Two events this week on May 31 and June 4th

Two events this week!

1. Berks Bards has been invited to read at the Senior Arts Festival, Reading Area Community College, Sunday, May 31, at 3:15 pm in the Berks-Penn Rooms. Featured poets are Doug Arnold, Elizabeth Bodien, Awilda I. Castro-Suarez, Marilyn Klimcho, Patrick Klimcho, and Liz Stanley. This event is free and open to the public.

2. First Thursday Poetry at the GoggleWorks in the first floor cafe' on June 4, 2009, at 6:00 pm. Jennifer Gittings-Dalton will be the featured poet, and there will be an open mic. Berks Bards would like to host a small reception after the reading with all attendees, to celebrate the finale of 2009 Bard Fest. We have permission to bring in some light refreshments. Join us!

Liz Stanley
~Berks Bards
zilabets@hotmail.com

Double Feature Thursday April 16

THURSDAY THURSDAY THURSDAY POETRY THIS THURSDAY

Bard Fest 2009 Double-Feature!

Thursday, April 16, 2009 - Awilda I. Castro-Suarez, Hard Bean Boyertown, Second Thursday Poetry hosted by Jodi Corbett and Luke Kasik, 7:00 pm. Open mic. Call for information, 610-223-4378.

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. This event is free and open to the general public. Reservations requested for reception hosted by the UU Church.

Liz Stanley
~Berks Bards
zilabets@hotmail.com

Membership: Marilyn Klimcho, Treasurer
610-374-1161

Facebook: Berks Bards
Blog: www.berksbards.blogspot.com

7 Poets at Outsider Folk Art Gallery, GoggleWorks

Tonight the Outsider Folk Art Gallery at the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts welcomes seven poets from Alvernia University, Kutztown University and Penn State Berks Campus: Tom Bierowski, Karen Blomain, Jayne Relaford Brown, Elizabeth DeMeo, Dubem Okafor, Berks County Poet Laureate Heather Thomas, and Andrew Vogel.

The event begins at 6 pm in the Gallery, Room 504, The GoggleWorks, 201 Washington ST, Reading, PA. Open mic. This event is part of the 2009 Bard Fest, sponsored by Berks Bards.

New gallery installation is "Ecologically Correct: The Philadelphia Dumpster Divers." (April 2 to June 10, 2009)

For more information, call 610-939-1737.

Love Song April 8th

Barbara DeCesare will be the featured guest on Poet's Pause, Wednesday, April 8th at 7:00 pm on Berks Community Television (BCTV). Doug Arnold is host. The program will be broadcast live on Comcast Cable Channel 13 in the Reading Area, as well as streaming online at www.bctv.org.

Barbara DeCesare is coordinating an arts event based on "The Love Song of J..."
"Do I dare to disturb the universe?" Check out the connection to Prufrock here: http://ncteinbox.blogspot.com/2009/04/daring-to-disturb-universe.html

Poetry...the next following days Apr. 4-9

WHEN? Thursday, April 2, 2009 6:00 pm.
WHAT? J.C. Todd, First Thursday Poetry
WHERE? Bravo Café The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 201 Washington Street, Reading,
INFO? 610-777-0863.

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

WHEN? Wednesday, April 8, 2009 7:00 pm
WHAT? Host is Doug Arnold; poet to be announced.
WHERE? Poets' Pause, Berks Community Television

WHEN? Thursday, April 9, 2009 6:00 pm.
WHAT? Berks County College and University Faculty Poets, featuring Berks County Poet Laureate Heather Thomas, Jayne Relaford Brown, Tom Bierowski, Beth DeMeo, Dubem Okafor, Karen Blomain,
WHERE? Outsiders Folk Art Gallery, Suite 504, The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 201 Washington Street, Reading,
INFO? Brief open mic. to follow. Call for information, 610-939-1737.

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.