June 2: Emily R. Rudofsky 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 June 2, we start June off with a feature by young poet and recent Yes/No Press author Emily Rudofsky.

Emily R. Rudofsky hails from the Boston area by way of the Mid-Atlantic Region. Her first chapbook, RAVENOUS, was published by Yes/No Press in January, 2014. Her poetry and artwork has appeared in Oddball Magazine, The Gabbler, The Fat City Review, and ZigZag Folios Vol.2. Emily spent her school years reading during math class. Now she spends her workdays reading under her desk. She still gets in trouble.

May 26: David P. Miller Features 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 May 26, we welcome another friend of Stone Soup and the Boston poetry scene, David Miller.

David P. Miller’s poems have appeared in print in Meat for Tea, Stone Soup Presents and Durable Goods, and online in the Muddy River Poetry Review, Wilderness House Literary Review, and the Boston and Beyond Poetry Blog. His chapbook, The Afterimages, is forthcoming from Červená Barva Press.  His has three “micro-chapbooks” available from the Origami Poems Project website. David was a member of the multidisciplinary Mobius Artists Group of Boston for 25 years, and is a librarian at Curry College in Milton, Mass. He has often been seen in the company of one or more of the Bagel Bards.

May 19: MP Carver Features at Stone Soup Poetry

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 May 12, Stone Soup is please to welcome M.P. Carver to the podium.

M.P. Carver lives in Salem, Massachusetts. A member of YesNo Press, M.P. helps host the twice-monthly Zig Zag Poetry Open Mic (Salem, MA). M.P. has featured at Stone Soup previously, at Speak Up! (Lynn, MA), Merrimac Mic (Newburyport, MA). and most recently in the Poets in the Round event at the 2014 Mass Poetry Festival. M.P.’s poetry has appeared at the Massachusetts State Poetry Festival (2012, part of the Poetry Everywhere art installations), in the University of Virginia’s Hospital Drive, and in the inaugural issue of Zig Zag Folios.

May 12: The Wild Women of Lynn 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 May 12,  Stone Soup's 43rd anniversary month continues strong, as we we have the pleasure of featuring every single contributor from the recommended local Wild Women of Lynn anthology.

Ring of Bone Press is a small publishing house founded in 2013, from Ipswich, MA. The mission of the press is to bring "The American Voice" to you, the reader, by publishing the work of local, under discovered poets and writers. The first book from the press is Wild Women of Lynn: Writings from the Walnut Street Coffee Cafe, poems and writings from five incredibly talented women poets from Lynn, each sharing their versions of "The American Voice."

Kerry Zagarella is a performance poet and toured with the first Boston Poetry Slam Team. She has performed at a variety of venues, including First Night Boston, The DeCordova Museum, The Boston Architectural Society, and the Green Mill in Chicago. Her work has appeared in magazines such as The Stone Soup Quarterly, Borderine Magazine, The Tower Journal and Wail Magazine. Her collection of original poems, Cardboard Soul, was published by This Poet's Press, and one of her essays can be found in A Tribute to Brother Blue by Yellow Moon Press.

Jocelyn Almy-Testa is a not quite 40 year old dancer, mother of four, writer, arts advocate, runner, photographer, sculptor, fiber artist, daughter, sister, lover, housewife, feminist coach and friend. Sometimes she likes to have a glass of wine and just stare out her favorite window and not be anything.

Kato Mele is a writer who has abandoned the idea of keeping up with the Joneses and has instead concentrated on keeping her head above water, which she is current accomplishing in her beloved adopted city of Lynn, Massachusetts - that the great and terrible beauty. She is neighborhood renowned for her use of her wit, her wits and even the occasional use of her half-wits whom she keeps in her shed and deploys only when absolutely necessary as she fears an uprising if they were to gain knowledge of the outside world and al the possibilities it holds. Her work has been sparsely published due to her inability to focus and complete the task at hand, but she has been found between the covers of THIS Magazine, Zig Zag Folios, and she can, truth be told, at the moment to be found between the covers and sheets of her reasonable comfortable bed.

Elizabeth Gordon McKim is a poet, spoken word performance artist, editor and teacher of poetry for people of all ages. She is the author of five books of poetry, the latest being The Red Thread, published by Leapfrog Press and Beyond Words, a poetry guide for parents and teachers co-authored by poet and teacher Judith Steinberg. McKim's poems have appeared in magazines, reviews and journals and she is a member of the graduate faculty of Lesley University in the department of Creative Arts in Learning. Her roots are in the oral tradition of song, story and chant. She is Poet Laureate of the European Graduate School in Saas Fee, Switzerland and locally is known as The Jazz Poet of Lynn, MA where she lives in a renovated shoe factory in Central Square and is often found at the Speak Up! open mic magic evenings at the Walnut Street Coffee Cafe.

May 5: Dennis Daly and Dimitris Lyacos at Stone Soup

Dennis Daly’s first full length book of poetry, The Custom House, was published by Ibbetson Street Press in June, 2012. His second book, a verse translation of Sophocles’ Ajax, was published by Wilderness House Press in August, 2012. A third book entitled Nightwalking with Nathaniel was just released by Dos Madres Press in April 2014. Daly writes reviews regularly for the Boston Small Press and Poetry Scene. He is a former factory worker and labor leader. Follow his blog here: dennisfdaly.blogspot.com.

Dimitris Lyacos is the author of the Poena Damni trilogy, an exceptionally popular and influential work of European avant-garde writing. Translations of the original Greek have appeared in English, German, Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese, and numerous performances have taken place across Europe and the USA. The trilogy has inspired many sister projects in the fields of drama, contemporary dance, video and sculpture installations, opera and contemporary music. Dimitris Lyacos was 2012 Fellow at the International Writing Program, University of Iowa.

April 28th: Carla Schwartz Features at Stone Soup Poetry

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 28, we welcome back Carla Schwartz, who comes back with the return of her newest book of poetry.

Carla Schwartz is a poet, poetry filmmaker, photographer, and lyricist. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Fulcrum, Common Ground Review, Cactus Heart, Wordgathering, Stone Highway Review, Boston Poetry Magazine, Literary Juice, Emerge Literary Journal, Enizagam, Equinox, and 05401 among others. Her book, Mother, One More Thing is available through WordTech and Turning Point Books ( 2014). She has performed and read her work in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Carla is also a professional writer with a doctoral degree from Princeton University. Learn more at her website at carlapoet.com.

April 21st: Jennifer Jean Features 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 April 21, Jennifer Jean, one of Salem's finest active poets, will be featuring her newest work for the Boston audience.

Jennifer Jean's most recent poetry collection is The Fool (Big Table, 2013); other collections include: The Archivist, Fishwife, and In the War. Her book reviews, essays, and poems have appeared in: Drunken Boat, Denver Quarterly, Tidal Basin Review, Caketrain, Poets/Artists, Poetica, The Mom Egg Review, and more. Her Pushcart nominated poem "Love All the Girls" was published by Ibbetson Street Magazine. Jennifer blogs for Amirah, a non-profit advocacy group for sex-trafficking survivors; she is a key organizer of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival; and, she teaches writing and literature at Salem State University. For more information, visit: www.fishwifetales.com

April 14: LightSpeed Arafat Features 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 April 14, get a Taste of Boston Flavor with LightSpeed Arafat, a father, come-unity activist and entrepreneur promoting visual art, media design, music, performance art and various other kinds of cultural enrichment. He is dedicated to using his talents for the betterment of inner city communities in Boston and beyond.

Arafat is a firm believer in the power of individuals and families to provide for and heal themselves. In 2008 Arafat founded LightSpeed Entertainment, Inc., beginning a life of business dedicated to edutainment, and cultural therapy enlightening himself and others on their natural capacity to thrive.

Toni Bee is happy to host this event with Chad Parenteau!

April 7: Jason Wright Features 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 April 7, we welcome Oddball Magazine Editor Jason Wright back to the podium.

Jason Wright is a Graduate of UMass Boston, recent guest on Wheel of Fortune, and self proclaimed champion of mental illness. He co-published five issues of the print journal Oddball Magazine before moving the journal online to oddballmagazine.com, which he still runs and edit today, featuring poetry and prose from a multitude of contributors as local as Cambridge, Massachusetts and as remote as the African country Tunisia.

He has been featured on Talk Up with Charlie Peters, and a frequent performer at The Middle East, Cantab Lounge, Cafe Luna, and other local venues. He currently resides in Somerville, Massachusetts, where he was recently featured in it's new local journal, The Scout.. His poem, "Strong as Boston Skyline" was recently chosen for the 2014 Mayor’s Prose & Poetry Program focusing on the Marathon tragedy of last year.

The Mayor's Prose & Poetry Selections, April 2014

Greetings Boston Writers and Poets, here are the latest winners for the April installment of The Mayor’s Prose & Poetry Program focusing on the Marathon tragedy of last year. One or two poems from each poet were chosen by the Poet Laureate Sam Cornish. The chosen poems will be printed and hung in various locations around Boston City Hall very soon and an opening reading and reception will take place sometime after April 22nd. Congratulations to the winners and keep an eye out for the next Call for Poetry from the Mayor’s Office of Arts, Tourism and Special Events and the City of Boston.


Alexis Ivy / From My Fire Eascape

Chad Parenteau / Mom at the Marathon

Lisa Fay / The Noise of Terror

Linda Carney Goodrich / Pleasure Bay

Michael Burke II / In April Boston roads turn pale

Holly Guran / To Cleanse

Holly Guran / A Hot Wind Blows

Dorothy E. Morris / Elegy

Jason Wright / Strong as Boston Skyline

Jane Jacobson / Buxton to Boston

Louisa Clerici / The Photographer’s Marathon

Carol Masshardt / September in Boston, 2013

Kurt Cole Eidsvig / The Rainest June & The Hottest July (excerpt)

 and 9th grader Kevin Downing! / Death is in the Field Today


Special THANKS go out  to Poet Laureate Sam Cornish for the time and effort he has invested over the last several years on the Mayor’s Prose & Poetry Program. He was a conscientious and learned juror, choosing poems for numerous installments of Poetry on the walls of Boston City Hall. Thank you Sam and thank you all for participating in this artistic process!

--
John Crowley
Curator/Exhibitions Coordinator

March 31: Ryk McIntyre Features 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 31, we welcome the return of Ryk McIntyre.

Ryk McIntyre has been a legendary presence on the New England poetry scene for decades. Which is to say, he is rarely photographed and not everyone is convinced he really exists. He has toured extensively around the continental United States and Canada, appearing on stages as varied as NYC’s New School, Portsmouth NH’s Music Hall, Lollapalooza and the very first “Legends of The Slam” Showcase, at the National Poetry Slam in 2006 in Austin, TX. He has also appeared at countless poetry venues, festivals and house parties. He was even on 5 NPS Slam Teams...you’d think some of those people would have had cameras, He has been published widely, most notably, in The Worcester Review, Off the Coast, Short Fuse-An Anthology of New Fusion Poets, and Aim for the Head - An Anthology of Zombie Poetry. He is currently touring and reading from his new book After Everything Burns (Sargent Press)

March 24: Clay Ventre 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 24, join us for an evening with Clay Ventre, one of the organizers of the Zig Zag Poetry open mic.  Attendance is recommended as this show will not be televised.  For more on Clay Ventre, like his Facebook page.

March 17: Gemma Cooper-Novack Features 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 17, we introduce Stone Soup's audience to Gemma Cooper-Novack.

Gemma Cooper-Novack is a writer, writing coach, and arts educator who lived in New York, Chicago, and Pokuase, Ghana before moving to Boston. Her poetry has appeared in more than a dozen journals, including Amethyst Arsenic, Ballard Street Poetry Journal (Pushcart Prize nomination), Hanging Loose, Lyre Lyre, PressBoardPress, The Saint Ann’s Review, Spry, and Tampa Review Online, and is forthcoming in Cider Press Review; her fiction has been published in Elsewhere and Printer’s Devil Review. Gemma’s plays have been produced in Chicago and New York, and her articles have appeared on Feminist Review and Elevate Difference and in NASPA Knowledge Communities. She enjoys baking cookies and walking on stilts in her spare time.

Tell-Tale Inklings Seeks Submits

Tell-Tale Inklings seeks character studies for its “free trial” first issue, Autumn 2014.  Narrative poems (50-line maximum) and flash fiction (1,000-word maximum) only.

The poem or story must have a beginning, middle, and end and reveal something about the character(s).  It needn’t be an Earth-shattering secret or personality flaw, but readers should think or feel something about the character(s) by the end.  The namesake Edgar Allan Poe avowed that a story ought to be readable in its entirety in one sitting.  Who are we to argue with Poe?  Feel free to challenge us with another time period, foreign planet, etc.  Kindly don’t challenge our tastebuds, though.  Gratuitous sex, graphic violence or anything defamatory/hateful, rantingly political, et cetera will not be published.

Submit a maximum of 5 poems and/or two stories in the body of an e-mail to making2@outlook.com.  Left-margin aligned, 12-pt. font  Deadline: May 15, 2014. 

Payment is nothing but glory, and the writer relinquishes monetary claims should the work eventually appear in print form.  The first issue will be online as a page of the Tell-Tale Chapbooks (TTC) web site.  TTC is a small press, and the publisher hopes that the free online first issue of Tell-Tale Inklings will be the last.  That is, one hopes that enough interest is shown in the “free trial” to inspire a 4-page broadsheet that can be purchased via mail or downloaded.

March 10: Mignon Ariel King Features 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 10, we have the long-awaited return of local author and new publisher Mignon Ariel King, who will be celebrating the release of her newest collection.

Mignon Ariel King is a third-generation New Englander who was born in Boston City Hospital.  An alumna of Girls' Latin School and the Graduate Program in English at Simmons College, she identifies as a womanist writer.  Her current autobiographical collection of poetry "What Good is a View of the Charles...?" was inspired both by the poetry of Charles Bukowski and by King's lifetime of living in Massachusetts.  It is Volume 2 of a trilogy within a trilogy.

This year, the writer celebrates being 50 by publishing in all three of her writing genres: poetry, memoir, and novella.  She is the Publisher of Hidden Charm Press and Tell-Tale Chapbooks.  She is also a Classic Hard Rock and sports fan.  For more info on her current projects, check out the blog Making Books at mignonarielking.wordpress.com

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March 3: Bill Perrault's Birthday Bash Guest Starring John Sturm

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 3, we celebrate the birthday of Stone Soup's own Bill Perrault as he reads with guest performer John Sturm.

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.




John Sturm has been performing at open mikes for the last few years at The Cantab, Club Passim, Out of The Blue and other venues. He has also performed at Forsyth Chapel for e.e. cummings' birthday anniversary.

February 24: Jeff Savlon Features 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 24, we welcome one of the newest to be published by Yes/No Press publisher of the Zig-Zag Folios.
 
Jeff Savlon writes poetry, stories, and songs. His poetry chapbook Foul-Mouthed Imaginary Friends was released by YesNo Press in 2014.He has been published in Zig-Zag Folios Volume 1 and North Shore Art Throb, and in 2012 he released Sad Songs and Moon Expeditions, a full-length acoustic album. He is the co-host of the Gulu-Gulu Café Open Mic in Salem.

February 17: Navah the Buddaphliii 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 February 17, we welcome the words and melody of  Navah the Buddaphlii.  

Crystal Beck, also known as Navah the Buddaphliii is a poet/spoken word performing artist. She is a native of the South End of Boston and a single mother of three. Two boys and a girl ages are 17, 10, 3. Navah knows the challenges of trying to work her full time job as a medical billing specialist, raising a family and finding time for her art. She release her first CD entitle Far From Your Reality in 2000 and was featured in True Magazine describing her as "soulfully creative" Navah's poetic and very conscious other world lyrics makes her one of the most authentic local artists on the scene. She is a creative thinker and inspired by the universe of imagination. Her creative goal is to create abstract thoughts and visual images with words on the canvas of the human mind as a painter would do with paint on a blank canvas. She will continue to prevail as a mother grow as an artist and stay true to her gift.

February 10: Toni Bee 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 February 10, we gleefully welcome the return of Toni Bee.

Poet and photographer Toni Bee served as the Poet Populist of Cambridge, Massachusetts from 2011-2013 as well as the position of Artist Fellow at Citi Performing Arts Center in Boston.  She currently serves as co-host of the podcast "The Oddball Hour with PB n 'J" and will be part of the upcoming panel "Stone Soup Presents: Oddball Magazine" at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival this May.

February 3: Krysten Hill 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 February 3, Stone Soup is glad to welcome back performance poet Krysten Hill.

Krysten Hill received her MFA in poetry from UMass Boston. She has featured at the Cantab, Literary Firsts, U35, Breakwater Reading Series, Write on the DOT, and The Encyclopedia Show Somerville. She is published in PANK, apt, Write on the DOT, and Amethyst Arsenic.