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.

December 3rd: Pre-Stone Soup Poetry Writing Workshop

I will be leading a workshop today on November 26th, 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

After today's date, the workshop will continue to place the final Monday of every month. Those who are unable to attend next week but interested in future dates please email me at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com

November 26th: Pre-Stone Soup Poetry Writing Workshop

I will be leading a workshop today on November 26th, 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

After today's date, the workshop will continue to place the final Monday of every month. Those who are unable to attend next week but interested in future dates please email me at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com

December 17th: Boni Joi 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  December 17th, we welcome poet and Off The Park Press co-founder Boni Joi.

Boni Joi was born in North Miami Beach, Florida, raised in New Jersey, and recently discovered her lost lineage in Salem, Massachusetts. She has a MFA from Columbia University and has read her poetry at numerous venues in New Jersey, New York and elsewhere. Her first collection Before During or After Rainstorms just hit the pavement. Boston Review says: "Armed with an eye for the particular and a knack for gentle satire, Joi writes from the front lines of a doomed fight for America's spirit, but does so with a bright infectious gusto." She lives with her husband, musical chef Tobi Joi, in Brooklyn.

December 10th: Sean Patrick Mulroy 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  December 10th, Sean Patrick Mulroy features at Stone Soup for the first time.

 A gifted writer and an accomplished performer, Sean Patrick Mulroy (aka Sean Patrick Conlon) is a dedicated student of literature and a firm believer in the power of the oral tradition. Born and raised in Southern Virginia, the house where Sean Patrick Mulroy grew up was built in 1801 and was commandeered by the union army during the civil war to serve as a makeshift hospital. As a boy, Sean loved to peel back the carpets to show where the blood from hasty surgeries on wounded soldiers had stained the wooden floorboards. Now he writes poems.

Sean is the author of “The Pornography Diaries,” a poetic study of love and sex as seen through the lens of media study and film analysis. He also stars in a one-man show of the same name, combining original rock music and the poems from the book in a critically acclaimed multimedia tour-de-force.

Sean has performed in 10 countries on 3 continents, participated in 12 national spoken-word competitions, written and recorded 3 albums of music, and sold over a thousand books of his poetry. He has been published in both online and print journals, and has featured at literary festivals for universities and arts organizations all over the World. He is currently living in Seattle, working on the production of a new webseries.

December 3rd: Kevin Carey 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  December 3rd, we welcome north shore author and teacher Kevin Carey, who is celebrating his new collection.

Kevin Carey teaches Writing at Salem State University. His work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, recognized with an Allen Ginsburg Poetry Award, and won Best of the Net 2011. His debut poetry collection, The One Fifteen From Penn Station, was released by CavanKerry Press this year.

His co-written movie script, Peter's Song, won Best Screenplay at the New Hampshire Film festival in 2009. Other screenwriting awards include The Massachusetts Film Office Screenwriting Competition and The Woods Hole Film Festival. His one-act plays have been staged at The New Hampshire Theater Project and at The New Works Festival in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Carey is also a seventh grade basketball coach. He lives with his family in Beverly, Massachusetts.

November 26th: The Fourth Annual "Chad F***ed Up" Open Mic Extravaganza--The WINTER EDITION

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 November 26th...

Due to more than one scheduling error and one too many events planned in a row (i.e. Chad f***ed up AGAIN), Stone Soup was unable to secure a feature for November 26th. As a result, the night belongs to the open micers with an ultra-extended open mike segment. People always afraid of showing up late for the open mike, coming with a poem that's too long (note: this almost never happens) or not knowing whether a particular night is a good night to debut a different kind of poem, Stone Soup says "Come on down!" People who have been away are welcome. People who have never been are welcome. We want to hear from you.

Tonight: Ryan "Rat" Travis

Spoonful Double Feature!

We are pleased to release issues # 5 and 6 of Spoonful, an online journal that serves as an ongoing tribute to the Stone Soup Poetry scene.

ISSUE #5
AT LONG LAST!

Featuring:

A TRIBUTE SECTION TO BROTHER BLUE.

COLLABORATIONS BY

Valerie Loveland, Samantha Milowsky, Michael F. Gill and Chad Parenteau,

OTHER POEMS BY:

Beatriz Alba del Rio, Mike Amado, Maggie Cleveland, Nate Connors, Ry Frazier, Timothy Gager, Michael F. Gill, Marc D. Goldfinger, Paul Haypenny, Coleen T. Houlihan, Laurel Lambert, Valerie Loveland, Samantha Milowsky, Bridget Murphy, Joanna Nealon, Chad Parenteau, April Penn, Jack Powers, Dan Provost, Zvi A. Sesling, Patrick S., Luis Lazaro Tijerina, and Rafael Woolf.

ARTWORK BY:
 James Conant, (The) Marshall, David Marshall Janice Raynor, and Su Red.

And of course there's...

ISSUE #6

THE JACK POWERS TRIBUTE ISSUE

POEMS BY:

C.C. Arshagra, Christine Casner, Susie Davidson, Raffael De Gruttola, Edward S. Gault, Marc D. Goldfinger, Carolyn Gregory,  Yuri (Riq) Hospodar, Doug Holder, Walter Howard, Lawrence Kessenich, Gordan Marshall, Felipe Victor Martinez, Ryk McIntyre, Bridget Murphy, Joanna Nealon, Chad Parenteau, Bill Perrault, Su Red, Ryan "Rat" Travis, Jame Van Looy, Carol Weston and Jack Powers.

Click here to start reading.

Thank you.

Chad Parenteau, Editor
Dale Meyer-Curley, Contributing Editor

November 19th: The Return of Ryan "Rat" Travis to 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 November 19th, we welcome back Ryan "Ratt" Travis, who celebrates his 15th year as a poet, open micer and performer.

Ryan “Rat” Travis is an accomplished poet; for 15 years he’s performed all over New England, as well as New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Kentucky. He is best known in the open mic scene as Rat and is considered one of the most unpredictable performers out there.  A member of the Barnum and Buddah Poetry Circus and a former member of the infamous “Collective”, he holds the dubious distinction of being kicked off stage by long distance telephone while in Kentucky with the Poetry Circus.

A self proclaimed Modern American Haiku Master, he has accomplished the daunting task of completing 1000 haiku in 100 days, which he hopes will be published someday.

Rat currently resides in Salem, MA with his beautiful wife Holly and their wonderful black cat Midnight.

Tonight!

Michael F. Gill hosts Douglas Bishop!

November 7th: Pre-Stone Soup Poetry Writing Workshop

I will be leading a workshop today on November 5th, to take place before Stone Soup Poetry from 6:00 PM to just before 8:00 PM.  NEW LOCATION.

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, an
d be prepared to share your thoughts on each others work. If you have trouble printing your work, you can email it to me before noontime on November 7th at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com

After today's date, the workshop will continue to place the final Monday of every month. Those who are unable to attend next week but interested in future dates please email me at chadpoetforhire@yahoo.com

October 29th: Stone Soup Cancelled Tonight

There will be no feature or open mic tonight due to weather conditions.  We apologize for the inconvenience.

Tonight

Rusty Barnes Features Tonight!

November 12th: Douglas Bishop 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 November 12th, we welcome the return of Douglas Bishop.

Douglas Bishop, as a teacher, has worked with students from one to ninety, but now teaches English as a Second Language at a middle school in Lowell, Massachusetts. As a poet, he has performed in places as distant as Glasgow and Guatemala, but now appears primarily around Boston. He is known for bringing a literate eye to multi-voiced performances often incorporating musicians and singers as well as other poets. His two books, Songs in Love and The Eightfold Path (the latter includes a live recording involving nine poets and five musicians), are available through his website, bishopsky.com.

November 5th: CD Collins 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 November 5th, we welcome back poet and storyteller, CD Collins.

Kentucky native CD Collins follows the storytelling traditions of the South, both as a solo artist and when accompanied by musicians. As one of originators of the resurgence of spoken-word with live music, her work has been archived in three award-winning compact discs: Kentucky Stories, Subtracting Down and Carousel Lounge. 

Collins’ fiction has appeared in numerous literary magazines including StoryQuarterly, Salamander, Phoebe and The Pennsylvania Review. Her short fiction collection, Blue Land, was published by Polyho Press.  Her poetry collection, Self Portrait with Severed Head, was published by Ibbetson Street Press.  Her work is available at Joseph Beth’s Bookstore and through her website www.cdcollins.com.

Collins has received grants from the Massachusetts College of Art, The St. Botolph Club, The Cambridge Arts Council, The Somerville Arts Council, and the Kentucky Foundation for Women. 

 Her recent projects include a novel about the psychological effect of WWII on the daughters of an American and a German soldier, a short biographical film about a devastating event that illustrates the necessity of government regulations. Forthcoming are a compact disc titled Clean Coal/Big Lie and a book of essays designed for a multimedia tablet display with  visual artist and designer Melody Farris Jackson Dutch artist and designer Markus Haala. 

Collins has read and performed in a range of venues including Club Passim, Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art,  Berklee College of Music and the New York Public Library. She has consulted on a variety of projects including the screenplay for Debra Granik’s Academy-Award-nominated Winter’s Bone, the breakout film for Kentucky native Jennifer Lawrence.

Praise for Blue Land:

 “CD Collins has the voice of a natural-born storyteller.  The stories in this collection have the compressed beauty of poetry and the richness of novels.  Original and unforgettable.”

— Stephen McCauley

author, The Object of My Affection and Alternatives to Sex

October 29th: C.C. Arshagra Features at Stone Soup

Cancelled Due to Weather! 

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 October 29th, we welcome the return of Stone Soup friend, C.C. Arshagra.

Poet and songwriter C.C. Arshagra is a past producer of the Stone Soup Poets CCTV Show. He is the author of the Poems (1999), Emotional Geography (1996) and a three part chap book series called The Open Mike Poems. In the year 2000, he was a recipient of The Marcel Kopp Award. He has returned to Stone Soup. First in 2009 to mark the 39th anniversary of Stone Soup, then again in 2010 to participate in the 40th anniversary celebration and Jack Powers memorial.