Poets Wear Prada is a poetry publishing house with excellent poets and affordable books with beautiful covers. Have you had your poetry today?--Meredith Sue Willis, Books for Readers * * * Stylistically, these beautifully designed and produced chapbooks bear their own distinctive signature.--Linda Lerner, SMALL PRESS REVIEW

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Sun., May 27: Phoenix Reading w/ Allegretti, Kolm and Padki in Greenwich Village, NYC

Three local writers, Joel Allegretti, Ron Kolm and Melind Padki -- an eclectic mix of voices: a pop-culture chronicler, a "Downtown" cultural revolutionary and archivist, and an inside observer of Indian diaspora in America -- will be reading for Michael Graves' Phoenix Reading this Sunday afternoon May 27 from 4:00 p.m.  to 6:00 p.m. at Scalinatella (formerly Scali Caffe), 245 Bleecker Street (west of Carmine), (212) 255-5353, in Greenwich Village, New York City. 

PHOENIX READING SERIES
Sundays at 4PM
@ Scalinatella
245 Bleecker Street
(west of Carmine)
New York, NY 10014
www.scalicaffe.com
 

"The Kansas City Star” counted Joel Allegretti’s “Father Silicon” among the “100 Noteworthy Books of 2006,” a list that included Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” and “Against the Day” by Thomas Pynchon. Allegretti’s poetry has been set to music by Frank Ezra Levy with performances at  Kean University and at Holy Trinity, New York City.  His fourth poetry collection, “Europa/Nippon/New York: Poems/Not-Poems,” which the pop-culture chronicler describes as his "jet-setting, la dolce vita collection," was recently released by Poets Wear Prada.


Ron Kolm is probably best known for his involvement with the Unbearables, a loose collective of cultural revolutionaries -- poets and artists, he founded in 1985 with  Bart Plantenga, Mike Golden, and Peter Lamborn Wilson, inspired by  Hakim Bey's seminal book "TAZ" (Temporary Autonomous Zone).  In addition to organizing and participating in the group's performance-demonstrations, he has co-edited the group's anthologies, all published by Autonomedia, the latest titled "The Unbearables Big Book of Sex." "The Ron Kolm Papers," some thirty-five cartons of correspondence, notebooks, objects, chapbooks, signed first editions and runs of literary magazines,  were purchased by the Fales Library at New York University, where they now reside.

Melind Padki, originally from India, now residing in New Jersey, has had poems and short stories published in both English and “Marathi,” his mother tongue. He spent twelve years in the great city of Mumbai before coming to Unites States as a post-doctoral fellow at University of Southern California, Los Angeles. His observations, up close and personal, of Mumbai's massive slums and local workers' movements, have appeared in India’s national newspaper, “Times of India.”

Michael Graves
Michael Graves, author of four poetry collections, the most recent, “In Fragility” from Black Buzzard, hosts The Phoenix Reading Series every Sunday afternoons series at Scalinatella, 245 Bleecker Street (west of Carmine), (212) 255-5353, from 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM. An open reading follows the featured guest writers. There is an $8 food/beverage minimum plus a suggested $3 donation.


By Subway: Take the 1 train to Christopher Street-Sheridan Square; alternatively the A, B, C, D, E, or F train to West 4th Street and exit at the West 3rd Street exit.

From New Jersey: Take NJ PATH to Christoper Street.


The first Phoenix reading took place in 1995 at La Poeme, a venue on Prince and Elizabeth Streets, and in the years since the series has grown and evolved into the friendly forum it is today. Each week, Phoenix features a set of talented and recognized poets (usually two or three) who read for 20 minutes each. Following the spotlight readings, there is an open mic, and any and all audience members are welcome to share 3-5 minutes of their own material. Phoenix also publishes a print review.


For more information about the series and the print review, please contact Host Michael Graves by email to mikegraves50@hotmail.com




About the Readers:
Joel Allegretti


Joel Allegretti is the author of four collections of poetry: Europa/Nippon/New York: Poems/Not-Poems (Poets Wear Prada, 2012); Thrum (Poets Wear Prada, 2010); Father Silicon (The Poet’s Press, 2006), selected by The Kansas City Star as one of 100 Noteworthy Books of 2006, a list that included novels by Cormac McCarthy and Thomas Pynchon; and The Plague Psalms (The Poet’s Press, 2000). 


Allegretti’s poems have appeared in Smartish Pace, PANK, The New York Quarterly, Maintenant: A Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing & Art, MARGIE, Fulcrum and many other national journals, as well as in The Best American Poetry blog. His work has be published in several anthologies, including three this year: Divining Divas (Lethe Press), Token Entry: New York City Subway Poems (Smalls Books), and In the BLACK, In the RED (Helicon Nine).


Allegretti’s poetry has been set to music by Frank Ezra Levy for two song cycles: “A Cycle by the Sea,” which had its world premiere at Kean University in 2009, and “Night Keeps Its Promise,” first performed by Cantori New York at Holy Trinity, New York City, in 2011. 





Ron Kolmn
Ron Kolm is an American poet, editor, activist and bookseller. In 1985, Kolm, Bart Plantenga, Mike Golden, and Peter Lamborn Wilson founded the Unbearables, a loose collective of poets and artists based on the precepts of Hakim Bey, as set forth in his seminal book, TAZ (Temporary Autonomous Zone). Taking their name from a short story by Mike Golden, they target literary cliches, which they attempt to deconstruct with humor.


Kolm is a co-editor of the groups anthologies: Unbearables (1995), Crimes of the Beats (1998), Help Yourself! (2002) and The Worst Book I Ever Read (2009) all published by Autonomedia. Kolm's own publications include The Plastic Factory (1989, Red Dust), Welcome to the Barbecue (Low-Tech Press, 1990) and Rank Cologne (P.O.N. Press, 1991). His work can also be found, along with the other Unbearables, in the Outlaw Bible of American Poetry (Thunder's Mouth Press, 1999), and in Up Is Up, But So Is Down: New York's Literary Scene, 1974-1992 (New York University Press, 2006). He has collaborated on a novel, Neo Phobe, written with Jim Feast (Unbearable Books, 2006).


Historian Robert Siegle describes Kolm as "an editor and facilitator for magazines and presses as well as a writer of fiction and poetry" who "carried boxes of little magazines around to bookstores, passed around copies of new work, and connected people" in general, noting that "wherever we look along the networks that hold together the diverse creative talents who constitute this cultural revolution, we find Kolm."

Milind Padki, was born in India to a famous bohemian literary couple. Grew up in a house full of books and literary discussions. Published bits and pieces in school and college magazines. For his pharmaceutical education and PhD in the pharmaceutical sciences, he lived in the great city of Mumbai for 12 years, where Indian society was and still is, under constant churn. Observed Mumbai’s massive slums and slum dwellers up close and personal. Observed workers’ movements very closely. Published small pieces in India’s national newspaper, the “Times of India”. Came to the US as a Post-doctoral fellow at USC, Los Angeles. On the east Coast since 2002, where he has participated in many open poetry readings. Has published poems and short stories in both English, and “Marathi”, his mother tongue. His literary interests are in the interaction between the Indian immigrant and American culture.


About the Host:

Michael Graves is the author of two full-length collections of poems, Adam and Cain (Black Buzzard, 2006) and In Fragility (Black Buzzard, 2011) and two chapbooks, Illegal Border Crosser (Cervana Barva, 2008) and Outside St. Jude’s (R. E. M. Press, 1990). In 2004, he was the recipient of a grant from the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation. He is the publisher of the small magazine PHOENIX. Many years ago, he was a student of James Wright and organized a conference on James Wright at Poets House in 2004. And he became a member of P. E. N. a couple of years ago. In addition to leading a Finnegans Wake Reading Group, he has published thirteen poems in the James Joyce Quarterly and read from them and others of his poems influenced by Joyce to a gathering of the Joyce Society at the Gotham Book Mart.


1 comment:

  1. Todays people choose best living space with all the features and phoenix is good area for landscaping and swimming pool. A beautiful landscape yard give full satisfaction to home owner.

    Phoenix Pool Contractors

    ReplyDelete