March 4th: Pre-Stone Soup Poetry Writing Workshop

I will be leading a workshop today on March 4th, to take place before Stone Soup Poetry from 6:00 PM to just before 8:00 PM at the Au Bon Pain in Central Square, 684 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge.

Please bring a poem of any form and style no more than 1-2 pages. Bring up to 10 copies of your poem to share with the group, and be prepared to share your thoughts on each others work. If you have trouble printing your work, you can email it to me before 5:00 Monday at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com

Those unable to attend that are interested in future dates please email me at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com

March 4th: Bill Perrault's Birthday Bash With Walter Howard and R. Wayne Nickerson

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 4th, we celebrate the birthday of Stone Soup's own Bill Perrault as he reads with friends.

Bill Perrault has been published in Spoonful, Out of the Blue Writers Unite, and various web pages, and if you are lucky enough to be on his e-mail list, the poetry is Hot Off The Presses! Bill has featured, performed and sometimes hosted at open mikes all over NewEngland--including: COOL COFFEE in Biddeford, ME, Bestseller’s Cafe inMedford, MA his Walden Pond Series and, of course, Out Of the BlueGallery. Bill is a staple figure at the Gallery in Cambridge, MA and has faithfully supported the events they hold there every day/night of the week-- Stone Soup and all.

Walter Howard is a retired history professor, English teacher, and journalist. He is a member of the Longfellow Society, Natick Writers, and the Wayland Poetry Workshop. His poems have appeared in Motive, Longfellow Journal, Ibbetson Street Press, Journal of Modern Writing, Endicott Review, and others. 

R. Wayne Nickerson writes: "I started writing short stories and poetry at Riverview Hopefield School, A boarding school I attended from 1966-1968. I had a great English Teacher, Mr.s Prat, who encouraged her students to read both classics and new writers, which I still do to this day.

I also like to encourage people to do the same. I also paint and enjoy singing. I've been since age five and still own my first book. I started performing mine and others' work three work three years work three years ago. I pray I'll continue to do this for a long, long time. Viva Stone soup, viva fellow writers, good company, good life." 

MONDAY IS THE LAST DAY TO SEND SUBMISSIONS FOR SPOONFUL #7

Current Spoonful Deadline

We are accepting submissions for issue #7 between January 25th and February 25th (with an eye on going online for March).

Submission Guidelines

Spoonful currently accepts by email submission only. Please send 3-5 poems of various forms and length as Word attachments with the word "Submission: Poetry" in the subject heading to stonesouppoetry@yahoo.com before February 25th.

Short works of fiction and non-fiction will also be considered. We are particularly looking for essays that touch on Stone Soup's history or the history of the Boston Poetry scene. Please send an inquiry email describing your prose piece and its length before sending it with the word "Proposed Longer Piece" in the subject heading.

Artwork is also being accepted, though moving forward, there will be fewer pieces accepted.  If your artwork or photography is meant to accompany a submitted poem or prose piece, please let us know in the body of the email.

Illustrators, photographers, and artists of any kind are encouraged to send up to 10 JPEG submissions to the same address with the words "Submission: Artwork" in the subject heading to stonesouppoetry_at_yahoo.com. The artwork's title and medium (if any) should be part of the JPEG file name (example, "Summer, Windphotograph.jpg").

Important

With your submissions, please also include as an attachment document a 2-5 sentence bio (longer bios will be edited at the editors' discretion and without notice).  Please include notice of submissions sent simultaneously to other journals.

A Note On Prior Publication

Our editorial eye will be toward unpublished work but we will considered previously published poems on the basis of merit and/or the previous source (a defunct web journal, a prelude to a larger, new project, etc).

We encourage that you be forthright with a poem's publication history, if any. Spoonful retains the right to reject and remove from our site, without notice, works with previous publication credits intentionally omitted by the author.

Holding Work

Due to our small staff and resources, Spoonful generally does not carry over unaccepted work from one reading period to another. In other words, if the work is rejected for the Winter issue, it will normally not be carried over to be considered for the Spring issue. On the rare occasion that a poem is carried over to be considered for the next reading period, the poet will always be notified. Otherwise, unaccepted submissions will be deleted before the next reading period begins. A poet is always welcome to resubmit any previously rejected work to be considered for a new reading period.

February 25th: Pre-Stone Soup Poetry Writing Workshop

I will be leading a workshop today on February 25th, to take place before Stone Soup Poetry from 6:00 PM to just before 8:00 PM at the Au Bon Pain in Central Square, 684 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge.

Please bring a poem of any form and style no more than 1-2 pages. Bring up to 10 copies of your poem to share with the group, and be prepared to share your thoughts on each others work. If you have trouble printing your work, you can email it to me before 5:00 Monday at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com

Those unable to attend that are interested in future dates please email me at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com

February 25th: Black Women Writers Celebrate the Extra MoJo! Anthology

 

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 February 25th, we celebrate the release of Extra Mojo with its contributors, including editor Mignon Ariel King.

Extra MoJo!, the first book of Hidden Charm Press (HCP), is a print collection of poems, memoir, and social commentary essays selected from the first ten issues of the online journal MoJo!

The anthology features 20 writers’ work. The online journal was founded in 2008 to encourage a writing-for-publication focus for the MAPS-ONE workshops run by Boston-born writer Mignon Ariel King (the HCP publisher who also edits MoJo! online).

READERS INCLUDE: Toni Bee, Mignon Ariel King, and Robin G. White

February 18th: Dawn Gabriel 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 February 18th, we welcome Dawn Gabriel back to our podium.

Dawn Gabriel, a sometime co-host at the Cantab poetry slam, has been writing and performing poetry for almost 20 years.  The Worcester Telegram and Gazette has called her an “extraordinarily captivating performer, marrying engaging language and imagery with an outrageous sense of humor and comic timing.” 

Dawn toured with Lollapalooza in 1994, appeared on the finals stage at the 1997 National Poetry Slam as a member of the fourth place Worcester team, and has been on 3 other national slam teams (Providence 98, Boston 05, and Boston 06).  She has performed at the Seattle Poetry Festival, the Boston Globe Book Fair, and First Night in three cities.  Her poetry has been published in numerous anthologies, including the 20 Years at the Cantab Anthology, and Knocking at the Door: Approaching the Other, published by Birch Bench Press. 

February 11th: Nathan & Jonah Comstock Feature 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 February 11th, Michael F. Gill hosts the performance duo of Nathan and Johan Comstock.

Nathan and Jonah Comstock have been writing and performing, together and separately, since age four. In college, both attended the College of Wooster in Ohio and studied English, Theatre, and Philosophy in various combinations. They have been regular performers at the Cantab Lounge for a little over a year, performing sometimes silly, sometimes heartfelt poetry about such topics as Gender, Family, Science, and Star Trek. They are excited to be featuring together at Stone Soup.

February 4th: Pre-Stone Soup Poetry Writing Workshop

I will be leading a workshop today on February 4th, to take place before Stone Soup Poetry from 6:00 PM to just before 8:00 PM. NEW LOCATION: Au Bon Pain in Central Square, 684 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge.

Please bring a poem of any form and style no more than 1-2 pages. Bring up to 10 copies of your poem to share with the group, and be prepared to share your thoughts on each others work. If you have trouble printing your work, you can email it to me before 5:00 Monday at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com

Those unable to attend that are interested in future dates please email me at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com

--Chad Parenteau

February 4th: James Van Looy Returns

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 February 4th, we welcome back Stone Soup fixture, James Van Looy.


James Van Looy has been a fixture in Boston’s poetry venues since the 1970s and performed with the Mirage Mime Theater from 1980 to 1987 during which time he was also taught classes offered by Mirage. From 1987 to 1988 he was a member of the Collective Mime. His poetry has been anthologized in 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. In 2008, Van Looy reunited with the performance troupe Cosmic Spelunker Theatre alongside Ian Thal and William J. Barnum to perform for Stone Soup.

NOW ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS FOR SPOONFUL #7

Current Spoonful Deadline

We are accepting submissions for issue #7 between January 25th and February 25th (with an eye on going online for March).

Submission Guidelines

Spoonful currently accepts by email submission only. Please send 3-5 poems of various forms and length as Word attachments with the word "Submission: Poetry" in the subject heading to stonesouppoetry@yahoo.com before February 25th.

Short works of fiction and non-fiction will also be considered. We are particularly looking for essays that touch on Stone Soup's history or the history of the Boston Poetry scene. Please send an inquiry email describing your prose piece and its length before sending it with the word "Proposed Longer Piece" in the subject heading.

Artwork is also being accepted, though moving forward, there will be fewer pieces accepted.  If your artwork or photography is meant to accompany a submitted poem or prose piece, please let us know in the body of the email.

Illustrators, photographers, and artists of any kind are encouraged to send up to 10 JPEG submissions to the same address with the words "Submission: Artwork" in the subject heading to stonesouppoetry_at_yahoo.com. The artwork's title and medium (if any) should be part of the JPEG file name (example, "Summer, Windphotograph.jpg").

Important

With your submissions, please also include as an attachment document a 2-5 sentence bio (longer bios will be edited at the editors' discretion and without notice).  Please include notice of submissions sent simultaneously to other journals.


A Note On Prior Publication

Our editorial eye will be toward unpublished work but we will considered previously published poems on the basis of merit and/or the previous source (a defunct web journal, a prelude to a larger, new project, etc).

We encourage that you be forthright with a poem's publication history, if any. Spoonful retains the right to reject and remove from our site, without notice, works with previous publication credits intentionally omitted by the author.

Holding Work

Due to our small staff and resources, Spoonful generally does not carry over unaccepted work from one reading period to another. In other words, if the work is rejected for the Winter issue, it will normally not be carried over to be considered for the Spring issue. On the rare occasion that a poem is carried over to be considered for the next reading period, the poet will always be notified. Otherwise, unaccepted submissions will be deleted before the next reading period begins. A poet is always welcome to resubmit any previously rejected work to be considered for a new reading period.

January 28th: Pre-Stone Soup Poetry Writing Workshop

I will be leading a workshop today on January 28th, to take place before Stone Soup Poetry from 6:00 PM to just before 8:00 PM.  NEW LOCATION: Au Bon Pain in Central Square, 684 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge.

Please bring a poem of any form and style no more than 1-2 pages. Bring up to 10 copies of your poem to share with the group, and be prepared to share your thoughts on each others work. If you have trouble printing your work, you can email it to me before 5:00 today at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com

Those unable to attend that are interested in future dates please email me at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com

--Chad Parenteau

January 28th: M.P. Carver Features

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.  Join us on January 28th for the first ever full-length feature of north shore poet M.P. Carver.

M.P. Carver is a 26 year old poet from Salem, MA. She graduated from Brown University where she concentrated in East Asian Studies with a focus on Japan. She works a day job with an energy consulting company, but in her real life she's a poet. Her work has been featured in the inaugural volume of Zig Zag Folios, in an art exhibit at the Mass State Poetry Festival, and in Hospital Drive, the University of Virginia's online medical literary journal. Her upcoming first book, Angry Little Poems, is being published by YesNO Press.

January 21st: Toni Bee Features

Photo by Phillip Brooks

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 January 21st, we welcome poet populist Toni Bee for her first Stone Soup feature.

Toni Bee is the 2011-2013 Poet Populist of Cambridge, MA. She is a student and photographer who Mothers her daughter and writes poetry whenever possible. Lately, Song and Music show their pretty faces at her performances and Toni will soon publish a book…very soon. Bee currently holds the honorable position of Artist Fellow at Citi Perfoming Arts Center in Boston. Bee feels she, “must be theatrical…” since she works within the walls of ‘The Wang’ and ‘The Shubert’ theatres. Toni is very excited that her Other American Cousins – the Slam Poets – will be back in town by spring for National Poetry Slam 2013. When Toni grows up she wants to keep bees and, “sell some of the honey.”

January 14th: Emily Duggan & Shira Rubenstein Feature 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.  Michael F. Gill returns on January 14th to host Stone Soup with two new  young poets Emily Duggan and Shira Rubenstein.

Emily Duggan is a member of Brandeis University's 2013 slam team who also performs in her school's improv and sketch comedy circuits. Her hobbies include (and are limited to) sleeping. Emily wants to get better. 
 
Shira Rubenstein is an upstate New York native and the youngest of a large clan of artists, bakers, globetrotters, and polyglots. She is currently a senior at Brandeis University pursuing a degree in Creative Writing. She can be reached at shira.rubenstein@gmail.com.

January 7th: Pre-Stone Soup Poetry Writing Workshop

I will be leading a workshop today on January 7th, to take place before Stone Soup Poetry from 6:00 PM to just before 8:00 PM.  NEW LOCATION: Au Bon Pain in Central Square, 684 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge.

Please bring a poem of any form and style no more than 1-2 pages. Bring up to 10 copies of your poem to share with the group, and be prepared to share your thoughts on each others work. If you have trouble printing your work, you can email it to me before 5:00 today at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com

Those unable to attend that are interested in future dates please email me at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com

January 7th: Sam Cha Features

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 January 7th, we kick off our first feature of 2013 with the return of Sam Cha.

Sam Cha is an MFA candidate at UMass Boston, in his third year. His poems, translations, and essays can be found in apt, ASIA, Amethyst Arsenic, Anderbo, Banipal, Opium Online, Printer's Devil Review, and Radius, among other places. He was a finalist for the 2007 Anderbo poetry prize and the 2012 Memorious Art Song Contest, and he was awarded the Academy of American Poets Prize at UMass Boston in 2011 and 2012. He lives in Cambridge with his family.

December 31st: New Year's Eve at Stone Soup with C.C. Arshagra

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.  This coming Monday, starting at 6:00 PM, we have the pleasure of offering Stone Soup on December 31st, chiming in the new year with poetry and song with the help of feature C.C. Arshagra.  We will also be offering up free food and beverage and invite everyone else to come with post holiday potluck.  Bring your verse and music and whatever else you'd like to ring in the new year with.

ABOUT THE FEATURE

C.C. Arshagra: A native of Connecticut who has recently returned after 25 years away from his hometown. 20 years in Boston/Cambridge, MA. Then later moving to the North West, across the Puget Sound from Seattle Washington, to the Native American town of Suquamish, Washington. There, he taught himself to play piano to develop his lyric writer’s life.

CC later moved to Europe for a brief life in Germany, with plans to move to France. But suddenly, he changed directions and returned to CT for a high paying job where he acquired a CDL license.  The job never came to fruition when the recession started.  He hit debt and homelessness, lapped his heels, crawled back, and set-up in home in a low rent humble dwelling he calls his slum-haven (and loves it).

CC is in the process of starting up his publishing company, press22publishing, with a world known author in the wings and a printer paid and set to roll. He is planning to reprint his collections “The Open Mike Poems” as one book.  Other projects include two additional poetry books, a children’s book, and  an experimental poetry project “The ID (Inkless Dialogue) Poems."

C.C. is a dreamer of ‘Humanity will be; Humanity, an ever-present evolving ideal of life living and it’s all gratitude from here.’  His most recent creative behavior has lead him to produce and host a free form radio show at the 6,000 watt radio station WESU, 88.1 FM, in Middletown, CT at Wesleyan University. The show is called “The I Do Not Know Show” With the tag line “The most experimental show in the world now. ‘Now’ in it’s most experimental stage. (What? A person can’t dream?)”

December 26th: Stone Soup Poetry Post-Christmas Open Mic Party

Stone Soup will NOT be meeting this Monday at Out of Blue Art Gallery this Monday Christmas Eve. 

Instead, we offer a post-holiday relief open mic on Wednesday the 26th from 8:00 to 10:00 PM.  People are encouraged to bring their work and any holiday leftovers they might have as we enjoy each others company and share in our post-holiday relief.

We thank the Out of The Blue Art Gallery for allowing us the space for a different day.

Tonight

Welcome, Sean Patrick Mulroy.

Tonight!

Kevin Carey Features.