If you are already sick of summer 'television'....
If you love bookstores...
If you like to save money, meet people with working brains, see a business engage in community outreach, or enjoy a comfortable seat while you pore over your potential purchases...
You have to visit Bard's Books!
and if you enjoy listening to the poetry of the ages read by local vocal artists, you have to visit Bard's Books twice this month!
Sven and Leeann Rosckowff and Gary Bowers have designed a two-night event called "Let us now praise Great Poets." Several Sonoran Bard readers will offer selections from the poets they admire most. The names being tossed around include Thomas Hardy, Gregory Corso, Leonard Cohen, Alan Ginsberg, Algernon Swinburne, e.e. cummings, and Billy Collins, and the list is growing. There is so much joy to be found in hearing these writers out loud -- don't deny yourself this pleasure.
So much excitement has built up around this event that one Friday night wasn't enough: we're going to read on June 19th and June 26th. Check Bard's Books website (link at left) for location and time, and peek at the event calendar for all the other great community activities this very exciting store offers.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Long Time Gone
The Spring semester ate up all my writing energy, so this is the first post in months! I had two great classes online, got a lot of work done and took refuge from the big bad world, so no regrets. Now there is good reason for me to visit the Beachglass house again: Monsoon Voices will be in session this Friday.
Traci and Patrick have kindly asked me to read, so I'm spending this week reading and practicing and probably getting sick to death of my essay 'Mosquitoes'. But before that I'm enjoying frissons of anticipation for the other readers: Catania Larson and Susan Vespoli, who I have not heard before, and Maryann McCullough, who I have and who is terrific, and then Betsy McPhee. I've read Betsy's work and can't wait to meet her, because I've taken an online class from her and she's a great teacher!
One of the quirky aspects of online classes is getting to know people through their work and comments, sharing learning but never actually meeting them. Later on you run into them at a reading, in another class or even on campus, and it's joyous and scary as you run through your mental file cabinet pulling out memory files so you can speak to them halfway intelligently. I'm particularly bad at this. I've embarrassed myself horribly by pouring out my admiration about pieces to a writer only to discover that while she admired the work as well, she was not the author. My facial-recognition skills leave much to be desired. I'm thinking about asking online classmates to post photos to help me out!
Save money and have fun this Friday by coming out to Unlimited Coffee for Monsoon Voices. There'll be laughter and noise and soul-comforting literature, and the Unlimited folks will sell you tummy-cheering drinks and gelato. You can't go wrong!
Monsoon Voices (a live literary magazine)
at Unlimited Coffee
741 E. Glendale Ave, East of 7th Street on the south side of Glendale
7:30 p.m.
Traci and Patrick Moore host this great event, and you can visit their blog by clicking on the link at the left. Hope I get to meet you there!
Traci and Patrick have kindly asked me to read, so I'm spending this week reading and practicing and probably getting sick to death of my essay 'Mosquitoes'. But before that I'm enjoying frissons of anticipation for the other readers: Catania Larson and Susan Vespoli, who I have not heard before, and Maryann McCullough, who I have and who is terrific, and then Betsy McPhee. I've read Betsy's work and can't wait to meet her, because I've taken an online class from her and she's a great teacher!
One of the quirky aspects of online classes is getting to know people through their work and comments, sharing learning but never actually meeting them. Later on you run into them at a reading, in another class or even on campus, and it's joyous and scary as you run through your mental file cabinet pulling out memory files so you can speak to them halfway intelligently. I'm particularly bad at this. I've embarrassed myself horribly by pouring out my admiration about pieces to a writer only to discover that while she admired the work as well, she was not the author. My facial-recognition skills leave much to be desired. I'm thinking about asking online classmates to post photos to help me out!
Save money and have fun this Friday by coming out to Unlimited Coffee for Monsoon Voices. There'll be laughter and noise and soul-comforting literature, and the Unlimited folks will sell you tummy-cheering drinks and gelato. You can't go wrong!
Monsoon Voices (a live literary magazine)
at Unlimited Coffee
741 E. Glendale Ave, East of 7th Street on the south side of Glendale
7:30 p.m.
Traci and Patrick Moore host this great event, and you can visit their blog by clicking on the link at the left. Hope I get to meet you there!
Monday, February 16, 2009
Friday the 13th Blueschaser
On Friday the Thirteenth of February, the Monsoon Voices gathered again at Unlimited Coffee on Glendale Ave to fight off any sinister omens and take joy in spoken and sung stories. What a fine night it was!
Certain sinister overtones occurred: Gary Bower presented a surprisingly un-acrostic set of poems that nonetheless amazed the assembly. Elizabeth Early, a "recent transplant from Chicago" read a fictional memoir of deafness, stunningly vivid, colorful, heartrending. Bakeem Lloyd's powerful poetry nearly always has a dark side, and Friday night he did not disappoint us.
Lighter moments were offered by Paula Ashley's nature poetry, although even she reminded us somehow of the sorry state we've fallen into. Heather Hanssard's quite optimistic views cheered us, and Kevin Hall, who calls himself a 'blue-collar poet,' made us laugh, and then nearly cry. Blue collar, perhaps, but top-notch.
Two women that I'm lucky enough to be in a class with this semester read memoir. Maryann McCullough told us about growing up very Irish and very Catholic in inner-city Chicago. Sandra Yee read "Chenglish as a second language," leading us through her adventures growing up with multiple linguistic influences that led to multiple confusions. We should all be so challenged!
Iain Walinck, a gifted guitarist, sang us a range of folk songs about the working man's struggles in tough economic times. It served to remind us that for some there are always tough economic times, and the best you can do sometimes is laugh.
The evening flashed past. Monsoon Voice hosts Traci and Patrick Moore are masters at choosing and presenting lively readings, and the casual setting at Unlimited makes it easy for everyone to lighten up, even while sharing excellent writing on some tough topics. It all happens again in April -- hope to see you there.
Certain sinister overtones occurred: Gary Bower presented a surprisingly un-acrostic set of poems that nonetheless amazed the assembly. Elizabeth Early, a "recent transplant from Chicago" read a fictional memoir of deafness, stunningly vivid, colorful, heartrending. Bakeem Lloyd's powerful poetry nearly always has a dark side, and Friday night he did not disappoint us.
Lighter moments were offered by Paula Ashley's nature poetry, although even she reminded us somehow of the sorry state we've fallen into. Heather Hanssard's quite optimistic views cheered us, and Kevin Hall, who calls himself a 'blue-collar poet,' made us laugh, and then nearly cry. Blue collar, perhaps, but top-notch.
Two women that I'm lucky enough to be in a class with this semester read memoir. Maryann McCullough told us about growing up very Irish and very Catholic in inner-city Chicago. Sandra Yee read "Chenglish as a second language," leading us through her adventures growing up with multiple linguistic influences that led to multiple confusions. We should all be so challenged!
Iain Walinck, a gifted guitarist, sang us a range of folk songs about the working man's struggles in tough economic times. It served to remind us that for some there are always tough economic times, and the best you can do sometimes is laugh.
The evening flashed past. Monsoon Voice hosts Traci and Patrick Moore are masters at choosing and presenting lively readings, and the casual setting at Unlimited makes it easy for everyone to lighten up, even while sharing excellent writing on some tough topics. It all happens again in April -- hope to see you there.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Voices for the Solstice
Monsoon Voices finished a terrific year of literary sharing and celebration on December 19th at Unlimited Coffee. If you haven’t gone by Unlimited, either for a reading, a drink, or a gelato, you should know that the building began life as a pizza hut. Red brick walls and large windows surround the once-dining room. Down the center of the room, a table worthy of a CEO’s boardroom runs north to south; performers stand at the north end, with Glendale Avenue and neon window signs behind them. At the south end of the room the coffee/gelato magic happens.
On Friday night the returning readers all seemed to pull up chairs at the big table. There were at least five of us, not counting our reader-hosts, Traci and Patrick. The room was surprisingly filled for the last Friday before Christmas. I sort of thought we’d be reading only to each other. Maybe people found it more satisfying to be in a full reading than an empty department store. Maybe word has gotten out that Monsoon Voices is a great time.
I was lucky enough to be invited to read and it was a great way to spend part of the winter solstice. I intended to riff on the solstice before reading, but on Friday I ran through the piece one more time before the show and realized that it was written off an assignment in a class this fall. I decided to mention how beneficial I find being in class: the motivation, the inspiration. The deadlines. So I talked about that, then read “Red Silk iPod,” which made people laugh in many of the right places. I finished with “Dieting at Christmas,” one of those ditzy poems that people (with the exception of magazine editors) always seem to like. But I was the last reader, and before me, there were treasures:
Steven Lufkin – guitars and vocals – This 15 year old marvel pleased the crowd with several well-crafted songs of his own creation. We got the feeling that his talent would develop beautifully in the fullness of time. Then he played “Hey Joe” from Jimi Hendrix. He mastered “Hey Joe.” The guitar that had only supported his words earlier now blasted us, slaughtered us, enthralled us. I can’t wait to see this kid smack the world in the eye.
Rosemarie Dombrowski – Editor of ‘merge’ magazine – this terrific poet treated us to two short personal essays: “Flour, sugar, stir, repeat,” and “Converse.” Both were polished, funny, memorable. I hope poetry can hang on to her, but fear that prose might win.
bakeem lloyd – poetry – this is the first time I’ve met bakeem but I know it won’t be the last – he read two long poems: ‘Jigsaw Puzzle in Reverse,’ and ‘The Mating Habits of Binary Stars.’ bakeem seemed shy, quiet; his poetry is powerful and deep. He reads beautifully. I think we’ll all hear more about him.
Pascal Marco – longtime newspaper man and new essayist – read us ‘Heliotrope,’ the story of meeting his wife of thirty years at the age of seventeen. Pascal brings us the humor and joy of his life. We’re lucky.
Jessica Standifird – introduced as ‘a poet heavily into the local scene’ which she promptly told us might be true, but she feels “not nearly as accomplished as that might seem to imply.” All of us who strive to read in public can empathize, but she’s wrong in her own case: this poet has got it on. She read us several excellent pieces, and I hope the print outlets are picking up on them.
Sarah Moore – young happy college student – this bright light has a lot to share. Like so many good writers, she took a small moment--losing her keys in a forest—and spun it into a story that threw light on the kindness and wonder of the world; and did it all while making us laugh.
Shawnte Orion – another regular on the local scene, this one with a loyal fan base, several of whom were there to cheer him on. If they hadn’t come, well, no worries; the rest of us made enough noise to cover it. He gave us a sermon on the creation of Phoenix by the god L.A. Shawnte has a good time with his writing, and happily, so do the rest of us.
Anyway, if you weren’t there in 2008, I hope you’ll be inspired to come listen in 2009. Monsoon Voices is a great time. Treat yourself to it.
On Friday night the returning readers all seemed to pull up chairs at the big table. There were at least five of us, not counting our reader-hosts, Traci and Patrick. The room was surprisingly filled for the last Friday before Christmas. I sort of thought we’d be reading only to each other. Maybe people found it more satisfying to be in a full reading than an empty department store. Maybe word has gotten out that Monsoon Voices is a great time.
I was lucky enough to be invited to read and it was a great way to spend part of the winter solstice. I intended to riff on the solstice before reading, but on Friday I ran through the piece one more time before the show and realized that it was written off an assignment in a class this fall. I decided to mention how beneficial I find being in class: the motivation, the inspiration. The deadlines. So I talked about that, then read “Red Silk iPod,” which made people laugh in many of the right places. I finished with “Dieting at Christmas,” one of those ditzy poems that people (with the exception of magazine editors) always seem to like. But I was the last reader, and before me, there were treasures:
Steven Lufkin – guitars and vocals – This 15 year old marvel pleased the crowd with several well-crafted songs of his own creation. We got the feeling that his talent would develop beautifully in the fullness of time. Then he played “Hey Joe” from Jimi Hendrix. He mastered “Hey Joe.” The guitar that had only supported his words earlier now blasted us, slaughtered us, enthralled us. I can’t wait to see this kid smack the world in the eye.
Rosemarie Dombrowski – Editor of ‘merge’ magazine – this terrific poet treated us to two short personal essays: “Flour, sugar, stir, repeat,” and “Converse.” Both were polished, funny, memorable. I hope poetry can hang on to her, but fear that prose might win.
bakeem lloyd – poetry – this is the first time I’ve met bakeem but I know it won’t be the last – he read two long poems: ‘Jigsaw Puzzle in Reverse,’ and ‘The Mating Habits of Binary Stars.’ bakeem seemed shy, quiet; his poetry is powerful and deep. He reads beautifully. I think we’ll all hear more about him.
Pascal Marco – longtime newspaper man and new essayist – read us ‘Heliotrope,’ the story of meeting his wife of thirty years at the age of seventeen. Pascal brings us the humor and joy of his life. We’re lucky.
Jessica Standifird – introduced as ‘a poet heavily into the local scene’ which she promptly told us might be true, but she feels “not nearly as accomplished as that might seem to imply.” All of us who strive to read in public can empathize, but she’s wrong in her own case: this poet has got it on. She read us several excellent pieces, and I hope the print outlets are picking up on them.
Sarah Moore – young happy college student – this bright light has a lot to share. Like so many good writers, she took a small moment--losing her keys in a forest—and spun it into a story that threw light on the kindness and wonder of the world; and did it all while making us laugh.
Shawnte Orion – another regular on the local scene, this one with a loyal fan base, several of whom were there to cheer him on. If they hadn’t come, well, no worries; the rest of us made enough noise to cover it. He gave us a sermon on the creation of Phoenix by the god L.A. Shawnte has a good time with his writing, and happily, so do the rest of us.
Anyway, if you weren’t there in 2008, I hope you’ll be inspired to come listen in 2009. Monsoon Voices is a great time. Treat yourself to it.
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