12/24/07

Happy Holidays

Margaret Nairn and Jack Powers want to wish you a happy holidays.
January 7th: Sam Cha 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 January 7th, local open miker will have his first feature at Stone Soup.

Sam Cha was born in Seoul in 1978 . He grew up in, variously, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and Seoul. He majored in English at Williams College, and graduated in 2001. He received his MA in English from Rutgers in 2005. He's been around. He likes to drink coffee and whiskey, most of the time separately. He likes the kind of pie that has a rope ladder hidden inside, and he puts hot sauce on everything, or almost everything, coffee and whiskey being two of the only exceptions. He smokes too much. He reads a lot: Pynchon, McCarthy, Twain, Borges and Nabokov are some of his favorites. He writes a lot, but less than he'd like to write.

He wrote a lot of bad poetry in college, and thankfully most of it remains buried on his hard drive. Some of it still exists on paper in various Williams College literary magazines, most of which are now defunct. One of those poems somehow got second place for the Bullock Poetry Prize of the American Academy of Poets at his school for 1999. He moved to Boston early in 2007, and has been attending open mic poetry nights since June or so. Although he's a novelist at heart, he writes poetry right now because it's easier to read in the time slots available. One of the poems he wrote this year was a finalist for the Anderbo Poetry Prize. He wants to write words that move like steel in a knife fight. He wants to write words that draw blood.

Click here to read "New York I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down," Sam Cha's finalist poem for the Anderbo Poetry Prize.
January 31st: Deborah Priestly Helps Celebrate The New Year


Photo by Bill Perrault

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 the 31st, everyone is invited to help ring in the new year with an open mike hosted by Out of The Blue co-owner Deborah Priestly. We hope you can attend as writer, poet or musician and partake in the open mike and free refreshments.

Deborah M. Priestly runs the Out of the Blue Art Gallery located in Cambridge, Mass at 106 Prospect Street with Tom Tipton, (founder, owner). She runs the Open Bark Poetry reading every Saturday night at the gallery. Her publication credits include Ibbetson Street, Spare Change, Poesy, Fresh!, Boston Poet, The Boston Herald, The Boston Girl Guide and Out of the Blue Writers Unite (which she also co-edited). She is the author of The Woman Has A Voice from Ibbetson Street Press, an eclectic combination of healing poetry and images of women in transition.

Visit the Spoonful web site for samples of Priesly and other Stone Soup Poets' work.

12/23/07

Tribute to Patricia Fillingham by Chris Robbins


Photo by Bill Perrault

I was shocked, saddened and devastated to hear the news of our friend Patricia Fillingham's passing. She was a dear gracious friend to me, and to all of us. When she walked into the room, we knew our venue was graced with the presence of one of God's angels. She was often called the "spitfire" of Stone Soup because she spoke out strongly against sexist tyranny in her poems, but she always made her points with compassion and class. When she and I embraced, I felt loved and accepted, like I was really worthy of being here. Sometimes, when one of my bad jokes got out of hand, she let me know it, but she still loved me just the same.

I visited her house a couple of times. One of these visits was when she had a Valentine's Day party. She taught me how to make a wassail bowl, (even though the alcohol in it was a bit too much for me) and she introduced me to new foods (such as chicken covered in mango sauce). You could say that we were the Harold and Maude of Stone Soup Poets. True, we were "just good friends," but this friendship was more enriching than any intimate encounter could ever be.

I miss Patricia terribly, and I will always love her. In one of her poems, Patricia stated that her late husband may have already found another partner in the afterlife, and she may be lonely on the other side. I hope that doesn't ring true, and that she is now happy with her husband. But if the aforementioned prophecy does ring true, I will be there for her when it is my time to cross over.

God gave us, the Stone Soup Poets, a wonderful, compassionate friend when He gave us Patricia. But now that her time on Earth is over, we have to face the heartbreaking truth. Even though it hurts to let her go, we must now give her back to Heaven. Just remember that her spirit will always be with us at Stone Soup.

12/22/07

December 24th: Margaret Nairn and Jack Powers

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 December 24h, Margaret Nairn and Jack Powers will help to celebrate the holidays. Stop by and share your work (holiday themed or otherwise).


Photos by Bill Perrault

Margaret Nairn was born in Pennsylvania and raised on the Island of Guernsey in the British Channel Islands. Having lived in the Boston area for 21 years, she is now involved in furthering the cause of general health. She is part of the Collaborative Artworks group in Lynn, proud to be both a member and the president, amongst artists who struggle to overcome "difficulties" by making and selling art together. She lives in Watertown and has two cats.



Jack Powers founded Stone Soup Poetry as a weekly venue thirty-six years ago. The reading currently meets every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery. In 2002, he was the first recipient of the Ibbetson Street Press lifetime achievement award. He is the author of several collections, the most recent being the chapbook entitled, The Inaccessibility of The Creator.

Visit the Spoonful web site for samples of the poets' work.

12/12/07

December 17th: Arto Payaslian 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 December 17th, Stone Soup is visited by Arto Payaslian, who returns to Cambridge for the holidays.

Arto Payaslian is a poet and songwriter currently completing a PhD in English Literature at the University of Glasgow in the UK where he also teaches creative writing and modern poetry. He has done graduate work in literature at Harvard University and the University of Massachusetts at Boston where he also taught courses in critical thinking. His poems have appeared in PN Review, Ararat Quarterly, and Meridian. A book-length poem, Capillarity, is forthcoming next year from Carcanet Press.















Patricia Fillingham Passes Away

Patricia Fillingham, a beloved staple at the Stone Soup open mike as well as a past feature and publisher of several books of poetry--both hers and others--with her imprint Wart Hog Press, passed away recently. On December 3rd, an impromptu tribute was given with the help of her children, David Fillingham and Debra Cash, who wish to thank all who attended and read from their mother's work.

A memorial service is planned for tonight, December 12th.

Boston area memorial serviceWednesday,
December 12, 2007 7:30-9:30 pm
First Church in Belmont, Unitarian Universalist
404 Concord Ave.
Belmont, MA 02478
Office Telephone: 617 -484-1054

Click here for the website.

After the new year, there will be a celebration in New Jersey, on January 7, 2008 evening starting at 7 p.m.

First Unitarian Universalist Church of Essex County
35 Cleveland Street, Orange, New Jersey 07050
Office Telephone: 973-674-0010.

Click here for the website.

Memorial donations in Patricia’s memory may be sent to the American Civil Liberties Union.


Eulogies will be published on this website, and her work will be featured in the next issue of Spoonful. Anyone who wishes to submit words or poetry in tribute to Patricia Fillingham should email Stone Soup at stonesouppoetry@yahoo.com

12/9/07

December 10th: Gloria Mindock 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 December 10th, we welcome the return of poet, editor, and publisher Gloria Mindock, who will read from her newly released collection.

Gloria Mindock is editor of Cervena Barva Press and the Istanbul Literature Review in Turkey. Her book, Blood Soaked Dresses, was just published by Ibbetson Street Press. She has another full-length collection, Nothing Divine Here, forthcoming by U Soku Stampa. She is the author of two chapbooks: Oh Angel and Doppelganger. Gloria has been published in numerous literary journals in the US, UK, Romania, to name a few including UNU: Revista de Cultural, Citadela, Murmur of Voices (Anthology) in Romania with translations by Flavia Cosma, Phoebe, River Styx, Poet Lore, WHLR, Ibbetson, Arabesques, Poesia, Blackbox, and the Bagel Bards Anthology 1 and 2.

Click here to purchase Blood Soaked Dresses.

Visit the Istanbul Literature Review website.