April 26: Stone Soup Says Goodbye to the Assemblage Gallery and to Bil Lewis

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After this April Stone Soup Poetry will no longer be meeting in person at Fort Point Arts Community's Assemblage Gallery, located on 70(a) Sleeper Street, just across from the Barking Crab restaurant.  Appropriately, tonight on Wednesday, April 26 from 7:00 to 9:00, we will also be saying goodbye to Bil Lewis, who is departing the Boston/Cambridge area for a farm in Idaho.

Bil Lewis is a Computer Scientist and has worked in research and taught most of his life, most recently doing Genetics Research at MIT. He has taught at Stanford and Tufts Universities and worked for FMC, Sun Microsystems, and Nokia Data. Bil is a Past District 31 Governor (Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island), an Eagle Scout, a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, and a Patriotic Citizen of the United States. Bil is currently performing and teaching High School over Zoom as James Madison, 4th President of the United States. He is using his skills to talk about what is important in life.

 

Bil is the very epitome of sober, serious, introspective poetry.

(Last sentence is subject to a fact check.)

April 12: Stone Soup In-Person All-Open Mic

Stone Soup Poetry returns for an-inperson show on Wednesday, April 12 from 7:00 to 9:00 at the Fort Point Arts Community's Assemblage Gallery, located in Boston on 70(a) Sleeper Street, just across from the Barking Crab restaurant. It will be an all-open mic night, and everyone is welcome.

Free admission but donations for features are appreciated.

March 29: Frances Donovan Features at Stone Soup Poetry

Photo by Michelle Schapiro

In addition to online gatherings, Stone Soup Poetry is now meeting in person every second and fourth Wednesday of the month at Fort Point Arts Community's Assemblage Gallery. More gallery shows will soon be announced. On March 29, we will be joined online by feature Frances Donovan, who is celebrating the release of her new poetry collection. The next in-person gathering will be on April 12.

Frances Donovan is the author of Arboretum in a Jar (Lily Poetry Review Books, 2023). Her chapbook Mad Quick Hand of the Seashore was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award. Donovan’s poems have appeared in Lily Poetry Review, Solstice, Heavy Feather Review, SWWIM, and elsewhere. Her interviews of other poets can be found at The Rumpus and on her website. Donovan holds an MFA in poetry from Lesley University and is a certified Poet Educator with Mass Poetry. In 2019, Boston Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola selected one of her poems to be displayed at Boston City Hall. Donovan’s work deals with themes of home, family, intergenerational trauma, and sexual and gender identity. She remembers fondly the summer of 1998, when she drove a bulldozer in a Pride parade while wearing a bustier.

Join us on March 29 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM ET by clicking this link. 

The meeting ID is 885 8926 0791

Password: stonesoup

March 22: Stone Soup In-Person All-Open Mic

Stone Soup Poetry returns for a live show on Wednesday, March 2 from 7:00 to 9:00 at the Fort Point Arts Community's Assemblage Gallery, located in Boston on 70(a) Sleeper Street, just across from the Barking Crab restaurant. It will be an all-open mic night, and everyone is welcome.

Free admission but donations for features are appreciated.

Rescheduled: February 22: Stone Soup Poetry IN-PERSON with Black Byrd

Stone Soup Poetry returns for a live show on Wednesday, February 22 from 7:00 to 9:00 at the Fort Point Arts Community's Assemblage Gallery, located on 70(a) Sleeper Street in Boston, just across from the Barking Crab restaurant. Please come to our rescheduled feature with poet and author Black Byrd.

Free admission but donations for features are appreciated.

"My name is Isabel Alexandre also known as Black Byrd, The Poet. My first collection of poems that I've written over the years from when I was 15 years old. Poetry/Spoken Word was an escape from a hard life as a teenager living with an alcoholic mother. I have since found freedom and confidence in myself to be able to share my thoughts and words to you all who may have a copy of this book. I truly appreciate your support in taking the time to relax and listen some beautiful and some sad poems all written by me. I want to thank my husband for motivating me to continue to write and to show the world how talented I am with words. I want to thank my Heavenly Father for giving me this gift and I never want to take that for granted. Thank you again for your support. Now sit back and relax and let my words take you through a journey, rather relatable or unique. Welcome 2 My Journey."

Stay Tuned for the Eventbrite page!

July 13: Stone Soup Poetry LIVE with The Garage Poets

Stone Soup Poetry returns for a live show on Wednesday, July 13 from 7:00 to 9:00 at our old home, the Fort Point Arts Community's Assemblage Gallery, located on 70(a) Sleeper Street, just across from the Barking Crab restaurant. 

Free admission but donations for features are appreciated. 

Join us for an evening of The Garage Poets.

Taking form in a dilapidated garage in Malden, MA after starting an online open mic together during the COVID lockdown, Garage Poets are a surrealists blending of Ethan Mackler's improvised bass guitar and the spoken word of poets Anna Geoffroy and Jeff Taylor.

Join via the Eventbrite page.

We are attempting a Zoom link to watch and possibly participate in the event. Join it by clicking here.

The meeting ID is 861 1246 1064

Password: stonesoup

June 8: Stone Soup Poetry LIVE with Jim Dunn

Stone Soup Poetry returns for a live show on Wednesday, June 8 from 7:00 to 9:00 at our old home, the Fort Point Arts Community's Assemblage Gallery, located on 70(a) Sleeper Street, just across from the Barking Crab restaurant. 

Free admission but donations for features are appreciated. 

Join us on June 8 as Jim Dunn celebrates the release of his new collection, This Silence is a Junkyard.

Jim Dunn is the author of Soft Launch (Bootstrap Press/Pressed Wafer, 2008), Convenient Hole (Pressed Wafer, 2004), and Insects In Sex (Fallen Angel Press, 1995). His work has appeared in Castle Grayskull, Blazing Stadium, can we have our ball back?, Bright Pink Mosquito, The Process, eoagh, Gerry Mulligan, Cafe Review, Meanie, and the anthology in tribute to John Wieners, The Blind See Only In This World. He edited the John Wieners Journal, A New Book From Rome with Derek Fenner and Ryan Gallagher of Bootstrap Press.

Join via the Eventbrite page.

We are attempting a Zoom link to watch and possibly participate in the event. Join it by clicking here.

The meeting ID is 856 3037 1397

Password: stonesoup 

July 22: Alexis Ivy Features at Stone Soup Poetry

Amidst the global pandemic, Stone Soup Poetry has been offering an online open mic via  Zoom for anyone interested. This continues to receive an amazing response, and we appreciate everyone's participation.

On Wednesday, July 22, we have the long awaited feature of Alexis Ivy.

Alexis Ivy is a 2018 recipient of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowship in Poetry. Her first poetry collection, Romance with Small-Time Crooks was published in 2013 by BlazeVOX [books]. Her second collection, Taking the Homeless Census won the Editors Prize at Saturnalia Books and was published in 2019. A Boston native, her poems have been displayed in City Hall and featured by Mass Poetry aboard the red line subway. Her work has appeared in Sugar house Review, Borderlands, Worcester Review, Lake Effect, Poet Lore, Saranac Review, among other magazines and anthologies. She works as an advocate for the homeless in Cambridge and teaches in the PoemWorks community.

Download the Zoom App for free.

Join host Chad Parenteau on July 22 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM ET by clicking this link.

The meeting ID is  841 0243 1345

Password: stonesoup

Email the host at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com with any questions.

May 27: James Van Looy Features at Stone Soup Poetry

Edit: This has been rescheduled to a later date when we can gather live.

Stone Soup Poetry meets every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 at our new location, the Fort Point Arts Community's Assemblage Gallery, located on 70(a) Sleeper Street, just across from the Barking Crab restaurant (free admission but donations for features are appreciated). On May 27, we conclude our 49th anniversary month with James Van Looy, who will perform Edgar Allen Poe's "A Descent Into The Maelstrom" using his trademark combination of poetry, mime, dance and song.

James Van Looy has been a fixture in Boston’s poetry venues since the 1970s. He performed with the Mirage Mime Theater from 1980 to 1987 during which time he also taught classes offered by Mirage. From 1987 to 1988 he was a member of the Collective Mime.  In the early 2000's, he was one-third to the performance troupe Cosmic Spelunker Theater alongside Ian Thal and Bill Barnum.

His poetry has been anthologized in Stone's Throw, Spoonful, Fresh Broth and Out of the Blue Writers Unite. He has run poetry workshops for Boston area homeless people at Pine Street Inn and St. Francis House since 1992 and regularly reads at Bay State Prison as part of their poetry program. Currently, Van Looy leads the Labyrinth Creative Movement Workshop and is the author of It's All One Thing, a weekly poem column for Oddball Magazine.

March 4: Skoot Mosby Returns to Stone Soup

Stone Soup Poetry meets every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 at our new location, the Fort Point Arts Community's Assemblage Gallery, located on 70(a) Sleeper Street, just across from the Barking Crab restaurant (free admission but donations for features are appreciated). On March 4 we welcome back the talented Skoot Mosby, who has continued to support Stone Soup on stage and behind the scenes as our talent scout.

Skoot Mosby is a heavy hitting poet. As the Poetry Club president and the face of Roxbury Community College, he has created many successful events, such as No Filter, Man vs Police,” and What That Mouth Do. Skoot is taking the poetry world by storm with his freestyle abilities on the mic. Skoot has featured at Rapping With The Writers, Comic Con, Roxbury Rocks, Art is Life Itself, Hope Inc., Verbalization, Lizard Lounge, and Stone Soup. In a major addition to his features, Skoot has been a 3x Semi finalist National Slam Team. Skoot has also served as a member of the Compassionate Poets and an assistant facilitator for Writers Without Margins.

February 19: Black Byrd hosts All-Open Mic at Stone Soup Poetry

Stone Soup Poetry meets every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 at our new location, the Fort Point Arts Community's Assemblage Gallery, located on 70(a) Sleeper Street, just across from the Barking Crab restaurant (free admission but donations for features are appreciated). On February 19, join us for a special all-open mic as hosted by local poet on the rise, Black Byrd

More information coming.

February 12: Damon Features at Stone Soup Poetry

Stone Soup Poetry meets every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 at our new location, the Fort Point Arts Community's Assemblage Gallery, located on 70(a) Sleeper Street, just across from the Barking Crab restaurant (free admission but donations for features are appreciated). On February 12, Stone Soup welcomes another exciting new voice to our podium. Read below to find out more about the poet Damon. 

"My name is Damon, I’m an old soul living in young man’s body. Thoughts flow through mind a thousand miles a minute. I’m honest person who lives my truth and not a shame of it. My poetry comes from observational point of view, life experiences, and the vibes around me. Poetry to me opens the soul to learn, to feel, to manifest one’s inner self. I am the truth of reality, I am prophet."

February 5: Rachael Hershon Features at Stone Soup Poetry

Stone Soup Poetry meets every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 at our new location, the Fort Point Arts Community's Assemblage Gallery, located on 70(a) Sleeper Street, just across from the Barking Crab restaurant (free admission but donations for features are appreciated). We kick off February 5 with Rachael Hershon, who reads at Stone Soup Poetry for the first time.

Rachael Hershon's work has appeared in Amaryllis Poetry, Bop Dead City, and Random Sample Review, among others. Her work largely revolves around the themes of home, family, and sexuality. She is originally from Framingham and currently teaches English in the greater Boston area.

December 4: Jeff Taylor Features at Stone Soup Poetry

Stone Soup Poetry now meets every Wednesday from 6:30 to 8:30 at our new location, the Fort Point Arts Community's Assemblage Gallery, located on 70(a) Sleeper Street, just across from the Barking Crab restaurant (free admission but donations for the poet(s) appreciated). On December 4, we start closing out 2019 with poet, editor and publisher Jeff Taylor.

Jeff Taylor has been performing his poems in and around Boston for almost 20 years. Jeff’s chapbook Heroes Make Better Sandwiches Than People is available from Broken Head Press, he has poems published in various journals and anthologies including Maps For Teeth, Word Riot, and Boston Poetry Slam: 20 Years at the Cantab Lounge. Jeff is the editor of The occasionally published journal I Can Count To 10.

May 11: Stone Soup BACK IN BOSTON! Celebrating 47 Years!

In 1971, Stone Soup started in the Beacon Hill area of Boston. For much of its forty-seven years of existence, Stone Soup has existed outside of Boston. This Friday on May 4, we will be returning to Boston to celebrate our anniversary from  6:30-8:30 at Cathedral of St Paul, 138 Tremont St., as close to Stone Soup's original home as it can muster.

Located outside from the Park Street T stop, we will be meeting in the cathedral's Lawrence room, which is next to the receptionist area after entering the cathedral on the right-sided entrance. We invite everyone who has ever been part of Stone Soup's history to share your poems, songs and other work with us.

Special thanks to James Van Looy and Jan Rowe, who helped make this possible.