Bard Fest 2019 - In Celebration of National Poetry Month

Berks Bards is excited to announce our Bard Fest 2019 Event Line-Up!

Berks Bards is celebrating 21 years of fostering poetry in our community! Come wish us a Happy Birthday! Learn about poetry readings and workshops by checking out the events below!

What: Poetry-Collaging Workshop for Homeschooled Students by Jennifer Hetrick

When: April 4th, 2019 from 10-11:30 AM

Where: Reading Public Library

100 S 5th St, Reading, PA 19602

*Call 610.655.6350 x 241 to RSVP

For more information visit: poetrywithjenniferhetrick.blogspot.com

What: 1st Thursday Poetry & Open Mic Featuring Darla Himeles

When: April 4th, 2019 at 6 PM

Where: GoggleWorks Center for the Arts

201 Washington St, Reading, PA 19601

Darla Himeles is a Pushcart-Prize and Best-of-the-Net nominee whose poetry can be read in recent issues of Talking River, Naugatuck River Review, Atticus Review, Storyscape, and Pittsburgh Poetry Review. An associate editor of The Stillwater Review, Darla  holds an AB in English from Bryn Mawr College and an MFA in poetry and poetry in translation from Drew University. She is currently a doctoral candidate in American literature at Temple University, where she is also assistant director of the university's writing center. A 2018 K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award recipient, Darla lives in Philadelphia with her wife, daughter, and two orange cats. She is the author of the chapbook Flesh Enough (Get Fresh Books, 2017).

Learn more about Darla Himeles by visiting: https://www.darlahimelespoetry.com/

What: The Poet Tree Open Mic

When: April 6th, 2019 from 6-9 PM

Where: Custom IT AFS

1801 N 12th St #101, Reading, PA 19604

For more information visit: https://www.facebook.com/Customitafs/

What: Michael Czarnecki Poetry Workshop

When: April 6th, 2018 at 1PM

Where: L.T. James' Home

1840 Lorraine Road Reading, PA 19604

 *RSVP via email ltjamesthepagoda@gmail.com

For more information visit: http://www.pagodawriters.com/

What: Poetry & Music | Turtle Moon Native American Flute Circle

When: April 7th, 2019 from 1-4 PM

Where: Social Hall of the Bern Reformed UCC Church

3196 Bernville Rd, Leesport, PA 19533

For more information visit: https://turtlemoonnafc.wordpress.com/ 

What: 2nd Tuesday Poetry Open Mic

When: April 9th, 2018 at 6 PM

Where: Aladdin's Restaurant

401 Penn Ave, West Reading, PA 19611


Our regularly occurring 2nd Tuesday Poetry Open Mic meets at Aladdin's Restaurant at 6 PM every second Tuesday of the month. Join us downstairs for food, drinks, conversation, community, and of course...poetry!

What: Bird Poems Workshop by Jennifer Hetrick

When: April 13th, 2019 from 9:30-11:30 AM

Where: Rock Hollow Woods Environmental Learning Center

615 Rock Hollow Rd, Birdsboro, PA 19508

$20 Registration Fee can be paid by visiting:
https://www.rockhollowwoods.org/store/p72/Bird_Poems_Workshop-Saturday%2C_April_13%2C_2019.html

What: Celebrate 21 Years of Berks Bards

When: April 14th, 2019 from 3-5:30 PM

Where: Brandywine Branch Distillery & Bistro

350 Warwick Rd, Elverson, PA 19520

$25 Ticket includes a signature cocktail & salad

Learn more at : https://TinyURL.com/BerksBards21st

What: Tanka: Poetry Reading & Mini-Workshop with Elizabeth Bodien

When: April 16th, 2019 at 6 PM

Where: Wyomissing Public Library

 9 Reading Blvd, Wyomissing, PA 19610

Elizabeth Bodien is the author of two books of poetry: Blood, Metal, Fiber, Rock and Oblique Music: A Book of Hours  as well as four poetry chapbooks all written since she retired from teaching at Northampton Community College.She is also the author of the spiritual memoir Journeys with Fortune: A Tale of Other Lives. She holds degrees in cultural anthropology, consciousness studies, religions, and poetry. She has worked as an instructor of English in Japan, an organic farmer in the mountains of Oregon, a childbirth instructor in West Africa, and as a professor of anthropology. She retired from teaching to devote time to writing. She has taught poetry workshops and given talks on poetry and poetics on radio and TV.  Her poems, essays, and book reviews have appeared in Cimarron Review, Crannóg, and Parabola, among many other publications in the USA, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and India. Now she is working on a collection of her trance writings.  Bodien grew up in the “burned-over” district of Western New York but now lives near Hawk Mountain, Pennsylvania.

Learn more about Elizabeth Bodien by visiting: http://www.elizabethbodien.com/

What: Bad Poetry Workshop for Teens

When: April 18th, 2019 from 6-7:30 PM

Where: Boone Area Library

129 N Mill St, Birdsboro, PA 19508

What: Poetry Workshop with Anthony Orozco aka Glyph

When: April 18th, 2019 at 6 PM

Where: Barrio Alegria

140 N 5th St, Reading, PA 19601

What: Poetry with Dr. T | Workshop for Children

When: April 20th, 2019 at 1 PM

Where: Sweet Ride Ice Cream

542 Penn Ave, West Reading, PA 19611

What: Artress Bethany White Poetry Reading

When: April 23rd, 2019 at 6 PM

Where: Barrio Alegria

140 N 5th St, Reading, PA 19601

Artress Bethany White is a poet, essayist, and literary critic. She is the recipient of the 2018 Trio Award for her new poetry collection, My Afmerica (Trio House Press, 2019). Her prose and poetry have appeared in such journals as Harvard Review, Tupelo Quarterly, The Hopkins Review, Poet Lore, Ecotone, and Pleiades. She has received the Mary Hambidge Distinguished Fellowship from the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts for her nonfiction, The Mona Van Duyn Scholarship in Poetry from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and writing residencies at The Writers Hotel and the Tupelo Press/MASS MoCA studios. She is a visiting assistant professor of American cultural studies at Albright College in Pennsylvania.

What: Memory Poem Workshop with Nancy Yeager

When: April 24th, 2019 from 9:30-11 AM

Where: The Mifflin Senior Center of Berks Encore

30 Liberty St, Shillington, PA 19607

What: Joshua Surita Poetry Reading

When: April 27th, 2019 at 1 PM

Where: Park Road Cafe

840 N Park Rd, Wyomissing, PA 19610

Joshua Surita was born and raised in the Lehigh Valley, where he first discovered his love for poetry in a high school classroom. After graduating in 2010, he continued to refine his craft by writing in between classes at Penn State and presenting pieces at many schools, community conferences, and countless open mics. This passion eventually led to Joshua being invited to California for Rhetoric 2018, one of the largest Spoken Word Poetry events in the country. But when he’s not crafting poetry, he’s crafting lesson plans as a Special Education teacher. And while his audience may change from poet enthusiasts to middle school students, Joshua’s underlying goal is the same: to glorify Jesus Christ.

What: Candy Poems Workshop by Jennifer Hetrick

When: April 28th, 2019 from 1-3 PM

Where: The Peppermint Stick Candy Store

26 E Philadelphia Ave, Boyertown, PA 19512

What: 8th Berks County Poet Laureate Celebration Ceremony

When: May 1st, 2019 at 7 PM

Where: Miller Center for the Arts at RACC

4 N 2nd St, Reading, PA 19601

Find us on Facebook and Twitter or join our Mailing List for more information!

Join Nathanael Tagg at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts March 7th, 2019

Berks Bards is excited to welcome Nathanael Tagg! Join us at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts to hear selected poetry. Following his reading, we'll allow ANYONE to step up to the mic and read what moves them.

When: March 7th, 2019 at 6 pm
Where: GoggleWorks Center for the Arts Studio 420
201 Washington Street Reading PA 19601

Read Nathanael Tagg's Bio below:


Nathanael Tagg has an MFA in creative writing from Rutgers, where he was a Truman Capote Literary Trust fellow. He is an associate professor at Cecil College. His first book, a collection of poems entitled Animal Virtue, was published by WordTech Editions in March 2018. His writing has appeared in Barrow Street, Colorado Review, Cimarron Review, Confrontation, Pleiades, and many other magazines. It employs humor, nature imagery, poetic form, and allusions—especially the biblical or literary—to explore the challenges of living well in times of personal, spiritual, or environmental trouble. He lives with his wife and their nine-month-old daughter in Lancaster, PA.

Read a sample poem from Nathanael below:

Our Baby Deepness

Really? Yes, science proves the virgin birth

of Komodo dragons, caused by the holy spirit

of loneliness. Often, a most mammal-like lizard

—call her Mary; look in her eyes (somebody

is home)—must have swum to paradise,

an island with everything she needs, bar

a mate. Evolution—call him Evo—

couldn’t brook this (no nativity) forever

and said, “No mate? No problem. Voila:

you’re pregnant.” Science contests every miracle?

Destroys a sense of beauty and mystery? Really?

No spirituality without dualism and theology?  

To awe me, Jane, yours needn’t be a virgin birth

and won’t be, which your mom and I can confirm.

To the miraculous process, I’m peripheral.

Never mind another miracle: walking on water.

Oceanographer Sylvia Earle walked the ocean floor,

wore a pressurized suit, was reborn as Our Lady

Deepness, who says, “Kids don’t start out killing;

they start out wondering.” Jane, you’ll

be curious (in both senses) like Jane Goodall

and become yourself by living among us—

among animals. Like you, like fetuses, in wetness

Earle lives, learns, grows. Mirroring the odyssey

of your mom, every woman with child, all expectant

parents (me too!), Earle, while pregnant,

descended in a submersible to explore the depths.

Learn more about Nathanael by visiting his website: http://www.nathanaeltagg.com

Find Berks Bards on Facebook and Twitter or join our Mailing List for more information

Now Accepting BCTV One Minute Poem Submissions

It's time to tape one-minute poems at Berks Community Television!

Are you interested in reading/performing a short poem to broadcast on BCTV throughout the month of April as part of Bard Fest 2019?

These tapings will be broadcasted live on BCTV and can be later found online at BCTV.org

To submit your poem digitally, first read the submission instructions here:
TinyURL.com/BCTVInstructions

As always, your $10.00 contribution (checks made out to Berks Bards) helps Berks Bards defray the expense of this event. Or pay ahead via PayPal at TinyURL.com/BerksBards

Only 22 slots are available this year and these are strictly on a first come, first served!

If you have questions please email Marilyn Klimcho
*Please include your name and contact information with your submission.
*Please write BCTV 2019 ONE MINUTE on the regards line.

Berks Bards' Song Challenge to Ryan Marie Rettew

Submit up to five lines of your original poetry to klimcho@msn.com by Monday April 1, 2019.

Singer/Songwriter Ryan Marie Rettew will use your words as inspiration to create up to 4 songs that will be revealed on Berks Community Television's Poets' Pause at 7 p.m. on Wednesday  November 13, 2019.

Limit three submissions of five lines each per person.

Please include your name and contact information with your submission.

Please write Song Challenge 2019 on the regards line.

Join David Nazario at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts February 7th, 2019

Berks Bards is excited to welcome David Nazario! Join us at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts to hear selected poetry. Following his reading, we'll allow ANYONE to step up to the mic and read anything that moves them.

When: February 7th, 2019 at 6 pm
Where: GoggleWorks Center for the Arts Studio 238
201 Washington Street Reading PA 19601

Read David Nazario's Bio below:

David Nazario’s career as an author, speaker, and educator gives him the opportunity to do what he loves and call it work. In addition to speaking at high schools and colleges throughout the Tristate region, David contributes to Here In My City and Reading Eagle newspaper, and works part-time as a college adviser and adjunct professor at Reading Area Community College. He released his first book, 'Make Love Your Religion: How To Put Love First & Succeed at Doing What You Love' (SDJ Press) in April 2018. David earned his B.A. in Literature with a minor in Journalism from West Chest

Read a sample poem from David below:

Coffee Breaks In Cuba

Coffee breaks in Cuba provide welcomed albeit unnecessary shelter from the rain
Cool drops splash against a tattered window pane
Horns blair and the drum beats
The viejo with silk in his tone sings, not too sweet
Oh so strong
The perfect combination
The perfect song
Across the way palm trees sway transforming the pleasant into bliss
Coffee breaks in Cuba are heaven with each sip

Join Larew & Czarnecki at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts December 6th, 2018

Berks Bards is excited to welcome Hiram Larew and Michael Czarnecki! Join us at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts to hear selected poetry. Following their reading, we'll allow ANYONE to step up to the mic and read anything that moves them.

When: December 6th, 2018 at 6 pm

Where: GoggleWorks Center for the Arts Studio 420

201 Washington Street Reading PA 19601

Read Hiram Larew's Bio below: 

Larew's work has appeared most recently in Little Patuxent Review, Contemporary American Voices, FORTH, vox poetica, Poetry Super Highway, Poets & Artists, Every Day Poems, Lunaris Review (Nigeria), Amsterdam Quarterly, and The Wild Word.  His fourth collection is due out this year from Foothills Publishing House.  He’s been nominated for four Pushcarts, is a member of the Shakespeare Folger Library’s poetry board, and organizes several events in Prince George’s County, MD and beyond including Poetry X Hunger and The Poetry Poster Project. He is a global hunger specialist, and lives in Upper Marlboro, MD … and he’s very, very short.  On Facebook at Hiram Larew, Poet.

Read a sample poem from Hiram Larew below:

ACHILL SOUND

When the roads curve like sound

And dip as if lifting to bow

Whenever all thoughts round or cluster

Or when hearts call down

Is Ireland

And as rich when poor was

Or as wise as bare heads in snow seemed

And as twigs so frail broke into song

Ans as true as any blight could be

Was Ireland

So when sand laps the senses

Or salt drips the edges as dreams

Whenever hope streams through such heavens

And moss comes home

Or hearts beam down

Is Ireland.

- Hiram Larew

https://www.facebook.com/hiramlarewpoet/

Read Michael Czarnecki's Bio below:

Michael Czarnecki is a poet, oral memoirist and small press publisher originally from Buffalo, NY. He founded FootHills Publishing in 1986 and since then FootHills has released over 400 chapbooks and books of poetry. In 1994 Michael gave up other work to devote his time and life to poetry. Since then he has made his living solely through the creative word. In the last 25 years he has given hundreds of featured readings throughout the country. His Poems Across America Tour in 2013, a 14-week journey, featured a reading in each of the 48 contiguous states.

Michael has published 17 books, the two most recent being YOU and Ten Days in Huntington Wildlife Forest. When not out on the poetic road Michael lives on a 50-acre homestead in the northwest portion of the Susquehanna Watershed in NY.
More information about Michael can be found on his website: www.foothillspublishing.com/poetguy/index.html

He also posts a new photograph and new spontaneous poem everyday on his Facebook page: www.facebook.com/michael.czarnecki.35

Read a sample poem from Michael Czarnecki below:

What’s Next

next step

             just follows

last step

            it can't be

                            otherwise

step with gratitude

               step with light

                              step with love

in doing so

             next step

                        will be exactly

                                             right step

- Michael Czarnecki

www.foothillspublishing.com/poetguy/index.html

Join Cat Mahony at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts November 1st, 2018

Berks Bards is excited to welcome Cat Mahony! Join us at GoggleWorks Center for the Arts to hear selected poetry. Following her reading, we'll allow ANYONE to step up to the mic and read anything that moves them.

When: November 1st, 2018 at 6 pm
Where: GoggleWorks Center for the Arts Studio 420
201 Washington Street Reading PA 19601

Learn more about Cat Mahony before our event by reading more below:

Catherine Mahony, a writer of multiple genres, holds a Bachelor’s degree in professional writing from Kutztown University, and Associate’s degrees in communications and liberal arts from Reading Area Community College. Mahony is the winner of RACC’s Creative Writing Award for academic excellence for 2013 and 2014; her first chap book, Prior Restraints, was published that same year. You can also read Mahony’s award-winning poetry and fiction in “Lehigh Valley Vanguard” Agony and Ecstasy:Reflections of our Lives” Layers of Language” “Legacy” and “Shoofly.” Her creative nonfiction has been published in “Rag Queen Periodical.” Mahony has facilitated creative writing workshops in Studio B, Boyertown PA; Pagoda Writer’s Workshop; Reading, PA; Caron Treatment Center, Wernersville, PA; and Berks County Prison, Leesport, PA. She is currently establishing her creative writing program, Ebonybloodletting76, which brings creative writing lessons with a therapeutic twist to the under-served community. Mahony believes writing saved her life. She was diagnosed with Bipolar as well as Borderline Personality Disorder by the age of 16, and is a recovering heroin addict. By exposing her vulnerabilities through brutally honest writing, Mahony hopes she can help others who also may be struggling. She currently lives in Eastern, PA. With her son Alex.
Visit https://cmaho582.wixsite.com/ebonybloodletting76/blog/ to learn more!

Below is a sample of Cat Mahony's poetry:

Sewn Shut

By Cat Mahony
Such a familiar face,
Lips and eyes sewn shut.
Such familiar hands,
Crossed politely over a still chest.
Her skin
as taut as an African drum.
Her dress
something she would not be caught dead in.
She is silenced.
She is flawless.
She is beautiful.
The viewers can’t see from my vantage point.
My back pressed against ceiling tile.
My hair entwined in lighting fixtures.
Their words echo in her mind,
Words like;
Lost, hopeless, and tragedy.
Such a familiar face.
Lips quivering and eyes kaleidoscopes of tears.
Such familiar hands,
Fidgeting nervously in pockets.
Her skin
As white as a water lily.
Her dress
Something she would not be caught dead in.
She is silent.
She is innocent.
She is a mirror.
The viewers can’t see from her vantage point.
Her back to the wall as medics hurried in.
Her hair matted to wet cheeks.
Words echo in her mind,
Words like;
Orphan, motherless, and tragedy.