From pa-info at poetsasylum.org Thu Apr 2 12:31:42 2009 From: pa-info at poetsasylum.org (Info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum) Date: Thu, 2 Apr 2009 12:31:42 -0400 Subject: [pa-info] Asylum update (04/02/09) Message-ID: Greeting from the Poets' Asylum. Visit poetsasylum.org to see what other poetic events are taking place this weekend in the area. Here are a couple of highlights. ------------------------------ Tonight @ The Spot This week *The Spot*, the weekly poetry reading at the Hotel Vernon (1 Kelly Square, Worcester), will hold an open mic. After the open *Lea Deschenes*will be their feature. The reading starts at 8:00 p.m. with a brief open mic. 21+ and proper id is required. ------------------------------ College Poetry Contest The WCPA 's *Annual College Poetry Competition Finalists' Reading* will be held on Saturday, April 4th. The public is invited to come hear the finalists at the Worcester Public Library (3 Salem Street, Worcester). The meeting starts at 2:00 p.m. and is being held in the Saxe Room. The winner of the contest will be announced at a reception following the reading. ------------------------------ Coming up on Sunday, April 5th Join the *Poets' Asylum* this week for another just-for-fun slam. This week we'll hold the *Blue Collar Slam*. Poems used in the slam must be about work or working. This will be a two-round slam and the usual rules (3 minute limit, original work, no props, etc) apply. The winner of the slam will receive a gift card to Jumpin' Juice & Java. Proceeds from the slam will help fund the 2009 Worcester Slam team. Come out to Jumpin' Juice and Java (335 Chandler Street, Worcester). The reading starts at *6:00 p.m.*. ------------------------------ March 29th Revisited Five slammers took part in the two round slam *open qualifying slam* this week. No time penalties were seen and the only 10 of the night showed up for the very last poem. Congratulations to *Danielle* on winning the slam. She moves on to the team final on May 24th. Scores can be found on the Slam page . ------------------------------ The Poets' Asylum is in its eighteenth year of bringing the best in Performance and Slam Poetry to Central Massachusetts and beyond. Find us online at http://poetsasylum.org/. This message was sent to you from the pa-info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum (poetsasylum.org). If you would like to no longer receive updates please click hereto unsubscribe. If all else fails please send an e-mail to webmaster at poetsasylum.org and we'll do our best to remove your e-mail address from the list. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pa-info at poetsasylum.org Fri Apr 3 08:16:03 2009 From: pa-info at poetsasylum.org (Info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum) Date: Fri, 3 Apr 2009 08:16:03 -0400 Subject: [pa-info] A Letter from the Slammaster Message-ID: Greeting - below is a letter from Poets' Asylum slammaster Bill MacMillan. It was originally posted in his LiveJournal . ------------------------------ Like in past years, the Worcester Poetry Slam needs money to get the team to the Nationals. Unlike in past years, we can?t just put the cost on someone?s credit card & hope we raise the funds later. Registration costs have gone up, hotel rooms are bundled with registration (a cost-savings for us, but money needed earlier) & donations are down. We need to know that we?ll be able to cover our costs before we send a team. To do that, we need your help. In the long-term (between now & the end of July) we need to raise around $2,500 to cover flights, hotel & transportation. In the short term (between now & April 26th) we need to raise the first $1,000 of that to cover registration, memberships & deposits. This is the part of the fund raising spiel where I should use flowery, uplifting language to inspire you to donate. But I?m going to be blunt? *If we don?t raise $1,000 by April 26th we will not send a team.* I know that this is not the feel-good beg-a-thon message you were expecting, but times are tough all around & we can?t afford to carry debt past the event this year. We need the Poets? Asylum family to step up & help us raise the money needed. If 20 people each raise $50 we can make our target amount & move forward with secure financial standing. Or if 40 people each raise $25, or if 2 people each raise $500. (you get the idea) We will kick-off our fundraiser this Sunday (April 5th) with a ?Blue Collar Slam?. We will have pledge sheets, donation information & will be passing the hat all month. April is National Poetry Month. Help make it a good one for the Worcester Slam by donating whatever you can. (& whatever you can beg from your friends, family & co-workers) Please, I hate begging for cash. Just donate so I can stop this groveling. -Bill MacMillan SlamMaster ? Poets? Asylum ------------------------------ The Poets' Asylum is in its eighteenth year of bringing the best in Performance and Slam Poetry to Central Massachusetts and beyond. Find us online at http://poetsasylum.org/. This message was sent to you from the pa-info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum (poetsasylum.org). If you would like to no longer receive updates please click hereto unsubscribe. If all else fails please send an e-mail to webmaster at poetsasylum.org and we'll do our best to remove your e-mail address from the list. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pa-info at poetsasylum.org Thu Apr 9 12:43:47 2009 From: pa-info at poetsasylum.org (Info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum) Date: Thu, 9 Apr 2009 12:43:47 -0400 Subject: [pa-info] Asylum update (04/09/09) Message-ID: Greeting from the Poets' Asylum. Visit poetsasylum.org to see what other poetic events are taking place this weekend in the area. Here are a couple of highlights. ------------------------------ Friday Night @ Worcester Storyteller *Worcester Storytellers* meets on the second Friday of each month at the Village Arts Gallery (1 Ekman Street, Worcester). The reading starts at 8:00 p.m. There will be an open mic followed by a feature from *Rushelle Frazier*, host of Worcester's newest weekly poetry reading. Rushelle was also recently elected to the board of the Worcester County Poetry Association. Worcester Storytellers never charges a cover. They do ask you to throw some money into the basket to support the artists who feature. For more info please contact dave... @aol.com. ------------------------------ Coming up on Sunday, April 12th [image: Michael Brown] This week the *Poets' Asylum* welcomes *Michael Brown * back to our stage. Brown has published poetry, fiction, travel articles and columns in wide-ranging periodicals all over the world. His fourth book of poetry, *The Confidence Man*, was published in 2006 by Ragged Sky. In May, 2007, Brown and his partner Valerie Lawson moved to Robbinston in Down East Maine, the easternmost point in the USA, where they have been granted the editorial and publishing privileges for *Off the Coast*, a poetry journal founded by Arlene and George V. Van Deventer 14 years ago. Join us at Jumpin' Juice and Java (335 Chandler Street, Worcester). The reading starts at *6:00 p.m.* No cover; please throw some money in the bucket to support the feature. ------------------------------ Fundraising News Slammaster Bill MacMillan has posted a letter in his blog about the need for fundraising in support of the 2009 Worcester Slam Team. You can read a copy of it in our blog, http://community.livejournal.com/poetsa sylum/ . Our short term goal is $1000 by April 26th. As of April 5th $155 has been raised. [image: Get Acrobat Reader]A PDF copy of the pledge sheet is available here You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open and print the file. There are 2 pledge sheets per page. We really appreciate any and all support the community is able to provide. ------------------------------ Sunday, April 5th Revisited Four competitors took part in the *Blue Collar Slam* this week sharing their poems on work or working. At the end of the math exercise *Simone Beaubien*took the prize due to a massive time penalty against Mike McGee. Thanks to everyone who came out and shared their words in the open and slam. ------------------------------ The Poets' Asylum is in its eighteenth year of bringing the best in Performance and Slam Poetry to Central Massachusetts and beyond. Find us online at http://poetsasylum.org/. This message was sent to you from the pa-info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum (poetsasylum.org). If you would like to no longer receive updates please click hereto unsubscribe. If all else fails please send an e-mail to webmaster at poetsasylum.org and we'll do our best to remove your e-mail address from the list. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pa-info at poetsasylum.org Sun Apr 12 17:08:13 2009 From: pa-info at poetsasylum.org (Info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum) Date: Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:08:13 -0400 Subject: [pa-info] No reading tonight - April 12th Message-ID: We discovered about 5 minutes ago that Jumpin' Juice and Java is not open tonight. So, alas, no reading tonight. Sorry about the late notice. Don't eat all the Easter candy in one sitting. ------------------------------ The Poets' Asylum is in its eighteenth year of bringing the best in Performance and Slam Poetry to Central Massachusetts and beyond. Find us online at http://poetsasylum.org/. This message was sent to you from the pa-info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum (poetsasylum.org). If you would like to no longer receive updates please click hereto unsubscribe. If all else fails please send an e-mail to webmaster at poetsasylum.org and we'll do our best to remove your e-mail address from the list. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pa-info at poetsasylum.org Thu Apr 16 10:52:21 2009 From: pa-info at poetsasylum.org (Info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum) Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:52:21 -0400 Subject: [pa-info] Asylum update (04/16/09) Message-ID: Greeting from the Poets' Asylum. ------------------------------ Open Slam Tonight @ The Spot This week *The Spot*, the weekly poetry reading at the Hotel Vernon (1 Kelly Square, Worcester), will host the penultimate *open qualifying slam* for the 2009 Worcester Slam Team. The winner of tonight's slam moves on to the 2009 Worcester Slam Team finals on May 24th. The reading starts at 8:00 p.m. with a brief open mic. 21+ and proper id is required. ------------------------------ Coming up on Sunday, April 19th [image: Bill MacMillan] Join the *Poets' Asylum* this week for a feature by slammaster *Bill MacMillan*. MacMillan is the founder of the Worcester Poetry Slam and co-founder of the Poets' Asylum. Bill was a member of the Providence Slam Team that won the national championship in '96 & was later featured in the film SlamNation. He was the co-host of the 2005 iWPS in Worcester and has been on numerous Worcester slam teams. When not writing, Bill is an accomplished visual artist and armor conservator. He can drink more coffee than the average person, but still hates talking about himself in the third person. Come on down to Jumpin' Juice and Java (335 Chandler Street, Worcester). The reading starts at *6:00 p.m.* No cover; please throw some money in the bucket to support the feature. ------------------------------ April 12th Revisited Jumpin' Juice & Java was closed tonight so there was no reading this past Sunday night. Our apologies to anyone who tried to join the fun; we were caught by surprise when we arrived to set-up. ------------------------------ The Poets' Asylum is in its eighteenth year of bringing the best in Performance and Slam Poetry to Central Massachusetts and beyond. Find us online at http://poetsasylum.org/. This message was sent to you from the pa-info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum (poetsasylum.org). If you would like to no longer receive updates please click hereto unsubscribe. If all else fails please send an e-mail to webmaster at poetsasylum.org and we'll do our best to remove your e-mail address from the list. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pa-info at poetsasylum.org Thu Apr 23 10:06:03 2009 From: pa-info at poetsasylum.org (Info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum) Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:06:03 -0400 Subject: [pa-info] Asylum update (04/23/09) Message-ID: Greeting from the Poets' Asylum. There's a lot of great poetry happening this weekend. We hope you'll join us. ------------------------------ Fundraising Update [image: fundraising thermometer] Slammaster Bill MacMillan posted a letter in his blog about the need for fundraising in support of the 2009 Worcester Slam Team. You can read a copy of it in our blog, http://community.livejournal.com/poetsa sylum/ . The short version is we have set a goal of raising $1000 by April 26th (the last open slam of the season). If we hit the goal we'll send a team; if we come up short Worcester won't send a team to Nationals this year. On April 17th a fan of the Poets' Asylum offered a challenge: if we send a team they will donate $600. An additional $120 was donated or pledged this week. This leaves *$87 that is needed by April 26th* in order for us to register a team for NPS 2009. If you are thinking about chipping in or making a pledge now is the time to do it. We'll have pledge sheets and will accept donations between now and next Sunday, April 26th. [image: Get Acrobat Reader]A PDF copy of the pledge sheet is available here You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open and print the file. There are 2 pledge sheets per page. We really appreciate any and all support the community is able to provide. ------------------------------ Ballard Street Poetry Journal Reading Friday, April 24th [image: BSPJ image] This Friday, April 24th Ballard Street Poetry Journalwill host an *impromptu reading and celebration* of the latest issue of the journal. The evening will include an open mic with poets from the current issue followed by a spotlight feature on poet Pamela Starr. Bring your friends for a fine evening of words. The event is free and open to the public. Join them starting at 8:00 p.m. at Vasa Hall (1 Ekman Street, Worcester). Contributions welcome. Refreshments will be served. ------------------------------ Worcester Youth Grand Slam The Speakout! Youth Poetry Slam meets every Saturday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The format is usually an open mic, youth slam (ages 13-19 welcome) and a feature. This Saturday, April 25th, they will hold the *2009 Worcester Youth Grand Slam* to select the team. Join them in The Bistro in Higgins Student Center (950 Main Street, Worcester). Come share a poem at the open mic, catch the feature or cheer on the slammers. ------------------------------ Coming up on Sunday, April 26th [image: Poetic Boxing] This Sunday, April 26th, at the Poets' Asylum we'll hold our regular poetry open mic followed by the last *open qualifying slam*for the 2009 Worcester Slam team. The top finisher this week moves on to the Team Finals in May. Poetry slam is the competitive art of performance poetry. It puts a dual emphasis on writing and performance, encouraging poets to focus on what they're saying and how they're saying it. Slam poetry can be moving, funny and deadly serious, sometimes all in the same poem. If that sounds like a good time then join us for some great words. Come out to Jumpin' Juice and Java (335 Chandler Street, Worcester). The reading starts at *6:00 p.m.* The slam list will probably fill up quick so show up early if you want a chance at the team finals on May 24th. ------------------------------ April 19th Revisited Asylum slammaster *Bill MacMillan* was our feature this week. From a perch at the side of the room he avoided the mic for the night. With a minimum of fanfare he read his own well crafted work and covers of pieces by Matt Cook and Eric Darby. A fine evening was had by all. Thanks for the words Bill. ------------------------------ The Poets' Asylum is in its eighteenth year of bringing the best in Performance and Slam Poetry to Central Massachusetts and beyond. Find us online at http://poetsasylum.org/. This message was sent to you from the pa-info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum (poetsasylum.org). If you would like to no longer receive updates please click hereto unsubscribe. If all else fails please send an e-mail to webmaster at poetsasylum.org and we'll do our best to remove your e-mail address from the list. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From pa-info at poetsasylum.org Thu Apr 30 09:50:24 2009 From: pa-info at poetsasylum.org (Info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum) Date: Thu, 30 Apr 2009 09:50:24 -0400 Subject: [pa-info] Asylum update (04/30/09) Message-ID: Greeting from the Poets' Asylum. We hope to see you at a poetry event this week. ------------------------------ Coming up on Sunday, May 3rd [image: A Microphone] Join the Poets' Asylum on Sunday, May 3rd for the regular poetry open mic and the *Finish the Poem Slam*. We'll provide the first and last lines for the poem(s), you create the rest of the poem. Round one: "Greetings from Worcester" / "Wish you were here." Round two: "The moon" / "sleep" Standard slam rules apply (3 minute limit, no props, etc.). Come on down to Jumpin' Juice and Java (335 Chandler Street, Worcester). The reading starts at *6:00 p.m.* No cover; please throw some money in the bucket to support the reading. ------------------------------ April 26th Revisited Thanks to those who came out tonight for the last *open qualifying slam* of the 2009 Worcester Slam season. Congratulations to *McKendy* for winning the slam. The other competitors in this close slam were TJ, Cyndi and Melinda. McKendy moves on to the the Team finals on May 24th. Scores can be found on the Slam page . ------------------------------ We're Going To Nationals! Thanks to the generosity of the community the Poets' Asylum has met the $1000 by April 26th goal established by slammaster Bill MacMillan. That means we will be sending a team to the 2009 National Poetry Slam in West Palm Beach, FL. We appreciate all of the support so far. Next up is the task of raising the remaining $1500 to get the team to West Palm Beach (and back), cover the hotel room, pay for PSI memberships for the team members and maybe give the team a bit toward food. We are looking toward our always supportive community for their assistance in raising that money. If you have an idea for a fundraiser that you are willing to organize please drop an email to webmaster @ poetsasylum . org . ------------------------------ The Poets' Asylum is in its eighteenth year of bringing the best in Performance and Slam Poetry to Central Massachusetts and beyond. Find us online at http://poetsasylum.org/. This message was sent to you from the pa-info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum (poetsasylum.org). If you would like to no longer receive updates please click hereto unsubscribe. If all else fails please send an e-mail to webmaster at poetsasylum.org and we'll do our best to remove your e-mail address from the list. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: