SIGN UP TO TAPE A 1-MINUTE POEM FOR BROADCAST ON BCTV IN APRIL

Dear Berks Bards poets and writers,

Once again Berks Bards is seeking poets with one-minute poems for taping at BCTV studios, 645 Penn Street, Reading, PA, with appointments available on two dates in March:

Wednesday March 5th from 2:00 to 4:00 pm

Wednesday March 12th from 2:00 to 4:00 pm

These one-minute poems will be broadcast on BCTV during the month of April as part of National Poetry Month and BardFest 2014.

There is a $10 fee per poem payable to Berks Bards at the time of the taping to help defray the costs of editing and broadcasting. Cash or check acceptable.

Please contact Marilyn Klimcho at klimcho@msn.com for your taping slot, and for more information.

Taping is by appointment only and space is limited.

Sign up today!

Poets will have approximately ten minutes in which to tape multiple "takes" if needed.

Liz Stanley
Marilyn L.T. Klimcho
~Berks Bards

P.S. See the BCTV Archives for Berks Bards One-Minute Poems from last year at www.bctv.org.

Thursday February 6, 2014 at 6 p.m. at the GoggleWorks featuring poets Emily Hayes Whittle and Mary Arguelles

Join us for First Thursday Poetry (if the winter weather permits)
February 6th at 6:00 pm

The GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe'

Emily Hayes Whittle and Mary Arguelles are featured poets

Open Mic.

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

Liz Stanley
~Berks Bards
zilabets@hotmail.com

BIO

Emily Hayes Whittle is
a poet, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother.  She fell in love
with poetry and the natural world as a child, and though the present
state of the world and environment causes her much sorrow, she finds
light for her path through poetry, her family and her Celtic Christian
and Cherokee Indian spiritual inheritance.  Emily primarily sees her
poetry as a writer's struggle to find faith and sanity in a world often
veiled in violence and darkness.    
Emily was born in Maplewood, Missouri, has worked an an LPN and began
college when her three children were in elementary school.  Her husband,
Gary R. Whittle, also a poet, passed away in 2012.  Both Emily and Gary
enjoyed and attended Berks Bards.  Emily currently lives in Reading,
PA.
     Emily's poetry has been published in various literary magazines including: Kalliope, American Writing, Passager, Poetic Page, The Awakenings  Review, Writers' Ink, and several of her poems have been translated into Japanese and appeared in three bi-lingual editions of The Plaza (Tokyo).  She also has had a book, Shadows and Light, published by Foothills Publishing.

Mary Arguelles lives
in West Reading with her husband.  They have three children and three
grandchildren.  She graduated from Alvernia University, and works as a
pharmacy technician at Healthsouth Reading Rehabilitation Hospital.     In 2005, she won the Central PA Magazine
Writing Contest with her short story, "Memorial Day" which appeared in
the April 2005 edition of the magazine.  Her non-fiction has appeared in Newsweek, New Mother, Baby Talk, and Salt magazines.  Her essay entitled, "Mending Petals" is slated to appear in the Spring 2014 edition of the Bellevue Literary Review.
     As far as poetry goes, Mary has been reading and writing poetry since the third grade. Her poems have appeared in Writers' Ink. About poetry, Mary loves this quote from Christian Wiman, the editor of Poetry Magazine:
"Let us remember…that in the end we go to poetry for one reason, so
that we might fully inhabit our lives and the world in which we live
them, and that if we more fully inhabit these things, we might be less
apt to destroy both."

Monday, January 27, 2014 at 6 p.m. in the Raven's Lounge at Reading Area Community College featuring poet Patricia Hanahoe-Dosch

Join us for a mid-winter celebration of poetry Monday, January 27, 2014, at 6:00 pm, in the Raven's Lounge, Student Union Building, Reading Area Community College, 10 South Second St, Reading, PA  19603.  Free parking is available in the Front Street Garage.

Featured poet is Patricia Hanahoe-Dosch, world traveler and professor of English at Harrisburg Community College in Lancaster.  Book signing and open mic to follow the featured poet.

This is the second in the 2013-2014 Bruce H. Stanley Memorial Poetry Series, sponsored by The Foundation for RACC.  Additional support is provided by Berks Bards, a grassroots poetry organization whose aim is to support the lively art of poetry in Reading and Berks County.

Berks Bards is supported in part by a grant from the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts as administered by the Berks Arts Council.

The event is free and open to students and the general public.  For more information: 610-607-6239.

Please pass the word.  Bring poems.  Bring friends.  Bring your friends' poems.

Liz Stanley
~Berks Bards

Because of anticipated weather conditons, Lester Hersh, the featured poet for First Thursday on January 2nd, 2014 has cancelled his appearance. If the GoggleWorks remains open, however, Berks Bards still plans to hold an open mic night.

Bring your poems, bring your friends, bring your friend's poems.

January 2nd, 2014 at 6 p.m. at the Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe in the GoggleWorks welcoming poet Lester Hersh to First Thursday with Berks Bards, open mic to follow

The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences placed Lester Hirsh's 'Mosaic II: Poems of An Ancient Order' on the Official Ballot for the 47th Annual Grammy Awards for 'Best Spoken Word Album.'

Lester Hirsh is a gifted guitarist, singer/songwriter, and poet. Performing on Spanish 6-string and acoustic 12-string guitar, his style ranges from classical, country, and folk, to Brazilian jazz and Flamenco. His repertoire includes original compositions as well as standards performed with intriguing percussive guitar riffs and harmonica.

Hirsh's guitar style, singing, flair for humor, and ability to work the crowd, moved Cheryl Mansley of RiverHouse Concerts, Shepherdstown, WV, to describe him as a 'One Man Traveling Party.'

Lester has performed in a variety of ensembles over the past 30 years - folk trio Side Three, Tampa, Florida, folk/pop trio Jerusalem, Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and duo Sweet River, Concord, New Hampshire. During that time Lester also honed his skills as a viable solo artist.

In 2002 Lester began to divide time between Concord, New Hampshire and his hometown of Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. From 1985 to 1998 he produced three full-length cassette LPs: 'Part & Parcel,' 'Piper's Dream,' and 'Whistle in the Wind.' This was followed by 'Tales of a Troubadour' in 1994, a 17-song retrospective compilation. 'Piper's Dream' and 'To Have You By My Side,' from 'Tales,' appeared on the Big Noise compilation disc 'Digital Mystery Tour' which received airplay in the US and overseas.

In 1997, Lester was a finalist in the Napa Valley, California, Emerging Songwriter Contest for his songs 'Whistle in the Wind' and 'On the Road in America.' In June of 2000 he performed on Michael Johnathon's 'Woodsong Old Time Radio Hour.'

In the fall of 1998, the CD 'Sweet Surrender' was released, followed by 'Strangers and Lonesome Friends' in 2003. Two spoken word CDs, 'Mosaic, Poems of an Ancient Order' and 'Mosaic II, Poems of an Ancient Order' were released in 2002 and 2003 respectively, followed by 'Lester Hirsh Live at the Coffee and Tea Room' in 2004 and the instrumental CD 'River of Strings' in 2006.

In addition to Lester's music career, from 1988 through 2002, he was publisher and editor of Bone & Flesh literary magazine. His poems have been published in The Ashville Poetry Review, Signal, Tabula Rasa, and other periodicals. His poem, 'Casualties,' along with art by Fleur Byers, was on exhibit at the Pen & Brush Gallery, New York City, in 1992. His book, 'Mosaic II, Poems of an Ancient Order,' was published by the Writers Publishing Cooperative, Warner, New Hampshire. ( www.essentialbooks.com ) Ellen Hersh calls his poetry, 'universal with the voice of an ancient troubadour and the language of our times.'

Lester performs for special needs audiences, artist-in-school residencies, and numerous concert venues. He teaches poetry as well as guitar workshops in community education settings. He is a member of the AIE Roster, Schuylkill County Council of the Arts, as well as the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts.

Richard Isen (Musicians on the Internet) says of Lester's musical style, 'like Johnny Cash meets Allen Ginsberg with Woody Guthrie looking on.'

Of his performance, Jane Fallon, former director of the Wilton NH Arts Festival, says, 'Lester Hirsh is the consummate performer with the polish of a professional and the enthusiasm of a rookie.'

Thursday, December 5, 2013 at 6 p.m. at the GoggleWorks for an open mic night of Poetry

Join Berks Bards for a Poetry Prelude to the Holidays

Thursday, December 5th, at 6:00 pm

Mi Casa Su Casa Cafe' at the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts

201 Washington St, Reading

Open Mic

Free event open to the public

Sponsored by Berks Bards with support from a grant by the PA Partners in the Arts, with annual funding
by the PA State Legislature, and administered locally by the Berks Arts Council.  Additional support
from the Friends of the Berks County Libraries, and from members and volunteers of Berks Bards.

Liz Stanley
~Berks Bards
zilabets@hotmail.com

Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013 at 6 p.m. in the Mi Casa Cafe at the GoggleWorks presenting poets J. Love Kearse and Maria James-Thiaw

Join Berks Bards for First Thursday, featuring the poetry of Soul Cry and Maria James-Thiaw with an open mic to follow.

Soul Cry, who is otherwise known as J. Love Kearse, is a poet from York, PA where she resides with her spouse and four. The “love child” of a musical mother and literary father, she has been featured in numerous venues and slams across the east coast. She was awarded Poet of the Year for 2007 and 2008 at the Central PA Hip-Hop Awards. She currently has two CD’s to her credit entitled “Destiny’s Calling” and “The Love Chronicles” and released her first collection of poems entitled “Passing Bi” in July of 2013.

Ms. Kearse has an Associate’s Degree in Business Management from Yorktowne Business Institute, a Bachelor’s Degree in Organizational Leadership from Eastern University, and is a 2014 candidate to receive her Masters of Business Administration from Easter University.

Also an amateur visual artist and an accomplished vocalist and songwriter, Soul Cry lives with her family in York County, Pennsylvania

Maria James-Thiaw is the author of three poetry collections: Windows to the Soul (Shippensburg University Press, 1999), Rising Waters (Shippensburg University Press, 2003) and her latest,Talking “White” (postDada Press, 2013) In 2006, she produced an independent CD of spoken word and music entitled FREEverse. Her poetry has been published in a variety of journals including Black Magnolias, Fledgling Rag, and Love Your Rebellion.

As a performance poet, Maria gracefully bridges the gap between stage and page by delivering her well-crafted lyric poetry with the dramatic power of a seasoned spoken word artist. Since the mid-1990s, she’s been ‘blessing the mic’ at venues throughout the East Coast and in Auvillar, a village in the South of France that served as inspiration for many poems in Talking “White.”

Maria James-Thiaw is a professor of literary and cultural studies at a small private college in Pennsylvania where she co-edits an online student literary journal called The Central Pen. She holds a Master’s degree in Communications Studies from Shippensburg University (2003) and a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Goddard College (2009.)