Wednesday, November 1, 2017

W4tB: Weirdo Open Mic: featuring Al DeGenova



Monday, November 20 at 7 PM - 9 PM

UNCHARTED BOOKS
2620 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60647-1610, United States

It is the birthday of legendary guerrilla poet Lesley Heath Morrow. In honor of the occasion W4tB will forgo its usual format in favor of the POETRY WHEEL.
THE POETRY WHEEL is a poetic round robin in which each poet tries to connect their poem to the proceeding poem. connections can be complicated or simple, but all connections need to be explained.

that poem contains the word blue and this one is about the blues
that poem has a particular form and so does this one
that poem was about love or death, or anger or politics, or drunken yadda yadda.
all these connections are valid
donations to pay the feature performer will considered a lovely gesture

Lesley Heath Morrow was a Scottish Expatriate who arrived in the USA sometime in 1958. He spent most of his time in Greenwich Village, although there are reports of him traveling to both Chicago and Los Angeles. Rumors of his affairs with Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon have been vaguely immortalized in song. It was the release of "you're so Vain" in 1971 that led to his disappearance. There is documentation that claim he boarded a plane for South America, but never actually arrived in Brazil.
One of the tricks to fully understanding the works of Lesley Heath Morrow is to put yourself into his shoes. You are suddenly in a country that believes your name has some mysterious sexual ambiguity. This particular conception may explain Morrow's hatred for David Bowie and his cross dressing tendencies. The name Lesley bears no such stigma in Scotland.
Far more important than the name is the mysterious background of the man. He has left his Native Scotland after some unknown personal tragedy that is only ever hinted at. All references says it points to a women and her death or joining a convent. Morrow rarely spoke of it.
He spent most of his time denying his connections to wealth and aristocracy and pointing out the tragedies and idiocies of an American generation that devoted itself to self-absorbed trends like free love and sexual experimentation that were akin to the deviancy that brought down the Roman Empire.
Morrow spent his time in America hanging out in Greenwich Village and absorbing the folk music scene. He enjoyed the political angst and personal introspection of Bob Dylan and Tim Buckley. Morrow's dislike of the pretentious Andy Warhol led to a long time feud with Lou Reed and a legal debate over who really wrote "White Light, White Heat.
LHM was a guerrilla poet, preferring to leave his work on diner tables and bathroom walls. He wrote on receipts and napkins. He often slipped them into the pockets of whomever the poem was written about.
LHM's best friend was a Blues Harp Player named Slidefish Williams. The pair met in Chicago in the late 1950s. Morrow was last in Chicago during the DNC in 1968. It coincided with  the funeral of Slidefish who died of lung cancer.

Sunday, September 3, 2017

Poetry Pentathlon:the main event


it's time once again to present the Lesley Heath Morrow Prize for Poetic excellence. the esteemed award goes to the winner of the Poetry Pentathlon. The Pentathlon is the greatest poetry competion that makes extreme use of hyperbole in its advertisements.
this year we have seven contestants registered and ready to play
Len Lundh
Dave Abatangelo
Jacqueline Nicole Harris
Kimberly Lyons
Dina Stuart
Barbara Barg
Margie Mack Saxon

There are three judges
Judges will be revealed at the event.
all pay offs to judges can be sent to
Pentathlonpayoff@bribemail.com

and 5 fabulous events
Shakespearean Sonnet
Rant
Research
redaction
On the spot prompt

Hosted by Buddha 309
Math performed by Bob Lawrence

Saturday September 16th 7-9pm
THE BOOK CELLAR
4736-38 N Lincoln Ave

W4tB with Chicago Poet Paul Ryan



W4tB with Chicago Poet Paul Ryan
Monday, September 18 at 7 AM - 9 AM
UNCHARTED BOOKS
2620 N Milwaukee Ave.



this time at the Weirdo Open Mic we've got Super Poet Paul Ryan. It is destined to be a kickass time.

3 poems or 5 minutes plus we gots the Poetry Pot Luck (it ain't about food folks, it's about poems.)

BYOB

POETRY POT LUCK.

EVERYONE CONTRIBUTES A POEM AND IT IS BLINDLY READ BY ANOTHER POET DURING THE OPEN MIC. IT IS AN ODD SHARING OF THE POETIC WEALTH THAT MAKES FOR INTERESTING INTERPRETATIONS.

Friday, July 28, 2017

W4tB-Weirdo Open Mic with Michele McDannold






Monday, August 21 at 7 PM - 9 PM

UNCHARTED BOOKS
2620 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60647-1610



Hey Weirdo Nation, It's eclipse night so you should write some eclipse poems and bring [em to the show. More importantly, we got us a fancy out of town poet coming in to Chicago to share some of her poetic bad assery with us. So if you been thinking about coming to UNCHARTED BOOKS for the show, now is the bestest time to be in attendance.
As always, the show is free, but we do request a donation for the feature so they can pay for gas or beer or a book or something.

if you come to share, you get three poems or five minutes, whicever comes first.

BYOB

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Weirdo Open Mic: with David Mathews



Monday, July 17 at 7 PM - 9 PM Uncharted Books is located at 2620 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60647-1610,



Don't be fooled by erroneous signage-Uncharted Books is located at
2620 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, IL 60647-1610, United States
It is the current home of Waiting 4 the Bus and it's WEIRDO open mic: If you haven't been to visit us lately, now is the perfect time. We have a super feature. David Matthews is one of the best this city has to offer (writer-wise, he doesn't serve pizza or anything)

the open mic is super casual, you get 3 poems or 5 minutes, whichever comes first,

the show itself is free, we do request donations via collection (like church only more pagan and with puppets). We like to give our features a little something for the effort.


you can BYOB if you want
chairs are at a premium, so if you got one of those camp chairs, you might want to bring it along

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

There are still a few open spots for the Pentathlon


Welcome! If you would like to take part in our event, please fill in your details in the form below and you will be automatically registered. Event registration must be completed at least 

1 MONTH prior to the event.

 Saturday September 16th 7-9pm
THE BOOK CELLAR
4736-38 N Lincoln Ave

 REGISTRATION CLOSES ON AUGUST 16TH




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EVENTS

1:Form Poem.  This years for is the SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET
http://www.dummies.com/education/language-arts/poetry/writing-a-sonnet/

2:THE RANT

3:ON THE SPOT PROMPT. upon arrival at the event a prompt is issued to each contestant.  the poem must be completed in the room and will be the final event of the night

4; REDACTION POEM. we will provide a page of text.  your job...eliminate everything that is not the poem.

5: THE RESEARCH POEM.  we will issue each contestant a research topic which is to be the subject of the poem.  (do not expect general or boring research topics, it ain't how we roll.)  all topics will be historic and or scientific

TOPICS AND TEXT AND OTHER POETIC PROVISIONS WILL BE ISSUED UPON THE CLOSE OF REGISTRATION.

DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS WE WILL CAP THE NUMBER OF CONTESTANTS AT 10.  KEEP THAT IN MIND WHEN CONSIDERING YOUR REGISTRATION

Saturday, May 27, 2017

W4tB: Weirdo Open Mic with Julie and Gregory



    Monday, June 19 at 7 PM - 10 PM

  • Uncharted Books
    2630 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago, Illinois 60647
  • Waiting 4 the Bus presents the Weirdo Open Mic Solstice Edition. Gregory Curry and Julie Demhoff Larson are your gateway poets into the Poetry Summer O' Love.
    Come out and join us at the super cool Uncharted Books.
    Bring your beach chair,
    BYOB
    bring poems (yours, someone else's, one of our fabulous house poems, read if you want to...or don't...no pressure)
    you get three poems or 5 minutes
    storytellers welcome as long as you mind the time, mind the gap, keep your hands to yourself

    this is a chill poetry reading with a literary bent and a salon feel, please do not harsh our calm. We can provide a podium upon request, but open MIC is a misnomer, the room is too small for such a device. poets=project/appreciators=listen

FIGHT THE SCOURGE OF GENRE


Friday, May 19, 2017

Register for the Poetry Pentathlon

Welcome! If you would like to take part in our event, please fill in your details in the form below and you will be automatically registered. Event registration must be completed at least 

1 MONTH prior to the event.

 Saturday September 16th 7-9pm
THE BOOK CELLAR
4736-38 N Lincoln Ave

 REGISTRATION CLOSES ON AUGUST 16TH




Powered by 123ContactForm | Report abuse

EVENTS

1:Form Poem.  This years for is the SHAKESPEAREAN SONNET
http://www.dummies.com/education/language-arts/poetry/writing-a-sonnet/

2:THE RANT

3:ON THE SPOT PROMPT. upon arrival at the event a prompt is issued to each contestant.  the poem must be completed in the room and will be the final event of the night

4; REDACTION POEM. we will provide a page of text.  your job...eliminate everything that is not the poem.

5: THE RESEARCH POEM.  we will issue each contestant a research topic which is to be the subject of the poem.  (do not expect general or boring research topics, it ain't how we roll.)  all topics will be historic and or scientific

TOPICS AND TEXT AND OTHER POETIC PROVISIONS WILL BE ISSUED UPON THE CLOSE OF REGISTRATION.

DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS WE WILL CAP THE NUMBER OF CONTESTANTS AT 10.  KEEP THAT IN MIND WHEN CONSIDERING YOUR REGISTRATION

Monday, May 8, 2017

Rockford Outsider Poet Publishes Second Children's Book

Rockford based publisher, Zombie Logic Press, is proud to announce the release of its seventh book “Atrocious Poems A to Z.” This is the second children's book by Rockford creative team and real life couple Thomas L. Vaultonburg of Zombie Logic Press and Jenny Mathews of Rockford Illustrating. Atrocious Poems A To Z is a book about all the things kids love to hate. Vegetables, inoculations, haircuts, monsters under the bed, sharing etc. Twenty-six different amusing poems and illustrations designed to help children cope with these anxiety-producing moments of childhood. Many of the poems also contain lessons in literary form, theme, and literary devices such as oxymoron, paradox, onomatopoeia, and verbal irony.

For Vaultonburg, the project is the culmination of a class project that began at Mary Morgan Grade School almost forty years ago when his 5th grade class was tasked with writing and illustrating a children's book all by themselves. When his lack of effort was chided by the teacher Vaultonburg took it to heart three decades later when he vowed to finish the book he had put such a half-hearted effort into, and after eight years of work, and lots of encouragement from the illustrator, Jenny Mathews, has written a book that will be on the walls of the Rockford Art Museum starting June 9th.

Limited editions of Atrocious Poems A to Z are available for pre-order through ZombieLogicPress.com and will make its debut June 9th 2017 at the Rockford Art Museum. Atrocious Poems A to Z's original pages will be included in an exhibition this summer at the Rockford Art Museum called Bittersweet Observations. “We are very honored to be part of this show at one of our hometown's most prestigious and integral institutions,” says Vaultonburg “It's a wonderful opportunity to teach kids about literary devices in a fun way.” The illustrations from the book can be seen at Rockford Art Museum from June 9th to October 1st.


The book is the fourth in the Rock River Literary Series, publishing authors exclusively from Rockford, Illinois, and the Rock River Valley area. A Kickstarter campaign has been established to raise funds for the project, and future projects in the series at Kickstarter