: The Narrative in Contemporary Poetry: Pulling Dignity From Hard Times. Narrative poetry in contemporary times is much different than what we think of as traditional narrative. It's more immediately tied to the senses, and it's more nonlinear to capture the modern temperament. But it reaches into the soul of the people and it pulls them in like nothing else. The question is: how to do it.

Bring 15 or more copies (no longer than two pages) of work you want critiqued.

*$5 donation appreciated

COME AND TRY OUT YOUR NEW WORK ON US!

Past leaders and readers and all poets welcome. Drop in, have poems critiqued, and participate in an ongoing discussion of poetry and poetics. Sessions are free* and no registration is required.

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

This project has been partially supported by grants the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

For more info: RHINOPOETRY.ORG

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday
Feb 24
8:00 PM
The Cafe
5115 N. Lincoln

Jared Smith features!

Great poetry, great drinks, great googlie-mooglie!

$2 Admission

And we do pass the Crown Royal bag for voluntary feature financial enhancement.

The Café is a Poetry Green Zone.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday
Feb 25
5:30 p.m.
Columbia College Chicago's Hokin Auditorium

623 S. Wabash Ave., Room 109

BRANDI HOMAN is the author of Hard Reds from Shearsman Books and the chapbook Two Kinds of Arson from dancing girl press. She received her MFA in Poetry from Columbia College Chicago and her MA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. The recipient of a Ragdale Foundation residency, Brandi is Editor-in-Chief of Switchback Books, a feminist press specializing in poetry by women. She writes professionally in advertising and is originally from Marshalltown, Iowa.

JAMES SHEA is the author of Star in the Eye, selected by Nick Flynn as the winner of the 2008 Fence Modern Poets Series. His poems have appeared in various journals, including American Letters and Commentary, Boston Review, Mrs. Maybe, and Verse. He currently teaches at Columbia College Chicago and DePaul University.

Sponsored by the Columbia College Chicago English Department, Creative Writing--Poetry Program http://www.colum.edu/academics/english_department

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Friday
Feb 27
7 – 9 pm

Molly Malone's
7652 Madison
Forest Park
After Hours Contributors Open Mic

The new issue is here! And we're celebrating with a contributors' open mic. Come hungry and thirsty AND bring friends.

Contributors will receive their copy of the new magazine and the open mic will begin at 7:30. The open mic is limited to contributors to After Hours reading 3-5 minutes of their work. We will begin the reading with contributors to the new issue.

Molly Malone's is easy to get to by car and there is plenty of parking. Located just west of DesPlaines Ave on Madison Street. Take the Eisenhower I-290 to Harlem Ave and go north to Madison, then go west about 1/2 mile to Molly's.

By public transportation, take the Blue Line to DesPlaines Ave and then walk about 4 blocks north to Madison, then one more block west to Molly's.

We hope to see you all there.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009


Tuesday
Feb 17
Open mike...8:00
Feature...9:30

The Cafe
5115 N. Lincoln
Feature...Paul!
Great poetry, great drinks, great googlie-mooglie!
$2 Admission

And we do pass the Crown Royal bag for voluntary feature financial enhancement.

The Café is a Poetry Green Zone.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

POETRY WORD OF MOUTH

POETRYWORDOFMOUTH:

Tuesday

Feb 10

8:00 -10:00

The Café

5115 N. Lincoln

Feature: Susan Bright - poet/publisher, Plain View Press, Austin, TX, and her kickass poetic posse...

Feature: Greg Norton (Chicago)

Feature: Yolanda Nieves(Chicago)

Feature: Keith (KP) Liles (Alaska)

Feature: Stella Radulescu (Chicago)

Feature: Wendy Brown Baez (Minneapolis)

Feature: Sheela Sitaram Free (CA)

Feature: Katherine De Lorraine (Virginia)

$2 Admission

And we do pass the Crown Royal bag for voluntary feature financial enhancement.

Great poetry, great drinks, great googlie-mooglie!

The Café is a Poetry Green Zone.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday

Feb 11

7:00-9:00 PM

The Book Stall at Chestnut Court

811 Elm Street in Winnetka

Valentine's book signing sale, featuring Pulitzer Prize nominee Willis Barnstone and his son Tony Barnstone, Richard Sillberg, Sholeh Wolpi, and Charles Harper Webb. The reading will consist of two ten-minute rounds of poetry from each of these fine poet's collections and as well refreshments and contribution prize cups.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday

Feb 12

8:00 PM

Beat Kitchen (upstairs)

2100 W. Belmont

Reading Between the Lines: An AWP Offsite Event

Writers of various stripes read during AWP!

Join writers from across the US for this intimate reading scheduled to coincide during the annual AWP Conference.

Shaindel Beers

Jessica Berger

Emma Bolden

Donald Breckenridge

Bruce Covey

Jacque E. Day

Larry O. Dean

Lori Desrosiers

Laura Dixon

Eckhard Gerdes

Johannes Göransson

Sara Greenslit

Chris Hildebrand

Matt "McG" Markgraf

Pamela Johnson Parker

Ted Pelton

Brianna Pike

Sarah Rosenthal

Davis Schneiderman

Karissa Sorrell

Roger Stanley

Chet Weise

Scott Woodham

Snežana Žabić

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday

February 12

5:30 PM

Art Institute Chicago

111 South Michigan Ave

Please join us for a very exciting evening of poetry this week!

Casting the Dye: A Reading with the Affrilachian Poets
Website: http://www.affrilachianpoets.com
Free
Please join the Affrilachian Poets and National Book Award nominee, Patricia Smith, for a special, Windy City, reading in conjunction with AWP. The Affrilachian Poets are an ensemble of writers challenging simple notions of an all white Appalachian region and culture. The poetry of the Affrilachian Poets celebrates Black heritage and rural roots while encompassing themes of racism and Black identity. They give voice to the pleasures of family, land, good food, artistic community, music and transformation. The event is free and open to the public. Participants include:

Frank X Walker

Mitchell L.H. Douglas

Kelly Norman Ellis

Ricardo Nazario-Colon

Parneshia Jones

Ellen Hagan

Stephanie Pruitt

Special Guest...Patricia Smith.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday

Feb 12

6:30 p.m.

Film Row Cinema

1104 South Wabash Avenue, 8th floor

Court Green 6 & Fence Books

Release Party & Poetry Reading

Court Green 6 (Letters Dossier) and Fence Books celebrate their publication releases with a reading and reception in conjunction with the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Conference. Contributors will read selections from Court Green and Fence Books. Readers include

Albert Goldbarth

William Olsen

Sharon Dolin

Julie Carr

Carrie Etter

Charles Jensen

Elizabeth Robinson

Sasha Steensen

James Shea

Brian Young

Rodrigo Toscano

...among others

A reception follows the readings.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday

Feb 13

Reading begins promptly at 6:15PM and ends at 7:30PM
806 S. Plymouth Court, Chicago

Free admission.
One Poem Festival @ Jazz Showcase

The depth and breadth of contemporary Latino/a poetry will take over this historic jazz venue as 21 poets read one poem each as part of the Associated Writing Programs Conference in Chicago.

Lisa Alvarado

Carlos Cumpian

Silvia Curbelo

Gina Franco

Gabe Gomez

Irasema Gonzalez

Maurice Kilwein Guevara

Gabriela Jauregui

Olivia Maciel

Carl Marcum

Valerie Martínez

Orlando Ricardo Menes

Achy Obejas

Daniel A. Olivas

Johanny Vázquez Paz

Paul Martinez Pompa

Linda Rodríguez

Jacob Saenz

Jorge Sanchez

Juan Manuel Sanchez

Rich Villar.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FRIDAY

FEB 13

6:30-7:30pm

LINKS HALL

3435 N. Sheffield Avenue

http://www.linkshall.org/a-locate.shtml

COME TOGETHER: IMAGINE PEACE

a reading for peace in celebration of a new poetry anthology

Bottom Dog Press presents editor Philip Metres, anthology contributors

Hayan Charara

Alice Cone

Barbara Crooker

Angie Estes

Hedy Habra

David Hassler

Jennifer Karmin

Dave Lucas

Katharyn Machan

Robert Miltner

Lauren Rusk

and local anti-war organizations.

http://spdbooks.org/details.asp?BookID=9781933964225

Part of three nights of readings and presentations by local, national, and international writers curated by Amina Cain, Laura Goldstein, Lisa Janssen, and Jennifer Karmin. February 12, 13, 14 from 6:30-11:30pm.

Ongoing events. Drop in anytime. Last entry 10:30pm

Public transport:

CTA Red & Brown lines

7 minute walk from Belmont station

(left out of station, right at light, walk 2.5 blocks, enter at Newport)

$5 admission

free for volunteer readers

choose one poem from the anthology to read aloud

copies will be available

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday

Feb 13

7:00-9:30 PM

Cafe Ambrosia on Orrington

1620 Orrington between Davis and Chicago

The Concert Reading Auction featuring

Aafa Michael Weaver

Tony and Aliki Barnstone

Scott Cairns

Alan Michael Parker

Nicholas Samaras

This will be a book signing sale that will also feature musical interludes and an auction of works by local artists.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday

Feb 13

8:00 PM

Chicago Center for the Performing Arts

777 N. Green Street

UniVerse of Poetry

www.universeofpoetry.org

invites you to attend UniVerse of Free Expression, a live studio recording of poets

Kwame Dawes (Jamaica/Ghana) http://www.universeofpoetry.org/jamaica.shtml

Fady Joudah (Palestine) http://www.universeofpoetry.org/palestine_p4.shtml

Ilya Kaminsky (Ukraine) http://www.universeofpoetry.org/ukraine.shtml

Ofelia Zepeda (Tohono O'odham Nation) http://www.universeofpoetry.org/tohono_oodham.shtml

and a remembrance of

Nadia Anjoman, a young Afghani poet and mother who was murdered in 2005 for publishing her poetry http://www.universeofpoetry.org/afghanistan.shtml

UniVerse of Free Expression will also feature the screening of poetry films by Francesco Levato and Ram Devineni and a preview of "A Message From the East," a film celebrating

the life of of poet Allama Muhammed Iqbal, directed by Jeremiah Hammerling ( Endless Eye Productions)

The program continues with Pont des Arts Ensemble in concert featuring Richard Fammerée, Carrie Ingrisano, Meg Lauterbach, Victor Sanders, Meg Thomas & Rachel Webster

&

An organic wine & cheese reception compliments of Whole Foods Market

Tickets available at the door for this historic event

For advance tickets & more information www.chicagopublicradio.org/events

or call Don Hall 312-948-4644

$15 General Admission

$12 Chicago Public Radio members, Victory Gardens Subscribers & AWP Poets

Thursday, February 5, 2009

AWP events at Links Hall


FEBRUARY 12, 13, 14

readings & presentations

curated by Amina Cain, Laura Goldstein,

Lisa Janssen & Jennifer Karmin



3435 N. Sheffield Avenue

Chicago, IL


6:30-11:30PM

$5 each night

ongoing events
drop in anytime
last entry 10:30pm


PUBLIC TRANSPORT

CTA Red & Brown lines

7 minute walk from Belmont station



FEBRUARY 12:

Make It New - Infrawriting/Infrastructure


*6:30-7:30pm*

Eleven Eleven's Art School Confidential with Hugh Behm-Steinberg, Mairead Byrne, Allison DeLauer, Monica Drake, Joseph Lease.


*7:30-8:30pm*

TinFish Press & friends with Tom Orange, Craig Santos Perez, Ric Royer, Meg Withers.


*8:30-9:30pm*

Coach House Books with Sina Queyras, Vanessa Place, Adam Sol.


*9:30-10:30pm*

Flim Forum Press with Brandon Shimoda, Barrett Gordon, Laura Sims, Deborah Poe, Harold Abramowitz, Amanda Ackerman, Mathew Timmons, Matthew Klane.


*10:30-11:30pm*

Tag Team Reading with Mairead Case, Chris Cook, Daniel Godston, Steve Halle, A D Jameson, Timothy Krcmarik, Michael Marcinkowski, Timothy Rey, Chuck Stebelton. Audience participation! Open to all!


*11:30pm-12:30am*

Ahadada Books / BlazeVOX [books] Jet Lag Reading with Jesse Glass, Hank Lazer, Jonathan Monroe, Elizabeth Murphy, Daniel Sendecki, Mark Spitzer, Robert Thompson & a few late-night surprises.


FEBRUARY 13:

Friday Night in Chicago


*6:30-7:30pm*

Bottom Dog Press with "Come Together: Imagine Peace" editor Philip Metres, anthology contributors (Emily Bright, Hayan Charara, Alice Cone, Barbara Crooker, Angie Estes, Hedy Habra, David Hassler, Jennifer Karmin, Dave Lucas, Katharyn Machan, Robert Miltner, Lauren Rusk), and local anti-war organizations.


*8-11:30pm*

Red Rover Series "Experiment #26: A Small Press Showcase" with Action Books, Effing Press, Flood Editions, Futurepoem books, Les Figues Press, Slack Buddha Press, Switchback Books, Ugly Duckling Presse. Readings by: Jessica Bozek, Amina Cain, Bill Fuller, Gloria Frym, Lara Glenum, Alta Ifland, Nancy Kuhl, Dan Machlin, Jill Magi, Don Mee, Mel Nichols, Hoa Nguyen, Susan Schultz, John Tipton, Ronaldo V. Wilson.


FEBRUARY 14:

Performance Ventures - Sound, Video, Hypertext, & Poets Theater


*6:30-9:30pm*

Multidisciplinary work by Chicago writers and artists Gwyneth Anderson, Justin Cabrillos, Laura Goldstein with Kristin Hayter, Amira Hanafi, Judd Morrissey, Edward Salem, Jennifer Sporcich with Aurora Tabar, Ni'Ja Whitson. This event is sponsored by the Writing Program at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.


*9:30-10:30pm*

Instant Reading with Adam Hart, Jennifer Karmin, Kevin Kilroy, Erika Mikkalo, Ira S. Murfin, Daniela Olszewska, Beth Snyder, Eric Unger, Timothy Yu. Audience participation! Open to all!


*10:30-11:30pm*

Tag Team Reading with William Allegrezza, Kristy Bowen, Nina Corwin, Jennifer Firestone, Kurt Heintz, Sheryl Ridenour, Sarah Rosenthal, Evan Willner. Audience participation! Open to all!

Wednesday, February 4, 2009


Poetry Reading: And You Think That's Funny?
February 8 / 2-4 p.m.


Co-Curated by Nina Corwin and Pamela Miller, Woman Made Gallery is hosting a reading that explores the many ways humor can be used in poetry. Reading poets include Lois Marie Harrod (NJ), Elizabeth Kerlikowske (MI), Erika Mikkalo (IL), Kristin Ravel (IL), Christine Stark (MN), and Donna Vorreyer (IL). Curators Nina Corwin and Pam Miller will also share some of their humorous poetry.

The reading takes place on February 8, 2009 from 2 to 4 p.m at Woman Made Gallery, 685 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago, IL 60642. The event is free to the public, and refreshments will be served.
Woman Made Gallery

685 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Chicago , IL 60642

www.womanmade.org

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

UIC alumni reading

Hull House Friday Night Reading Series Presents
Alumni Poetry Reading featuring:

Christina Pugh
Kristy Odelius
Simone Muench


Friday, February 6th, 6:00pm

Hull House, 800 S. Halsted St.

Monday, February 2, 2009


Jan Beatty
David Trinidad
& Andrew Terhune



Monday, February 2 // 7:30p.m. // 1278 North Milwaukee 4W
a few blocks North of Ashland
BYOB


*Books will be available for sale--cash only.*






Jan Beatty is the author of three books: Red Sugar (2008), Boneshaker (2002), and Mad River (winner, 1994 Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize), all by the University of Pittsburgh Press. With Chicago writer Ellen Wadey (Director of the Guild Complex), Beatty hosts and produces Prosody, a public radio show on NPR affiliate WYEP-FM featuring the work of national writers.





David Trinidad' s most recent book of poetry, The Late Show, was published in 2007 by Turtle Point Press. He teaches poetry at Columbia College Chicago, where he co-edits the journal Court Green.




Andrew Terhune is originally from Memphis, Tennessee. He is the author of the chapbooks Handle this Bludgeon and Run Me Through (Tilt Press, 2008) and Helen Mirren Picks Out My Clothes (The Greying Ghost Press, forthcoming). He lives in Chicago with his wife and two daughters.