Jack Veasey Memorial reading August 25 at Midtown Scholar Bookstore

August 25, Jack Veasey Memorial reading at Midtown Scholar Bookstore

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Poetry Thursdays, August 25, the Almost Uptown Poetry Cartel will be presenting a Jack Veasey Memorial reading at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore. There will be an open reading and a featured presentation of Veasey's poems by Harrisburg poet laureate Rick Kearns. Other readers include Lauren Gross, Bill Fritz, Anna Jones, Randy Gross and more.

Jack Veasey, far left, after a reading at Ryerss Museum & Library in Philadelphia. Also: Diane Sahms-Guarnieri, Bill Fritz, Christine O'Leary-Rockey, Marty Esworthy, and Maria James-Thiaw.

Philadelphia native and Hummelstown Poet Jack Veasey passed away July 15. Jack was a fine man and an excellent poet. In recent years there'd been a resurgence in interest and publication of his work, most recently with Veasey's The Dance That Begins And Begins and, also Selected Poems 1973-2013 released by Poet's Press.

The reading, hosted by the Poetry Cartel, will go from 7-9pm.

Poetry Thursdays, since 1999, a continuing poetry series, is now held weekly at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore, 1302 N. Third Street in Harrisburg, PA, 17102. For more information, (717) 236-1680.

"Eclectic Versifier" Roger Cowden to Perform at Midtown Scholar Bookstore

On April 7th the Almost Uptown Poetry Cartel will feature Roger Cowden, an exciting “New Verser” mixing experimental phrasing and manner "with [a] subtle, often deapan, yet compelling, delivery."



The event, at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg, will begin with an open reading, and the feature will commence about 8pm (Eastern Poet Time) after a brief intermission.

Roger Cowden hails from Indiana, but was "poetically raised in central Pennsylvania" as a mainstay at the Almost Uptown Poetry Cartel readings. He's been strongly influenced by the latest "ambient wordsmithing" styles, yet Cowden has developed his own unique "jigsaw verse, a striking form" and structure. His minimalist approach to spoken word performance demands patience and an open mind-- it's been described as both“harrowing” and surprising. His content leans to a "focus on surrealism, relationships, and the truth behind dreams.

Cowden often challenges audiences to hang him with 'the noose' he provides."

Cowden has been featured at readings throughout the Mid-Atlantic states, but has honed presentation and delivery around his “home” with the Almost Uptown group. Cowdens work has been published in numerous small press and college compilations, and he is "currently cobbling together a collection" of more recent work.

This event is part of Poetry Thursdays, a continuing poetry series, held weekly at the Midtown Scholar. 1302 N. 3rd Street. For more information, (717) 236-1680.

Open Poetry Readings March 24, March 31, Midtown Scholar Bookstore

March 24, 31. Poetry. Midtown Scholar Bookstore, every Thursday, hosted by the Almost uptown Poetry cartel, Stop by, listen, hey! let your voice be heard.

Share. Shout it out, stir it up! Everything's waiting for you.

"...She perched in a limegreen frog, cool as mint by a shining pool. She trotted in a brambly dog and barked to hear echoes from the sides of distant barns. She lived in new April grasses, in sweet clear liquids rising from the musky earth. It's spring, thought Cecy. I'll be in every living thing in the world tonight. Now she inhabited neat crickets on the tar-pool roads, now prickled in dew on an iron gate." ...The wind whipped her away over fields and meadows.... --The April Witch, Ray Bradbury

Poetry Thursdays, a poetry series-- open mic and featured performers-- 7--9pm in the Internet Cafe at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore, 1302 North Third Street, Harrisburg, PA 17102, Phone: 717.236.1680.
/> --"The Weight" Maury Lebreiro

March 3: Kali Meister at Midtown Scholar's Poetry Thursdays

March 3: Kali Meister is featured performer at Harrisburg's Midtown Scholar Bookstore's Poetry Thursdays poetry series, hosted by the Almost Uptown Poetry Cartel, 1302 N. 3rd St. 17102. 7-- 9pm. (717) 236-1680.

Kali Meister’s writing is an extension of her rich experiences in theatre, performance art, and film. In the many theatrical productions to her credit, Meister has worked as a playwright, director, actor, costume coordinator, and make-up designer. She has performed as a poet, storyteller, and stand-up comic at various events.

While living in Texas, Meister worked as an extra on the films J.F.K., Dazed and Confused, and Boys on the Side. Her first full-length play was a finalist at the 2010 Festival of Appalachian Plays and Playwrights at Barter Theater in Abingdon, Virginia.

Her literary achievements include winning the 2005 Margaret Atley Woodruff Award for fiction and the 2006 Margaret Atley Award for playwriting. She also received the 2005 and 2006 Eleanor Burke Award for non-fiction from the University of Tennessee’s English department. Meister’s poetry has been featured in publications such as Circle Magazine, Caduceus, Pegasus Review, Prism, Phoenix and Ashville Poetry Review. Her Absurd Noir, was featured in the Knoxville Writers’ Guild anthology, Outscapes.

An adjunct professor at Pellissippi State Community College, and Roane State Community College, Meister is a graduate of the University of Tennessee and studied creative writing, with a concentration in playwriting, at Goddard College.

Watch video,of a Meister performance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P45Zbo3MYoU

Maria James-Thiaw at the Midtown Scholar Bookstore!

Continuous verse, endless Spring, Midtown Scholar Bookstore, every Thursday, hosted by the Almost Uptown Poetry Cartel, Listen, share. Declaim. Give your favorite words a spin!

Hear, on February 25, feature-poet Maria James-Thiaw

Maria James-Thiaw is Professor of Writing at Central Pennsylvania College, Professor at Central Penn College. Published in numerous journals, Fledgling Rag, Experimental Forest, Philadelphia Stories,a Poetic Tour of Harrisburg. A poetry slam winner and host, James-Thiaw, author of six verse compendiums is a Performance Poet, and workshop facilitator at Independent Artist. http://mariathepoet.wordpress.com

An open reading will precede the feature performance. Poetry Thursdays, Midtown Scholar, 1302 N. 3rd St. 7-- 9pm. (717) 236-1680. Parking available. Come early, seating is limited.

Helgremites and Halogens Loved by Chaucer leads us to Molinary, a Louisiana artist beloved by Manet, or vice- versa, as spelling counts. Or it did in the 50s and I'm not just sayin' that just-cos I'm on television (I'm talkin' to you, Tom Verlaine!). So what's in a molinary? A low-neck sweater. Vice-versa. Rose v. Wade. Two guards named Moe? A Chaucerian misdemeanor. {An epigraph. The biggertheburger thebettertheburger theburgersarebigger at burger king.} (or: Die Heimat des Minas Kava Kaffees ist das Hochland im brasilianischen Bundesstaat Minas Gerais.) OK. Maybe relating to a mill or THE process of grinding—usage, synonyms, more. THE is passe, with an accent. It's a weak word, We used to say Woodward: good word. (Usually-- well, back in the 50s-- prefaced by Lincoln: Stinkin'! Often, with a derisve snort). I never said that, It's history. I used to say I'm a lover not a fighter. And though it saved me not from scrapes I did become a historian. With that in mind, let get back to Molinary. She's wearing her high-heeled shoes, exuding Chaucerian demeanor and, according to some non-Chaucerians, of which there are good and plenty, hale fellows well met and all that old boy, hautboy, Rob Roy kinda nonsense, was an artist teetering at the confluence of the Mississippi if you catch my drift and was beloved by Manny. In my dream. I said that. Erose Selavy said that once Molinary has her word of the year, she considers these additional questions: What will this concept bring to my life? And this, much more than this. Get dressed, get born, get a saxophone, not neccessarily in that order And oh, how you wail! From here on in it's draggin' the line, incredible shrinking of lime, hard water, encrustachin etc riding on the gold wool of the lamb. (houseman, mar, da lad) jalapeno said that. {sans derisive snort} --mge, jan 5 2015 written in the manor of bill shields {fbk spelling} https://plus.google.com/u/0/101244344476781609053/posts/heLQjoDUJfm?pid=6236199019655212402&oid=101244344476781609053 Die Heimat des Minas Kava Kaffees ist das Hochland im brasilianischen Bundesstaat Minas Gerais. https://www.google.com/search?q=what%27s%20in%20a%20molinary%3F&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&source=hp&channel=np&gws_rd=ssl

Andre Rison SKY RANGER Descending

Slow-Talkin' Jones Ascending to Earthly Delights

Now boarding. Okay,
Mammoth always faces away from the sights ahead
in subterranean situations as if reverse-zonking initiates,
nay, intoxicates baryons of tasing grace.

Hairy, wooly, like Florida orange juice-whirlpooled by
sombre or sober stick-shifts-of-glory, nor necessarily
four-on-the-floor/ like saying that Bloody Marys
and/or Screwdrivers are analogous-inert-systems
created by heart-meister Ben Carson and Babe Ruth
to deliver alcohol to the great unwashed.
Astringent. Hell, Mars needs women!

Trending, like a bee sting, like, like,
say, funerary aria for dying swan, like
muons on fezBook shape-shifting to conceptions
of mystic trawlers cruising only the innerside of a
gin-ringed tyre in Astoria. Or not.

Or fiery Aetnas of fascinatin' rhythm calling
Oral Roberts home. STELLA! Darkside,
parkside, any kind-you-want-side/ it's
still barcarolle to me.

Shane! To live in the innertubes
of those we love. Cucamonga,
Flagstaff. San Bernadino.

Hieronymous.


--mge






A postmodern artist or writer is in the position of a philosopher: the text he writes, the work he produces are not in principle governed by reestablished rules, and they cannot be judged according to a determining judgment, by applying familiar categories to the text or to the work. Those rules and categories are what the work of art itself is looking for.
--Jean-Francois Lyotard