Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery at 106 Prospect Street with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On April 23rd, we have the return of New York poets Martin Willitts, Jr. and Linda Griggs, fresh from their visit from the Massachusetts Poetry Festival.
Martin Willitts Jr retired as a Senior Librarian in upstate New York. He is a visual artist of Victorian and Chinese paper cutouts. He was nominated for 5 Pushcart and 2 Best Of The Net awards. He has print chapbooks Falling In and Out of Love (Pudding House Publications, 2005), Lowering Nets of Light (Pudding House Publications, 2007), The Garden of French Horns” (Pudding House Publications, 2008), “Baskets of Tomorrow” (Flutter Press, 2009), The Girl Who Sang Forth Horses (Pudding House Publications, 2010), Van Gogh’s Sunflowers for Cezanne (Finishing Line Press, 2010), Why Women Are A Ribbon Around A Bomb (Last Automat, 2011), Protest, Petition, Write, Speak: Matilda Joslyn Gage Poems (Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation, 2011), and Secrets No One Wants To Talk About (Dos Madres Press, 2011).
He has two full length books The Secret Language of the Universe (March Street Press, 2006), and The Hummingbird (March Street Press, 2009). His forthcoming chapbooks include “How to Find Peace” (Kattywumpus Press, 2012), Playing The Pauses In The Absence Of Stars (Main Street Rag, 2012), and “No Special Favors” (Green Fuse Press, 2012). He will be providing a poetry program at the 2012 Massachusetts Poetry festival.
Linda Griggs has a BS in art education and a MPS degree in the Applied Work of the Humanistic Psychologists. Currently an adjunct professor at SUNY Empire State College, Syracuse Unit, she worked as an art teacher and private mental health counselor, and she has worked with at-risk youth in Syracuse. She is a Conscientious Objector Counselor, a past member of an anti-racist response group, and a member of Syracuse Interfaith Works. Linda was published in anthologies Poetry From Art (2008) and Poetry From Nature (2010). She has been a featured reader at Mud Puddle Cafe (New Paltz, NY) and Cubbyhole Cafe (Poughkeepsie, NY), and was a guest reader at Veela Festival (New Paltz, NY) and the Strathsmore Art Festival (Syracuse, NY). She wrote the chapbook Love Poems of the Universe. She wrote and illustrated a children's book The Night of Starfish People. She is the host and founder of the Palace Poetry Group (Syracuse, NY).
