From pa-info at poetsasylum.org Thu Jan 8 11:05:55 2009 From: pa-info at poetsasylum.org (Info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum) Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2009 11:05:55 -0500 Subject: [pa-info] Asylum info (01/08/09) Message-ID: Greeting from the Poets' Asylum. ------------------------------ Coming up on Friday, January 9th *Worcester Storytellers* meets on the second Friday of each month at Vasa Hall (1 Ekman Street, Worcester). The reading starts at 8:00 p.m. There will be an open mic followed by a feature from *Emily Frrrara*. Ferrara is the author of *The Alchemy of Grief*, a collection of poems selected to win the 2006 Bordighera Poetry Prize. The book was published in bilingual edition (English and Italian) by Bordighera Press in 2007. *The Alchemy of Grief* is her first full length book. A long-time member of *Poem Works: Workshop for Publishing Poets*in Brookline, Ferrara is Assistant Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she teaches creative writing and directs the grants and special projects division for the school's Office of Educational Affairs. Worcester Storytellers never charges a cover. They ask you throw some money into the basket to support the artists who feature. For more info please contact dave... @aol.com. ------------------------------ Coming up on Sunday, January 11th [image: Christian Drake] The *Poets' Asylum* is pleased to bring *Christian Drake* to our venue. Drake is the 2008 Berkeley Grand Slam Champion and a four-time national slam team member and semifinalist. A former urban forester, planetarium guide, and aquarium naturalist, he's the world's only "eco-billy" poet: a little bit environmentalism, a little bit rock and roll. Christian is well-known on the West Coast as the co-host of the venerable Berkeley Slam and the infamous Tourette's Without Regrets show, where he mixes blood & guts humor and eroticism with contemplative, spiritual imagery. This is nature poetry filtered through a guitar amp. 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. ------------------------------ January 4th Revisited Thanks to everyone who came out for the first Poets' Asylum reading of 2009. The open mic was brimming with many new voices; please come back again. The feature this week was *LV*, aka Laura Vookles of Westchester, NY. LV shared very personal work with memories of her late husband filling our minds and drawing us all a bit closer. With great imagery, such as soldiers milling around the airport being greeted by family, and an ear-catching turn of phrase (\Sometimes Amen is just not enough\) LV hit us with the best she has. Thanks for the words LV. Don't be a stranger. ------------------------------ The Poets' Asylum is in its seventeenth 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 Jan 15 10:57:20 2009 From: pa-info at poetsasylum.org (Info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum) Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2009 10:57:20 -0500 Subject: [pa-info] Asylum update (01/15/09) Message-ID: Greeting from the Poets' Asylum. Check out all the poetry. There's a big invitational slam tonight, the Youth Slam returns Saturday, local fave Alex Charalambides is at the Asylum Sunday night and a new poetry reading will kick off on Monday. Hope to see you at one of these amazing events. ------------------------------ Invitational Slam Tonight @ the Spot This week *The Spot*, the weekly poetry reading at the Hotel Vernon (1 Kelly Square, Worcester), will hold the *Captain of the Ship Invitational Slam II*. The reading starts at 8:00 p.m. with a brief open mic. Expected to compete are Jon Wolf, Danny Bilel, Ryk McIntyre, Cole Rodriguez, Marlon Carrie, Artie Moffa, Cassandra DeAlba, Chris Johnson and Erin Jackson. First 30 to pay cover get entered in a raffle for a $25 prize to be drawn before the final round. $100 cash prize to the winner of the three round slam. $5 cover - 21+ and proper id is required. ------------------------------ Speakout! Youth Slam Saturday Night The *Speakout! Youth Poetry Slam* returns from the winter hiatus and is back to meeting every Saturday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. The format is an open mic, youth slam (ages 13-19 welcome) and a feature. This week their feature will be 2008 Worcester Slam team member *Trevor Byrne-Smith*. Come share a poem at the open mic or come to see slammers. Join them in The Bisto in Higgins Student Center (950 Main Street, Worcester). ------------------------------ Coming up on Sunday, January 18th [image: Alex Charalmabides] Join the *Poets' Asylum* for a feature by the Worcester rep to the 2008 Individual World Poetry Slam, *Alex Charalambides*. Charalambides is a Worcester Native & Boston College Graduate who began performing poetry in the fall of 2000. He's the first slam poet to represent teams from Worcester, Boston & Providence at the annual National Poetry Slam, ranking as high as 5th in the team competition (2003). He is the Founder & Director of Speakout! Poetry Collective, a group responsible for mentoring teen poets at the Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Festival, coaching & chaperoning Worcester Youth Slam Teams since 2004. An original cast member of the Cambridge Poetry Award winning theater ensemble "Doc Brown's Poetry Circus," he has also hosted, organized & performed at countless events from libraries to rock clubs throughout New England. Head over 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 features. ------------------------------ The Dirty Gerund starts on January 19th There's a new poetry reading in town starting January 19th! The *Dirty Gerund Poetry Show* will be held every Monday night starting at 8:30 p.m. The reading is being held at Ralph's Chadwick Square Diner (148 Grove Street, Worcester) and is hosted by Rushelle Frazier. There will be an open mic every week with a mix of poetry slams and featured poets. No cover; donations accepted. 21+ ------------------------------ January 11th Revisited Touring poet and "eco-billy" poet *Christian Drake* was our feature this week and what a feature it was. With a theme of "blood" he poured out his soul and tickled our funny bones with a diverse set with a deep baritone delivery. Calling up the crimson wave, failed relationships, carnivorous escapades and werewolf lust he packed his set and was met with thunderous applause. He even managed to premier a new piece and retire one whose time may finally have passed. Great work Christan. Thanks for all the wonderful words. Want to learn more about the feature? Check out Jorge Bannister's blog review of the night. ------------------------------ The Poets' Asylum is in its seventeenth 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 Jan 22 13:09:38 2009 From: pa-info at poetsasylum.org (Info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum) Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:09:38 -0500 Subject: [pa-info] Asylum update (01/22/09) Message-ID: Greeting from the Poets' Asylum. Slam for the 2009 Worcester Slam team kick off this week. Read more below. Hope to see you at a poetry event soon. ------------------------------ 2009 Worcester Slam Team Open Qualifying Slams The new seasons of poetry slam in Worcester kicks off this week with two *open qualifying slams* available to those who are want to get their Slam on. We are trying something different this year with slams at not one but two venues over the next 4 months. This Thursday (January 22nd) the first open qualifying slam will take place at *The Spot* reading hosted by Bobby Gibbs. The Spot takes place in the Ship Room of the Hotel Vernon (1 Kelly Square, Worcester). Being a bar this is a 21+ venue and ID is definitely needed. The reading kicks off somewhere near 8:00 p.m. There is typically an open mic with the slam following. No cover; throw some money in the captain's hat to support the reading. On Sunday, January 25th, we'll host the first open qualifying slam at Jumpin' Juice and Java (335 Chandler Street, Worcester) as part of the weekly *Poets' Asylum* reading. We've held a couple of slams there before however this will be our first team qualifier and we hope it will be a big event. Open mic kicks off 6ish and the slam will follow. The first place finisher from each slam between January and April will compete against each other for a place on the 2009 Worcester Slam Team in May. The 2009 team will compete at the National Poetry Slam in West Palm Beach, FL in August. For more info on how we run slams in Worcester please visit our Slam page . Whether you slam, or just like the power of words, these are sure to be two great nights of performance poetry. We hope to see you there. ------------------------------ January 18th Revisited Worcester's iWPS rep *Alex Charalambides* was our feature this past Sunday. Despite the winter wonderland the room filled up nicely to hear Alex perform a set of all new work. With a nod to the reality TV craze, a bit of heartbreak and a poke at the short memories of New Englanders he shared some wonderfully crafted pieces. Great to hear your new work Alex, keep it coming. ------------------------------ The Poets' Asylum is in its seventeenth 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 Jan 29 08:16:08 2009 From: pa-info at poetsasylum.org (Info mailing list of the Poets' Asylum) Date: Thu, 29 Jan 2009 08:16:08 -0500 Subject: [pa-info] Asylum update (01/29/09) Message-ID: Greeting from the Poets' Asylum. ------------------------------ Coming up on Sunday, February 1st [image: Kyria Abrahams] This week the *Poets' Asylum* welcomes *Kyria Abramhams*, author of I'M PERFECT, YOU'RE DOOMED: Tales of a Jehovah's Witness Upbringing (Touchstone, 2009). For two years, Kyria Abrahams was a regular columnist for Jest Magazine, where she was featured alongside performers and writers from The Daily Show and Chappelle's Show. She has been a past performer at alternative comedy shows like Eating It and Invite them Up, as well as literary readings like How to Kick People. She lives in Queens with an abused cat that she just knows will start to love her some day. Please 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 features. ------------------------------ January 25th Revisited Congratulations to *Trevor Byrne-Smith* on his first place win this week in the *open qualifying slam*. Four slammers put their words on the line and accepted the verdict of the randomly choosen judges. Big crowd this week and a new voice or two in the open mic. We hope to see you all again. ------------------------------ BSPJ Workshop Series Ballard Street Poetry Journal has announced their upcoming Workshop Series. [image: BSPJ image] *Poetry Writing from Life with Heather J. Macpherson*. This three-workshop series will focus on finding the heightened and mundane moments from our lives to become poetry on the page. This series meets on the following Sundays: March 1st, 8th, & 15th. *How do you make the poem on page reflect the poem on stage? with Tony Brown *. In this series of three workshops, participants will take two poems from initial conception to public unveiling at a poetry reading. The first session will involve a couple of intensive writing prompts and exercises to create the first drafts of two very different poems. The second will focus on refinement of the poem with an eye toward making line breaks, punctuation, stanza breaks, etc., reflect the actual "voice " of the poem and the poet, while the third will be devoted to refinement of the delivery of the poem in public performance. In all three workshops, oral recitation will be used as a key tool for editing and (more importantly) deep exploration of how to make the poem say what the poet wants it to say. This series meets on the following Sundays: April 12th, 19th and May 3rd. Workshops are free and limited to 10 participants. Suggested donation of $3-5 dollars. Refreshments provided. Workshops run from 2-4 p.m. and meet at the Worcester County Poetry Association Office at 1 Ekman Street, Quinsigamond Village, Worcester, MA. E-mail edi... @ballardstreetpoetryjournal.com to register. Please visit http://www.ballardstreetpoetryjournal.comfor more upcoming events and workshops. Check their new blog for updates at new blog . ------------------------------ The Poets' Asylum is in its seventeenth 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: