Poetry is Dangerous

Hi all,

My friend and past Kundiman faculty member wrote about this incident that happened to him recently. Feel free to share it. Poetry is Dangerous by Kazim Ali.

Willard & Maple

Seven Days has a spotlight on a small literary journal called Willard & Maple, published by the students at Champlain College, out of Burlington, VT. The current issue features local poets Amanda Northrup, Kathleen McKinley Harris and Jackie Bishop.

Vermont Poetry Month Finale

If you've been snoozing through National Poetry Month, wake up and try one of these events. I'm expanding the events list to cover ALL of Vermont. If you are hosting an event, I'll galdly receive email notices of it.


Apr. 12th, all day: ARTS ACHIEVEMENT DAY 2007 - POETRY OUT LOUD STATE FINALS - a celebration of achievements in Vermont’s creative community with special guest Eileen Mason, Deputy Chair of the NEA at the Vermont State House in Montpelier. Tentative Schedule:

11am - Advocacy Orientation and Roundtable Discussion with Eileen Mason, Deputy Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts
10am-2pm - Demonstrations by Vermont’s American Masterpieces craftspeople Noon - lunch with legislators
1:30pm - Showcase of Vermont’s American Masterpieces performers including Pete & Karen Sutherland, Karen Amirault, and Social Band
2 - 4:30pm - Poetry Out Loud State Finals Competition
4:30 - 6pm - Poetry Out Loud Reception

Apr. 12th 7-8:30 pm: PSOV (Poetry Society of Vermont) poetry reading, Border's Books, 125 Cherry Lane, Burlington.

Apr 12, 7pm:Ralph Culver, 2006 VT Arts Council fellow in poetry, reads at Brooks Memorial Library (224 Main Street) Free. 802-658-2657 or 802-254-5290 Web Site. Brattleboro.

Apr 13, 7 pm: 3 Southern VT Poets. Barbara Benoit has published in The Advocate, PKA's Publication. Last year, she gave a reading at The Twilight Tea Lounge. She attended Jan Frazier's writing workshops for five years, and is nowa graduate student in the New England College's MFA Poetry Program. She has been living and teaching piano for the last twelve years in the Brattleboro area. Arlene Distler is a freelance writer and poet. Her work has been published in North American Review, Kalliope, The Chrysalis Reader, and in the anthology, Freedom's Just Another Word. With a degree in painting from Rhode Island School of Design, she came to writing later in life. She co-founded the local writers' organization, Write Action, with her partner, the late Marty Jezer. She is currently working on a manuscript of her poems for a chapbook. Tim Mayo's poems have appeared in The Atlanta Review, Del Sol Review, The Rose & Thorn, Paris/Atlantic, Four Corners, Mannequin Envy, PoetLore, 5 A.M. and The Chrysalis Reader. He received his MFA in Literature & Writing from Bennington College in 2004. He was a Semi-Finalist in the "Discovery"/The Nation 2000 Poetry Contest and has received two International Merit Awards for poetry which appeared in The Atlanta Review. He recently received a grant from the Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, VT and is currently studying trapeze and fabric at Nimble Arts Circus School in Brattleboro, VT, though he doesn't plan quitting his day job. Moore Free Library, Newfane. Free

Apr 13, 7 pm: Vermont Poets Reading at Northshire Bookstore. Martha Zweig, the recipient of a 1999 Whiting Writer’s Award, is the author of What Kind and Vinegar Bone, both published by Wesleyan University Press. Julia Shipley, Director of Writing Studies at Sterling College in Craftsbury Common, won the 2006 Ralph Nading Hill Award for her essay Coming Into the Barn: Bales of Prose about a Small Dairy Farm. Also from Craftsbury, Peggy Safire will read from A Possible Explanation, her first book of poetry. Greg Delanty, a native of Ireland who now resides in Vermont, will present his latest book of poems, The Ship of Birth. Delanty is a recipient of the Patrick Kavanagh Award and is artist in residence of the English department at St. Michael’s College in Burlington. www.northshire.com. Manchester.

Apr 13, 7 pm: Adventures in Poetry: “Efficient Novels” New England Style: A reading and group discussion of poems by contemporary New England writers.. Essex CHIPS Teen Center, Essex Junction. Free. 802-878-6956

Apr 14, 2-4 pm: Open Mic Poetry Readings. Hear local poets from the River Voices. Bring your own original work to share or read from a favorite author. Call (802-463-9404) or email us at vsbooks@sover.net to participate as a reader or let us know that you'll be attending as a listener. Village Square Booksellers provides light refreshments during the event. On the Square, Bellows Falls.

Apr 15, 4pm: Poets of the Past. Poets and performers, TBA. Twilight Tea Lounge, 51 Main Street. Brattleboro. Free.

Apr 15, 2:30 pm: David Budbill plays his shakuhachi and reads ancient Japanese poems at Matsuri 2007, Ross Sports Center, St. Michael's College, Winooski, VT. For more information contact Tony Beard at: tbeard@vtlink.net or mbeard@cambridgealliance.com

Apr 16, 7:30 pm: David Budbill will be Fran Stoddard's guest on Vermont Public Television on her interview program, PROFILE.

April 16, 8 pm: David Budbill reading/performance. For more information contact Laird Christensen at: christensenl@greenmtn.edu. Green Mountain College. Poultney.

Apr 17, 7 pm: 10th Annual Open Poetry Reading, Bear Pond Books, 77 Main Street, Montpelier. Sign up early, 5 minute limit. Info: (802) 229-0774

Apr 18, 2007, 7pm:Ralph Culver, a 2006 Vermont Arts Council fellow in poetry, will give a reading of his work.. South Burlington Community Library (550 Dorset Street). Free. 802-658-2657 or 802-652-7080. South Burlington.

Apr 19, 7pm:Music & Formal Verse: Burt Porter discusses the relationship between poetry and music.. Sheffield Town Hall (Route 122). Free. 802-626-5735. Sheffield.

Apr 19-May 13: JUDEVINE, a Play in Two Acts, written by Wolcott poet, David Budbill. This will be the first staging of this now classic play in northern Vermont in 15 years. For curtain times, days of the week and ticket information contact: http://www.lostnationtheater.org or call: 802-229-0492. Lost Nation Theatre, Montpelier.

Apr. 19, 6:30 pm: 2nd Annual Poets' Banquet, Shelburne Art Center, Shelburne. $15. Info (802) 985-3648

Apr. 19, 7-9 pm: Philip Levine reading at Middlebury College's Warner Hemicycle (Warner Science Building). Info: (802) 443-5276. Middlebury.

Apr 19, 7 pm: JOHN ENGELS Reading and Booksigning. Engels, professor of English at St. Michael's College and noted American poet, will read from 'Recounting the Seasons', a colloection of his poetry from 1958-2005. Barnes & Noble. 102 Dorset Street, S. Burlington.

Apr 21, 12 pm: 5th Annual Poetry Reading & Pie Eating. Poetry Reading. Read your own poem, or your favorite poet's. Read a poem, eat a piece of pie, Bring a pie to share with others. Children encouraged to participate! Dover Free Library. 22 Holland Rd. 802-348-7488. East Dover.

Apr 21, 7 pm: POETRY SLAM with Geof Hewitt. Come as a performer, judge or just be part of the audience! Geof Hewitt, VT Slam Champion and author of Hewitt's Guide to Slam Poetry and Poetry Slam, will emcee and perform at tonight's intergenerational event. Reserve your spot by contacting Nance Nahmias, Barnes & Noble Community Events Manager at 802-684-7505. Place prizes will be awarded, as well as an award to the performer with the biggest following. Barnes & Noble, 102 Dorset Street, S. Burlington.

Apr 25: Ralph Culver, Poet, Writer, & Critic: Poetry reading sponsored by the Vermont Arts Council. St. Johnsbury Athenaeum (1171 Main Street), St. Johnsbury. Free. 802-748-8291

Apr 26, 7pm: Lesle Lewis, author of Small Boat, which won the 2002 Iowa Poetry Prize and most recently Landscapes I & II. Her poems have appeared in many journals including the following: Pleiades, American Letters and Commentary, Northern New England Review, Old Crow, Green Mountains Review, Barrow Street, Mudfish, Slope, LIT, Sentence, and Pool. She teaches literature and writing at Landmark College in Vermont and lives in New Hampshire. Putney Public Library, Putney.
On-going, Thursdays 10 - 11 am: Otter Creek Poets meet at the Isley Public Library for a poetry workshop open to novice and advanced folks. Middlebury.

got poetry?

Here's some poetry-type things happening this coming week, Vermont:

Apr. 3, 7 pm: Open Poetry Slam, Bear Pond Books, 77 Main Street, Montpelier. Bring two poems. Win gift certifcates to bookstore.

Apr. 5, 7:00 PM: Patricia Fargnoli, the Poet Laureate of New Hampshire. Patricia Fargnoli is the author of five collections of poetry, and her latest book is Duties of the Spirit ( Tupelo Press, 2005) won the 2005 Jane Kenyon Award for Outstanding Poetry. Her first book, Necessary Light (Utah State University Press, 1999) was awarded the 1999 May Swenson Poetry Award judged by Mary Oliver. Brooks Memorial Library, Main Street. Brattleboro.

Apr. 9, 4 pm: Poets' Tea. Honoring Poet Julia Shipley of Craftsbury, who won the Ralph Nading Hill prize for 2006, and welcoming Canterbury, NH Poet Dudley Laufman. Info: 802-748-5488 [this was also mentioned for Apr. 17th. Call first]Kingdom Books, Waterford.

Apr. 10, 6:30 pm: Peter Burns, Brandon Free Public Library, Brandon. Elocution from Lear to Carroll to Tennyson.

Apr. 10, 7 pm: Three Vermont Poets: Phyllis Larrabee, Cora Brooks and Merry Gangemi will be reading from their work. Bear Pond Books, Montpelier.

Apr. 10, 7 pm: Open Poetry Night Very tame. Participants read their own work and, this year, are also invited to bring favorite poems by other poets to read.No need to register. Borders Bookstore. 102 Dorset St. S. Burlington.

Glad to be a Gladiator

I've got my poems set up this month on the retro-fitted cigarette vending machine here at the Langdon Street Cafe called The Gladiator. I've heard of one other, somewhere in Northampton, MA. Instead of cigarettes, this machine sells handmade art, puzzles, pins, zines and ... Poems!!! Yay! I'll put up a photo once I take it. There is also a "Mystery" selection which will net you any of these choices.

$3 gets you your choice. My poems are in a handmade box, carrying March Quarter Poems, and a random selection of back stock, as much as could get jammed in the box without the box jamming in the machine.

Brattleboro Folks! April poems are on their way, to celebrate National Poetry Month, in pretty little purple/pink packages, just for you! Pick yours up by the end of the week at The Twilight Tea Lounge, or Everyone's Books.