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

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Afro-Futures: Bianca Dorsey, an exclusive interview by Tantra-Zawadi

Afro-Futures welcomes Bianca Dorsey with an exclusive interview by Tantra-Zawadi.
Tantra-zawadi writes: "Recently, I had the pleasure of spending time with Bianca Dorsey, a beautiful and gifted world artist. Bianca also spoke about the importance of exploring the techniques of our ancestors to create art that endures. Afrofutures welcomes Bianca Dorsey."

Read the rest of the article "A conversation with artist Bianca Dorsey" on-line at Afro-Futures:
Bianca Dorsey is a Brooklyn-based artist, who paints, sculpts and designs jewelry. She is graduate of Pratt Institute, NY receiving a Bachelor’s of Fine Art in Sculpture and she received her Master’s Degree in Gallery and Retail Art Administration from Fashion Institute of Technology, NY. Recent gallery exhibitions include group shows, Rising Suns, the Dash Gallery, NY (2010) and The Color of Words, Brooklyn Working Artists Coalition, Bklyn, NY (2009) and a solo exhibit, The Lives of Goddesses, Curated by Carol Blank, Bklyn, NY (2006).

PWP Books published Tantra-Zawadi's second collection of poetry Gathered at Her Sky in 2010.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Sat Feb 5 B.E. KAHN Joins Other Phili-based Authors 3PM Big Blue Marble Bookstore's Local Author Day


Saturday, February 5, 3:00pm.
LOVE YOURSELF @ Big Blue Marble Bookstore
 Local Author Day!
Join local authors in readings and discussions that celebrate loving yourself.

Featuring:
  • B.E. Kahn (Landscapes of Light),
  • Trudi Wray (Still Learning Lessons After Forty)
  • Stenell Greene-Myers (Who's Gonna Pay the Mortgage?)

Big Blue Marble Bookstore
551 Carpenter Lane
Philadelphia, PA 19119
215-844-1870
http://www.bigbluemarblebooks.com/ 


Landscapes of Light: Poems
by B. E. Kahn
Perfect bound paperback: 34 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0-9841844-8-4
Publisher: Poets Wear Prada
Publication Date: October 28, 2010
 List Price: $12
Available at Amazon.com



Author B. E. Kahn
B. E. Kahn is a grant recipient of both the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and the Pew Fellowships in the Arts.  Some of the poems in this, her second, collection previously appeared in Arts and Spirituality, Bridges: A Jewish Feminist Journal, Clockwise Cat, Lifeboat, New Verse News, Poetry Ink, Poetry Super Highway, and Schuylkill Valley Journal. A retired speech therapist, she now lives in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania and has taught poetry to intergenerational, interfaith groups. She is a member of the 34th Street Poets Cooperative. Her previous chapbook, SPRING APPLES, SILVER BIRCH was published October, 2008 by Greenleaf Press. For more information about the author, visit her website: http://www.bekahn.com/.

POSTPONED: Poetry's Last Wednesday Pit Stop w/ JOHN J TRAUSE -- NOW Sat, Jan 29 7:30-10PM

Dear Family and Friends,

Because of the snow storm this event is being postponed  until

Saturday, January 29, 2011, 7:30 p. m. – 10 p. m.


Francesca Sphynx-Ball of The Ain't Never Scared NYC Poetry Collective started a new poetry series at Peanut Butter Blues Café in Allendale (Bergen County), N. J. Francesca and I were both published this past autumn in hell strung and crooked, the latest issue of the Uphook Press anthology.

Rescheduled: I will be featuring for Poetry's Last Wednesday Pit Stop at Peanut Butter Blues Café on Saturday, January 29th at 7:30 p.m.. You will get 30 minutes of John J. Trause, and I promise a rich and diverse presentation. There will also be an open reading.


Sat., Jan. 29, 2011, 7:30–10PM  <==NEW DATE & TIME!
Poetry's Last Wednesday Pit Stop
JOHN J TRAUSE
+ Open Reading
@
Peanut Butter Blues Cafe
86 W Allendale Ave
Allendale, NJ 07401
(201) 825-5950
Hosted by Francesca Sphynx-Ball

Please see also the updated listing on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=155597277823382&num_event_invites=0


It would be a pleasure to see you at the reading this coming Saturday, so please come out and support this event.

Love & Peace,

JOHN

* * *

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Jan 26 Poet Efrayim Levenson in Brooklyn w/ Dan Brown & Matthew Anish




Hello again.  I have another reading tomorrow night.  I hope you can attend.  Coordinates are below:

Efrayim Levenson

* * *

HAPPY WINTER FOLKS!
For A Great Evening of Poetry:

The Green Pavilion Poetry Event

(The gala event for poetry.)

Wednesday, JANUARY 26, 7:00-9:30
The Green Pavillion Restaurant & Sports Lounge
4307-18th Ave.
Brooklyn, NY

Take the F train to 18th Ave. station. Last car coming from Manh, right staircase to street.
You will be only about 1/2 block away from rest., same block you will be standing on.

Join Us. Come read your poetry, or your favorite poet under the chandeliers!

One of the longest running poetry venues in the NYC area. 


We are looking forward to these two wonderful featured readers:


* * * EFRAYIM LEVENSON * *


* * * DAN BROWN * *



+ a mini-feature by well published author of poetry & prose:



***MATTHEW ANISH ***



+ o p e n r e a d i n g * * * *



$5.00 min. toward rest. (an inexpensive & diverse menu, dinner, or wine with your poetry.) *



$3.00 suggested donation toward reading.Your hosts: Evie Ivy, Cindy Hochman * * *



Some Bio Notes:



Daniel Brown's collection Taking the Occasion (Ivan R. Dee) won The New Criterion Poetry Prize in 2008. His poems have appeared in Poetry, Partisan Review, Parnassus: Poetry in Review, The New Criterion and other journals. Winner of a Pushcart Prize, he has been widely anthologized in volumes such as Poetry 180, edited by Billy Collins, and Fathers, edited by David Ray. He holds a masters degree in musicology from Cornell University, and has taught music history and theory at Cornell and Dartmouth College. He lives in Baldwin, New York. His Why Bach?, an online appreciation of Bach's music, is available at http://www.whybach.com/ .


Efrayim Levenson is the author of 2 chapbooks of poetry, For My Relations (2000) and Dances With Tears (2007). His poem "& Ribbon" was a 2008 Pushcart Prize nomination. Other poems have been published in What Happens Next, Poetica, Poems, Medicinal Purposes, www.chabadrego.org, http://timessquareshoutout.blogspot.com/ , Above Water, ArtVoice, My City Underground, Bflo Journal, The Buffalo News, Pure Light, Foist, Earth's Daughters, Tempus Fugit, Swift Kick, The Grin, and Blatherskite. He is at work currently on a collection of poetic interpretations of the music of Buckethead and a CD with double-bassist Clif Jackson. Efrayim is also blogging at http://efrayimlevenson.blogspot.com/.


Matthew Anish is a widely published poet/writer. He has published work in Aim, Beyond Bree, Voices Israel and in many other publications. He also writes a monthly column for Barr's Postcard News. He is a graduate of Brooklyn College and has an ESL Certificate from the New School. He currently works at Borough of Manhattan Community College.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

GO CAT GO Jazz Poetry w/ Peter Chelnik on MNN Tonite 4pm EST


GO CAT GO JAZZ POETRY

Poet: Peter Chelink
Sax Man: Bob Feldman, Bass Buddy: Lawrence  Goldman

on

Manhattan Network Cable


Sunday, January 23 at 4 p.m. MNN2 Lifestyle (34)

Monday, January 24 at 5:30 p.m. MNN2 Lifestyle (34)

Saturday, February 5 9:30 p.m MNN2 Lifestyle (34)

Monday, February 7 at 5:30 p.m. MNN2 Lifestyle (34)


Click on http://www.mnn.org/ for more info about Manhattan Network Cable

or

Go directly to  http://mnn2.mnntv.org/OnAir/flash for live streaming!



For more info about Peter Chelnik visit his blog:
http://peterchelnik.blogspot.com/ 


Additional Contact Information regarding this programming:
Roberto Slaughter  speliotisphoto@yahoo.com  






PWP published PARADISE HIGHWAY by Peter Chelnik in 2007. 
His latest collection is STRAWBERRY HARMONY,
ISBN 978-0-964 270 9-9-3,$12.00, Little Sky Press, Release Date: March 2010.
Peter Chelnik continues his quest of the American Dream on his highway of language in a style evocative of that true American Art, Jazz He forges this highway concrete image by concrete image, and his voice is not only fiercely brave, but also one of powerful affirmation.
Laura Boss, editor of Lips, author of
Arms: New and Selected Poems



PARADISE HIGHWAYPoems by Peter Chelnik
soft cover/saddle-stitched/12 pp.
$6.25 (+ $1.50 S&H)

Poet Efrayim Levenson in NYC Monday January 24


Hello, folks. I have not given a feature poetry reading for @ 2 years. I'm as surprised to tell you as you are to read that I'll be featuring for Saturn Series tomorrow night (1/24/2011)! I'd love to see you if you're available. We should get reacquainted.

Nightingale Lounge
2nd Avenue @ 13th Street
LES, NYC

The sign-up for open mic readers begins at 7 PM. The evening should commence @ 7:30-8.

Efrayim Levenson

* * *

PWP originally released Efrayim's DANCES WITH TEARS in 2007. 


DANCES WITH TEARSby Efrayim Levenson
ISBN 978-0-9817678-3-3
soft cover, saddle stitched, 16 pp.
$6.25 (+ $1.50 S&H)


This book is a blast of Hasidic bebop ecstasy.
Craig Fishbane, Brooklyn Poet and resident of Bensonhurst


Thank you for the poem [Mordechai's Day at the Beach]...beautiful...best wishes
John Zorn, American composer and saxophone player


His poems themselves are heartfelt psalms.
George Held, The Art of Writing and Others
To read more about what George Held has to say about Dances With Tears click here to read his review for Small Press Review.

Efrayim (Fred Barry) Levenson began writing poetry, in Buffalo NY, in 1982. He has been published in small press anthologies across New York State, as well as in Missouri and Belgium, and has collaborated with musicians Dave Schmeidler, Rey Scott, and others. Since 2003 he has lived in Forest Hills NY with his wife Devorah and dog Yoffee.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Feb 1: Tantra-zawadi @ Wyandanch Public Library

Tantra-Zawadi
Tuesday, February 1st
Doors Open at 1:00 PM
Wyandanch Public Library
14 S 20th St Wyandanch, NY 11798
TicketsFree


Screening, performance and artist talk of "A Silent Genocide: A Brief insight into HIV/AIDS" - a short documentary by Tantra-zawadi edited by Oliver Covrett, XYAYX Multimedia.

* * *

Saturday, April 2nd
Doors Open at 8:00 PM
595 North
595 North Ave
Atlanta, GA 30354

A tribute to Abiodun Oyewole of the Last Poets - hosted by U-Nek Reality. Dinner, poetry performances and more!

* * *

Tuesday, May 17th
Doors Open at 7:00 PM
Tillies of Brooklyn
248 Dekalb Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11205
(718) 783-6140

Brownstone Poets - Hosted by Patricia Carragon - Features: PWP Authors Tantra-zawadi and Richard Marx Weinraub.

* * *

Sunday, June 5th
Doors Open at 12:00 PM
Montserrat Poetry Festival
Montserrat Vineyards Knobnoster, MO

The 2011 Montserrat Poetry Festival hosted by Mark Pearce - Details TBA.



"Tantra's writing oozes with the passion of Neruda and the sensitivity of Sonia. Her words can warm the coldest of hearts." --Bruce George, Co-Founder of Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam


"Tantra-zawadi is one of the finest and greatest female poets who undoubtedly has ushered in a new era and genre that will take the 21st century into one where humanity will move forward. She rejuvenates the weak mind, shakes and moves hard hearts. If one wants the power of poetry, then Tantra's is the holistic package." --Betty Makoni, Founder of Girl-Child Network Worldwide and a 2009 Top Ten CNN Hero

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Groove Assassin FT Tantra Zawadi: LOVE SEEKER Reviewed in TILLLATE


Groove Assassin Feat. Tantra Zawadi: Love Seeker (Gotta Keep Faith), GKF085, Released Dec. 27, 2010 gets the thumbs up (9/10) from  both Lewis Dene and DJ Mannix in Tilllate Magazine: The World's Essential Clubbing Magazine:
 http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/d5f3897c#/d5f3897c/88
"Reminiscent of Ursula Rucker's Firefly Single "Supernatural" of a few years ago, this ethereal, laidback, and sometimes positively chill house offering, comes from Sheffield's Nick Moss (AKA Groove Assassin) and New York-based poet Tantra Zawadi." Sultry and seductive in the main...the vocal makes you all gooey inside."-- Lewis Dene, TILLATE
http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/d5f3897c#/d5f3897c/90
"Italy's finest address, when it comes to soulful house, Gotta Keep Faith have signed a real nugget here, the new cut from Nick Moss aka Groove Assassin. It's a spoken word flavored old skool record, powered by the tasty vocals of Tantra Zawadi..." -- DJ Mannix, TILLLATE



To preview/buy tracks goto TRAXSOURCE.com:

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Connotation Press Features George Held: Poetry & Interview


Saturday, January 15, 2011


George Held
Click here: http://www.connotationpress.com/poetry/713-george-held-poetry



for an interview with and 3 poems by me.





Best, George


###

Connotation Press, Issue V, Vol. II, January 2011,  features an Interview with George Held by Nicelle Davis and 3 poems by George: "Alien," "At the Marina" and "Typed."

George Held contributes his stories, poems, and book reviews widely, both online and in print, to journals like 5 AM, Confrontation, The Pedestal, and Notre Dame Review. Garrison Keillor read one of George's poems on NPR, he's received 5 Pushcart Prize nominations, and his fourteenth poetry collection is After Shakespeare: Selected Sonnets (Červená Barva Press, 2010). PWP published George's chapbook PHASED: Poem, Etc.  in 2008. 


Happy MLK! The New Verse News: I HAD A DREAM


Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)
 January 16, 2011


Dear Friends & Fellow Poets;



Check out Roxy's poem "I HAD A DREAM" on The New Verse News:

http://newversenews.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-had-dream.html  



Barack Obama
as a boy
on his tricycle
 

 Have a great weekend!



Roxy & Herb



p.s. To read & remember the entire text of Dr. King's "I Have A Dream" speech go to : http://www.usconstitution.net/dream.html



President Barack Obama
44th President of the United States of America



Our President
Still Riding Strong!



Friday, January 14, 2011

Lisella's AMORE Reviewed in FRA NOI & Interview w/ Fagiani Archived on LiveStream

Fred Gardaphe's review of  Maria Lisella's Amore on Hope Street (Finishing Line Press, 2009) in the February 2011 of Fra Noi ("Books & Beyond") is reprinted below:



2. POWERFUL POETRY


Over two dozen poetic gems come in sections on immigrant similarities and clashes, the family here and gone, and travels abroad and inside relationships in Maria Lisella’s Amore on Hope St.. Lisella excels at both lyric and narrative forms, bringing the real to the surface through things like a young girl’s pierced ears, and sometimes through the surreality of a Venetian fog. Through her skills at framing her subjects, she makes the past seem present and the present seem past, creating poetry you want to read and reread. ($14 paperback) http://www.finishinglinepress.com/  ISBN: 978-1-59924-533-1.


New York, December 15th, 2010 – NOTA BENE, a live discussion program, featuring dynamic conversation with leading Artists and Scholars of the Italian American Culture, hosted by Fred Gardaphe, Fulbright Fellow and Distinguished Professor of Italian American Studies at Queens College/CUNY. NOTA BENE re-streams taped LIVE on Wednesday, December 15th, 2010 at 8pm. NOTA BENE can be seen on the Internet LIVE at WWW.LIVESTREAM.COM/ITALICS the third Wednesday of every month. It is then archived on the Livestream.com Site for future viewings.
 
NOTA BENE with Fred Gardaphe featured PWP authors and IAWA Reading Series Hosts Gil Fagiani and Maria Lisella on December 15th 2010.   The show can be heard by following the link to the archived webcast:
 

March 6, World Premiere of Song Cycle by Frank Levy on Poems by Joel Allegretti


Sunday: March 6, 2011
5PM
obbligato II: Guitar / nostalgic
A Performance by the CANTORI Vocal Ensemble
of New Work:
Night Keeps Its Promise
 A Song Cycle by Frank Levy on Poems by Joel Allegretti.
A Gypsy cycle on Lorca texts by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, both for chorus, baritone and guitar,
&
 Renaissance music by John Dowland, and madrigals by Paul Hindemith.
Music for guitar. Christopher Kenniff, guitar.

@
Church of Holy Trinity (Episocopal)
316 East 88th Street
(1st & 2nd Avenues)
Admission:  Adults $25; Seniors $20; Students/Children $5


Dear Friends and Colleagues:

I'm writing a couple of months ahead of time so you'll mark the date. On Sunday, March 6, Cantori, a 36-member vocal ensemble, will perform the world premiere of "Night Keeps Its Promise," a song cycle by Frank Ezra Levy on my poetry.

The performance will take place 5 p.m. at the Church of the Holy Trinity, 316 East 88th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenues. In addition to "Night Keeps Its Promise," Cantori will sing gypsy songs on poems by Lorca and Renaissance madrigals.

Frank Levy composed the song cycle on three of my poems: "The Italian," published in Voices in Italian Americana in 2010; "Bellman of the Dead," which appears in my first book, The Plague Psalms; and "The Sea at Our Door," published in River Oak Review in 2008.

"Night Keeps Its Promise" is our second collaboration. In 2009, Kean University presented the world premiere of our first song cycle, "A Cycle by the Sea." Frank was for many years a cellist with the Radio City Music Hall Orchestra. His symphonic work appears in the American Classics Series on the Naxos label. The series includes recordings of works by John Cage, Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein and Ned Rorem.

Here's the link to Cantori's website, where you can purchase tickets. I hope to see you on March 6.

http://www.cantorinewyork.com/concerts_currentSeason.php


Joel

Joel Allegretti
www.joelallegretti.com  

THRUM, a new chapbook by Joel Allegretti from Poets Wear Prada
ISBN 978-0-9841844-4-6, Trade Paperback, 38pp., $12.00

"In Thrum 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. 'Context is everything,' Allegretti reminds us, and we’re planted in the heart of a global ancient/modern orchestra. Prepare yourself for the revelatory performance."
Martine Bellen
Author of Tales of Murasaki and Other Poems,
1997 National Poetry Series selection


"Joel Allegretti's latest collection of poems is as enjoyable as it is different. Thrum takes the reader on a journey that explores known musical instruments, such as the mandolin, dulcimer and fiddle, as well as some not-so-known instruments, such as the oud, koto and theorbo. But what makes this journey unique is that each instrument is in a sense personified as the emotive element of each instrument is brought to life. Allegretti does a wonderful job tuning every poem so that the music of each instrument is realized again and again in the words on the page. An intriguing and must read for anyone who has a sense of all that culminates in the commingling of the arts."
Raymond Hammond
Editor, The New York Quarterly


Now Available on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Thrum-Poems-Joel-Allegretti/dp/0984184449/