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

Video: I read two poems at Visible Voice Books on 10/6

Many thanks to Charles Cicirella for capturing this footage of me reading on the patio of Crust Pizza and Visible Voice Books during the M.J. Arcangelini and Friends event on October 6th. In it I read two poems, "Judas Priest" and "Odd Missive" from my book Rattle and Numb: Selected and New Poems, 1992-2019 [Venetian Spider Press]. You may notice that I used as many Judas Priest album titles as possible in the first poem. It was a privilege and pleasure to read alongside so many poets whose work I respect and admire.

Video permalink: https://youtu.be/Neem5MZBtmY.

You may also view my poor photos of this wonderful event on Facebook.

M.J. Arcangelini and Friends at Visible Voice Books on 10/6

I'm thrilled that poet and friend M.J. Arcangelini is returning to Ohio this week and reading at Visible Voice Books (which now has a patio!) on October 6th at 7 p.m.. He will be joined by poet friends Steve Thomas, John Burroughs, Shelley Chernin, Marc Mannheimer, Adam Brodsky, Terry Provost, Russell Vidrick, Charles Cicirella, Ben Gulyas, Smith & Lady, Steve Goldberg, and Christopher Franke.

M.J. Arcangelini (b.1952) was born in western Pennsylvania, grew up there & in Cleveland, Ohio. He has resided in northern California since 1979. His work has been published in print magazines, online journals, (including The James White Review, Rusty Truck, The Ekphrastic Review, The Gasconade Review, As It Ought To Be, Live Nude Poems, North of Oxford, Rye Whisky Review) & over a dozen anthologies. The most recent of his five collections are: What the Night Keeps (2019, Stubborn Mule Press) and A Quiet Ghost (2020, Luchador Press). 

 

Visible Voice Books
2258 Professor Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44113
info@visiblevoicebooks.com

My "Whend" nominated for a Pushcart Prize

This Thanksgiving Day, I'm honored and grateful to learn that my poem "Whend" has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by NightBallet Press, alongside poems by Alex Gildzen, Bill & Pat Hurley, Sandra Feen, Jeanette Powers and M.J. Arcangelini. Many thanks to editor Dianne Borsenik!

"Whend" was the first significant poem I wrote after my wife Geri's untimely death in 2016. It was published in my 2018 chapbook Loss and Foundering.

Read more at https://nightballetpress.blogspot.com/2018/11/pushcart-prize-nominees-from-2018.html.

"Dish Work" and more live in Oakland on 7/19/2017

Reading at the Octopus, 1/19/17, photo by PCR

Last year I drove cross country to the west coast for the first (and so far only) time and it was one of the highlights of my life. So many good memories made!  One of the best was having the opportunity to read with D.R. Wagner, M.J. Arcangelini and Matt Cook at the Octopus Literary Salon in Oakland, California, on July 19th. I am grateful to Paul Corman-Roberts for making it happen—as well as emceeing, snapping pics and videoing random bits of the proceedings.
 

There are two clips of me that I meant to link to on this blog last year—but then I got behind and it hasn't happened until now. You can check them out here:

facebook.com/events/1562616010436560/permalink/1576457895719038/

One clip features "Dish Work," a poem inspired by Columbia Hills Country Club, where I worked as a dishwasher from around September 1986 to January 1987. It's also where I first met Geri, who was a waitress there at the time. The second clip catches me reading the first part of my poem "From Genesis to Exodus," a tribute to Prince.

"Dish Work" appears in my chapbook Water Works, first published in 2012 by recycled karma press and reissued in early 2017 as part of the Poets Haven Archive Series. "From Genesis to Exodus" was first published in Delirious: A Poetic Celebration of Prince (2016, NightBallet Press) and now also appears in my chapbook Loss and Foundering (2018, NightBallet Press).

Athens, Chicago, Buffalo, Erie and Cleveland Heights the Next Two Weeks

This weekend, I hit the road again.

8/18 from around noon to 3 p.m. - Poets Kari Gunter-Seymour, Dianne Borsenik, Ivars Balkits, Jeffrey Hanson, Becca Lachman and I will share a stage at the Athens Community Arts & Music Festival in Athens, Ohio.  Read Expanded Athens Music Fest Gets Infusion of Art in The Athens News.

8/20 at 7 p.m. - I'll be the featured poet for this month's installment of the Waiting 4 the Bus: Weirdo Open Mic series at Uncharted Books in Chicago, Illinois.  

8/24 - I'll be featured poet during the 4th Friday series at Dog Ears Bookstore & Cafe in Buffalo, New York.

8/28 - I'll be featured poet during the Poetry Night series at Calamari's Squid Row in Erie, Pennsylvania.

8/30 - I'll be back in Cleveland Heights to celebrate my friend Joe Arcangelini's new NightBallet chapbook release at Mac's Backs.

I look forward to seeing you somewhere somehow.

My Sibyl Lipsmacked

My poem "Sibyl" appears in the just published Lipsmack! A Sampler Platter of Poets from NightBallet Press, Year Five 2016, alongside work by George Wallace, Andy Roberts, Joey Nicoletti, Chansonette Buck, Lenny DellaRocca, D.R. Wagner, Steve Abbott, Robert Walicki, Wolfgang Carstens, Janne Karlsson and M.J. Arcangelini.  I wrote "Sibyl" last year for an Ekphrastacy program hosted by Heights Arts in Cleveland Heights. The poem was inspired by a Herbert Ascherman Jr. photograph, and exhibited next to that photograph during the retrospective Herbert Ascherman Jr.: 40 Years.

An Evening of Poetry with M. J. Arcangelini and Friends at the Happy Dog East

Poetry! California and Ohio converge at a legendary locale on Wednesday 2 September 2015 at 7 p.m.

M.J. Arcangelini was born 1952 in western Pennsylvania, grew up there & in Cleveland. He’s resided on the west coast since 1973. He began writing poetry at age 11, stories in his teens and memoirs in his late 40s. His work has been published in a lot of little magazines, small newspapers and anthologies. I especially love his collection of poems With Fingers at the Tips of My Words.

Co-features including Jim Lang, Steven Smith, Dianne Borsenik, Kathy Smith, Christopher Franke and me will read short sets first, followed by the main event, Mr. Arcangelini's reading. An open mic where all friends and strangers and strangests are encouraged to participate will follow.

Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern
11625 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44106

No wonder the Dog is so Happy. 

Note on parking: A lot across the street from the Euclid Tavern is free after 6pm for people coming to the Tavern.