Celebrate World Poetry Day on March 21st

World Poetry Day is held annually on March 21. It was originally declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1999. The purpose of the day is to promote the reading, writing, publishing and teaching of poetry throughout the world. When UNESCO declared March 21 as World Poetry Day, the stated goal was to “give fresh recognition and impetus to national, regional and international poetry movements.” To mark this year’s World Poetry Day, UNESCO will pay tribute to Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who was also a Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature.

BARD FEST 2009

Berks Bards Presents...BARD FEST 2009 in Celebration of National Poetry Month

1. Thursday, March 12, 2009 - Awilda I. Castro-Suarez, Crusader's Cafe,
Alvernia University, 6:00 pm. Sponsored by Alvernia University Multi-Cultural
Initiatives. Contact person: Mary Lozada (610) 796-8256.

2. Thursday, April 2, 2009 - J.C. Todd, First Thursday Poetry at the Bravo
Cafe', The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 201 Washington Street, Reading,
6:00 pm. Open Mic. Call for information, 610-777-0863.

3. Saturday, April 4, 2009 - "Poetry and Spirit" Workshop with Jen
Gittings-Dalton, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Berks County, 416
Franklin Street, Reading, 10-12 noon. To reserve your place: call
610-370-2629.

4. Wednesday, April 8, 2009 - Poets' Pause, Berks Community Television, 7:00
pm. Host is Doug Arnold.

5. Thursday, April 9, 2009 - Berks County College and University Faculty
Poets, featuring Jayne Relaford Brown, Tom Bierowski, Beth DeMeo, and Berks
County Poet Laureate Heather Thomas, Outsiders Folk Art Gallery, Suite 504, The
GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 201 Washington Street, Reading, 6:00 pm. Open
Mic. Call for information, 610-939-1737.

6. Thursday, April 16, 2009 - Awilda I. Castro-Suarez, Hard Bean Boyertown,
Second Thursday Poetry hosted by Jodi Corbett, 6:30 pm. Open
mic. Call for information, (phone number?).

7. Thursday, April 16, 2009 - Award-winning poet Lamont B. Steptoe, Poetry
Reading and Book Signing, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Berks County,
416 Franklin Street, Reading, 6:00 pm. Mr. Steptoe is the recipient of a 2006
Pew Fellowship in the Arts in Poetry, and the American Book Award in 2005 for
his book, "A Long Movie of Shadows." Call to reserve: 610-370-2629.

8. Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - Jennifer Hill and Dan Waber, Poetry at Six,
Reading Area Community College, Berks Penn Rooms, 6:00 pm. Open Mic.
Sponsored by the Foundation for RACC. Call to reserve: 610-607-6239.

9. Tuesday, April 28, 2009 - Elizabeth Bodien, Mifflin Community Library, 6
Philadelphia Avenue, Shillington, 6:30 pm. Open mic. Call for information,
610-777-3911.

10. Thursday, April 30, 2009 - Lester Hirsh, Adamstown Area Public Library,
3000 North Reading RD, Adamstown, 6:30 pm. Open mic. Call for information,
717-484-4200.

11. Thursday, May 7, 2009 - Jayne Relaford Brown, First Thursday Poetry at the
Bravo Cafe', The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 201 Washington Street,
Reading, 6:00 pm. Open Mic to follow. Call for information: 610-777-0863.

12. Sunday, May 31, 2009 - Berks Bards at the Berks County Senior Arts
Festival, Berks-Penn Rooms, Reading Area Community College, 4:15 pm. Poets
featured are Doug Arnold, Elizabeth Bodien, Awilda I. Castro-Suarez, Marilyn
Klimcho, Patrick Klimcho, and Liz Stanley. Call for information,
610-374-1161.

Poetry Out Loud

Join us for First Thursday Poetry on February 5, 2009, LIVE at the Bravo Cafe' in the GoggleWorks, 2nd and Washington ST in Reading, PA. Featured presenters are the awesome student competitors for POETRY OUT LOUD 2009 from Reading High School. Open mic to follow. This event is free and open to the public.

Sponsored by Berks Bards, with support from the Friends of Berks County Public Libraries, and with a grant from the PA Partners in the Arts, administered locally by the Berks Arts Council.

For more information, contact Liz Stanley, zilabets@hotmail.com.

Poetry Event at Delco Institute of Science

We're giving a shout out to Eileen D'Angelo and the members of the Mad Poets Society who invited the Berks Bards to read on November 20 at the Delco Institute of Science in Media, PA. What a location! We're on the stage at the microphone, in a Civil War era edifice filled with untold collections of specimens, rocks, gems, rare science and history books, and lots of stuffed birds in glass cases. The audience was great, very receptive to our poems, and Eileen was a gracious host.

BB poets who made the road trip to Media were Patrick and Marilyn Klimcho, Michael Clipman, Jen Gittings-Dalton, Elizabeth Bodien, Naimon Lyons, and Liz Stanley.

We're takin' it on the road! Join us!

stevenallenmay has a new blog

Word came today from stevenallenmay, energetic enigmatic co-founder of Berks Bards way back in 1998, about his new blog, http://www.bookgasm.blogspot.com/. This man is definitely into books, especially books as more than just the book, books as creative objects, with a presence and a history. What do you expect from a poet and publisher!? You go, s-a-m!

Berks Bards ROCK at Alvernia College

Kudos to Jen Gittings-Dalton who invited Berks Bards poets and musicians to read/play at the Crusader Cafe at Alvernia University on October 15, as part of the Literary Festival on campus. Poets: Doug Arnold, Awilda I. Castro-Suarez, Fred Indenbaum, Jen Gittings-Dalton, Marilyn Klimcho, Emily Hayes Whittle, Michael Clipman, Patrick Klimcho, and Elizabeth Stanley. Musicians: Joanna Groebel on flute, Michael Clipman on percussion.

Students and faculty filled the intimate cafe' and volunteered for the open mic. One student had attended the 2008 Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival last month, and had the courage to read her work for the first time ever, at the Crusader Cafe'. Bravo, Ciara!

Congratulations, Heather Thomas, Berks Poet Laureate

We want to give a shout out to Heather Thomas, the newly appointed Poet Laureate for Berks County! Berks Bards is so proud of you! The event on October 1st at the Miller Center was an awesome gathering of presidents and poets, journalists and community leaders who EACH read a favorite poem in honor of the occasion.

It was an outstanding tribute to the power of poetry to transform a life...or a morning!

It was also the kick-off of "Reading Reads: The Greater Berks Literary Festival." Berks Bards is proud to be a part of this wonderful community effort.

Bravo, Heather Thomas! The "blue ruby' rocks!