My poem "What They Did" featured on the Poets Against Racism and Hate website

You can read it here.

Learn more about Poets Against Racism and Hate USA at poetsagainstracism-usa.org.

Recently published in Shabdaguchha, Ohio Bards, and CAW: Poetry by a Murder of Writers

I am happy to have received copies of these three new books in which poems of mine appear!

Shabdaguchha/শব্দগুচ্ছ (26th Anniversary Issue), edited by Hassanal Abdullah [Shabdaguchha Press].

• features my poems "Where Would the Moment Be?" and "What If This Is the Last Poem I Ever Write and It's Not Finished?" alongside work by poets from seventeen countries including Bengt O Björklund, William Heyen, Hassanal Abdullah, George Wallace, and more.
  

CAW - Poetry by a Murder of Writers, edited by Stasha Strange and Hyacinthe L. Raven [Ix Studios].

• features my poems "Cause and Effect," "Cause Célèbre," and "Cause of Death" alongside work by S.A. Quinox, Christiane Knight, Stasha Strange, Michael Cunliffe, Tara Vanflower, Kaytee Thrun, Rachel M. Croce, Tara Shannon, D.L. White, Emma Lee, Lisa Taner, Rachael Ikins, and Hyacinthe L. Raven.
  

Ohio Bards: Poetry Anthology 2024, edited by James Paul Wagner [Local Gems Press].

• features a revised version of my poem "Two Against Nature" alongside work by Jessica Weyer Bentley, Jeffrey Bowen, Rachel M. Croce, Christen Lee, A.M. Hayden, David Lee Garrison, Les Epstein, Sandra Feen, Joey Polisena, Stasha Strange, Cora McCann Liderbach, Diane Kendig, Carmel L. Morse, Bill Reyer, K. Weber, Georgia Reash, Cat Russell, Mary A. Turzillo, Geoffrey A. Landis, and more.
  

October 2, 3 and 6: Readings in Lexington and Elizabethtown, Kentucky

Next week, after Maryland, I look forward to heading to Kentucky for these three fab events.

 

10/2: Poetry at the /'tā-bəl/ at Kenwick Table in Lexington with co-feature Matt Hart.

 

10/3: Teen Howl 2.0 at Third Street Stuff & Coffee in Lexington with Howler of the Month Ryker Chadwick.

 

10/6: A Live Reading from Recent US National Beat Poet Laureate John Burroughs + POETRY Open Mic at Flywheel Brewing in Elizabethtown.

 

 

September 26 thru 28: Western Maryland Independent Literature Festival

I look forward to being in Maryland from Thursday through Saturday for the annual Indie Lit Festival hosted by the Frostburg State University Center for Literary Arts. I'll be tabling with Crisis Chronicles Press on 9/28 at City Place. 

 

9/26: SMPA Poetry Slam feat. Nicole Yurcaba

9/27: Indie Lit Kickoff Reading: George Guida & The Downstrokes with Who Me?

9/28: Western Maryland Independent Literature Festival

 

 

I'm joining the Ohio Poetry Association as their new second Vice President

So this happened while I was out of town. I've been a huge fan of the Ohio Poetry Association for many years and consider it an honor to join their team in continuing to serve Ohio poets.

I must give a shout out to my predecessor as 2nd Vice President, Rikki Santer, who has done amazing work in expanding and enhancing the good work of the OPA. We owe her the deepest of gratitude.

 

Learn more about (and join) the Ohio Poetry Association at ohiopoetry.org.

To the National Beat Poetry Festival this weekend - plus more travel and coming events

We just got back from the vet (sweet boy Bart has an ear infection) and I'm still working on feverishly on catching up on myriad tasks after four out-of-town trips and two power outages in the past month and a half. Thursday, I hit the road again and am very much looking forward to these fab events:

30 August thru 1 September 2024 in Collinsville and Barkhamsted, Connecticut
The National Beat Poetry Foundation's annual National and International Beat Poetry Festival will feature poets from across the United States and as far away as Europe and India. Friday's events will be held at Canton Town Hall, 4 Market Street, 06022; Saturday's and Sunday's events will be held at 22 River Road, 06063. Click here for more details.

3 September 2024 in Lowell, Massachusetts
Beat Night at the Worthern House Cafe will feature PW Covington, John Burroughs, Joe Kidd and Sheila Burke, plus Paul Richmond, hosted by new U.S. Beat Poet Laureate Mark Lipman at 141 Worthen Street, 01852.

10 September 2024 in Corning, New York (and ONLINE)
Poets in Play presents a featured reading by John Burroughs and open mic, co-curated by The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes and Foothills Publishing at 79 West Market Street, 14830 (and on Zoom).

19 thru 21 September in Kent, Ohio
The Wick Poetry Center celebrates 40 years with keynote speakers Padraig Ó Tuama, Naomi Shihab Nye, Jane Hirshfield, and Adrian Matejka, plus much more.

27 & 28 September in Frostburg, Maryland
The Frostburg State University Center for Literary Arts presents their 19th annual Western Maryland Independent Literature Festival. Crisis Chronicles Press will have a table in the book fair.

3 October 2024 at 6 p.m. in Lexington, Kentucky
Poetry at the /'tāb-əl/ presents Matt Hart and John Burroughs, plus open mic, at Kenwick Table, 201 Owsley Avenue, 40502. More details forthcoming.

4 October 2024 at 6 p.m. in Lexington, Kentucky
Teen Howl Poetry Series presents John Burroughs and more, plus open mic, at Third Street Stuff & Coffee, 257 N Limestone #1, 40507. More details forthcoming.

6 October 2024 at 4 p.m. in Elizabethtown, Kentucky
A live reading and poetry open mic featuring John Burroughs, hosted by A.S. Coomer at Flywheel Brewing, 218 S Mulberry Street, 42701

14 December 2024 at noon - ONLINE
Poets Building Bridges, hosted by George Wallace, will feature poets from Cleveland, Ohio (John Burroughs, Judith Mansour and Dianne Borsenik); Bolton, UK (Linda Downs, David Wigmore and Laura Taylor); and Flower Litter Poets (Mimi German, Karlostheunhappy and Pankhuri Sinha). Event will be broadcast on Zoom.

 

Video: Mark Lipman's Endless Horizons visits Insomniacathon 2024 in Louisville, Kentucky

Check out this pilot episode of incoming U.S. Beat Poet Laureate Mark Lipman's Endless Horizons, where he visits The Final Insomniacathon at the The Chapel of St Philip Neri in Louisville, Kentucky, last month (July 26-28). I am grateful to be included reciting a poem (a newly revised version of "Bloodshot" from Rattle and Numb).

Click here to watch the episode.

Read more about Endless Horizons at https://vagabondpoetrycaravan.blogspot.com/p/endless-horizons.html. 

National and International Beat Poetry Festival: August 30th through September 1st

I'll have the joy of joining stellar poets from across the United States and as far away as Sweden at this year's National and International Beat Poetry Festival, August 30th through September 1st in Connecticut.

The National Beat Poetry Foundation has just posted their program on Facebook and I've copied it here. Hope to see you there!

 

 

 

Back in the Saddle in July: Evansville, Insomniacathon & WV Writers

Though I've been super busy off the radar, it's hard to believe it's been nine months since I've been on tour. But I'm about to get back at it this month:

 

7/16 in Evansville, Indiana, I'll have the privilege of reading with Dan Sullivan and Jennifer Browne at the Bokeh Lounge (one of my favorite places to return) for Poetry Speaks: Tonight We Sail.

 

7/20 online, I'll present "Risking Absurdity for the Sake of the Poem," a poetry workshop sponsored by West Virginia Writers, Inc. Free for all members.

 

7/26-28 in Louisville, Kentucky: The final Insomniacathon (tickets and schedule available at https://stphilipcampus.org/insomniacathon-2024). I'll be reading around 5 p.m. on Saturday the 27th.

 

 

And then after that:

 

8/30-9/1 in Barkhamsted, CT: the Nat’l & Int’l Beat Poetry Festival 2024.

 

9/10 in Corning, New York (details forthcoming).

 

9/27-28 in Frostburg, MD: the Western Maryland Independent Literature Festival.

 

10/3 in Lexington, KY: Poetry at the /'tāb-əl/ (reading with Matt Hart).

 

10/4 in Lexington, KY: Teen Howl Poetry Series.

 

10/6 in Elizabethtown, KY at Flywheel Brewing.

 

For more, please visit http://jesuscrisis.blogspot.com/p/featured-readings.html.

June 29th: M.J. Arcangelini & Friends and Ground & Sky Poetry

I'll have the pleasure of being a small part of this very special event on Saturday, June 29th, 2024 from 5:00pm to 7:30pm at Mac's Backs Books on Coventry. Joe Arcangelini is a fine poet and friend.

From the press release:

Mac's will host a gathering of poets with readings by MJ Arcangelini and Joel Lesses on Saturday, June 29th at 5 p.m. The event is also a book release celebration for Journeys of Sacred Community: A Collection Anthology of Ground and Sky Poetry

MJ Arcangelini, born in Pennsylvania in 1952, has resided in northern California since 1979. He has published in many magazines, online journals & over a dozen anthologies.  He is the author of six published collections, including  Pawning My Sins publlished in 2022 by Luchador Press.

Ground and Sky Poetry is a reading series in Buffalo and Rochester, NY and was inspired by the late poet Maj Ragain from Kent. 

Joel David Lesses is a counselor and the founder of Education Training Center in Buffalo, dedicated to reframing mental health distress as a potential spiritual marker and existential opportunity. He also does the Unraveling Religion podcast which focuses on spirituality, world religion, meditation and poetry.

Other poets scheduled to read include Dianne Borsenik, Chris Franke, Russ Vidrick, Steven Smith, Kathy “Lady” Smith, John Burroughs, Shelley Chernin, Ben Gulyas, Adam Brodsky, Steve Goldberg, Steve Thomas, Scott Silsbe and  Chandra "Peggy Honeydew" Alderman.

Mac's Backs
1820 Coventry Rd.
Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
https://www.macsbacks.com