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

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

OUTSIDE GIRL by Cyndi Dawson

Joel Alegretti and Michael LaSorsa Steffen at IAWA on Saturday, July 10


IAWA Presents
Bordighera Poetry Prize Winner Michael LaSorsa Steffen
and
Performance Poet, Joel Alegretti
on
Saturday, July 10, 2010

New York, NY- On Saturday, July 10, 2010 the Italian American Writers Association (IAWA) continues to celebrates its 19th Anniversary this year with Bordighera PoetryPrize Winner, Michael La Sorsa Steffen and performance poet Joel Alegretti, who will read from his newest book Thump.

Michael Steffen's second collection of poetry, Heart Murmur, won the Poetry Prize from Bordighera Press in 2008 and was published in a bilingual edition in 2009 by Bordighera Press. The poet Nancy Eimers has called the poems of Heart Murmur “richly talky and utterly authentic, one moment wry and self-deprecating and the next astonishingly open-hearted.”

“Irony is largely absent from poetry these days,” says Pam Bernard, author of
Across the Dark (Main Street Rag Press, 2002), “which is why Michael Steffen's unblinking observations of the tart and quirky human condition emerge from the blur. At once ravenous and tender, these poems are utterly original and immensely satisfying. This voice moves us out, toward larger meaning, and back to the everyday, refreshed and enlightened.”

In 2006, the poet was runner-up for the Bordighera prize with a manuscript titled Premature Gods; his first book of poetry, No Good at Sea, was published in 2002 by Legible Press. His work has appeared in a wide variety of journals including Poetry, Potomac Review, The Ledge, Poet Lore, Rhino and many others. Steffen won a Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts in 2002. Steffen is a graduate of the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Vermont College and currently resides in Roseto, Pennsylvania where he works as a Software Engineer for Verizon Business.

Of
Joel Alegretti's most recent poetry collection Thrum, Raymond Hammond, editor of The New York Quarterly called it “an intriguing and must read for anyone who has a sense of all that culminates in the commingling of the arts.” Indeed, last year Kean University in New Jersey presented the world premiere of a song cycle based on Allegretti's poetry. A Cycle by the Sea by Frank Ezra Levy, for decades a cellist with the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra and whose symphonic work is in the American Classics series on the Naxos label.

Allegretti's collection,
The Plague Psalms, published in 2000 by The Poet's Press, is now in its third edition. His second collection, Father Silicon, also from The Poet's Press, was selected by the Kansas City Star as one of the 100 Noteworthy Books of 2006, a list that included novels by Thomas Pynchon and Cormac McCarthy.

Allegretti's poetry is represented in the anthology
Chance of a Ghost (Helicon Nine Editions, 2005), which also includes work by Billy Collins, Rita Dove and James Tate. His poem in that collection received an Honorable Mention in the 2006 edition of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, published by St. Martin's Press.
Allegretti was a quarter-finalist in the 2002 Lyric Recovery Festival and was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Visit www.joelallegretti.com

The reading takes place
Saturday, July 10, 2010, 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m., at the Cornelia St. Café, 29 Cornelia Street, NYC, (212-989-9319); www.corneliastreetcafe.com . The evening starts with Open Mic readings of five minutes each. IAWA is a 501(3)©not-for-profit corporation. Since 1991, the organization has given voice to writers through its Open Reading series at Cornelia St. Café every month. For membership information, visit www.iawa.net

The three rules of IAWA: Write or be written, Read each other and Buy our books.

Contact: Maria Lisella
(718-777-1178)
Authors Available for Interviews

Monday, June 28, 2010

Who is That in The White House?



George Held is back with more humor.
Read his latest piece “Who Is That In The White House?"
at http://infauxtainment.com/?p=5494

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Starbucks/People's Open Mic now at Brick City Coffee Co starting Thurs, July 1


Starbucks/People's Open Mic now at Brick City Coffee Company,
starting Thurs, July 1st 6-8 p.m.and it's FREE!

Hosted by MIA X and RICHARD MARX WEINRAUB

OPEN MIC POETRY

EACH THURSDAY 6-8 P.M.

BRICK CITY COFFEE COMPANY

11 Lafayette Street
near the Prudential Center
Newark, NJ 07102 | GOOGLE MAP
T: 973.230.5656
F: 973.230.5699
Email: info@brickcitycoffee.com

For more info, visit http://www.brickcitycoffee.com/

Friday, June 25, 2010

Gene Myers at RockStar Poets Monday 7/5 at 7:30 P.M.


Please join the folks at Pianos Bar & Grill in Bloomfield, NJ on Monday, July 5, 2010 at 7:30 p. m. for RockStar Poets and Writers [Bloomfield Reading Series]. The feature is the poet, editor, and journalist Gene Myers.

The event is FREE!

Gene Myers’s weekly newspaper column, The Joy of Life, has a circulation of more than 2 million. He is an entertainment journalist who was awarded first place in Arts and Entertainment writing by the New Jersey Press Association in 2008. His articles have appeared in more than 40 newspapers. His poetry publishing credits include: Tight, Graven Images, Candlestones, Double Room, a broadside by Joshua Beckman’s 811 Books, Word Salad, The Rutherford Red Wheelbarrow Anthology, Beyond the Rift: Poets of the Palisades, and DISCO PRAIRIE SOCIAL AID & PLEASURE CLUB by Factory Hollow Press. His chapbook, Twitter Poems and Other Small Gems, was published by The World Class Poetry Blog. He is the co-editor of nowculture.com.
Bloomfield Reading Series, also known as RockStar Poets, is the series for which I (John J. Trause) was the inaugural feature in February 2008, and as we continue in our third year we are pleased to have such a distinguished poet appearing on Monday, July 5th. Note that this series holds a reading every FIRST MONDAY of the month at 7:30 p. m. at Pianos hosted by writer Sanjay Agnihotri. The readings take place on the back stage. Come early and have a drink or dinner. Remember to bring some work of your own as an Open Reading follows the feature.

Pianos Bar & Grill
36 Broad Street
Bloomfield, NJ 07003
(973) 743-7208
www.pianosbarandgrill.com

I encourage you to come out and support Gene Myers and hang out with us.

Love & Peace,

JOHN

Thursday, June 24, 2010

More Shakespeare in Love with Austin Alexis












Austin Alexis’s poem, “Sketch,” is included in David Morneau’s Shakespeare Sonnet/Song project and is paired with Sonnet 83 at http://www.5of4.com/love_songs/sonnet_83.html

Please also check out these other poets at http://www.5of4.com/love_songs/poems.html

Sonnet 8 / Music (Susan Maurer)
Sonnet 18 / In a Hot Country (Anne Cammon Fiero)
Sonnet 56 / The Corneal Gates (Patricia Carragon)
Sonnet 57 / The Affair That Turned Into a Poem (Cindy Hochman)
Sonnet 102 / The Twenty-Four Hour Song (Ana Bozicevic)
Sonnet 109 / Crumpled Sonnet (Evie Ivy)
Sonnet 115 / Many Have Asked How We Stay Together (Roxanne Hoffman)
Sonnet 144 / I Wish (Iris Berman)
Sonnet 148 / Perspective (Karen Neuberg)

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Next Prairie Fire Reading Sunday July 11

SUNDAY 7/11 - 6pm (sign up 5:30pm)

Peter Chelnik's "Prairie Fire Jazz Poetry"

~features~

SHANA YADID (vocals)

&

DANNY HARTIG (guitar)

&

KAT GEORGES (poetry)

&

PETER CARLAFTES (poetry)

&

Host PETER CHELNIK (poetry)

&

The Open Mic

@
AMERICAN THEATRE OF ACTORS
314 W. 54th St. (bet. 8th & 9th Aves.)
Hell's Kitchen, NYC 10019
Beckman Theater 2nd Floor
(212) 581-3044
www.appleboxdesign.com/ATA/ata.html


By Subway: C or E to West 50th Street
Walk north to West 54th Street, west to theatre


Admission: $5





Photo credits for Kat Georges & Peter Carlaftes: Tina Chan

Poet, playwright and director
Kat Georges wrote and directed 15 plays 
during her 10-year tenure as artistic director of San Francisco’s 
Marilyn Monroe Memorial Theater, including SCUM: The Valerie Solanas 
Story, Paglia in Persona (a deconstruction of Camille Paglia), and Art 
was Here (inspired by Dada founder Arthur Cravan). Her poetry appears 
in The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry (Thunder’s Mouth Press) and The 
Verdict is In (Manic D Press, also editor).

Kat has three collections of her poetry, Punk Rock Journal, Maiden Claiming and Slow Dance at 
120 Beats a Minute (all Three Rooms Press). In New York since 2003, 
she has directed numerous Off-Broadway plays, including most recently 
Jack Kerouac: Catholic and Twitter Theater, both written by award- 
winning playwright Larry Myers, and Sarah's Choice, by Peter Carlaftes. For more information, visit http://threeroomspress.blogspot.com/


Peter Carlaftes work has been described as "a beautiful poetic voice, filled with drop-dead humor, searing insight and reselient originality, even while resonating with overtones of Bukowski, Baudelarie and Bogart." He discovered his poetic voice on the playgrounds of the Bronx, and, after seeing the world, branched out to the bars of Manhattan. According to Carlaftes, DrunkYard Dog offers poems from "both sides of the bar," and marks his third Three Rooms Press release in 2010, following A Year on Facebook (humor) and Triumph for Rent (three plays). For more information, visit http://threeroomspress.blogspot.com/




Shana Yadid and Danny Hartig are members of the rock band The Sixth Floor since its formation back in the fall of 2006. Current Members: Danny Hartig: Guitarist, Brody: Bassist, Lior Baronn: Drummer, Paul Thegodly: Guitarist/Vocalist, Rosie Yadid: Vocals, Shana Yadid: Vocals Band Manager: Fez Levy People that sparingly and/or occasionally play with 6th Floor: Ian Berger: Blues Guitarist/ Harmonicker, Josh Frumkin: Drums. For more information, visit http://www.myspace.com/the6thfloorband

Austin Alexis's "Demons" in Danse Macabre













Read Austin Alexis’s poem, “Demons,” in the Danse Macabre XXXVI Stardust at
http://dansemacabre.art.officelive.com/DanseMacabreDuJour.aspx

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Sat. June 26 at 8PM The North Jersey Literary Series Presents Poets Wear Prada

Saturday, June 26, 2010
8PM-11PM
THE NORTH JERSEY LITERARY SERIES
presents

The Poets of Poets Wear Prada
* JOEL ALLEGRETTI * CYNDI DAWSON * JOHN J. TRAUSE * TANTRA-ZAWADI *
with Editor/Publisher ROXANNE HOFFMAN
+ OPEN MIC

@
CLASSIC QUICHE CAFÉ
Special Events Room
330 Queen Anne Road, Teaneck, New Jersey

FREE

Come early and enjoy a relaxing meal.
The quiches are famous,
and there are also other wonderful entrees,
as well as coffees, teas,
& desserts.

2 Sets by our features plus Open Mic and book signing


Space and sound are unrivaled by any other venue!

Hosted by Paul Nash and Denise La Neve

Café phone: 201 692 0150

 
Bios of our four PWP Poets:

In his new chapbook THRUM (2010, Poets Wear Prada), ...

... JOEL ALLEGRETTI deftly and delightfully strums his magical musical instrument, which is poetry, as he forges fresh forms of songs and stories that are inspired by strummers' strings ... Prepare yourself for the revelatory performance. Martine Bellen
Joel’s two previous collections (published by The Poet’s Press) are THE PLAGUE PSALMS (2000, now in its third edition) and FATHER SILICON, selected by THE KANSAS CITY STAR as one of 100 Noteworthy Books of 2006. Allegretti's work has also appeared in many national literary journals and in two major anthologies: CHANCE OF A GHOST (2005) and BEYOND THE RIFT: POETS OF THE PALISADES (2010). For a more complete bio, please visit his website: www.joelallegretti.com



TANTRA-ZAWADI is an award winning poet/artist/filmmaker from Brooklyn, New York. She has performed at major venues around the world in places like South Africa, London, Germany and Toronto. Her book GATHERED AT HER SKY (2010, Poets Wear Prada) contains excerpts from her Off-Broadway production SOLDIER BLUES, as well as from her one-woman performance piece GIRL: A CHOREOSPECTIVE, plus text from previously recorded spoken word tracks. Tantra's poem and video "Scarlet Waters" was featured on the Product (RED) video wall to raise awareness for HIV/AIDS in Africa.

Tantra-zawadi's poetry speaks of a global consciousness and ambassadorship; each word of every line reminds us of the connection we have to one another in the race to win.Tshombe Sekou Harris
Follow Tantra-zawadi online at: www.tantra-zawadi.com, www.youtube.com/tantrazawadi.


CYNDI DAWSON, international wordrocker and spoken word artist, curates the Poets and Angels music and poetry series. As an actress in TV and film, she has stood in for Madonna and appeared on Law and Order. She is also famous for her performance art collaboration with Venezuelan SoHo-based artist Rene in the 1980s. Her two previous books of poetry are DREAM SEQUENCES and INSIDE OF OUTSIDE.

 
With her new collection OUTSIDE GIRL (2010, Poets Wear Prada), Ms. Dawson takes ...
... the reader through the scene, the clubs, the drugs, the grit, and ties it all together with love. Dawson ... establishes herself as a fierce, forceful, raw, punk poet in the tradition of Jim Carroll.Puma Perl
Visit her online at www.myspace.com/insideofoutside



JOHN J. TRAUSE is the author of the chapbook SERIOUSLY SERIAL (2007, Poets Wear Prada). He is the new Director of the Oradell Library, and former Director of the Wood-Ridge Memorial Library, as well as Serials (seriously) Librarian at the MOMA Library from 1991 to 2000. Trause has been an active part of the NYC art scene as well as an avid devotee of avant-garde public raucousness. His work has appeared in many literary publications, both in-print and online, and most recently in the major new anthology: BEYOND THE RIFT: POETS OF THE PALISADES.
John Trause is unique: a classicist who loves pop. His poems capture our desire to mock and at the same time learn every juicy detail of pseudo-celebrity (Edie Sedgwick, Doris Duke, Gov. McGreevey) with all the classical style of Plato writing about Atlantis. He is our generation's undiscovered T.S. Eliot.David Silverman



POETS WEAR PRADA is a small press based in Hoboken, New Jersey, devoted to introducing new authors through limited edition, high-quality chapbooks, primarily of poetry. Roxanne Hoffman, Publisher: http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/  

 
Contact for queries regarding The North Jersey Literary Series: njlspoetry@yahoo.com  

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Cyndi Dawson Rocks Mulligan's on Friday, July 9 at 7 p.m.


















On Friday, 7/8, Cyndi Dawson will read from her new poetry collection “Outside Girl” from 7-8 p.m.

Joining her for the celebration will be Kat Georges, David Lawton, Jane Ormerod and Puma Perl.


Stick around for The Trash Mavericks. Hear live old school rock and roll at 9 p.m.


Mulligans Pub
159 First St
Hoboken NJ

http://www.mulligansonfirst.com/
(201) 876-4101

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Press Release "Outside Girl" by Punk-Rocker Momma, Cyndi Dawson

Poetry Rocks - Punk-Rocker Momma from N.J. Strikes a Pose with Her New Chapbook



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Patricia Carragon
917 679 5002
pcarragon@gmail.com

POETRY ROCKS TO AN ’80S BEAT
PUNK-ROCKER MOMMA FROM N.J. STRIKES A POSE WITH HER NEW CHAPBOOK

HOBOKEN, NJ (June 16, 2010) Cyndi Dawson’s Outside Girl, a new collection of poetry due out from Poets Wear Prada this June, focuses on the author’s experiences and reflections on her “coming of age” during the punk rock ’80s.

Ivan Kral, Grammy Award winning composer, and songwriter for U2, David Bowie, Patti Smith and Iggy Pop, among others, comments: “Cyndi, you’re a true poet! It seems like you so easily seize life’s major challenges, but also its tiny nuances. Your choice and placement of words are so much more than a technical skill. They’re charged with fire, wisdom, but also a child-like wonder. It’s as if you easily toss words onto a page and somehow magic appears. Easier said than done. Believe me, I know.”

Ms. Dawson writes her history into twenty poems. Readers will learn about her bartending days, the birthing of her daughter, cocaine addiction, go behind the scenes at CBGB’s and Danceteria, inhale the stench of punk rock, sex, booze, go-go girls, leather jackets, drugs and vomit, and of her collaboration with Venezuelan SoHo artist and friend, Rene i.a.t.b.a..

Rene has created the art for the book. They were “each other’s muses” when she collaborated with him in the ’80s. The first poem “Color Wheels” reflects how two art forms flowed together as one. She would read her poetry while his painted string sculpture hardened on her body creating Nudismos. The last, “Draw Me a Cover,” is about the author’s request for this book’s artwork: “Draw me a cover Rene / draw me a woman with fire in her eyes.”

Outside Girl will be available online at Amazon.com, CreateSpace.com and Lulu.com, and from Ms. Dawson at her upcoming readings. For more details, visit Poets Wear Prada at http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/ and Ms. Dawson online at www.myspace.com/insideofoutside.

About Ms. Dawson

An actress in TV and film, she has stood in for Madonna and appeared on Law and Order. She curates the Poets and Angels music and poetry series in her home town of East Brunswick, and has performed in N.Y., N.J. and internationally. She has been published in numerous anthologies and journals. Her two previous books of poetry are Dream Sequences and Inside of Outside. Her spoken word has been featured on Going Down Swinging CD.

About Poets Wear Prada

PWP is a small press based in Hoboken, New Jersey, devoted to introducing new authors through high-quality chapbooks primarily of poetry, since October 2006. Please visit us online at http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/.

Have you had your poetry today?

POETS WEAR PRADA
533 BLOOMFIELD ST., 2ND FL., HOBOKEN, N.J. 07030 • 201 795 3810 • http://pwpbooks.blogspot.com/

###



Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Shakespeare in Love





























Karen Neuberg’s poem, "Perspectives,” is included in David Morneau’s Shakespeare Sonnet/Song project and is paired with Sonnet 148. To view all the poems and sonnets currently in the project, go to http://www.5of4.com/love_songs/poems.html


Please also check out these other poets:


Sonnet 8 / Music (Susan Maurer)
Sonnet 18 / In a Hot Country (Anne Cammon Fiero)
Sonnet 57 / The Affair That Turned Into a Poem (Cindy Hochman)
Sonnet 83 / Sketch (Austin Alexis)
Sonnet 102 / The Twenty-Four Hour Song (Ana Bozicevic)
Sonnet 109 / Crumpled Sonnet (Evie Ivy)
Sonnet 115 / Many Have Asked How We Stay Together (Roxanne Hoffman)
Sonnet 144 / I Wish (Iris Berman)
Sonnet 153 / Brand Name (George Held)

Thursday, June 10, 2010

John J.Trause Ready to Party with Honors at The Brooklyn Review Release Party , Sun 6/20


Please join John J. Trause on Sunday, June 20 at this issue release party that promises to be loads of fun. The Brooklyn Review has just published John’s poem and he was invited to present his work at the premiere party for the issue to be unveiled.

Here is what “senior poetry editor/party person” Ted Dodson has to say about the event he has planned:

“Free admission…, free performances (readings from [the] contributors, music, plays, etc.), and booze (not free but totally there). The party is going to be on from 8-12 at Littlefield, located at 622 Degraw Street between 3rd and 4th Avenue in Gowanus, Brooklyn.”

www.littlefieldnyc.com/home

Sun June 13 PWP at PHANfest1 NJ Poetry Festival to Benefit NJ Food Banks

PHANfest, Publishers Helping America’s Needy NJ Poetry Festival is sponsored by David Messineo of the Six Centuries Club, in support of N. J. food pantries.

Artists are often known to “sing for their supper” – but next weekend, dozens of poets will read to help pay for someone else’s.
writes E. Assata Wright, Hudson Reporter staff writer.  To read her entire article "Words Against Hunger: Area Poets to Raise Money for Needy" which appeared Sunday June 6th, click here: http://hudsonreporter.com/bookmark/7809040

It’s an opportunity to…hear some fine poets from various regions of the state. David Messineo, PHANfest organizer and Editor of Sensations Magazine.




The event takes place
SUNDAY, JUNE 13, 2010, 12 noon – 5 p. m.
at the Secaucus Public Library and Business Resource Center,
1379 Paterson Plank Road, Secaucus, NJ.


Readings will be held in the Panasonic Room. There is a suggested donation of $10 to benefit NJ Food Banks.

Confirmed Participants will each have display tables and two readers.

* Anhinga Books - Jack Kreuter
* Cherry Blossom Press - Anthony Buccino
* Cup & Chaucer Bookstore - Marina Kramer (used books related to poetry)
* The Idiom Magazine - Mark Baird
* Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction - Gordon VanGelder
* Marymark Press - Mark Sonnenfeld
* North Jersey Literary Series (Beyond The Rift Anthology) - Paul Nash & Denise la Neve
* North River Review ("Presses of the Past") -Melanie Pimont
* Poets Wear Prada Press (poetry chapbooks) - Roxanne Hoffman
* Sensations Magazine - David Messineo
* Snake Hill Press - David Messineo
* Thunderclap! Magazine and Thunderclap Press - Amanda Deo
* Watchung Booksellers - Marina Cramer (new poetry books)

For more details:  http://centclub.webs.com/phanfest1.htm

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

John J. Trause at PHANfest Sun 6/13


Sun, 6/13 John J. Trause at PHANfest, sponsored by David Messineo of the Six Centuries Club, in support of N. J. food pantries from 12 noon – 5 p. m. at the Secaucus Public Library and Business Resource Center. He will be sharing his work and representing the publisher of his chapbook Seriously Serial, Poets Wear Prada (Roxanne Hoffman), and also the new poetry journal Thunderclap! (Amanda Deo), which has also published some of his poetry.

For more info about PHANfest go to: http://centclub.webs.com/phanfest1.htm

Secaucus Public Library and Business Resource Center

secaucus.bccls.org

1379 Paterson Plank Road
Secaucus, NJ 07094
(201) 330-2083


Also, please see the article below, which reports on this event.



Note that one of the beneficiaries of this fundraiser is Assumption Food Pantry, which John co-founded fifteen years ago and in which he still volunteers.


Words against hunger
Area poets to raise money for needy

by E. Assata Wright
Reporter staff writer



Artists are often known to “sing for their supper” – but next weekend, dozens of poets will read to help pay for someone else’s.

PHANfest 1, a fundraiser for Northern New Jersey food pantries, including the Secaucus Emergency Food Bank, will bring together area poets who will read excerpts of their original work at the Secaucus Public Library and Business Resource Center.

Food banks and food pantries are typically run by nonprofit groups, religious institutions, and local government, and they give food to needy families to keep them from going hungry.

_____________

“It’s an opportunity to…hear some fine poets from various regions of the state.” – David Messineo
________

At the June 13 event, each writer will be given an opportunity to read either one poem or 50 lines of their work for an audience. Writers and audience members are asked to make a minimum donation of $10 per person.

The brainchild of David Messineo, the editor and publisher of “Sensations Magazine,” PHANfest 1 could raise as much as $1,000.

At press time, 35 writers had already signed up to participate, and Messineo hopes to attract another 45 poets.

The entire proceeds of the event will be donated to area food banks. If successful, Messineo said that the money could purchase 2,000 cans of food for families in need and for the homeless.

Donations down

The fundraiser comes at a time when area food banks report that donations are down and more people are showing up at their doors looking for help.

Last winter several shelter volunteers said they were seeing more seniors, families, single mothers with children, and working adults in need of food – far from the “homeless vagrant” stereotype that may come to mind.

“Food banks are really struggling right now,” Messineo said last w eek. “Charitable giving is down. People who maybe gave in the past are either giving less, because of the economy, or maybe they’ve stopped making donations entirely…I just thought this would be a nice way for New Jersey’s publishers to step in to help.”

Indeed the “PHAN” in PHANfest stands for Publisher’s Helping America’s Needy.

A veritable ‘who’s who’

The event promises to be a “who’s who” of emerging Jersey poets whose work has been published in top literary journals. To generate interest in the event, Messineo said he approached all 52 active publishers in New Jersey. That included the Meadowland Review, an online journal, and the Hoboken-based Poets Wear Prada Press.

“It’s an opportunity to meet some New Jersey publishers, as well as hear some fine poets from various regions of the state,” he said. “It’s extremely rare for New Jersey poetry publishers to be gathered together beca use it’s a very solitary profession. We each kind of do our own little thing and in some ways we’re competitors. But I felt this was an opportunity where we could have a rare collaboration.”

Publishers have also struggled through the recent economic downturn and he sees PHANfest as a great way to support their work, too. Participating publishers will have the opportunity to sell their literary magazines, books, and other products at PHANfest.

“One of the goals for publishers is not just to publish people’s poetry and fiction, but to also find readers for that work,” said Messineo, who founded Sensations in 1987 in Secaucus where it was produced for 14 years. He has since moved the magazine to Lafayette, New Jersey. “Festivals like this are an opportunity for [publishers] to do that promotion, that final leg of what [writers] expect us to do.”

“For the general public,” he added, “it’s a great opportunity for people who love poetry to hear it read live, to see some locally-published books and literary magazines, to support the arts of New Jersey by maybe purchasing something from one of the publishers.”

Messineo is optimistic that PHANfest 1 will be a success. There are already plans in the works for a PHANfest 2 next year.

“I’d like for it to rotate throughout the state, going to different libraries each year,” he said.

PHANfest will be held Sunday, June 13 from noon until 5 p.m. at the Secaucus Public Library and Business Resource Center, 1379 Paterson Plank Road, Secaucus.

The reading will be held in the Panasonic Room. There is a suggested donation of $10. For more information, call visit www.sensationsmag.com, "PHANfest 1" button.Thanks for reading!
Hudson Reporter

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Mary Orovan's Publication in Poetry East, Spring, 2010





Mary Orovan has two poems, “ I'm in awe of the raindrop” and “Yellow Gingko” in the current issue of Poetry East, Spring, 2010, now on sale at Barnes & Noble.

For more info: http://www.poetryeast.org/

Karen Neuberg's Publication in Melusine, or Woman of the 21st Century




Karen Neuberg’s poem, "Forcing It into Light"
appears in the current issue of Melusine,
or Woman of the 21st Century.

Click on http://www.melusine21cent.com/mag/node/185

George Held's June Publications and Summer Gazebo Event



George Held has poems in the current issues of LIGHT: A QUARTERLY OF LIGHT VERSE, BLUE UNICORN, and TALKING RIVER at http://lightquarterly.org/






George has new poems at NEW VERSE NEWS

"God Bless...," for June 1st

http://newversenews.blogspot.com/2010/06/god-bless.html

"Sad Birds" for June 8th

http://newversenews.blogspot.com/2010/06/sad-birds.html

"Well Oiled" for June 18th

http://newversenews.blogspot.com/2010/06/well-oiled.html

“Prompt du Jour” for June 30th

http://newversenews.blogspot.com/2010/06/prompt-du-jour.html









SUMMER GAZEBO READING

Mon 6/21 George Held, Robert Savino, Doreen Spungin, Louisa Calio The Summer Gazebo Reading at Schoolhouse Green, Plainview, L.I. 7PM hosted by Tony Iovino

For more info: http://summergazeboreadings.blogspot.com/

or contact Tony Iovino at tonyiovino@gmail.com

Sheryl H. Simler's June Events


Wed 6/16 Sheryl H. Simler will be the featured poet

at First Unitarian Congregational Society Brooklyn
50 Monroe Place near Pierrepont St., Brooklyn Heights

7:30 P.M./ $3 Donation
Hosted by Roslyn Rabin
Open Mic

R, M, 5 to Court St./ Borough Hall, 2, 3 to Clark St.

http://www.fuub.org/home/


Sheryl H. Simler at The Kew Gardens Community Center:


Mon 6/21 Sheryl H. Simler will sing with Keith Lane (vocals, guitar and piano) for the fabulous Summer Soltice Extravaganza event - 2 P.M./ $1 Contribution. An hour of music, from standards, folk, blues to reggae. Refreshments will be served.

Tue 6/29 Sheryl H. Simler will perform with the Belle's Players Theatrical Group - 3 P.M./ $1 Contribution


Kew Gardens Community Center 80-02 Kew Gardens Road, Queens Suite 202

Bring Photo I.D. For further info: http://www.queenscommunityhouse.org/
or call 718 - 268 - 5960

Jee Leong Koh - Opening Night - Part 1: RED HOT & QUEER


Opening Night - Part 1: RED HOT & QUEER
Thursday, June 10 at 7pm / FREE
Evening of sexy poetry & racy prose with Tim Doody, Saeed Jones, Jee Leong Koh, Rosalind Lloyd, Glenn Marla, Nyna and Mustafa Sullivan.
Reserve your tickets at www.bronxacademyofartsanddance.org or call 718-842-5223

Open Reading at Pianos Bar & Grill in Bloomfield, NJ on Monday, June 7, 7:30 P.M.


Please join the folks at Pianos Bar & Grill in Bloomfield, NJ on Monday, June 7, 2010 at 7:30 p. m. for RockStar Poets and Writers [Bloomfield Reading Series]. Instead of a regular feature we will hold an Open Reading with the audience members (poets and writers) as the feature.

The event is
FREE!

Bloomfield Reading Series, also known as RockStar Poets, is the series for which John J. Trause was the inaugural feature in February 2008, and as we continue in our third year we are pleased to have our first all-night Open Reading on Monday, June 7th. Note that this series holds a reading every FIRST MONDAY of the month at 7:30 p. m. at Pianos hosted by writer Sanjay Agnihotri. The readings take place on the back stage. Come early and have a drink or dinner. Remember to bring some work of your own as an Open Reading follows the feature.

Pianos Bar & Grill
36 Broad Street
Bloomfield, NJ 07003
(973) 743-7208
www.pianosbarandgrill.com

IAWA Presents Poet Rachel deVries and Fulbright Scholar and Author Fred Gardaphe




IAWA Presents
Poet Rachel deVries and
Fulbright Scholar and Author Fred Gardaphe
on
Saturday, June 12, 2010

New York, NY- On Saturday, June 12, 2009 the Italian American Writers Association (IAWA) celebrates its 19th Anniversary with two prolific authors whose works spark controversy and debate - both having used “dago” in the titles of their widely read publications: Rachel de Vries and Fred Gardaphe, who has just received a Fulbright Fellowship to teach a the University of Salerno, Italy this fall.

Rachel Guido deVries' latest poetry collection is The Brother Inside Me, (Guernica, 2008). Her first children's book, Teeny Tiny Tino's Fishing Story, (Bordighera, 2008) won The 2008 Paterson Prize: Books for Young People Award. Other books include her novel, Tender Warriors, and two other collections of poems, How To Sing to a Dago, and Gambler's Daughter. A recent poem, Imperfection, was published in Sojourners magazine, and was awarded first prize in poetry by the Evangelical Press Association, and an honorable mention by the Associated Church Press. She is past recipient of a New York Foundation Artist's Fellowship in fiction. She is a poet-in-the-schools throughout central and upstate New York, and offers workshops for women independently. She lives in Cazenovia, NY.

Fred Gardaphe was born in Chicago and is Distinguished Professor of English and Italian American Studies at Queens College, CUNY. His study,
Italian Signs, American Streets: The Evolution of Italian American Narrative, is based on his dissertation which won the Fondazione Giovanni Agnelli/Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs award for 1993 and was published by Duke University Press in 1996; it was named an Outstanding Academic Book for 1996 by Choice.
He has also published
Dagoes Read: Tradition and the Italian/American Writer and Moustache Pete is Dead!: Italian/American Oral Tradition Preserved in Print, Leaving Little Italy: Essaying Italian American Studies, and From Wiseguys to Wise Men: Masculinities and the Italian American Gangster.

The reading takes place
Saturday, June 12, 2010, 5:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m., at the Cornelia St. Café, 29 Cornelia Street, NYC, (212-989-9319); www.corneliastreetcafe.com). The evening starts with Open Mic readings of five minutes each. IAWA is a 501(3)©not-for-profit corporation. Since 1991, the organization has given voice to writers through its Open Reading series at Cornelia St. Café every month. For membership information, visit: www.iawa.net

Contact: Maria Lisella
(718-777-1178)
Authors Available for Interviews