NPP Presents Ian Davisson, Tamara Oakman, Gregory Bem, and Amy De’Ath
Where: Fergie’s Pub, 1214 Samson Street, Philadelphia
When: Friday, August 6th, 7pm
Please come for a wonderful night of poetry by:
Ian Davisson has studied at Temple University and The University of Georgia. He’s been published in some on-line and print journals. Nothing recent. He lives in the ritziest part of town. He is a pool boy and adjunct instructor. Always looking for more work.
Tamara Oakman is a graduate of Temple University. She has won awards in poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction, and drama. She has been published by Many Mountains Moving, Philadelphia Stories, Mad Poets Review, and other journals; reads poetry and fiction everywhere in Philadelphia and the tri-state area; judged a fiction and drama contest for Hidden River Arts, and has completed her Master’s thesis in English at Arcadia University. She has hosted at venues such as; Book Corner, Robin’s Bookstore and Voices and Visions Bookstore. She created, coordinated and hosted The Light of Unity Festival, is currently leading The Business of Words poetry workshop at Upenn Bookstore for Mad Poets Society, created a chapbook called “The Business of Words,” and hosted a Fringe Festival performance at The Rotunda called Arsenic Pizza. She wrote freelance articles for Uwishunu.com, hosts and manages The Light of Unity Artist’s and Writer’s Series 2009 at The Parkway Central Library where she showcases the talents of new writers and musicians at library branches all over the city. Her efforts have been documented in The Metro, Arcadia University Bulletin, and The City Paper. She has read poetry at Robin’s Bookstore, Voices and Visions Bookstore, Caramel, South Cafe, Kelly Writer’s House, Lori Cosgrove Design, Arcadia University, Del Co. Institute and many other places. She is the executive director of The Light of Unity Association and currently resides in Philadelphia. She says, “Whenever I read a work I don’t get caught up on technique. Anybody can learn technique. Hanabi-Ko (Koko) the gorilla wrote Haiku’s about bananas. What I like to read is something that cuts me up on the inside, makes me laugh, makes me see something in a different way, moves me. A poem could be about a stick on the ground and still be stirring. ‘A book should serve as the ax for the frozen sea within us.’” Contact her at: thebusinessofwords@gmail.com.
Gregory Bem was born in Illinois, grew up in Gorham, Maine, lived in Rhode Island for a minute, and now finds his home in Philadelphia. He’s an advocate for exploring urban decay, believes in the happiness of baking, runs Lone Byte press on and offline, and with The New Philadelphia Poets, hosts events and initiatives all over Philadelphia.
Amy De’Ath studied American Literature with Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia and at Temple University in Philadelphia. Her poems have appeared in Onedit, QUID, Signals, and others. Crater Press recently published her broadside, Andromeda, The World Works For Me. She has two short books forthcoming in 2010. Her first collection will be published by Salt, and a chapbook will be coming out from Oystercatcher later in the year. Her poetry blog can be found at www.amydeath.wordpress.com.
This reading will be very special. Amy De’Ath is here all the way from London. This will also be one of Gregory Bem’s last readings in Philadelphia before he embarks to the great Northwest. Ian and Tamara are Philadelphia powerhouses. A very special reading that you don’t want to miss.
Sun. 8/8: Babies in Jugs and Wannabe Bugs
JUBILANT THICKET
poetry + artways + local spirits
at Molly’s Bookstore on second Sundays
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featuring puppetry & storytelling by C. KENNEDY
and
poetry by KIM GEK LIN SHORT
Sunday, August 8th
7:00 pm
Molly’s Bookstore (1010 S. 9th St. Phila, PA 19147 in the Italian Market)
Drinks for a small donation
Open reading to follow
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C. KENNEDY is a playwright, actress, puppeteer and orientation and mobility specialist currently located in Philadelphia. She wrote/directed and produced her first full length stage play, “Rails,” for the ‘09 Philadelphia Fringe Festival, and will produce her second work, “Water Bears in Space,” for the ‘11 Fringe. She is currently in rehearsals for “Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens,” an adaptation of the first draft of Peter Pan, to be performed in August.
Jug-Baby, part I, introduces the audience to Jug-Baby, a bonsai-kid grown in a jug by its destitute parents. Toys and puppets bring the first part of this woefully whimsical fable to life as we follow Jug-Baby from its humble beginnings in a jug to halls of the rich, to one of the most infamous brothels in the country. Part fairy tale, part autobiography, Jug-Baby is one of a kind.
KIM GEK LIN SHORT is the daughter of a Scots-Irish geophysicist from the midwest and a Straits-Chinese tenpin champion from Singapore. She is the author of The Bugging Watch & Other Exhibits (Tarpaulin Sky Press), and the chapbooks The Residents (dancing girl press) and Run (Rope-a-Dope Press). Her next book, China Cowboy, will be published by Tarpaulin Sky Press in 2011. She lives with her family in Philadelphia.
“The declarations of independence
have been submitted
for editing”
~ Frank Sherlock, from Feast Day Gone & Coming
Please join many of the bright lights in the Philadelphia Poetry Cosmos on Saturday, July 24th, for a poetic celebration of Old Philadelphia / New Philadelphia, at one of America’s birthing spots — Elfreth’s Alley.
This event is one you DO NOT want to miss. History in the making. It all begins at 6pm. Once you get to the Alley, follow the magic signs of Philadelphia to find where the reading will occur.
This reading has been brainchilded by Debrah Morkun & Carlos Soto Roman. It will open with an Old American magic spell led by them, and will end with the burial of the New Philadelphia Poetic Time Capsule.
A new America will certainly be born.
For more information, go here.
Come celebrate the wonderful Tarpaulin Sky Press & Spork Press, with a book raffle and readings by:
Jake Levine (Spork)
Gordon Massman (TSKY & Spork)
Andrew Zornoza (TSKY)
…Kim Gek Lin Short (TSKY)
JAKE LEVINE is a recipient of a 2010-2011 Fulbright Scholarship to Lithuania, the author of a chapbook The Threshold of Erasure (2010 Sporkpress), became an editor and is editor at Spork Press under Richard Siken, is on the board of directors at POG (poetry in action Tucson), is editor-in-chief at Sonora Review, has taught, teaches, and will teach poetry for The University of Arizona, Vilnius University, CHAX press, and has lectured and given talks to people in public spaces. He just recently started to eat meat again and generally likes to think of himself as somewhat of a magician or a unicorn when he is not doing poetry or is in a meeting. He also has a brother. He is working on several manuscripts at this time, all of which share the title Future History: The Rhyme and Retrobution. His work is heavily indebted to Fauvism, Abstract Expressionism, Literary Postmodernism, Hedonism, a slew of other isms, but also Leadbelly.
Gordon Massman attempts to reveal with relative objectivity his innermost urges, motivations, fantasies, and fears in hopes of touching upon something universal, to nail the unspeakable as graphically and realistically as he can. Given that beauty also resides in raw irreverent statement, perhaps, you as listener will hear a perverse unexpected beauty in his writing. Mr. Massman’s most recent book, “The Essential Numbers”, was published by Tarpaulin Sky Press. Spork Press will publish a chapbook of his work this month and next year The New York Quarterly Press will publish his next full-length collection.
Andrew Zornoza is the author of the novel Where I Stay. His short fiction and essays have appeared in magazines such as, Gastronomica, Sleepingfish, Confrontation, and CapGun, among many others. Born in Houston, Texas, he has taught at Gotham Writers’ Workshop and in Parsons Design & Technology MFA program. He is a contributing editor to the arts journal Helping Orphans Worldwide (H.O.W.). He currently lives in New York City.
Kim Gek Lin Short is the author of THE BUGGING WATCH & OTHER EXHIBITS and the chapbook RUN. Visit her website http://www.kimgeklinshort.com/
An event not to be missed!!
COME THIS FRIDAY, JULY 9th, to BOOKSPACE, 1113 Frankford Avenue, at 7pm for a CELEBRATION OF BLAZEVOX BOOKS!!!
Featured readers include:
Joseph Bienvenu
Michael Kelleher
Christophe Cassimassima
Barbara Henning
Geoffrey Gatza
There will be BlazeVox books available for purchase.
BYOB…. a small amount of wine will be available. This event is FREE as ever.
July 11th Jubilant Thicket: Winkler, Kowalski & Rushland Ridge
poet
Benjamin Winkler and
historian Matt Kowalski on
Paris, May 1968with local wines from Rushland Ridge Vineyard & Winery
Sunday, July 11th
7:00 pm Molly’s Bookstore (1010 S. 9th St. Phila, PA 19147 in the Italian Market)
$5 (includes wine) Open reading to follow
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BENJAMIN WINKLER was raised in the Philadelphia area and attends Temple University. The editor of Splitleaves Press, earlier this year he published a chapbook of his own, entitled Whereupon. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Monongahela Review, In Process, The Apiary, and Otoliths, among other journals.
MATTHEW KOWALSKI received his BA in History from LaSalle University in 2005 and his MA in Modern European History from Villanova in 2007. He has been a member of the FYWP faculty at Temple since 2007 and also teaches courses in European/Global history at CCP and Villanova. His research interests center on Soviet-Russian social and labor history, but he has also taught and researched topics in Modern French history, Modern German history, Comparative Revolutions, & Comparative Imperialisms. He has published book reviews and articles in the Journal of World War One Studies, Russian Review, and the Journal of Cold War History.
RUSHLAND RIDGE VINEYARD & WINERY: The Ullman family began winegrowing in 1968. Ed and his father planted their first vines at Kings Oak Vineyards that same year. It was there, in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, that they started honing their winegrowing skills, a process continuing to this day. In 1986, Ed and his wife Lisa purchased Rushland Ridge Vineyards. That first year they started growing vines at Rushland Ridge. The first planting was one acre of French-American Hybrid, and Native American wine grapes. By 1991 their production enabled them to open their Pennsylvania limited winery. As of today, there are four acres of vineyards with Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, & Chambourcin in the latest planting.
Saturday, June 26th
