AntSaint

Bloggers (Silent) Poetry Reading

In honor of the Second Annual Brigid in Cyberspace Poetry Reading, here's one of my favorite poems, by e.e. cummings (though the poem Cara posted about Kissing is fast becoming a favorite too). Thanks for telling me about it babe!

somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond
any experience,your eyes have their silence:
in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,
or which i cannot touch because they are too near

your slightest look easily will unclose me
though i have closed myself as fingers,
you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens
(touching skilfully,mysteriously)her first rose

or if your wish be to close me,i and
my life will shut very beautifully,suddenly,
as when the heart of this flower imagines
the snow carefully everywhere descending;

nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals
the power of your intense fragility:whose texture
compels me with the colour of its countries,
rendering death and forever with each breathing

(i do not know what it is about you that closes
and opens;only something in me understands
the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)
nobody,not even the rain,has such small hands

Eugene Poetry Slam - Dec. 2 - Last Slam of 2006!

Link: Eugene Poetry Slam.

• Eugene Poetry Slam
• 3rd Slam of the Season
• Saturday Dec. 2nd 2006, 7:30pm
• The Fenario Gallery (881 Willamette St.)
• $5 Cover - All Ages

From mistress of slam Jorah: Slam Season Has Begun:

This Saturday, December 2nd the Eugene Poetry Slam will continue with the second round of poetic competition in its exciting new home, The Fenario Gallery. This month the slam is proud to welcome Bellingham poet Jessica Lohafer who will give a featured performance to kick off the evening. (Please see Jessica's bio below for more information).

As it continues to evolve and grow, the Eugene Poetry Slam is better than ever. The Eugene slam is the place for great local poets, a lively audience, and nationally renowned guest spoken word artists. The slam kicks off with an open mic, followed by the featured poet of the evening and then on to the competition.

Slam is the competitive performance of spoken word. It generally combines elements of theatre with the more traditional poetry reading, which makes for riveting and moving performances. But, as many slam veterans will tell you, slam is really about getting people interested and involved in poetry.

The Eugene Poetry Slam is open to all and is judged by volunteers from the audience. We are affiliated with Poetry Slam, Inc. and follow the national slam rules. Guests can sign up for the open mic, to be a judge, or to compete. Sign up begins at 7:30 and the show starts at 8pm. The competition happens in two rounds and the top three poets win cash prizes and a spot in the Play-Offs in April. From the Play-Offs, poets can qualify for the Finals in May and compete for a chance to be part of the next Eugene Slam Team that participates in the National Poetry Slam every year.

The Eugene Poetry Slam is funded in part by the Lane Arts Council, which has been kind enough to support us with grants for the past five years.

This Month's Featured Poet: Jessica Lohafer
An integral member of the 2006 Bellingham Slam Team, Jessica Lohafer is a talented young poet that the town of Bellingham WA has kept secret for far too long. Her writing and presence onstage are far beyond what one would expect from a 20 year old poet. But don't hold her youth against her- she simply uses it as a springboard, picking up metaphors, sass and biting sarcasm on the way down as she teases gravity. Jessica is a student at Whatcom Community College, where she's studying secondary education. She hopes to get out of Washington, teach English as a second language, and defy all odds by making some sort of career out of poetry.

Roseburg Poet Takes Prize At Nationwide Fall Poetry Conference

ROSEBURG, OR – Joseph Federico of Roseburg won a first prize in a nationwide poetry contest sponsored by the Oregon State Poetry Association (OSPA). He read the winning poem at the OSPA fall conference in Waldport recently.

OSPA is branching out from the Portland area, establishing new chapters in Eugene, Medford, the Umpqua Valley and Corvallis. Federico is the chapter president of the Umpqua Valley Poets and the chapter has performed at poetry slams and is planning poetry functions within the greater Douglas County area.

For more information about the Oregon State Poetry Association or the Roseburg-based Umpqua-Valley Poets chapter, contact Joe Federico at (541) 677-9413.

Eugene Poetry Slam tonight! at the new Fenario Gallery, 8th & Willamette

Slam is in effect in Eugene, and in a new venue! Head down tonight for the Eugene Poetry Slam, kicking off at 7:30 in its new location at the just-opened Fenario Gallery, 881 Willamette:

• 7:30 - ?
• $5 cover
• All ages welcome
• Separate 21+ section with beer and wine available
• Open mic — bring your own poetry, on paper or in your memory and perform like mad
• Feature: Jamie Kilstein

See below for the release, from new mistress of slam Jorah...

Windfall Reading Series - Judith H. Montgomery and Michael Strelow, Tues. Oct. 24 7-9pm @ Eugene Public Library

• Tuesday, October 24
• 7:00 - 9:00
• Eugene Public Library, Downtown
• 100 West 10th Avenue
• FREE!

On Tuesday, October 24, the Windfall Reading Series features Judith H. Montgomery and Michael Strelow at the Downtown Eugene Public Library at 7:00 pm. Meet and hear the writers, with refreshments at intermission; authors' works available for purchase and signing.

Judith H. Montgomery's chapbook, Passion, won the 2000 Oregon Book Award for Red Jess, a book of precise, richly textured poems. She has been published in several journals and anthologies, including the recent In a Fine Frenzy: Poems Inspired by Shakespeare and Sonnets: 150 Contemporary Sonnets. Montgomery is poet-in-residence at Central Oregon Community College.

The main character in Michael Strelow's first novel, The Greening of Ben Brown, is literally green due to an electric shock. His discovery of a chemical spill cover-up in an Oregon town, and how it changes his life, becomes "a compelling examination of community and what it means to love the land, for, as these characters teach us, there shall never be another quite like it" (Gina Ochsner). A former Eugenean and editor of the Northwest Review, Strelow teaches at Willamette University. His novel is one of the nominees for this year's Oregon Book Awards.

The Windfall Reading Series is sponsored by the Lane Literary Guild, Eugene Public Library, Friends of the Library, the Eugene Public Library Foundation, and the Cultural Services Division of Lane Arts Council.

For more information, call Eugene Public Library: 682-5450.

Open mic @ Diablo's/The Downtown Lounge

Word is there's an open mic — music, poetry, etc. — set for Tues. Oct. 24, at the Downtown Lounge on 10th & Pearl. Things may be kicking off around 9. Check it out, and bring your instrument, guitar book, puppet, whatever your stage thang may be. Thanks Matt Stone for the tip-off!

Eugene Poetry Slam 2006 Finals tonight!

Here's where I'll be tonight, unwinding after a day of house errands — come down for some verse and vino:

Link: Eugene Poetry Slam.

Slam Finals 5/13/06 8:00 Territorial Winery 5$ cover. All ages.

May 4, 2006, Lucille Clifton Poetry Reads

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Lucille Clifton will read from her work, as well as speak to her sense of story and its relationship to community. Followed by a brief Q&A. Lane Community College Main Campus, Lane Performing Arts Theatre (Building 6)

2:30 PM - 3:30 PM
Lucille Clifton, Informal Discussion, Q & A, Lane Community College Main Campus, CML Building 19, room 104

Eugene Poetry Slam Playoffs Round 1, Tonight!

From Marietta, Mistress of Slam:

THE PLAY-OFFS! THIS SATURDAY!
AND the 2006 SLAM ANTHOLOGY CD - hot off the presses!

Eugene Poetry Slam, Round 5, Feb. 18

From Mistress of Slam, Marietta:

EUGENE POETRY SLAM ROUND 5 is this Saturday!

• Saturday, February 18th
• Sign up at 7:30pm
• Show starts at 8
• $5.00 General Admission/ $3.00 Youth Rate (18 & under)
• Territorial Winery at 907 W. 3rd Ave (3rd & Adams)
• More information available at www.eugenepoetryslam.com

It's your second-to-last chance to qualify for the Play-Offs, so if you are waiting for your big opportunity, this might be it!

We also have an amazing feature this weekend, Portland poet TREVINO BRINGS PLENTY...

Trevino L. Brings Plenty is a poet and musician who lives, works, and writes in Portland, OR. He is singer/songwriter/guitarist for the musical ensemble The Vinos. He has read/performed his work at poetry festivals as far away as Amman, Jordan and close to his home base at Portland's Wordstock Festival, 2005.

Trevino is an American and Native American; a Lakota Indian born on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation, South Dakota, USA. Some of his work explores the American Indian identity in American culture and how it has through genealogical history affected indigenous peoples in the 21st century. He writes of urban Indian life; it's his subject.

Other titles by author
Removing Skin (2005); Real Indian Junk Jewelry (2004); Dead Indian Road Vol. I & II (2004); Drinking With The Rocks (2002); Making Out With Shotguns (2002); Poems Madly Made In Three Days (2001); All the Clocks Are Wrong (2000).