The Mad Poets Blog

Autumn Konopka, of Glenside, Pa., hosts the Mad Poets Society’s monthly reading at the Milkboy Acoustic Cafe in Bryn Mawr, serves as the (ever procrastinating) MPS web czar & lead blogger, and rarely writes about herself in the third person (except for right now).

Autumn has published some poems, won some awards, gotten some degrees, and taught a few classes.  She’s got a book that nobody has published yet (any takers??).  Over the past year or so, she’s taken a break from teaching and publishing while she focuses on being a full-time stay at home mom to her rambunctious little son.  In her “free” time, she’s honing her baking skills, blogging, and occassionally publishing arts & culture articles for Philly2Philly.com.

Autumn has been an active member of the Mad Poets since about 2001.   “I met Eileen at an open mic, she suggested I send a poem to the Mad Poets contest, so I did,” Autumn explains. “When I won an award (the illustrious 8th honorable mention), I knew this was an organization I need to be a part of.”

Seriously, Autumn explains, after her first Mad Poets Festival she was hooked.  She quickly learned about the myriad Mad Poets events and became a regular at the series at the Barnes & Noble in Bryn Mawr.  A few years later when that series needed a host, Autumn was happy to jump in.  “As soon as I started going to readings, I knew I wanted to be a host,” Autumn explains. “The two-poem limit of the open mic just didn’t do it for me.  I like being up on stage more than that!”

That’s only partly true.  Autumn, who has been hosting for about 5 years now, also believes its important for poets to not take themselves or their poetry too seriously.  She works hard to keep her readings lively and playful.  She thinks its the host’s job to make everyone comfortable and to make poetry accessible.  Most of the time, the crowds seem to respond.  Autumn has been called “a lively exuberant poet” and a “charming and gracious” poetry host. (*Blush*)

Autumn is particularly excited to be hosting the hosts, and reading with them, on August 13th.  She has some fun surprises in mind to keep the hosts and the audience on their toes.

Arlene Bernstein (alias Fern deBlanc), of Media, Pa., has been published in local and national journals, has won several contests, has performed in venues of all types, has been twice nominated for Pushcart Prizes in poetry and non-fiction. She promotes the work of other poets and musicians through Friends of Poetry, which she founded in 2004.  She remains one of America’s most widely unpublished writers, still waiting to be discovered — a la Lana Turner!  But you can discover her on August 13th, when Arlene reads with several other poet-hosts at Milkboy Acoustic Cafe in Bryn Mawr.

Vibrant, funny, stylish, Arlene brings a distinctive savoire faire to the poetry scene.  Her poetry is blends spunky contemporary wit and contemplation, always with a nod to our classical predecessors. It’s no surprise that some of Arlene’s favorite poets are Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Andrew Marvel, and “almost every 17th-century British poet.” She also loves T.S. Eliot, Robert Lowell, Stanley Kunitz, Rilke, Thomas Hardy, Victor Hugo, Gabriel Mistral.

Arlene’s been leading poetry gatherings since 2004, when her friend arranged and introduced her first public performance at the Bala Cynwyd Library.  The event drew such a big crowd, Arlene says, that the Librarian invited her to host a monthly series.  She hosted that series for a year, then added series at the Belmont Hills Library and at local coffeeshops, then moved on to a series at Seven Stones in Media.

“Hosting was fun,” Arlene says.  “I always tried to focus on presenting lively and somewhat lighthearted evenings of poetry, music, conversation, and refreshments.”

Although she’s been been writing poetry and fiction for more than 60 years (which is pretty amazing, since she can’t be a day over 45!), Arlene became a Mad Poet in 2005, after a friend brought her to the Mad Poets Festival in Media. She started hosting for the MPS in 2007, taking the reigns of the semi-annual “Madness” series that took place at Lori Cosgrove Design. In 2009, the Seasonal Madness Series, and its charismatic hostess, relocated to Media Borough Hall.  The next reading, A Little Autumn Madness, is scheduled for September 25 featuring poets Ashraf Osman, Brian Sammond, and Lisa DeVuono, along with musicians Michael London, Johnny Never, and Tom Mullian.

In Arlene’s words:  “The venue is beautiful (a Victorian Grand Parlour adjacent to the Media Police Station); the poets and musicians are accomplished; the open mic is spirited; the refreshments outstanding! Friday night is a perfect night for relaxing, so be sure to attend in September 25! We usually draw from 30 to 40 people, so it’s never like preaching to the choir!”

We’ve missed a few Mondays of shamelessness.  But we’re back, better than ever.

So, bring it on:  Where are you reading?  Or acting?  Or speaking?  Or teaching?  Where are your poems (or stories or articles) being published? Performed? Made into performance art installations?  Etc. etc. etc.

Sharing is caring.  So share away!!

MCs. Hosts. Workshop leaders.  Call us what you will, we are the kindly folks who show up every month to make sure you have a spot to hear and share poetry.  We coordinate readers and venues. We charm fickle audiences. We stroke delicate poetic egos.  And we finesse the unexpected:  an entire audience of elementary school students, no audience at all, belligerent readers who refuse to sit down, and all the contradictory post-reading complaints and criticisms (you should have given a bathroom break, you shouldn’t have given a bathroom break, you should give more time in the open mic, you gave too much time in the open mic, etc. etc. etc.).  For all that, we don’t ask for much… except that maybe you use your best penmanship on the open mic sign up sheet, at least *try* to stick to the time limit, and for pete’s sake don’t talk while somebody’s reading — that’s just plain rude.

On August 13th, several Mad Poets hosts will ask for just a teensy bit more attention as we trade in our hosting mics for our reading mics. So far, six hosts/workshop leaders have signed on to share the spotlight as featured readers at the Milkboy Acoustic Cafe in Bryn Mawr.

We’ve got:

• Richard Moyer, host of the Gryphon Cafe Open Mic
• Arlene Bernstein, host of the Seasonal Madness at Media Borough Hall
• Amy E. Laub, leader of the Mad Poets Critique Circle
• Glenn McLaughlin, host of Otherwise – Poetry at Churchill’s
• Mary Kathryn Morgeneier, host of the Steel City Coffee House Series
• Autumn Konopka (yours truly), host of Milkboy Acoustic Cafe Series
• Tamara Oakman, leader of the Penn Bookstore Workshop

In the next few weeks leading up to this awesome reading, I will profile these hosts right here on this very blog (UPDATE:  DONE… click those nifty links & you’ll get to the profiles).  You will get to know all sorts of interesting things about them:  their backgrounds, their inspirations, their deepest dreams and desires (okay, that may be going a little far).  So, check back for updates, profiles, and previews of this and other upcoming MPS readings.

Finally, as the host for this special night of table-turning poetry, I can promise at least a few surprises to will keep the readers honest and the audience on its toes.  And, of course, for those who (like most of us) are in it to practice your own poems, we will close out the evening with an open mic as we always do.

Ahhh summer… a time of weddings, holidays, and unabashed laziness and procrastination.  (Or maybe that’s just me!)

But we here at the MPS know that summer doesn’t stop all your poetry related events & accomplishments.  So, you know the drill.  And if you don’t, here goes:  post a comment with your upcoming reading, publication, or other news.  Lazy summer minds want to know