Join Ryan Rettew at the GoggleWorks August 2nd, 2018!

Berks Bards is excited to welcome Ryan Rettew! Join us at the GoggleWorks to hear her music and poetry. Following the performance, we'll allow ANYONE to step up to the mic and read anything that moves them. Learn more about Ryan before our event by reading more below:

Ryan Rettew grew up in Berks County and is a 2004 graduate of Twin Valley High School. After high school, Ryan followed her love of reading and writing to study English at Clarion University where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in 2008.

While studying at Clarion University, Ryan received recognition for her poetry. Her work was published in the school's literary magazine, Tobeco. She also earned a scholarship to attend the Chautauqua Writer's Festival. Ryan discovered her unique poetic style when she began putting her words to music. Songwriting has become Ryan's primary means of poetic expression. She has given performances at several locations in and around Berks County, including Boyertown's Turning Leaf Festival, The Other Farm Brewing Company (now known as The Other Farm & Forge), and Chaplin's Music Cafe.

In her early twenties, Ryan came up against drug addiction and depression. She has continued to write throughout her journey in recovery from these challenges. She began a career in teaching in 2012. She now lives in Lancaster County with her husband, Jim and many pets. She is a stay-at-home mom to their daughter, Robin, and has plans to return to teaching soon.

Below is a sample of Ryan Rettew's work:

Lyrics to “Map of Faces”

There's a lake where I forget.

You can come forget there, too.

The map I drew

looks like faces of the people that you knew.

It's the only way

to reach that lake.

Loneliness is a killer.

Ears and eyes are traitors to the soul.

Forgetfulness is better.

It's just a natural part of getting old.

O prophets spoke

of you.

I swear

I knew you once.

Your name

escapes me now but since

we're here

let's go somewhere.

There's a lake where I forget.

You can come forget there, too.

The face I drew

looks like maps of all the places that you knew.

It's the only way

to reach that lake.

Loneliness is a killer.

Ears and eyes are traitors from the start.

Forgetfulness is better.

It's just a certain stillness of the heart.

O prophets spoke

of you.

I swear

I knew you once.

When: August 2nd, 2018 at 6pm 
Where: The GoggleWorks
201 Washington Street Reading PA 19601

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1st Thursday Poetry featuring Jennifer Hetrick

Meet us at the GoggleWorks for friends, poetry, love, and laughter! Our August featured poet is near and dear to our hearts! The one and only, Jennifer Hetrick will read selected works from her upcoming book, The Labors of our Fingertips. We'll allow anyone to step up to the mic for a short open mic reading. 

Jennifer Hetrick's third and final book from her project called the labors of our fingertips: poems from manufacturing history of berks county will be released late this summer. It is funded in part by grants from Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and Berks Arts Council. She'll be introducing some of the 25 poems from this upcoming volume during the first part of the night. The poems are written from interviews with older seniors in Berks County who worked in mostly long gone factories and mills. Hetrick also teaches a traveling poetry class and takes her workshops into schools and state parks. 

Learn more about Jennifer Hetrick by checking out her website and social media page below: 
https://poetrywithjenniferhetrick.blogspot.com/
https://www.facebook.com/The-Labors-of-Our-Fingertips-Poems-1498233847098613/

When: August 3rd, 2017 at 6 pm 
Where: The Goggle Works
201 Washington Street Reading PA 19601

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1st Thursday Poetry Featuring Margaux Griffith & Jenna Bazzell

Meet us at the Goggle Works for friends, poetry, love, and laughter! Our June featured poets are Margaux Griffith and Jenna Bazzell, join us in welcoming these wonderful women! The poets will share selected works and then we'll allow anyone to step up to the mic for a short open mic reading. Learn more about each poet by reading their biographies below:

Margaux Griffith earned her an MFA in Poetry at Oklahoma State University. She won the 2012 Anderbo Poetry Prize for her poem “Apple Galette” as well as the 2015 Blue Bonnet Poetry Prize for her poem "Routine." Margaux was also the 2012 Honorable Mention for the Academy of American Poets Prize. She has publications in The Boiler Journal, The Citron Review, Bacopa Literary Review, Rathalla Review, The Cossack, and Hot Metal Bridge.

Jenna Bazzell received her MFA in poetry from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and her undergraduate degree in English from the University of Alabama-Birmingham. She was a semi-Finalist for the 2017 Phillip Levine Poetry Prize from Anhinga Press and a semi-finalist for the Miller Williams poetry book contest at the University of Arkansas Press. Jenna won the 2015 Everett Southwest Literary Award and has received two honorable mentions from the Academy of American Poets. Her poems have appeared in Passages North, Cream City Review, Fifth Wednesday, Hayden’s Ferry Review, New Madrid, Naugatuck River Review, Southern Indiana Review, Crab Orchard Review, and Sou’wester. Jenna is an adjunct instructor at Harrisburg Area Community College, Reading Area Community College in Pennsylvania and East Stroudsburg University.

When: June 1st, 2017 at 6 pm 
Where: The Goggle Works
201 Washington Street Reading PA 19601

Join Heath Brougher & Lexi Spino February 2nd at the GoggleWorks!

Please join us for 1st Thursday Poetry and Open Mic with our Featured Poets Heath Brougher and Lexi Spino.

Heath Brougher attended Temple University. He is the poetry editor of Five 2 One Magazine. He has published two chapbooks, “A Curmudgeon Is Born” (Yellow Chair Press 2016) and “Digging for Fire” (Stay Weird and Keep Writing Publishing Co. 2016), with another one titled “Your Noisy Eyes” due out in 2017. He is a Best of the Net Nominee and his work has been translated into Albanian and been published in over 25 countries. He was the judge of Into the Void Magazine’s 2016 Poetry Competition and edited the anthology “Luminous Echoes,” the sales of which will be donated to help with suicide prevention. His work has appeared or is due to be published in Of/with, Chiron Review, SLAB, Main Street Rag, Crack the Spine, Cruel Garters, MiPOesias, Third Wednesday, Lehigh Valley Vanguard, Gloom Cupboard, X-Peri, Gold Dust, and elsewhere. When not writing, he helps with the charity Paws Soup Kitchen which gives out free dog/cat food to low-income families with pets.

Lexi Spino is a 25-year-old poet from York, PA. She has a chapbook called "I'm A Wanderer, Not A Runaway" and a spoken word EP called "Suicidal Since Birth". She is very heavy into the art scene around York and has recently become one of the two administrators of the poetry program at The Parliment. When she isn't writing or being an active member of the art society she is running around like a five-year-old with her daughter. The year of 2017 will bring her next poetry book titled "This Is Not For You" as well as another music/spoken work collaboration.

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