The Mad Poets Blog

By the late notice of this post, you might not think I’m as excited as I am about tonight’s reading at Milkboy. But I am indeed psyched. We’ve got three great readers & a genre-bending good time. We’ve got three poets: Tree Reisener is an old friend on the Mad Poet scene who will be reading her dynamic short fiction tonight! Dave Worrell will be reading his jazz-infused poems with musical accompaniment. And Connie Beresin will be representin’ old school-style with a straight up poetry reading. This looks to be one of the most eclectic readings thus far in our mixed-genre series. And I can’t wait.  Oh, and let’s not forget the awesomeness that has been our open mic contest! Seriously folks — this thing has been a total rollercoaster, and I’m diggin’ the ride.

Here’s some more about our readers:

Dave Worrell’s poems have appeared in Mad Poets Review, U.S. 1 Worksheets, Wild River Review and Fox Chase Review.  He has performed his jazz-accompanied poems at Chris’ Jazz Cafe in Philadelphia and Cornelia Street Cafe in New York City.

Connie Beresin, poet

Connie Beresin has been an artist, journaling devotee, secretary, case worker, community organizer/planner, social services administrator, fund raiser, public policy advocate, wife, mother, grandmother and caregiver. Retiring in 2006 after 30 years in non-profit social services, she is focusing on poetry and watercolor. Her poems have appeared in MARGIE, Mad Poets Review, Moonstone Art Center’s Poetry Ink, Voices de la Luna, CC&D and Kotopress Loss Journal. In 2009 one of her poems was selected for a reading at the D & R Greenway Land Trust’s poetry and art event celebrating waterways in New Jersey. Connie particularly enjoys encouraging poetry reading and writing among her 13 grandchildren, produced by her daughter and three sons and their spouses. She lives with her husband, Carl, at The Quadrangle in Haverford, PA.

Tree Reisener, poet and short fiction writer

Tree Riesener has published poetry and short fiction in numerous literary magazines.  Her work has been translated into Russian and Turkish.  Achievements include three first prizes for the Short-Short Story and the Literary Short Story at the Philadelphia Writers Conference, Finalist for Black Lawrence Press’s Hudson Prize, Finalist in PANK magazine’s Fiction Chapbook Contest, Best of Wigleaf 2009 , Semi-Finalist in the Pablo Neruda Competition, three short stories staged in the Writing Aloud productions of InterAct Theatre, Philadelphia, a Hawthornden International Writing Fellowship, two Pushcart nominations, and the William Van Wert Fiction Award. She is the author of three poetry collections, Inscapes, Angel Poison and Liminalog. EK, a full-length collection of ekphrastic poetry, is forthcoming in 2012 from Cervena Barva Press.  Her website is http://www.treeriesener.com and she blogs at http://www.treeriesener.blogspot.com.

Join us Thursday night for another great mixed-genre reading at Milkboy Acoustic Cafe in Bryn Mawr, where we’ll feature poets Katherine Bode-Lang and Cliff Lynn along with essayist Krista Eastman. Bring your own poems to participate in the open mic that will followed the featured readings, and you could get a shot for a featured reading slot of your own later this year. The festivities begin at 7pm.

Here’s a bit about our readers….

Poet Katherine Bode-Lang

Katherine Bode-Lang’s chapbook, Spring Melt, was chosen by G.C. Waldrep as the second place winner in the 2008 Keystone Chapbook Contest and was published last May by Seven Kitchens Press.  Her poems have appeared in Subtropics, The Mid-American Review, The Beloit Poetry Journal, Rattle, and Hayden’s Ferry Review, among others.  She was an Editor’s Choice for The Mid-American Review’s James Wright Poetry Award in 2007 and 2008, and she received Academy of American Poets Prizes three times from Penn State and Hope College.  Katherine holds an MFA from Penn State University and lives in Bellefonte, PA, with her husband, Andrew.

Krista Eastman was born and raised in the hills of Wisconsin. A couple of seconds ago, she completed her MFA in Women’s Studies and Creative Writing at Penn State. Her literary essays about travel, place, and gender are collected in a new manuscript entitled Some Other Sun, and her writing appears or has appeared in New Letters, Witness, The Massachusetts Review and others.

Poet Cliff Lynn

Like most other poets, Cliff Lynn auditioned for, and was rejected by, the Gong Show at an early age.  Cliff was the 2006 editor-in-chief of the Anne Arundel Community College Literary Journal Amaranth.  With multimedia poet Rocky Jones, he has hosted monthly poetry readings since 2005, bringing great poets (established and up-and-coming) to Annapolis, MD, while providing the local poetry community a safe and nurturing environment to share their work. Cliff is establishing a poetry series in Birdie’s, a new Westminster, MD coffee shop.  An award-winning poet, he has over 35 poems and short stories published in small-press journals such as Free Lunch, Fledgling Rag and Grub Street, and is the inaugural featured author on the Baltimore-based journal “Scribble”’s website. Cliff was a judge for the National Endowment for the Arts’ 2010 Poetry Out Loud Maryland Regional semi-finals, and for Delaware County, PA High Schools 2010 Poetry Competition.  Half of the inaugural featured poets for M.S. Sanders’ !Speak Your Piece! reading series in Baltimore (a series which is the literary equivalent of an orgasm), he has read poetry throughout Maryland, as well as in Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Texas, Washington, California and Vegas.  Cliff has taken poetry into colleges, high schools, middle schools and elementary schools, and is the Tuscarora High School’s Poet-in-Residence in Frederick, MD, a post he has held since 2007.  They won’t let him live there, however.

Last month, we celebrated National Poetry Month at Milkboy Acoustic Cafe with great readings by John Yamrus and Minna Duchovnay, and a small but satisfying open mic. Those who participated may have been wondering who won, hitting refresh on the blog and wondering if I lied when I said I’d post the results. Well…

I apologize for the delay. As a poet and Aries in a family of Aries, April is a busy month — between trying to write lots of poems and celebrate lots of birthdays!! But as they say, better late…

After two months of open mic competition, here’s how things stand:

1. Stephen Delia leads the pack with 6 total votes.
2. Howard Lieberman runs a close second with 5 votes.
3. And newcomer Karen Stern holds the third place spot with 4 total votes.

With so many more readings, that featured reading slot in November is still anyone’s to nab! So come out this Thursday, 7pm, to Milkboy Acoustic Cafe for a great mixed-genre reading — featuring poets Katherine Bode-Lang and Cliff Lynn and creative nonfiction writer Krista Eastman — and bring your own work to take a shot in the contest.

How are you kicking off National Poetry Month (NaPoMo, to the web 2.0 crowd)? Are you starting a Poem a Day challenge? Are you cracking open a new collection of verse or perhaps re-visiting an old favorite? Well, whatever you’re doing, make sure you leave time to check out a very special event at the Swarthmore Public Library.

Daniel Hoffman

This Thursday, April 1st, the Mad Poets Society presents Daniel Hoffman at the Swarthmore Public Library. This is a rare and wonderful opportunity to hear one of the best poets of our time in an intimate, personal setting.

Hoffman has published 13 books of poetry in a long distinguished career. From 1973 to 1974, he was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress (the appointment now called the Poet Laureate). He also is a Chancellor Emeritus of The Academy of American Poets. His poems have won numerous awards, the most recent from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and from The Sewanee Review.

In describing Hoffman’s poems, Stephen Dunn said, “In them is a lifetime of careful observance, the voice rarely raised yet passionate in its precisions, the man behind it enough a lover of life to have been properly critical of the way we’ve lived it.”

The Whole Nine Yards by Daniel Hoffman

Read & hear Daniel Hoffman’s “The Center of Attention” on poets.org.

On Thursday, Hoffman will read excerpts from his latest book, The Whole Nine Yards, and also from Over the Summer Water, a collection of poems by his late wife Elizabeth McFarland, who was poetry editor of The Ladies’ Home Journal from 1948-61.

This program begins at 7:30 p.m., hosted by Linda Fischer. The event is free and open to the public. After the reading, Daniel Hoffman will be available to sign books.

It’s Monday… and again with all this rain! Blech!

Oh well, we press on into Spring, and as we press, we pause every once in a while for a great reading, a new book, a unique performance, etc. etc. etc. You just point us where to go. Get shameless and post a comment promoting yourself and your upcoming events!

Here’s what we’ve got going on this week. Thursday is a doozy for us!!

*Week of March 29*

• Thurs., April 1, 7:30p: Daniel Hoffman, former U.S. Poet Laureate, will read at the Swarthmore Public Library. This very special event kicks off National Poetry Month! It’s free and open to the public, and will be hosted by Linda Fischer.
• Thurs., April 1, 6p-8p: The Light of Unity Association and the Mad Poets Society present the 1st Thursdays performance series at the University of Pennsylvania Bookstore. This month, the line-up includes Deborah Derrickson Kossman, Peter Baroth, Michael Steffen, Denice Frohman (Ms. Misconception), Cole Larry Eubanks, Shani Sheryl Asantewaa, Strothers, and music by Jafar Barron & Anthony Mohammed. Admission is $7, with proceeds split between the performers and OIC International.

Rainy days and Mondays…. eh…

This blechy weather has me dying for just a little bit of sunshine. So let your light shine, why don’t ya?!? Share your good news: your upcoming readings, performances, or appearances; the places where we can read your work or buy your books; your radio shows, your articles, your blogs, your websites, your online stores, etc. etc. etc. It’s all about you, so get shameless!

As for us…

*Week of Mar 15*

• Thurs, Mar 18, 7pm: Student Poets from Academy Park High School in Sharon Hill will read at the Delaware County Institute of Science. This event is co-sponsored by the Greater Philadelphia Poets for Young Voices. Come on out to support these budding poets!

It’s Monday again… what’s going on?

Drop a comment letting us know where you’re reading, where we can read your work, where you’re hosting an event, performing, or where we can buy your book.

As for us, we’ve got a lot going on this week.

*Week of Mar 8*

• Wed, Mar 10, 6:30pm: Amy Laub leads the Mad Poets Critique Circle at the Coffee Club in Media, Pa. Bring 15 copies of one of your own poems for roundtable critique & discussion. Free & open to the public.
• Thurs, Mar 11, 7pm: Ed Krizek (poetry) & Randall Brown (fiction) are the featured readers at the Milkboy Acoustic Cafe mixed genre series. The reading is free, open to public & followed by an open mic. Also, since this is the first reading of the year (sadly, snow killed our Feb reading), this is your first chance to participate in the Open Mic contest & vie for a featured reading in November. Hosted by Autumn Konopka.
• Sat, Mar 13, 2pm: The Business of Words, poetry reading and writing workshop moderated by Tamara Oakman, at the Blue Grotto at Community Education Center in West Philadelphia. Free and open to the public. Bring 10 copies of your own poem.
• Sat, Mar 13, 7pm: Ruth Rouff & Al Taconelli read for the Otherwise-Poetry at Churchill series in Pottstown, Pa. The reading is free, open to public & followed by an open mic. Hosted by Glenn McLaughlin.
• Sat, Mar 13, 7pm: A Little Spring Madness in the Mansion Parlor at the Media Borough Hall. Featured poets include Joseph Dorazio, Amy E. Laub, Linda Fischer & Chris Schaeffer, and Nick Filone is the featured musician. Hosted by Brian Sammond.

It’s Monday. It’s March. The sun is shining, the snow is melting & it’s more than 50 degrees outside (at least it was for a minute or two). All good news.

What’s your good news???? Bring on the shamelessness. Tell us where you’re reading, performing, publishing, etc. etc. etc.

As for us, we’re on the map this week with an all open mic!

*Week of Mar 1*

• Tues Mar 2, 7pm: Open Mic at Steel City Coffeehouse in Phoenixville

Snow — boooo!!!

Looks like the Delaware Valley is going to be deluged with snow – again. Twice in one week. Thrice in one winter. This is some historic stuff here, people. Unfortunately, this historic stuff is forcing us to cancel the MPS Critique Circle at the Coffee Club in Media, planned for tomorrow, Wednesday 2/10 @ 7 pm.

As for Thursday’s reading at Milkboy in Bryn Mawr, we’re playing it by ear. Check the blog & website for updates. And of course, we’ll be tweeting our updates as well, so follow us if you aren’t.

p.s. Considering the sheer volume of snow, not to mention its aforementioned historic nature, we expect inches and inches of snow poems whenever we meet again.

It’s Monday again. That means time to get Shameless with your good news. Reading coming up? Book getting published? Website we should check out? Type it in the comments & let us know. Or tweet it with the hashtag #ShamelessMonday. (And of course, if you’re not following us – @MadPoetsSociety – you should be!)

As for us, we’re really getting back in action this week!

*Week of Feb. 8, 2010*

• Wed, Feb 10, 6:30-8:30 p.m.: The MPS Critique Circle meets at the Coffee Club in Media, Pa. Please note, this is a new location & a new time for 2010. The critique circle is free, open to the public, and will convene in the Coffee Club’s glass-enclosed conference room.
• Thurs, Feb 11, 7 p.m.: We kick off our series at the Milkboy Acoustic Cafe in Bryn Mawr with our annual pre-Valentine’s Love/Anti-Love open mic. This is always LOTS of fun! No featured readers — just you, you, and you reading your poems about love, hate, lust, repulsion, and everything in between.
• Sat, Feb 13, 2 p.m.: Tamara Oakman’s Business of Words poetry workshop moves to the Blue Grotto (at Community Education Center) in University City. The workshop will meet monthly on the 2nd Saturday, Feb thru Nov.
• Sat, Feb 13, evening: The Mad Poets series in Pottstown kicks off… I don’t have full details, yet, but I’ll update later.