3/29/15

April 20: Liza Zayas Features


Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery, now at its new location at 541 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square Cambridge, Massachusetts with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On April 20, we welcome poet, singer and songwriter Liza Zayas.

Raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Liza Zayas is a lover of writing and dancing and celebrates both as a singer and songwriter performing as Luna del Flor. Writing out scenarios since the age of 13, she has been reading her poetry on stages for over 15 years. Songwriting and delivering her lyrics over music came shortly thereafter.

She has 5 released singles to date and works with other artists as a songwriter or vocalist. Behind the entertainment scenes, Liza produces dance and performance events while also collaborating with others for large-scale events serving as a promoter, stage manager, event coordinator, talent coordinator, hostess or performer. She has co-founded parties in Boston and has performed in venues as a singer, DJ or poet in the great cities of Lawrence, Boston, Cambridge, Providence, Brooklyn, Detroit, Montreal and Tampa.

You can hear her collaborative sounds at this page and experience life through her storytelling at her tumblr page. She invites you to dance at here. Her poetry seeks to initiate dialogue by intentionally expressing consequences of love, lust, ego and self-respect.

April 13: L.U.C.C.I., Features



Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery, now at its new location at 541 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square Cambridge, Massachusetts with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On April 13, we feature the return of performance poet L.U.C.C.I.

His name is L.U.C.C.I., which stands for Listening, Understanding, Caring, Considering, Inquiring. He is a Pactormedian (poet, actor, comedian). He is a Gothic, Hip-Hoppin', Hippie-Punk. He intends to make positive change while entertaining in the process. He is from Metro Detroit, MI, lived in Cleveland, TN, Cartersville, GA, Daytona Beach, FL and now Jamaica Plain in Boston MA. He has a heart for social justice, a fascination with characters and their stories, and a fulfilling feeling of helping somebody smile, laugh, cry, think differently or feel appreciated who may have needed it. He writes about himself and his experiences, he writes character pieces to impersonate whether the characters were created by him or not and he writes for those who sometimes may not have a voice. His work centers around a simple idea: PEACE N LOVE. He believes if there was more of this in the world, it would be a better place. He intends to help bring it closer to that place. It's not a cliché; it's a goal.

He has a CD entitled, "My Name Is L.U.C.C.I." with 15 poems for $3-$5.

He has been published in Oddball Magazine and featured on the shows The Minority Men and The Point Of Entry.

He helps support The Blue Rose Amazing WoMen Poetry Showcase, is part of A  Spoken Word Flash Mob, and had a role in the Elijah Starr film, "Supa Dupa".

He is the creator of the Facebook group, "A.W.E. - Art Without Ego", a group for local artists of all talents to have a place to display their art, promote their events, and support each other at their own will.

He has been featured at community events and venues such as Haley House, Stone Soup, GRAB THE MIC, R&B Poetry Slam, The Listening Party, ALL EYEZ ON ME POETRY, B.T.S. (Boston Talent Showcase), Quality & Soul, Lizard Lounge, Liquid Elements, It's Bigger Than Hip Hop Movement, Weirdstock 2011, One Hundred Thousand Poets For Change and more.

Feel free to follow him and contact him at his art page www.Facebook.com/LUCCI1985, his personal page atwww.Facebook.com/lucci85or follow his twitter @LUCCI5785. He is always available for questions, feedback and/or discussions about anything. He networks and associates with everyone so feel free to come up to him at any time. He loves meeting new people.

April 6: SOUP Presents A Benefit for DiDi Delgado at Stone Soup Poetry


Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery, now at its new location at 541 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square Cambridge, Massachusetts with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On April 6, Stone Soup enters National Poetry Month by inviting all of you to attend our fundraiser involving a multitude of poets coming together for the benefit of DiDi Delgado.

DiDi Delgado is passionate and hardworking. She puts so much energy and love into others through her activism, poetry, friendships, and genuine care for humans.

DiDi is a dedicated humanist. Her love for her friends, family, and her people resonate through everything she does. Whether she advocating for POC inclusion in arts and culture, convening a political meeting, or simply reaching out to people to provide emotional support and affirmation, DiDi's dedication to others is so clear. Her heart and love for others can be seen with every move she makes.

Born with Third-Degree Atrioventricular Block, DiDi has never let her condition slow her down or prevent her from giving all of herself to others. Although at the age of 16, she received a pacemaker to save her life, she has unfortunately had to have several surgeries within the past 12 years to support her quality of life. Why so many surgeries when the battery is only supposed to be replaced every 10 years? As many of you know, she has excelled in weightloss, then struggled with it. The doctor's have all recommended she undergo the gastric sleeve to improve the rewards instead of constantly being subjected to the risks, such as yet another pacemaker implant. DiDi is scheduled to undergo surgery on April 13, 2015 and will be out of work for 6-8 weeks.

Always authentic, generous, and honest; DiDi needs our help now to ensure her a long happy healthy life. We've helped her calculate her expenses for the two month period she will be out of work and we are asking that you please help us support her in this endeavor.

Donating whatever you can is the least anyone can do for someone who does so much for everyone else; but specifically supporting DiDi's recovery is supporting liberation for all people.

You can send donations through Paypal email: cholacoquetola@gmail.com and the GoFundMe link to donate is here.

Performers for April 6 Include:

* Former Cambridge Poet Populist Toni Bee
* Somerville Poet Laureate Nicole Terez Dutton
* Dorchester Poet Extraordinaire Liam Day
* Flatline Poetry's Kaleigh O'Keefe Heinhold & Lewis Reginald Morris
* WOWPS Qualifier Tru Kwene
* The Beautiful and EXTREMELY captivating Randyl Jonette
* UMass Creative Writing Program Alex Quilon

... SOUP Poets Hannah Brown & Crystal Beck duh.

* Artists Tara Ozella & TJ Edson doing live art.

And more to be announced.

3/27/15

March 30: Gloria Mindock Features at Stone Soup

 

Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery, now at its new location at 541 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square Cambridge, Massachusetts with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On March 30, we welcome Gloria Mindock provides the perfect transition to National Poetry Month and the 10th anniversary of Červená Barva Press.

loria Mindock is the founding editor of Červená Barva Press and one of the USA editors for Levure Litteraire (France). She is the author of La Porţile Raiului (Ars Longa Press, 2010, Romania) translated into the Romanian by Flavia Cosma, Nothing Divine Here (U Soku Stampa, 2010, Montenegro), and Blood Soaked Dresses (Ibbetson, 2007). Widely published in the USA and abroad, her poetry has been translated and published into the Romanian, Serbian, Spanish, Estonian, and French. Her fourth chapbook, Pleasure Trout, was published by Muddy River Books in 2013. In December 2014, Gloria was awarded the Ibbetson Street Press Lifetime Achievement Award.

3/17/15

March 23: VCR (Vernon C. Robinson) Features at Stone Soup





Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery, now at its new location at 541 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square Cambridge, Massachusetts with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On March 23, Stone Soup is pleased to welcome respected performance poet and venue host VCR to its podium.

VCR (Vernon C. Robinson) is a Dorchester native born and raised in Boston. He has been writing, reciting and performing poetry/spoken word for over a decade, not to mention that he’s been emceeing (rapping) for over 25 years. As a poet, VCR has performed at several local open mic spots and gathering as a feature and participant. Venues include Afrocentrics, the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, The Milky Way Lounge, Ogunnaike Galleria, Strand Theatre and more. He has poetically graced the same stage and opened up for such acts as Dead Prez, S.O.S. Band, Amiri Baraka, Pharoahe Monch, Suheir Hammad,Saul Williams, Lakeside, New Birth, Last Poets, Les Nubians, Jessica Care Moore, Georgia ME and other well-known artists. Besides the Boston and Cambridge areas, he has taken his poetry at cities and states such as New York (including the famous Nuyorican Poets Café), Atlanta, Chicago, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Dallas, Cleveland, New Hampshire, Baltimore, Los Angeles and surprisingly Cuba where he met the legendary Assata Shakur. In 2015, he was an opening act for the ArtsEmerson musical/play “Breath & Imagination” in Boston.

VCR is also a cultural event organizer under the company known as BloodSkinLand Productions. From that umbrella, he has created many annual gatherings which include Winter Words, Maylennium, Devotion…Black Love Day, Megacipher, SistaHood, Body Language, Afro-Cinema, Young Gifted & Black and The Red Black & Green Affair (a dedication to Marcus Garvey). His most recognized gathering is an ongoing event called VerBaLizAtiOn which is currently the longest-running open mic spot in the Boston area of nearly a decade and a half.


Through VCR’s performances, there is an array of memorable poems that are popular to the ears of spectators who have witnessed his stage presence whenever blessed the microphone. Poems such as “Tooth Decay”, “Alphabet Killaz” and “Pigs – That Other White Meat” are among the favorites from supporters of VCR’s work. In fact, those three pieces and others can be found on the debut CD of VCR entitled “Poetic Insanity”. VCR has been nominated for best male spoken word artist at the 2006 New England Urban Music Awards and twice for best spoken word artist at the 2006 & 2007 M.I.C. Hip-Hop Awards. In 2011, he became an awardee of the NAACP Image Awards of the Boston chapter. Recently in 2014 he was awarded the Ralph F. Browne Jr. Juneteenth Incentive Award for his continuous work through VerBaLizAtiOn.  Currently, he’s working on a second poetry CD and planning on a book of his poems in the near future. Please stay tuned!


3/10/15

March 16: Silent E Features at Stone Soup


Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery, now at its new location at 541 Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square Cambridge, Massachusetts with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m.  On March 16,  we welcome the first time feature of performance poet Silent E. 

Eunice Belacy aka Silent E is a local poet and spoken word artist originally from Cambridge Massachusetts.  She is a lover of poetry and began to write poetry when she was sixteen. She wrote her very first poem in high school as part of an assignment for her English Literature class and became hooked ever since. She attended Bridgewater State University to study Psychology and while attending was a part of a poetry group called The Seeds of Poetry.

She has performed at several different open mic venues in the Boston area including the You Can Feel It You Can Speak It, Lost Voices of Boston, The Haley House and Liquid Elements. She has also performed as part of the Feel It Speak It Flash Mob Poetry group since 2014.

Eunice's favorite time of poetry is typically anything that is genuine and comes from the speakers soul. She finds writing to be therapeutic and an outlet also. Apart from poetry Eunice enjoys working with teens in her Church and being involved in community development. She aspires to be an entrepreneur and a writer.

3/6/15

March 9: Bill Perrault and Carol Weston at Stone Soup

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 March 9, Stone Soup welcomes back friend Bill Perrault, who will be celebrating his birthday featuring alongside Carol Weston.



Photo by Chad Parenteau

Bill Perrault was born and lived in Biddeford ME until he finished college for which he had paid by working as a weaver in the textile mills. From 1958 to 1960, the U S Army sent him to Germany as a medic and Educational Counselor.  He did graduate studies at University of Maine and wrote his masters thesis on Guillaume Apollinaire. Bill now lives in Lowell.

Bill Has been published in the Stone Soup Anthology 2003, Out of the Blue Writers Unite Anthology, and various web pages, and if you are lucky enough to be on his e-mail list, the poetry is Hot Off The Presses! He has featured, performed and sometimes hosted at open mikes all over New England--including: COOL COFFEE in Biddeford, ME, Bestseller’s Cafe in Medford, MA his Walden Pond Series and, of course, Out Of the Blue Gallery. 



Photo by Bill Perrault

Carol Weston has featured many times with Stone Soup. She read alongside Jack Powers and Allen Ginsberg in 1973 in the former Charles Street Universalist Church. In the Winter of 1983, she was asked by Powers to feature in Boston's City Hall along with John Wieners. Her poetry has been published in The Farleigh Literary Review, Bomb, Stone Soup Anthology 2003, Spoonful and The Blind See Only This World.