To anyone local who reads this blog, here are some announcements about upcoming literary events.
Friday, Sept. 29 at 7 p.m.
Open Mic Night for Writers
Cafe Sevda, Scranton
FREE, though it is encouraged you purchase a drink or snack.
Saturday, Sept. 30, 7-9 p.m.
Writers Showcase Fall Edition
Olde Brick Theatre, Scranton
Featuring: Pat Farnelli, Tara L. Marta, Shawna Hogan, Alex Lotorto, and Kevin McDonough
$4 at the door
I hope that everyone is enjoying mid-summer! I’m going to be doing a few events around northeastern, Pennsylvania that I wanted to share. If you’re local, I hope that you can attend some of these.
Saturday, July 22 7 P.M.
Just Words: An Evening with NEPA Poets
Loose Leaf Pages Bookstore, Honesdale
I will be reading with Daryl Sznyter and Nancy Dymond.
Facebook event page here.
Saturday, July 29 9-3 p.m.
2017 Authorfest at the Dorflinger Factory Museum
I will be on a poetry panel in the morning and then selling books.
This is a free event and a means to network and meet other writers.
Aug. 4-5 Pennsylvania Writers Conference at Wilkes University
I will be on a panel entitled Pressing the Issue: Working with an Independent Press.
Our panel actually runs both days! Natasha Tretheway will give the keynote address on Saturday evening.
For more info or to register, go here.
So, if you’re in NEPA, there are a lot of literary events coming up. I hope that you can attend! Special sidenote: I really encourage people to shop at Loose Leaf Pages in Honesdale. Let’s give this new independent bookstore and tea house all the support that we can!
I wanted to share a review written by Dante Di Stefano for Waiting to the Dead to Speak, published by Arcadia Press. I am grateful for this thoughtful review and the context Dante places the book in, post-election, namely the class issues. You can check it out here. Here is an exert:
The Scranton, Pennsylvania of Waiting for the Dead to Speak, a place freighted with pasts and vanishings, could be anywhere in Middle America; Fanelli’s poetry mainlines anthracite and coal dust, caked in creosote and lye, in order to deliver a rustbelt bucolic in which empathy outflanks hate.
Next post, I’ll reflect on 2016, and share some of my favorite films and books of the year.
I want to thank fellow poet Matthew Hamilton for this new review of Waiting for the Dead to Speak. Since Matthew is a vet, I appreciate his close analysis of some of my poems that deal with war from the perspective of a civilian who had friends that had to do two or three tours in Iraq. I am also grateful for the closing words of his review:
I admire Fanelli’s bravery enormously. This is not an arrogant poet seeking recognition. Fanelli writes from a sympathetic and forgiving heart. He encourages us to stand fast, to claw our way out of the disillusioned and absurd world of the rabbit hole.
I also want to note that the Scranton book launch is coming up this Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Olde Brick Theatre. This month, specifically within the next two weeks, I have readings in Reading, Scranton, Boston, and NYC. Here are the dates and info:
Thursday, October 6 2016 6-8 p.m.
First Thursday Poetry Night
GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Reading, PA
Friday, October 7 2016 7-9 p.m.
Scranton Launch Party for Waiting for the Dead to Speak
Old Bricke Theatre, 126 W. Market Street, Scranton, PA
Sunday, October 9, 2016
Newtown Publishing Center Showcase
289 Elliott Street, Newtown Upper Falls, MA
Thursday, October 12 2016 7-9 p.m.
Poetry Night at the KGB Bar
KGB Bar, New York, New York
I will be one of the featured poets this evening.
Here is a flyer for the reading in Boston. I’m grateful to have two book launches within one weekend!
I have been sitting on this news for weeks and weeks now, but I am happy to announce that Scranton-based poet Tom Blomain and I recently edited an anthology called Down the Dog Hole, featuring 11-NEPA based poet writing about the greater Scranton region. The book will be out in the coming weeks through Nightshade Press of Keystone College. On Sept. 22, we will have a book launch at Keystone College, and we have a scheduled Scranton launch for Oct. 14 at the Library Express.
The featured poets include: David Elliott, Dawn Leas, Craig Czury, Erin Delaney, Jane Honchell, Susan Luckstone Jaffer, Nancy Dymond, Laurel Radzieski, Amanda J. Bradley, Tom Blomain, and I.
Here is a picture of the front cover. I will post a pic of the back cover, too, once I have a high res copy.
I’m pleased to announce that there is a new website/journal dedicated to creating community among poets based in northeastern, Pennsylvania. The website, Poets of NEPA, is seeking submissions as a way to showcase local talent. One of my poems, “Sipping Tea with You in September,” was published today. It is a very autumn-centered poem, and you can read it here.
If you are an NEPA-based poet, then submit your work!
March is shaping up to be a busy month for me, with some readings booked over the next few weeks, leading to some larger events for National Poetry Month. This Friday, March, 7, I’m reading in historic Gettysburg for the first time ever. The reading will be at 7 p.m. at the Ragged Edge Café, 110 Chambersburg St. I’m thrilled to take part in this long-running series and read in front of a different audience.
If you can’t make that reading, but you’re in Scranton this weekend, then you should check out Micah Towery’s reading Saturday at 3 p.m. at Library Express in the Steamtown Mall. Micah is the editor of TheThePoetry blog and the author of the new book of poems, Whale of Desire.
Then on Thursday, March 20, from 5-7, the Valley Community Library is hosting Local Author Night. Along with authors, I’ll be having a book signing and reading.
Last weekend, I did a reading and Q and A at the Vintage Theater with other local published authors (thank you to everyone who came out!). One of the questions we were asked is how we got started. Just about everyone on stage stated that we started writing in high school, due to a writing class we had with a supportive teacher.
I had a wonderful teacher in 9th and 12th grades, Mrs. James, who pushed me to continue writing poetry and crafting articles for the newspaper. When I arrived at West Chester University, I had two phenomenal creative writing workshops with Kate Northrop, who constantly challenged and pushed the students, making our critiques of each other’s work stronger. Even more importantly, she recommended to us different poets to read based on our style. I’m still grateful to her for lending me books by Mark Strand and Charles Simic when I was trying to write imagistic lines.
I mention all of this because young writers need encouragement and support. I never would have become a poet without that. One of the teachers at the Tunkhannock Area School District is trying to provide such support to her students and bring more poetry into her classroom. High school English teacher Katie Watkins Wisnosky has launched what she dubs “Breaking Ground Poetry SLAM” for her students at Tunkhannock. This Saturday, from 6-9, they will read at the Vintage Theater in Scranton. Before they take the stage, Lauren Zuniga, a nationally touring SLAM poet, will perform a 30-minute set. Zuniga is currently ranked in the top 5 female slams poets from the 2012 Women of the World Poetry Slam. She is the founder of Oklahoma Young Writers and the 2012 Activist-in-Residence at the University of Oklahoma.
For more information on this event and Wisnosky’s efforts to bring more poetry and creativity to her classroom, check out this article from The Scranton Times.
We had another successful reading at New Visions Studio and Gallery tonight! The packed audience was attentive and engaged, and I’m appreciative of Anne Henry, David Elliott, Gary Ryman, Bethany Marie, Patricia Florio, and Tom Blomain for sharing their prose and poetry. Though the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area is not as populated as other areas, we do have a blooming and supportive art and literary scene in the area. Time after time, the New Visions Writers Showcase, Prose in Pubs, Vintage Theater Open Mics, and other literary events draw good crowds. Clearly, there is a group of people in this area hungry for poetry.
In the next few weeks, there are some other literary events to check out. On Thursday, May 17 at 8:30 p.m, The Vintage Theater is hosting a memorial reading for local poet Jennifer Diskin, who lost her battle to cancer a few months ago. Writers are encouraged to read one of Jennifer’s poems, or share a poem inspired by her. During the reading, donations will be collected to build a scholarship in Jennifer’s name for the Wilkes University Graduate Creative Writing Program, where Jennifer earned her M.A. She was a staple in the writing community for years, and I had the privilege of reading with her twice before she passed away, one time at a Wilkes alumni reading, and another at Prose in Pubs.
On Friday, May 18, Art SEEN Gallery, located at Public Square in Wilkes-Barre, will host its monthly poetry reading. The event begins at 8 p.m., and it will include an open mic.
On Thursday, May 31, the Library Express Bookstore in the Steamtown Mall will host its open mic poetry night. The event starts at 6:30 p.m.
I’m happy to announce that I’ll be taking part in two big readings for National Poetry Month. The first will take place this Thursday, April 19 at the Library Express Bookstore. It starts at 6:30 p.m. I’ll be reading with local poets Scott Thomas and Dawn Leas, as well as John Amen, author of three collections of poetry and editor of the award-winning journal The Pedestal Magazine. The event is free and open to the public, and we will have books for sale.
There has been some nice press about this reading. Go Lackawanna ran a story recently about it and all of the literary events the Library Express has hosted. Check it out here. WVIA’s ArtScene radio program also ran an interview Scott, Dawn, and I did with Erika Funke. You can listen to the interview here. It is the second link on the page.
The second reading I’m doing for National Poetry Month will take place on Friday, April 27. It is the launch party for the new issue of Harpur Palate, in which my poem “After Work” appears. I’m reading with three or four other poets whose work also appears in the issue. That event will begin at 7 p.m., and it will take place at RiverRead Books in Binghamton New York. It is also free and open to the public.
That store is also hosting Christine Gelineau this Friday at 6:30 p.m. She is a fantastic poet, and if you are in the area, you should check out her reading.
Brian Fanelli 