Monday May 7th, Stone Soup's John Wieners Tribute Featuring Charley Shively and Friends

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. May marks the 36th Anniversary of Stone Soup Poetry, and it will be marked with a tribute to the late poet and Stone Soup staple John Wieners led by Charley Shivey, along with Jim Dunn, John Landry, and Ryan Miller.



Charley Shively is the author of Nuestra Señora de los Dolores, San Francisco Experience. He has written two volumes regarding Walt Whitman's correspondence, Calamus Lovers and Drum Beats, and The History of the Conception of Death in America 1650-1860 (1988).He was the founding editor of Fag Rag (one of the first gay-liberation publications in the country) and Good Gay Poets Press, publisher of John Wieners' seminal text Behind the State Capitol or Cincinnati Pike. He is Professor Emeritus of the UMass Boston History Department.



Jim Dunn of Philadelphia is the author of Convenient Hole (Pressed Wafer 2004) and Insects In Sex (Fallen Angel Press, 1995). He has served as the Poet-In-Residence at Endicott College and has also participated in the Prison Poetry reading Program at BU. His work appears in can we have our ball back?, Meanie, and the anthology celebrating John Wieners , The Blind See Only In This World. He lives in Beverly, Massachusetts.



John Landry is the Poet Laureate of New Bedford where he hosts the Whaling City Review LIVE poetry series in the Frederick Douglass Gallery of Gallery X. His work appears in New College Review, North Coast Review, Beatitude, onedit, Citizen 32, Range, Sliding Uteri, Meanie, Poetry Motel, Greenfield Review, Appeal to Reason, Contact II and elsewhere. His book Whaleopolis or Orpheus in Whaletown will appear in 2008.



Ryan Miller from Brockton has had work appear in the New College Review in San Francisco. He has read at Joyce Ellen Gallery in New London, UMass Dartmouth, the Brockton Public Library, Poetribe, Legacy, and Stone Soup. He will have work in the 50th anniversary
edition of Beatitude.

Click here for a sample of Charly Shively's work.

Click here for a sample of Jim Dunn's work.

Click here for a sample of John Landry's work.

Click here for a sample of Ryan Miller's work.

Click here to learn more about John Wieners (1934-2002).

Tonight, April 9th

Lee Letif and Chris Robbins Feature.

Visit this site later in the week for further updates.

Charles Coe Opens National Poetry Month tonight!

Reminder

G. Emil Reutter Features Tonight.

Reminder

Tim Gager features tonight.

Reminder: Two More Weeks Until National Poetry Month

The Features:

April 2nd: Welcome Charles Coe!

April 9th: The return antics of Lee Letif and Chris Robbins.

April 16th: Boston Poet editor Diana Saenz revisits Stone Soup.

April 23rd: Performance Poet Barbara Adler.

April 30th: Poet and novelist Steven Manchester.

April 30th: Steven Manchester 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. Closing off National Poetry Month on the 30th of April will be poet and fiction writer Steven Manchester, who will be reading selections from his new book Pressed Pennies, a novel which incorporates the author's own verse.

The father of two sons and one beautiful, little girl, Steven Manchester is the published author of The Unexpected Storm: The Gulf War Legacy, Jacob Evans, A Father’s Love, Warp II and At The Stroke of Midnight, as well as several books under the pseudonym, Steven Herberts. His work has been showcased in such national literary journals as Taproot Literary Review, American Poetry Review and Fresh! Literary Magazine.

Manchester is an accomplished speaker, and currently teaches the popular workshop, "Write A Book, Get Published & Promote Your Work." Three of his screenplays have also been produced as films. When not spending time with his children, writing, teaching, or promoting his published books/films, this Massachusetts author speaks publicly to troubled children through the “Straight Ahead” Program.

April 23rd: Barbara Adler 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 April 23rd, performanc poet Barbara Adler selects Stone Soup as one of the stops on her tour.

In 2002, Barbara Adler was the youngest performer to win a spot on the acclaimed Vancouver Poetry Slam team, at the age of 18. Now a four-time member, Barbara has toured the world performing poetry both as a solo performer, and as a member of the spoken-word music band, The Fugitives. Known for her ability to mix intellectual poetics with entertaining observations about the quirkier moments of everyday life, Barbara has collaborated with composers, dancers, filmmakers and theater artists, creating “smart, funny, and often deeply moving poetry around questions of history, identity, and self-image” (Georgia Straight). This Spring, she finished a double major in Art and Culture Studies and Fine and Performing Arts at Simon Fraser University. Her new CD is titled “Flusterblush.”

Click here for Barbara Adler's MySpace page.

April 16th: Diana Sáenz 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 April 16th, Stone Soup welcomes the return of poet, playwright, performer, editor and former regular Diana Sáenz.

Diana Sáenz is a native of Los Angeles California, and has been writing poetry since the age of 15. Her plays have been produced around the country, and she is has three books of poetry presently for sale: An Ordindary Life Discussed, The Book of Eve, and Just This side of the 3rd Millenium. Diana and her husband, Marshall Harvey, whom she met in 1995 at Stone Soup Poetry when it was at TT The Bears, are the editors of Boston Poet Publication.

Her plays have been produced across the U.S. Her poetry has been staged in co-productions in theater and dance. She is on the Board of Directors of The National Boston Poetry Festival, and the founding editor of Boston Poet Magazine, and present editor of bostonpoet.com,

Sáenz is on the board of directors of Harris Gardner’s Boston National Poetry Festival. She designed the Tapestry of Voices website, as well as runs the bostonpoet.com website since 2000. She has featured most recently at the Kerouac Festival in October 2006, Squawk, Jeff Robinson’s Poetry Jazz, Lowell University, Nashua’s Poet’s Corner, Stone Soup Poets, and many other venues.

Click here for a sample of the author's work.

Visit bostonpoet.com

April 9th: Lee Litif and Chris Robbins Feature




Photos by Bill Perrault

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 9th, Stone Soup will feature the return of Stone Soup's favorite open mike gadfly, Lee Letif and his opener, Chris Robbins. Because this sure to be an extension of Letif's usual open mike performances, the April 9th show will likely not be viewable on public access and therefore is best viewed live.

Lee Letif has been a regular contribution to the Stone Soup open mike since 1991. He's the author of several chapbooks, including Unpatriotic Flags and Abominating White Houses, Reckless Paella and Defecating Republicans, and Ultrasonic Amplifiers and Marshall Amps/Genital Wart Puking Rednecks.

Chris Robbins was born in Boston, MA, in 1965, not that this crap is actually important. He graduated Whitman-Hanson High in 1984, earning a B. S. degree ('cause, fact it people, that's all a high school diploma is really worth these days). In 1993, after writing poetry and otherwise wasting ink for nine years, Chris wrote a bunch of fixed form poems and, attempting to emulate one of his favorite classic rock bands, Jethro Tull, self-published a chapbook called Bard's Ambition. Now, 14 years later, he's at it again, this time with a chapbook of love and human equality poetry, appropriately called Love Among Equals.

April 2nd: Charles Coe 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 the first Monday of February, Stone Soup has the pleasure of welcoming Charles Coe, who will be the first performer for our celebration of National Poetry Month.

Charles Coe is the winner of an Artist Fellowship in Poetry from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and now coordinates the Council's literature and music grant programs. His work has appeared in numerous literary reviews and magazines. A volume of his poetry, Picnic on the Moon, has been published by Leapfrog Press. Charles also appears on two spoken-word CDs: Get Ready for Boston, a collection of stories and songs about Boston neighborhoods, and on One Side of the River, an anthology of Cambridge and Somerville poets.

His poems have been set to music by composers Julia Carey, Beth Denisch and Robert Moran. In addition to poetry, Charles writes feature articles and book reviews that have appeared in publications such as Harvard Magazine, The Boston Phoenix, and The Boston Globe. Charles is also co-chair of the Boston Chapter of the National Writers Union--a labor union for freelance writers.


Inventory
For the poets of Norfolk Correctional Institution

As a child, I kept track
of certain things: crack in the sidewalk
between the bus stop and school,
names of streets between the bridge
and our family's house,
toy soldiers lined up on a shelf.

Now the list of things I've lost, or forgotten,
or thrown away, at times seems longer
than the list of what remains; this feeling
often visits uninvited, late at night,
when every breath is a footstep
measuring the miles till dawn.

But this morning, when I walked across the yard,
the sun suddenly shoved through the clouds
to warm my face,
and later I was surprised by a small kindness
from an unexpected source. This life
is not the one I would have chosen;
but I will try to keep an open hand
for the gifts is spreads each day across my path,
like Easter eggs hidden in the grass.

--Charles Coe

Stone Soup Features for March

March 5th: Bill Perrault and Sue Red.

March 12th: Poet and Venue Host Molly Lynn Watt.

March 19th: Tim Gager Returns.

March 26th: G Emil Reutter Returns.

March 26th: G. Emil Reutter 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 March 26th, Stone Soup will see the return of poet, fiction writer, and essayist G. Emil Reutter.

G Emil Reutter is an author/essayist and traveling poet currently hailing from Lower Bucks County Pennsylvania. His poetry, short fiction and essays have been published widely in the small and electronic press. He has presented his poetry at numerous venues in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Southwest areas of the United States.

He has authored several collections to include Life Views (2004/2007), The Jonesville Collection(2004/2006) and Asphalt Road(2004/2006) published by Stone Garden, Stirring Within Poems and Tales From Mount Carmel(2006) published by Blazevox Books and Direction Unknown, a poetry chapbook forthcoming from Moon Printing and Publishing. A number of projects are in submission status.

His poetry/prose/essays have been published widely in the small and electronic press. A sample poem follows.


Shadows in the Daylight

Lurking as a stalker would
Movements invisible to most
Faint, slide and move
From building to building, image to image
Shadows in the daylight abound
Until you see one…not cast from an image
One that may not be a shadow at all

--G Emil Reutter


Click here for visit the author's website.

March 19th: Tim Gager 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 March 19th, Stone Soup welcomes Tim Gager back.

Timothy Gager is the author of Short Street and Twenty-SixPack, both collections of short fiction and the e-book, TheDamned Middle. His first book of poetry, The Same Corner of The Bar, is available through Ibbetson Street Press and his most recent, We Needed A Night Out, was released in 2006. He hosts the Dire Literary Series in Cambridge, Massachusetts every month and is the co-founder ofSomerville News Writers Festival.

His short stories appeared in Word Riot, Midnight Mind Magazine, Scene Boston, Theive's Jargon, The Insights Anthology, VerbSap, Swankwriting (83 Words), Story Garden and Write This Magazine. Timothy's poetry has been published in Ibbetson Street, Poems for All,Erato, Poetry Life and Times, Spare Change, The SomervilleNews, Generation X National Journal, High Horse, Third LungReview, 63 Channels and Poesy XXIV. His poetry has beennominated for two Cambridge Poetry Awards.

Timothy is the founding co-editor of The Heat City LiteraryReview and has edited the book, Out of the Blue WritersUnite: A Book of Poetry and Prose from the Out of the BlueArt Gallery.

A graduate of the University of Delaware, Timothy lives inDedham, Massachusetts and is employed as a social worker.

Click here for a sample of Tim Gager's work.

March 12th: Molly Lynn Watt 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 March 12th, poet, editor, and poetry host Molly Lynn Watt will be reading a selection from her new release.

Molly Lynn Watt's book of poetry, Shadow People, was released this year from Ibbetson Street Press. Her poems have appeared recently in HILR Review, South Carolina Review, Types and Shadows Review, Friends Journal, Spare Change, The Wilderness Literary Review and other places. Her other recent credits include editing the forthcoming 2006 Bagel Bards Anthology and creating the reading theater "George and Ruth: Songs and Letters of the Spanish Civil War," created and performed with Dan Lynn Watt (available on CD).

she leads poetry workshops, hosts the Cambridge Cohousing Fireside Readings (now in its 8th season) and writes daytrip articles for the Occasional Moose. A sample poem follows.


Aurora Borealis

We’ve become night travelers
creeping along Alaskan highways
for one more chance encounter.
She—beguiling hooker
draped in ruby satins—
flashes along Earth’s silhouette
doing hijinks across the skies
dazzling frost crystals in riverbeds
whispering to crackling ground
to join her juicy dance—then ripples on.

We are shadow peoples
talking her by moonlight
desirous of another glimpse
as she rides the mountain ridges.
We’ll wait all night for one caress
from her expanding waves of sheen.
But she’s a neon flirt
who swirls and flares
cavorting through celestial skies—
a good-time girl—
she soars alone.

--Molly Lynn Watt

March 5th: Bill Perrault and Sue Red Feature

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 6th, friends and Stone Soup regulars Bill Perrault and Red return to feature.


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 textilemills. From 1958 to 1960, the U S Army sent him to Germany as a medic andEducational Counselor. He took the opportunity to tour Europe at that time. When his tour of duty was over, he came home and six weeks later,he married his wife, Lorraine. In 1964, the first of their four children was born and, to date, they are now the proud grandparents of seven. After he and Lorraine married, he began his career teaching high school French and Latin in Maine and upper New York State. He did graduate studies at University of Maine and wrote his masters thesis on Guillaume Apollinaire. In 1973, he moved to Massachusetts to work for Polaroid. Bill now lives in Lowell. Throughout his life, he has enjoyed poetry andphotography. Bill was always the one with a notebook with him to write and a camera to take a picture. He never knew when he might be inspired or find a picture that just needed to be taken. In his retirement, the free time allows him to take these passions to a new level. If it’s joining the Poets in Boston for the Stone Soup Poets or producing local TV programs in Cambridge and Lowell, he is enjoying his creative life. Bill Has been published in the Stone Soup Anthology 2003, Out of the BlueWriters Unite Anthology, and his poetry can be seen on various web pages, and if you are lucky enoughto 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 Poets, WordBeat, Open Bark and all.


Photo by Bill Perrault

Sue Red is a poetess, short story writer and jewelry maker living in Somerville, Mass. May December is her first and certainly not last book of poetry. Red grew up in northern New Jersey and didn’t start writing until after high school. Shegraduated from Vermont College, Montpelier with a B.A. in poetry andcreative writing. The focus of her thesis was Sylvia Plath’s poetry and how it wasinfluenced by her turbulent relationship with Ted Hughes. The same emotional intensity is visible in Red’s poems. She considers Sylvia a soul who guides her on her journeys, both creative and emotional. Upon moving to the Boston area, she began reading at the open mics at the Out of the Blue art gallery inCambridge. She still frequents that venue as well as others in the New England area. Red’s handmade beaded jewelry is often available at Out of the Blue as well.

Click here for a sample of Bill Perrault's work.

Click here for Sue Red's web page.

February 26th: Patrick J. Melvin Features

Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery (located on 106 Prospect Street in Cambridge) with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On February 26th, we welcome local poet and open mike veteran Patrick J. Melvin, who has offered his bio note and sample poem as one and the same:


Rumors

not much is known about pat,
who surfaced years ago
on the cambridge poetry scene.
here are the rumors.

pat's real name is alfredo fettuccine,

and he is the offspring
of w.c. fields and marlene dietrich.

at the age of seven
pat was toilet-trained by harry potter

one of his poems came in 1st place
in the nacy locke memorial novice award
issued by the poet's roundtable of arkansas.

the difference between pat and a bowl
of peas is that the peas are greener
and possess a higher IQ.

rumor has it that this
is pat's first feature.

he has never played eddie haskell
on "leave it to beaver"
or spoken the phrase,
"nice blouse, mrs. cleavage."

pat learned all his street sense
in the bowery over trashcan fires
with the likes of tom waits
dylan and big bird.

his poetry has appeared
in the haight ashbury literary journal,
mobius, calliope, the pinehurst journal,
social anarchism, as well as other
journals in the small press field.

pat has robbed more banks
than jesse james,
but jesse's knocked off more trains.

he is the unholy union of nostradamus
and quasimodo, the prophet
of big bang and mind-zero.

in 2000 pat's poem "enigma"
(about prison violence)
was considered for a pushcart prize
by the editors of halj.

pats uncle was charles bukowski -
twice removed.

when he's not composing
magnetic poetry, pat sells
girl scout cookies in central square.

he originally wrote the book-length poem
"the wasteland" and invented
the internet (not al gore),
texas holdem, and gloves
with no fingers

the only difference between pat and
salvador dali (other than the obvious)
is that pat is truly mad.

pat is the reincarnation
of the star-spangled guitar
used by hendrix at woodstock.

--patrick j. melvin

Upcoming Stone Soup Features

Additional information to be added to the site soon.

Tonight: Welcome to Stone Soup the award-winning writer and performer J*me.

February 19th: Timothy Lagerstedt and Suzanne Masciarelli perform.

February 26th: Respected open miker Pat Melvin has his first Stone Soup feature.

March 5th: Stone Soup's Media Master Bill Perrault celebrates his birthday with a reading alongside Sue Red.

March 12th: Host of the Cambridge Cohousing Fireside Readings, Molly Lynn Watt, reads from her new book, Shadow People.

February 19th: Timothy Lagerstedt and Suzanne Masciarelli Feature

Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery (located on 106 Prospect Street in Cambridge) with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On February 19th, Timothy Lagerstedt reads from a collection of one hundred poems published under the title of Bohemian Bongo Poetry, with Suzanne Masciarelli on accompanying percussion.

Bohemian Bongo Poetry is a collection of short stories with varied topics constructed using a verse pair rhyming format. Plot and character composition run wild inside this experiment in creativity conducted on the streets of Boston in an intentionally compressed time capsule.

Tim Lagerstedt is an active business partner in the information venture of TS Productions. Under the pen name of Timothy Carl, TS Productions published its first novel in 2003. A second novel and several children’s books are also in the works. Lagerstedt is a native of Brockton, Massachusetts, where he currently lives. He works full time as an electrical engineer supporting an automated manufacturing operation in South Boston.

Suzanne Masciarelli plays the bongo drums during the presentation aspect of Bohemian Bongo Poetry. Suzanne is an active business partner in the TS Productions operation, personifying the intrinsically creative manifestation captured in all of their products. Born and raised in the metro-west region of Massachusetts, Suzanne relocated to Brockton in the year 2000. She attained her Associates Degree at Massasoit Community College in Brockton and now works full time as an executive administrative assistant in the biomedical business. A sample from the book follows.


Chihuahua’s sandbox stands alone in the corner,
It has become her place of honor.

Trained to piddle just like a cat,
She must see the power in that.

No more trips outside in winter,
Frozen tail despite the sweater.

In the evening when guests abound,
And people gather to expound.

About the virtue of this sacred pet,
Who spared the rug and saves the vet.

Of surgery although not voluntary,
Will assure this dog remains solitary.

Won’t be required because she’s clean,
Although at times a bit obscene.

So turn your back and hold your hat,
Because this dog is going out back.

February 12th: J*me Features


Photo by Christine Bower

Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery (located on 106 Prospect Street in Cambridge) with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On February 12th, we welcome performance poet J*me, as he features at Stone Soup for the first time as part of a string of winter performances in the Boston area and New York.

Over the past 4 years, the award winning poet and performer J*me, who is also known as James Caroline, has made a name for himself nationally through slams and features. In February of 2006 he toured the West Coast with Def Poetry's Caroline Harvey on the highly successful, I See Red tour. His work is a rare mix of literary craft and vulnerability, and the intensity of his performances has garnered comparisons to Patti Smith. J*me was voted Best Local Author in the 2006 Boston Phoenix poll. He is a multiple winner of Cambridge Poetry Awards for Best Erotic Male Performance Poet and Best Slam Poet Male.

He has guest-lectured and performed at Mount Ida College, Hampshire College, Emerson College and Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. In May of 2007 he will be performing and teaching at The Saints and Sinners Literary Festival in New Orleans with Dorothy Allison. He has studied with Anya Achtenberg, Patricia Smith, Regie Gibson, Sascha Feinstein, and Toni Amato. During the spring of 2004 he directed and performed in Musician and the Muse , a performance of poetry and music at The Cambridge Multicultural Arts Center featuring Nicole Terez, Tom Daley, Regie Gibson, and Iyeoka Okoawo. He has competed with two National Slam teams, and represented the Cantab Lounge in the first Individual World Poetry Slam. In 1997 he was commissioned to write the vocal text and act as artistic sound director for Naked Truths; Voices of Shame, Sexuality, and Eating Disorders in Women, which was performed at the HERE multimedia center in Manhattan. He's been published in Quarry, Subliminal, Pinned Down by Pronouns (a Lambda Literary Award Finalist for 2004), The Shadow Sacrament, the Cascadia Review, and Painted Bride Quarterly .

Click here for J*me's MySpace site for sample poems.

Click here for a recent article on J*me.