Tag: The Vintage Theater

Upcoming Readings

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Over the next few weeks, I have some readings coming up around Scranton and various pockets of Pennsylvania.

Thursday at 8:30 pm, I’m reading at The Vintage Theater in Scranton, located on Penn Avenue, near the movie theater. Following my reading, an open mic will follow. This is a great arts/music venue in the downtown, and I hope people can come out.

 Friday at 7 pm, I’m reading at the Doylestown Bookshop, located at 16 S. Main Street in Doylestown. I’ll be reading with fellow poet Dawn Leas.

Saturday, Dec. 3 at 8:30 pm, I’m reading at the Frog Town Inn, located on Route 390 North in Canadensis, PA. I’ll be joined by fellow poet Reena Ranells.

I’ll also be reading on Saturday Dec. 10 at 4 pm at Sellers Books & Fine Art, located at 101 Broadway Street in Jim Thorpe.

I have a few other readings and workshops coming up. For a full list, check my events page of my website here.

What a Wonderful Scene

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This past weekend, I was reminded how wonderful a creative community the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area has. On Friday, I took part in a fundraiser/Equinox party for the Vintage Theater.  I was happy to share the stage with friend and fellow writer Amye Archer and share a few poems, and I got to hear some new talent in the area. I was especially impressed with the music of Katie Kelly, a 26-year-old from Wilkes-Barre. She fronts the band Ashes for Trees, but she played solo at this event.  She has quite a soulful voice, and when she first leaned over her guitar, I didn’t think such a powerful voice would come out of her!  At times, her vocal style also reminded me of Tori Amos. If you get a chance to see her solo or with her band, you should check it out.

The weekend concluded with Prose and Pubs on Sunday night. I had the pleasure of reading at one of these about two months ago,and it seems each one grows bigger and bigger. This month’s line-up included local writers Bryne Lewis, Kate Burrier, and Amye Archer. The feature was Jason Carney, a Texas-based slam/performance poet, whose work addresses everything from southern racism to being a dad. Each piece, including a memoir that he’s currently drafting, drew raucous applause from the audience, and it was great to see that many people so riled up over poetry and writing. The next Prose in Pubs will be sometime in late November, and you should come.

 Here’s one of the pieces Carney performed:

Ending Another Poetry Workshop

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Tonight, the second poetry workshop I taught at the Vintage Theater is coming to a close, concluding with a free, public reading of student work from 7-9 pm. A limited open mic will follow.

I’m eager to hear my students get up on that stage and share the work they’ve drafted and revised over the last month. I especially liked this group because of the mix of styles, talent, and various writing levels. I had two adults in the group that have been writing and reading for a while, and I had three college students eager to hone their craft. We had one young man who barely had any experience writing poetry and has written more prose in the past. But I’ve seen him make such progress over the last few weeks, and it’s been exciting to watch him develop his skills drafting a clear narrative, concrete imagery, and similes and metaphors. I hope he continues to sharpen his skills, especially as he takes an advanced poetry writing class with me at Keystone starting in a week and a half.

I was also impressed with this group because of the comments and debates they offered for nearly every single poem I brought in to teach them various elements of poetry. Some of the discussions got a little heated at times, but if  a piece of writing or art can draw such a reaction from a group of people, that’s only a good thing.

I hope there will be more workshops at the Vintage Theater. I’m certainly willing to teach them. And if you want to hear some of the students share their work, then come to the reading tonight. It starts at 7 pm. The Vintage Theater is located a 119 Penn Avenue in downtown Scranton. The reading is free and open to the public. I’ll also be reading a few poems with my students.

Upward, Onward

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My summer vacation technically started a few weeks ago, once I turned in my spring semester grades, but since then, it hasn’t felt like I’ve really had a day off. I’m one of those people who constantly needs to be doing something. Since the spring semester concluded, I have drafted/revised four totally new poems, some of which have found their way into my new manuscript. I’m also teaching a  poetry workshop at the Vintage Theater in downtown Scranton, and I have a wonderful group of students that offer insightful, intelligent comments on poetry we cover.  I’ve also done a few poetry readings, especially at the end of May, and I have more coming up in June. I view these readings as the last push/leg of all of the readings I’ve done over the last 6 months or so for Front Man. When fall begins, I’ll be able to ease up on the readings and do last revisions to my new manuscript.

I’m also spending this summer placing the poems in order for a new chapbook. Some of the poems have already gotten published, including in Indigo Rising Magazine, Word Fountain, Young American Poets, WritingRaw, and soon the Pennsylvania Literary Journal.  I hope to get the new chapbook accepted by a publisher (maybe Big Table Publishing again) at least two years after Front Man came out. That is enough time after the first book came out, but also not too long so people don’t forget about me. Whenever that next chap comes out, I wonder what people will think about it. Gone are the music/punk rock/indie rock references, for the most part, though there is a poem that does reference Bob Dylan. But these are more coming-of-age poems, poems about love, poems about loss, poems about father/son relationships, and all from a male point of view.  Some of the poems are also in tighter forms, unrhymed quartrains especially, while some are longer narrative poems.

 I am indeed getting there, but there is a need to also trim the fat, to cut out a lot of poems that will make the book sound too repetitive.  In an ideal world, I’ll have a solid polished manuscript by the end of the summer, with the poems ordered, but I know how fast the summer turns to fall, and how soon I have to prep my work for the poetry course I’m teaching at Keystone starting in mid-July.

Vintage Theater Poetry Workshop

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Over the summer, I will again teach a 5-week intensive poetry workshop at the Vintage Theater, located at 119 Penn Ave. in downtown Scranton. I wanted to cap the workshop at 5 students again, and I have that many down already, but I’ve decided to bump the number up a little bit. The workshop will again focus on the key elements of poetry, such as crafting an extended metaphor, developing voice/persona, and strengthening the rhythm of the line. The workshop will again conclude with a public reading of student work at the Vintage Theater.

I think there’s a few benefits to joining a community workshop. First, it forces one to write each week, to bring two poems, one that gets critiqued by the group, and one that goes home with me for thorough written comments. Second, I teach a variety of contemporary American poets whose work ties into the units we focus on week to week. Third, it’s simply nice to be part of a writing community, to get solid feedback on your work.

The cost of the workshop is again $75. The dates are Thursday, May 26, Thursday, June 2, Thursday,  June 9, Thursday, June 16, and Thursday, June 30 from 7-9 pm each week. If you’re interested, email me at bfanelli84@gmail.com to reserve a spot.

Pushing Forward to Summer

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I LOVE the time of year when the NBA playoffs start, which is officially today. You’ll find me at home today, watching the Pacers face the Bulls, the Sixers face the Heat, and the Hawks face my favorite team, the Magic. Besides staying glued to my tv to watch playoff basketball, I enjoy this time of year because I know the spring semester is winding down, that I only have a few more papers to grade before I get a little break before I teach a few summer classes. My favorite season is only a mere few weeks away, and the lessened workload allows me to plan adventures, readings, and projects.

So far, I’m working on a poetry course I’ll be teaching at Keystone College second summer session, and my poetry workshop is also going to run at the Vintage Theater again. I’m also scheduling a lot more poetry readings.

Tomorrow, I’ll be reading at the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC with members of the Mulberry Poets and Writers Association. The reading starts at 4 pm, and if you’re in the city, you should come! The venue is located between Bleeker and Houston Streets.

I’ve also booked a few other readings. On Saturday, June 4 at 3 p.m., I’ll be reading at RiverRead books in Binghamton, NY  with fellow Big Table Publishing poet Alexis Czencz Belluzi. After that reading, I have to book it to Allentown to see one of my favorite bands, Against Me!, play the Croc Rock.

On Saturday, June 11 from 4-6 p.m., I’m hosting a reading at Pages and Places at Anthology for ZineFest.   This will include readings by Amye Archer, Charlotte Lewis, Dale Wilsey Jr, Alexis Czencz Belluzi, Rachael Goetzke, and I.

I have some other readings in the works. I believe I’ll also be reading at the Honesdale Arts Festival the weekend of May 21-22, but I have to finalize the details Monday, and I’m also working on putting together a Big Table Publishing showcase/reading at the Vintage Theater on June 24. More details to come soon!

I also want to announce that my poetry chapbook, Front Man, is now for sale on Etsy.com. Check it out here!

Hey musicians and music fans!

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My friend Conor O’Brien, one of the head honchos at the Vintage Theater in downtown Scranton, sent me a message today regarding an art exhibit they’re having during the month of May that will highlight the musical history of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area. Basically, he needs some help collecting memorabilia from any of the venues that used to exist around here-Proofrocks, Cafe Del Soul, Cafe Metropolis, Homebase. The goal of the exhibit is to focus on the “history and energy that is the area’s music scene.”

To pull this exhibit off, they’re going to need old flyers, pins, photos, shirts, and any other merch from past shows. I have a folder of flyers, photos, pins, and posters of punk rock bands that swung by Home Base, Metro, Del Soul, and some of the old venues. I’m going to lend some of that stuff to this exhibit. But again, if you have anything, please help out with this event. This area always has had a healthy, vibrant music scene, and some bigger bands have swung through here, too. There have also been bands that came out of this music scene, including Title Fight, Tigers Jaw, the Holy Mess, and my friends in the Menzingers, that have gone on to gain national attention in the punk rock/indie rock scenes. It would be nice to showcase that.

To find out more about the exhibit and how to help, click here.