First Thursday, December 2, 2015 at 6 p.m. at the GoggleWorks featuring poet Criag Czury

Join Berks Bards in welcoming Craig Czury to First Thurday.



Czury published his first book of poetry entitled Janus Peeking in 1980. The
book received the 1980 First Book Award from the Montana Arts Council. From there,
Czury went on to publish 15 more collections of poetry. Czury’s work
illustrates the pain and emptiness of the depression-stricken Pennsylvania
coal-mining region. The following is an excerpt from his poem entitled,
“Coalscape:”



all this black dust / black cinder and glass ground up / in the spine of
a torn-out trainbed / smoke rising out of birch on the culm bank / when it
begins to rain





One of his most notable collections is God’s Shiny
Glass Eye, published in 1987. This collection revolved around Czury’s vision of
the coal country where he grew up. Critic Michael
Basinski is quoted on the FootHills Publishing site as saying, “The poet’s
imagination and the anthracite world intimately merge to produce a poetry that
is poignantly barren and stripped of any artificial embellishment. It is an
angry poetry, but its passion is restrained and boils beneath the structure of
the book.”



An open mic follows.



This event is free and open to the public. 



It is sponsored in part by the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts, and supported through the Berks Arts Council, which administers funding locally.

November 5, 2015 6-8 p.m. at the GoggleWorks with poet Edwin Romond and an open mic

Please join Berks Bards in welcoming Edwin Romond back to the GoggleWorks for a poetry reading.

Edwin Romond is the author of eight collections of poetry
and has been awarded fellowships from
the National Endowment for the Arts and from both the New Jersey and
Pennsylvania State Councils on the Arts. His work has twice been featured on
NPR’s The Writer’s Almanac and he is the recipient of the 2013 New
Jersey Poetry Prize for his poem, “Champion.” He wrote the book, music, and
lyrics for two musical plays, Robin Hood and A Family Life, that were
produced at New Jersey community theaters and Spitball Magazine
recently published his first short story. His new poetry collection, Home
Team: Poems about Baseball, will be released in spring of 2016.

He was a public school teacher and counselor for 32 years
and now works in the poetry program of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. Edwin
Romond lives in Wind Gap, PA with his wife, Mary, their son, Liam, and their
dog, “Oscar.”

This event is free and open to the public. It is supported in part by the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts through a grant that is administered locally by the Berks Arts Council.

Thursday, Oct. 1, 2015 6-8 p.m. at the GoggleWorks featuring four poets from York

Please welcome our friends and awesome poets from the City of York, PA,
for First Thursday Poetry at the GoggleWorks, October 1st, at 6:00 pm.

Carla Christopher
Kenneth Vincent Walker
Jim Mills
Dustin Nispel

Open Mic to follow.

This is a free event open to the public, sponsored by Berks Bards and supported in part
with a grant from the PA Partners in the Arts.  Additional support from the Friends of the
Berks County Public Libraries, members and volunteers with Berks Bards.

Liz Stanley
Berks Bards
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bios

Carla
Christopher was York, PA's 4th Poet Laureate and the City's 2014 Arts
& Cultural Community Liaison. She is the host of York's longest
still-active running reading, 'It's NOT the King's English', held 3rd
Fridays at King's Courtyard Artist Collective. She is also the director
of PoemSugar Independent Press/Community Arts Ink and the host of
Culture & Main; York's Weekly Cultural Showcase on WRCT.


Kenneth Vincent Walker is a "New Formalist" poet, a hybrid, blending
classical/traditional and lyrical poetry with a jazzy, beat-like
sensibility.

Jim Mills is a 5th Generation Florida native, but
don't hold that against him.  He can still say 'Can I Get You A Drink
Awhile?' as well as any other Pennsyltuckian!  He and his 3 lovely cats
enjoy their fabulous home in York City.  His poetry, while sometimes
funny and sometimes grim, is like is his life - a sad thing, but his
own.

Dustin Nispel is a spoken word artist hailing from York PA.
He is Author of The Tower a collection of poem and is a multi award
winning poet. He has been writing for 15 years and performing his poetry
for nearly 13 years. He is co-owner of The Rooted Artist Collective
located in downtown York. Visit his Website at denpoetry.com

Tuesday, September 8, 2015 at Cafe Bold in West Reading 6-8 p.m. for a poetry open mic with Bee HiveQueen as hostess sponsored by Berks Bards

Please come and join the more than 150 local writers, including poets, essayists, novelists and short story writers who seek interaction, support and an appreciative audience for their work through Berks Bards, The Pagoda Writers and Writers Without Borders, the weekly critique group.

First Thursday September 3, 2015 6 p.m. at the GoggleWorks with York's Poet Laureate Christine Lincoln

Welcome to Reading the award-winning Poet Laureate of York, PA

The Phenomenal Christine Lincoln

First Thursday Poetry, September 3rd at 6:00 pm

The GoggleWorks Cafe', First Floor

Open Mic

Liz Stanley
Berks Bards
zilabets@hotmail.com

Bio

Christine
Lincoln writes fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. She is the
award-winning author of Sap Rising (Random House), a novel of
international acclaim. She was the first author to represent the United
States in South Africa’s annual Year of the Writer Celebration. She has
appeared on NPR, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and has been featured as a
“Phenomenal Woman” in O: The Oprah Magazine. Her stories have appeared
on stage at Symphony Space and Word Theatre, read and performed by Don
Cheadle, Gary Dourdan, and Lizan Mitchell. Just recently her short
story, Bug Juice, was chosen for a project with Audible Books and Word
Theatre. She is also a recipient of the Sophie Kerr Literary Prize.
Christine has been hailed as one of the rising, new voices of
contemporary fiction and she is currently at work on her novel A
Generation Comes. She is founder of the R.L. Coombs Fellowship, a
writing fellowship and residency that will award its first scholarship
in 2016 to an emerging woman writer of color or diverse ethnic
background. Her monthly article, “The Writers Voice” can be found online
with York Daily Record.

August 11, 2015 6-8 p.m. at Cafe Bold in West Reading for a poetry open mic

Join Berks Bards at Cafe Bold for an After Hours Open Mic Poetry Reading with Hostess Bee HiveQueen.



Bring your poems.


Bring your friends.


Bring your friend's poems.


Cafe Bold offers their full drink and menu options so bring your appetite as well.


See you there!


This free event is sponsored in part by the Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts administered locally by the Berks Arts Council.

Sunday, Aug. 9th 2015 at 4:45 p.m. at First Energy Stadium to read the winning entries for the Baseball Poetry Contest

Please join Berks Bards at the ball field on Sunday, August 9th in the plaza at First Energy Stadium, 4:45 p.m. when the winners of the Fightin' Phils and Berks Bards Baseball Poetry Contest will be reading their winning entries prior to the game, which begins at 5:05 p.m.



This year's winners are:



First Place: Bottom of the 10th by Le Hinton



Second Place: Another Day at the Park by Christine Ross



Third Place: Getting it Right by Ed Romond





Children 18 years old or younger in attendance are eligible to enter a drawing at the Berks Bards table.


The entry "fee" for children is to write a poem.



The drawing prizes are baseballs autographed by winners of past and current Baseball Poetry Contests.



The winning entries in the children's poetry drawing will be selected during the Seventh Inning Stretch.



Please plan to revisit the Berks Bards table at that time to see who won.