Tag: Poetry

Chiron Review

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One of my favorite contemporary poetry/fiction/art magazines is Chiron Review, which is based out of St. John Kansas and founded by Michael Hathaway in the 1980s. Over the years, the editors have published some impressive names, including Marge Piercy, Charles Bukowski, William Stafford, Edward Field, among others. A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to have some poems published in its punk issue. What I’ve always liked about Chiron Review is not only its creative themes, but also its format. For years, the issues, including the punk one, were published in a tabloid format, a bit similar to American Poetry Review.

A few years ago, however, the magazine went on hiatus, sharing the fate of a lot of other print magazines in the country. Fortunately, however, publisher Michael Hathaway announced earlier this year that it would be returning in print format. Recently, the fall issue (97) was published, and my poem, “Listening to Springsteen on I-81,” is included in its pages. I hope that this issue marks a renewal for Chiron Review, especially in the uncertain world of publishing. Its mark on contemporary American poetry has already been made, but here’s hoping for many more issues!

If you have a few dollars to spare, order a copy of the new issue, or even better, make a donation to the magazine. Make a donation to other magazines like it that you enjoy reading so they can keep publishing.

Two Upcoming Events

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As fall officially starts tomorrow, I’m happy to announce two upcoming events. Tomorrow, Sept. 21, I’m taking part in Jazz-Poetry night at the Old Bricke Theatre in Scranton, located at 126 W. Market St. The event begins at 6 p.m., and I’ll be joined by fellow poets Rich Howell and Scott Thomas. The musicians will be Chelsea Smarr on harp and Jeff Brozena on percussion. I’ve done this event a few times in the past, and it’s always a lot of fun. I’m a fan of any event that combines different art forms.

Next week, Saturday, Sept. 27, I’m taking part in 100 Thousand Poets for Change.   This is a global event meant to raise awareness about social justice and environmental issues. I will be taking part in the event outside of Philly, at Souderton Park, which is also not too far from New Hope. My reading will be from 11-11:30 a.m., and the event will run until 6 p.m. and feature poetry and music all day.

 

On Teaching Poetry

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I am sharing a video by the Academy of American Poets featuring Naomi Shihab Nye, a poet whose work I like quite a lot. This video focuses on Nye’s comments about teaching poetry and the difficulty of poetry. Much of what she says in this video resonates with me both as a poet and a full-time English instructor at a college. When I taught creative writing in the past, I’ve had students groan about having to write poetry, and when I come to the poetry unit in my literature courses, I have countless students who think that they can’t get or understand poetry. I have had my own theories on why this is, and some of my students have confessed to me that their experience with poetry in high school was reduced to dissecting meter on a black board, as though poetry is a math equation that needs to be solved.

Nye brings up another point, however, that I think is true. She states, “Something happened with poetry a while ago where it became a measurable thing. You either get it or you don’t get it.” She stresses the importance of sweeping that idea under the rug in the classroom and creating an environment where love for poetry is known and welcome. She also recommends allowing students to bring in poems that resonate with them and talking for a few minutes about why they love the poem so much.   Furthermore, she recommends playing audio clips of the poets reading their work. This is something I do in nearly all of my classes. I have noticed time and time again that when students can hear a voice and associate that voice with the poem, they relate to the poem more. Sometimes, it makes the poem easier for them to understand, too. Though this is a short video, there is a lot of good feedback in here regarding teaching, creative writing pedagogy, and teaching poetry.

Here is the video. Enjoy!

New Poem Over at Two Cities Review

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Two Cities Review will be publishing its fall issue in the coming days. I’m thrilled that my poem, “Stargazing,” will be included. The editors launched a preview of the fall issue, which you can read here. It features my poem, and check their website in a few days for access to the rest of the issue.

Enjoy!

Win a Copy of All That Remains

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Wilkes University, where I received my M.F.A., is giving away a free copy of my latest book of poems, All That Remains. All that you have to do is leave a comment on the website, and you will be entered into the contest. One person will be selected at random to win a copy of the book. The book will then be shipped via UPS.

Here is the link.

Leave a comment on the Wilkes website for a chance to win. Good luck!

Goodbye, Vintage Theater

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Unfortunately, another all-ages art venue in Scranton is closing its doors. The Vintage Theater will officially close at the end of this month. A goodbye bash will be held on August 30 at 6 p.m. As a board member, I can’t even begin to express my disappointment and sorrow to see yet another venue close in the community. I can’t even begin to describe the importance of venues like The Vintage to communities like Scranton. When I was in high school, I found solace at another all-ages venue, Cafe Del Soul, which closed its doors during my senior year. It was there that I discovered the punk rock community, activism, poetry, and the broader art community. I am sure that The Vintage provided that for a lot of people in the greater Scranton/Wilkes-Barre community, and I can only hope another venue will open soon.

As a writer, The Vintage has been incredibly important to me. I had the book launch for Front Man there in the fall of 2010 and more recently, I had the release party for All That Remains there last fall. Conor and Theresa, the venue owners, were always there for the art community, and when New Visions Studio and Gallery closed last year, they were gracious enough to allow Jason Lucarelli and I to move the Writers’ Showcase there. We had two readings there, one last March and one in July. Both were well-attended, and all of the writers, especially the ones that came from our of town, had positive things to say about the venue and the greater Scranton community. Furthermore, the venue hosted a local writing group there each Saturday and had a monthly open mic for writers. All of this comes on top of the countless art, music, and theater events the venue had over the years.

If you’re in the area, or even if you moved out of the area, come say goodbye to the venue on August 30 at 6 p.m. and thank Conor and Theresa in person for the positive impact they had on the community.

New York Quarterly Reading

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Next Monday, August 11, I’ll be reading at the Bowery Poetry Club  in New York City as part of the New York Quarterly Reading Series. The reading series is held each month and features writers who have published through NYQ Books, or writers who have had or have work forthcoming in the magazine. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. The three other featured readers include Emanuel di Pasquale, Ellen “Windy” Lytle, and Alexander Norelli. For a full list of our bios, click here.

I am humbled and honored to be part of this reading series and can’t wait for the event!

Gettysburg Area Poets

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Many thanks to everyone who came out to the Writers’ Showcase the other night at The Vintage. We had a great turnout, and many thanks to Bryne, Paul, Charlotte, Eric, and Bernadette, our featured readers. They all did an excellent job. This weekend, there’s another literary event going on in Northeastern, Pennsylvania. Four poets from the Gettysburg area will read at the Library Express Saturday at 3 p.m. This event is free, and these poets are well worth checking out.

Here is information about the event from the press release:

Four Gettysburg area poets will read at the Library Express in the Steamtown Mall on Saturday, July 19 at 3 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. The featured poets include Martin Malone, Katy Giebenhain, Dana Larkin Sauers, and Gary Ciocco.

Malone teaches at Mount Saint Mary’s University. His poems have appeared in Dream International Quarterly, Lighted Corners, The Monocacy Valley Review, Scribble and the Seminary Ridge Review.

Giebenhain edits the Poetry + Theology rubric for Seminary Ridge Review. Her poems and prose have appeared in The London Magazine, Tokens for the Foundlings, Bordercrossing Berlin, Saint Katherine Review, Appalachian Journal, Water˜Stone Review, Little Patuxent Review, Bellevue Literary Review and elsewhere.

Sauers, currently an adjunct faculty member at Mt. St. Mary’s University, is a founding member of the Hanover Poets and co-editor of the literary journal Digges’ Choice. Collections include Between the Space of Grace and Gray (2006) and My Letter to the World (2010). She has published in journals and has been recognized in various poetry contests. She recently began a yearly traveling and service commitment in Central and South America resulting in two books, Pura Vida (2013) and If These Stones Could Speak (2014).

Ciocco teaches philosophy and political science at Gettysburg College, Harrisburg Area Community College, and other colleges. He has had poems published in several journals including Seminary Ridge Review, Shadowtrain, National Catholic Reporter and Backbone Mountain Review.   He lives with his family in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and regularly travels near and far to hear and read the spoken word.

Summer Writers’ Showcase

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This Saturday, July 12 is the summer installment of the Writers’ Showcase at The Vintage in downtown Scranton, 326 Spruce St. There will be wine. There will be food. There will be engaging readings. The event starts at  7 p.m. Yours truly will be hosting, but I’m hoping Jason Lucarelli will be present, too, to say his goodbyes.

The cost is $5 and all of the money goes to support the Vintage. Check out the bios of our five featured readers:

Born and raised in Scranton, PA Bryne Lewis is a philosopher, poet, writer and teacher. Her poems have appeared in Janus Head: A Journal of Philosophy and Art, The Anglican Theological Journal and The Penwood Review. In 2010, her poem “Conjoined” won first prize in the “Love at the Mutter” poetry contest, sponsored by the Mutter Museum, Philadelphia, PA. Ms. Lewis is a regular contributor to the web journal “The Church and Postmodern Culture” at The Other Journal and works out her philosophical demons at www.brynelewis.com.

Paul Capoccia is a Dunmore native. He attended Holy Cross High School and graduated as Salutatorian of the class of 2012. He was also selected as a Scranton Times-Tribune Scholastic Superstar for the class of 2012. Paul currently attends Marywood University where he is working toward a Bachelor’s degree in English with minors of Writing and Mathematics. Paul has only recently begun writing as he spent three of his first four semesters at Marywood as a Math major.

You may have seen Charlotte Lewis hopping trains throughout the United States and Canada. You may have seen her living in redwoods stopping deforestation, marching against the war in Iraq, or playing fiddle in a whimsical puppet show about the dangers of hydraulic fracturing. Maybe you remember her from highschool as that bald girl yelling and playing trumpet in a punk band. But mostly, you may have seen the Scranton native Charlotte Lewis frequenting poetry readings in the area for the past nine years. She has helped host the Anthology New and Used Books poetry reading and now hosts her own reading, Kick Out the Bottom, every last Friday of the month, at Embassy Vinyl in downtown Scranton. She has produced her own zines such as Last Guerilla’s Poetic Tactics and Burn in the Memory of Burning.

Eric Wilson is a pipe fitter from the water industry who likes the sight of penguins more often than not. He has a glorious wife and two fantastic children who share his love for peanut butter and machine lubricants. His work has appeared relatively nowhere due to a debilitating fear of postage stamps, envelope glue, and technology. He is the president of the newly founded SwanDive Publishing Company, and cannot wait to meet you in person. You can follow him on Twitter @SwandiveEric.

Poet Bernadette McBride’s work has been published in numerous journals and anthologies nationally as well as in the UK, and on NPR’s “The Writer’s Almanac” with Garrison Keillor. A former Poet Laureate of Bucks County, PA, she has been twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize, was second-place winner of the international Ray Bradbury writing award, and both a finalist and runner-up for the Robert Fraser poetry prize. She teaches writing and literature at Bucks County Community College, has taught Creative Writing at Temple University, and presents poetry and fiction writing workshops, often on the intersection of art and writing. In addition to directing the monthly Poets Reading Series at Farley’s Bookshop in New Hope, PA she reads her own work widely, including appearances on Public Television in New York City and PhillyCAM in Philadelphia. She is the author of two full-length poetry collections: Waiting for the Light to Change (Word Tech Editions) and Food, Wine, and Other Essential Considerations, forthcoming from Aldrich Press in September, 2014.

New Hope Reading

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If you read my blog and you’re in the Philly area this week, then please come out to see me read at Farley’s Bookshop in New  Hope, PA Wednesday, July 3 at 7 p.m. I’ll be reading some work from All That Remains, but also a selection of new poems from a new manuscript. The other co-feature is Ryan J. Torres, and there will be a limited open mic. I will also note that Farley’s is one of the most impressive, expansive bookstores in the Philly area, especially for poetry. It has shelves and shelves of books from indie presses/publishers.

Here’s the full info about the reading from the press release:

Farley’s Bookshop Poets Series welcomes poets Brian Fanelli and Ryan Torres for a reading and book signing Thursday, July 3, at 7 p.m. Farley’s is located at 44 South Main Street, New Hope, PA 18938. Phone 215-862-2452

Our reading is followed by a Q&A with the featured poets and an open reading (one long-ish or two short poems–about two-three minutes for each reader)

About the Poets

Brian Fanelli is the author of the chapbook Front Man (Big Table Publishing) and the full-length collection All That Remains (Unbound Content). His poetry has been published or is forthcoming in The Los Angeles Times, World Literature Today, Blue Collar Review, Portland Review, Contemporary American Voices, Main Street Rag, Boston Literary Magazine, and several other publications. Brian has an M.F.A. from Wilkes University and teaches English full-time at Lackawanna College. He is also a Ph.D. student at SUNY Binghamton. Find him online atwww.brianfanelli.com.

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Ryan J. Torres lives in Horsham, Pennsylvania. He has published poetry and short fiction in such publications as Shoofly, Essence, The Boston Literary Magazine, Page and Spine, The Young American Poet’s Blog, APIARY, and, most recently, Chapter and Verse, an e-zine that is published in southern France. Torres has been a journalist, newspaper photographer, editor, and is currently a teacher and administrator at the ATG Learning Academy; a non-profit school for children with learning disabilities. He collects, and does the majority of his work on typewriters.