Hudson Valley Writers Guild Annual Meeting: Poetry Contest Winners’ Reading, November 12

The genre for the 2022 HVWG writing contest was poetry & at the annual meeting most of the winners were there to read their winning poems. Interestingly enough all the winners this year were women writers; I haven’t done a “scientific” study of this trend, but it does seem to me, based as poetry collections published in the last few years, more women than men poets are publishing their work, perhaps making up for lost time.

The first group of readers were the those who had scored “Honorable Mentions.” First reader was Cathy Lautenbach, who had read at open mics in Albany & Schenectady back in the mid-1990s & early 2000s. She had moved & earned an MFA in writing in New Orleans, & recently returned to the Capital Region; her first poem, which sounded like a pantoum, was for NOLA; she also read a fascinating piece that she described as an ode to libraries titled “From What I’ve Read About Surviving,” filled with trees, stillness alone, even sailors carrying books. Another piece was titled “A Sermon at the Park,” then her honorable mention poem “Sonnet Before Dying.”

Laura Henebry confessed that this was the first time she has read her work in public. She began with her honorable mention poem “My Mother Tells Me Jesus Saves While Sipping Lemonade,” then a poem about depression & boredom, & another on a relationship gone bad. Perhaps she’ll be motivated to come out to some of the local open mic venues & read more of her poems.

Krisanna Scheiter is an Associate Professor at Union College. She also began with her poem that earned an Honorable Mention, “German Girl,” about the experiences of her grandmother who escaped Germany just before World War II. Other poems she read were “Vignettes of Trauma & Recovery” in multiple parts, then a poem titled “The Prayer,” & a new work-in-progress “This Place Was Not Built for Us.”

Phyllis Hillinger also won an honorable mention but was unable to attend the event so HVWG President Faith S. Green read Phyllis’ poem “Low Tide at Solana Beach.” 

At this point we took a break & had an opportunity to talk with some of the poets. Then on to the main prize winners. 

The 3rd Prize went to Caroline Grondahl for her work “A Poem about Credit Card Debt,” which I heard her read at the NYS Writers Institute Book Festival reading in September. Caroline could not be here for this so her poem was read by HVWG Co-Vice President Mary Panza.

2nd Prize was awarded to Nancy Klepsch for her poem “My Mother was Effortlessly Cool” that I have also heard at local readings, perhaps at the 2nd Sunday @2 Open Mic (at Collar City Mushrooms in Troy) that Nancy co-hosts with me each month. She also read today poem like a blue symphony beginning “Blue is a hard color…” then a tender, descriptive poem “Ocean Lover.”

The 1st Prize winner was Columbia County poet & artist Margaret McDermott who began with her winning poem with the marvelous title “Wading in Cloud Pools.” Other poems she read were “Bones,” “Questions for the Troll” about a homeless person & a dog living under a bridge, then “Proximity” which also included a dog.

It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon, how could it not include imaginative & engaging poetry since they were all Prize-winners? You can find more information about this year’s winners, & past contests at www.hvwg.org — & check back for information about the 2023 writing contest.

2nd Tuesday All-Genre Open Mic Out of Bennington, November 8

This, too, has become a regular on my poetry calendar, especially because I can stay home — it’s on Zoom. The host is Charlie Rossiter out-of-Bennington, who likes to do 2 rounds of 1 poem each.

Charlie put me 1st on his sign-up sheet & since we were close enough to Halloween I read 2 poems on that theme, in the first round a ghost poem, “Photo at the QE2, 1991,” then for the 2nd time around “Witches in my Attic.”

Sally Rhoades began with a poem written this Summer at a Provincetown workshop originated by the late Stanley Kunitz “Nonpareil for my Father;” in the 2nd round a piece written during the pandemic “No School Buses.” 

Kenn Ash’s 1st piece titled “Parallel Presence” was an eco-poem on bat guano; in his 2nd round a new, political piece “Single-Minded.” 

Bridget read 2 short poems from her series “Out of the Corner of My Eye” one on the flight of crows, & one about the secrets under the leaves; later a piece titled “Almost Americana” inspired by a Yelp review. 

Charlie, our host, in the 1st round read “Thanksgiving Letter” about the perfect turkey; in the 2nd round notes from the news during the Trump era salvaged from the old notebooks.

Julie Lomoe’s 1st round piece was titled “My Womb Dome” a long, rambling prose memoir of her involvement in the early women’s movement in NYC; then later, “Gin on the Rocks” from her series about the time she fell (did you know she had a sub-dural hematoma a few years ago?).

Tom Nicotera battled computer issues again, but was able to read the descriptive “Take Out“, then later, at the end, a piece beginning “we are all ghosts here” on aging & death.

But for now we ghosts remain above ground & hopefully will be back for the next 2nd Wednesday all-genre open mic out of Bennington (Vermont, that is). If you haven’t joined us & want to be “here,” email Charlie at charliemrossiter@gmail.com & ask for the link.

Invocation of the Muse, November 7

It’s been a year since R.M. Engelhardt started this new poetry series in Albany over at the Fuze Box. He still does a “Goth Night” there on a Friday night each month, but the poetry is now at Lark Hall on the 1st Monday of the month. Tonight he read one of his own poems (he was the night’s Muse?!?) his Stevie Nicks hat too big, to get us started “Bad Omens, Monday, November 14, 2022, the Year of the Asshole.”

Since I was up next, I wondered if he was referring to me — anyways, I read poems of ghosts & witches, the ghost poem “Photo at the QE2, 1991,” then the witch poem, “Witches in the Attic.” Josh-the-Poet followed with 3 very short love poems, “Calling You to the Moon,” one about being attached, & “If Love Was Easy.” Daniel W. (who was not me) read a string of Haiku, with titles like “Inconvenience,” & “Gentle, Not Kind.” The next poet signed up as “UNLOK (Gordon)," whatever that means, & performed from memory (or improvised on a theme) a long, oh-so-serious political piece titled “Stump Speech Part 2.”

Pat Williams has been showing up here in the last few months, & made his first appearance back in January when this series was at the Fuze Box. Rob introduced the feature tonight by highlighting Pat’s “sports poems.” Many of the poems he did read he has tried out here at previous open mics, including “The Trapped Beast,” “The Meat Grinder,” & a couple of villanelles. It seemed at times that he was parodying people’s images of what poets do, writing about “Nature & friendship,” often in short lines with erratic rhymes, but there didn’t seem to be any of the promised “sports poems.” I called out from the audience asking for a football poem, & he obliged with “Are You Ready for Some Football,” using language from broadcasters, with repeating lines. & at the end he read a plumber poem, “Drip,” for an eclectic mix of topics & inspiration.

After a short break, Rob was back “without further ado,” as he said, with the rest of the open mic list. Maurice, who is also a regular on the first Monday, read what he said was a revision of an earlier poem, the first part a description of a car crashing into a hydrant, then into a pensive reflection on a break-up.

The poet who signed up as “Irby Poetry” began with the teacher/preacher ploy to engage the congregation, “how are you feeling? Everybody OK?,” the recited a short piece on a toxic relationship. The next reader Shalom Harrison, had trouble reading her  poems, which were like notes towards poems, from her phone, one piece an engaging love poem about basking in the sunlight.

Rob’s poem “Nope” was like a barroom lecture on The Word, complete with the dubious description of poets as outcasts “with a higher I.Q.” — some do, some don’t. Austin Houston read early poems, “My Aunt’s Backyard” was dated in 2011 & was written as a school assignment, while “Neverland” was inspired by Peter Pan, whether book, movie or play he didn’t say.

Wil Lo was one of our bartenders tonight & came on stage to read a piece titled “The Juror” about being in court to support a friend for the verdict. John floats in & out of some the open mics with his poems on intriguing images, like “The Painting Room” & the extended metaphor of “Chess Freestyle.” Sandra D. ended this night of poetry with an auto-biographical, dysphoric limerick (of sorts), then a poem of angst against "the in-crowd."

Over the past year this open mic series has settled in as part of the monthly poetry calendar — 1st Monday, 7:30/8:00, at Lark Hall, corner of Lark St. & Hudson Ave., Albany, NY, enter on Hudson Ave. — open mic with a featured poet, $5.00.

Caffè Lena Poetry Open Mic, November 2

Back to Saratoga Springs again this month, a somewhat different night, giving fellow poet Joe Krausman a ride, we had dinner at Hattie’s before signing up for the open mic. The host of the open mic is Carol Graser who begins with a poem by some other poet, tonight she read Ada Limon’s “The Mountain Lion.”

The featured poet here starts on time & reads first because they are live-streamed on the Caffè Lena YouTube channel (which means you can use the link now to see this night’s reading by Susan Comninos). She read entirely from her recent book Out of Nowhere (Stephan F. Austin State University Press), not just poems but the 2 epigraphs as well. The reading seemed to not have been planned, but put together on-the-fly, at one point with only a few minutes left, she asked for audience input on themes to read. Her reading style suggested by the tone of her voice & pregnant pauses that many of the poems seemed to have ended before it was actually done, & I almost clapped a number of times at what would was only the middle of the poem. But you can check all this out online.

What is not online is the great variety of poets who read in the open mic portion (which is what poets need to do to practice & develop their onstage skills). First up was Mary Ann Rockwell (from the Saratoga Springs Public Library) who read W.S. Merwin’s grand poem “Thanks.” Michael Carroll read a poem that shared a title with a song by Donovan, “The Season of the Witch.” Pauline Boehm read a poem titled “Ennui” about Southern ladies & their mint juleps, then one that was a memory of wild horses. Todd Fabozzi read from what he said was his 4th book, finished this year (without telling us the title of the book), 2 rhyming pieces “All Days Turn to Night,” & “Emergence.” My traveling companion, Joe Krausman, responded to one of Susan Comninos’ themes with his poem in rhyme entitled “Gratitude.”

I hadn’t seen Mia Farrington here previously (but then I did miss some months in the Summer), she read a piece titled “Intimate Recap” a sort of introduction to who/what she is. Jan Tramontano has been a feature poet here, most recently in December 2021, her first poem tonight was one to her daughter, “Matryoshka Dolls,” then one titled “At the Nursing Home Window.” I read next, an anaphoric poem about Saratoga Springs that I’ve been adding to for months “Solevo.” 

I don’t easily have access to the sign-up sheet which Carol sweeps into her bag as she scurries out, so I can’t confirm the spelling of the names of the poets that she introduces; many I know from the past, or I simply resort to common spellings. The next poet was named Erin, or Aaron, who began with a colorfully descriptive piece about clouds, then, alternating from paper to his phone, read a sad love poem. Carol Graser read a piece on death titled “Mirror Nonet,” in a made-up form from, a favorite assignment at a Bernadette Mayer workshop for which Carol wrote the poem.

Fred Zieman (? spelling) read a descriptive piece about a town from his youth. Melissa Anderson has been showing up a lot at open mics recently, began with a short piece titled “How the Ancients Named the Seat of Passion,” then a piece inspired by a fragment from Marilyn Monroe’s poems, “Time Which Has Not Drowned Me Yet.”

E.R. Vogel is another new poet on the scene & read a philosophical, descriptive piece from his recently self-published chapbook Love Poems & Other Stuff. Rodney Parrott is a regular here at Caffè Lena, but still read 3 pieces (Carol said to read 2) from his series “Lucid Remembering.” Katherine Parker said she was reading a Haiku “string” but each section she read seemed too long to be either Japanese or American Haiku, so I’m not sure what it was she read but it was interesting lines.

Elaine Kenyon, who also has been reading regularly here, read an untitled piece of notes, descriptions of herself. Peggy said the piece she was reading, titled “Exiting Education,” about retiring, was unedited, uncorrected.” 

Cris Greco read here last month a noisy factory piece, this night read another poem about workers, a sociological poetic essay titled “ECR,” then a piece titled “The Last Man Standing.” Julie Lomoe who frequents lots of open mics read a piece from her ongoing memoir in-progress of her sub-dural hematoma “Gin on the Rocks.” 

I believe this is the only poetry open mic in Saratoga County, & has been for years. You can join it on the 1st Wednesday of any month at the historic Caffè Lena, 47 Phila St, Saratoga Springs, NY, — sign up for the open mic at 6:30PM, featured poet at 7:00PM. Or you can just watch the featured poet on the YouTube Channel.

 

Ghost Poems, October 27

There has been a long tradition in the Albany poetry scene, originating with events organized by R.M. Engelhardt, of Halloween-themed open mics but they had languished even before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But this year there was a rising from the dead at the Art Associates Gallery on Railroad Ave. in Albany, NY which had recently been the site of the poetry & art exhibit Poetic License - Albany. The host was, once again, goth/Poe/Baudelaire host R.M. Engelhardt.

I led off the list beginning with an old poem from Halloween years ago, inspired by Alan Catlin’s Killer Cocktails (1997) “Zombie Gourd,” then a poem only a week or so old “Witches in the Attic."

James Duncan has a new book out but read from an early book We Are all Terminal But this Exit is Mine (2017), a collection of short, short memoir, with a “true story about the ghost in the guest room closet," & another Halloween tale titled “October 31.”

Tim Verhaegen told a funny story of walking in Albany Rural Cemetery & meeting a “hot” gay ghost, the spirit of James Dean.

Josh-the-Poet read a dark poem about a warm spirit who has turned evil & cold.

Melissa Anderson read a piece titled “The Snake, or the Dream of the Werewolf” a meditation on tragedy.

Thom Francis introduced the last reader for the night who had been our host here, R.M. Engelhardt who read 2 pieces, a philosophical consideration of people & change titled “Some Spirits,” & “The Wolfman” combining a memoir of a poet from the early 1990s who read werewolf poems at the QE2 open mics, & of aging poets moving on to the suburbs.

It was a spooky night of poems of werewolves, witches, ghosts & memories of the past.

Third Thursday Poetry Night, October 20

The rehab/renovations are ongoing at the Social Justice Center so it is somewhat like having an open mic at a construction site. But that hasn’t stopped the poets from showing up, 13 read in the open mic, & the featured poet was Megeen R. Mulholland. But first I invoked the Muse, tonight the recently gone Southwest poet & activist Dorothy Alexander, I read her poem “Love in Old Age” from her collection Leaving My Father’s House: Poetry & Prose (Chapeau Rouge Editions, Cheyenne, OK, 2017).

Sylvia Barnard managed to secure the 1st spot on the sign-up sheet & read a poem in 2 parts about looking out the windows of her apartment onto Washington Park, the 1st part written last Winter, the 2nd part written recently. Valerie Temple returned again to read from her cellphone “A Friend You Doubt Means an Enemy Is About” about being abandoned by a “friend” while traveling in Italy. Josh-the-Poet was also back, read a new piece about treating people with mental impairments with kindness.

Liz Grisaru, whom I’d seen reading with her poetry group at the Writers Institute Book Fair recently, was here for the first time; she decided on a meditative piece in rhyme. E.R. Vogel was also here for the 1st time & and he read a poem from his self-published chapbook Love Poems & Other Stuff.

Our featured poet this night was Megeen R. Mulholland, whom I’ve seen a lot of recently because she had a poem in the recent art & poetry exhibit Poetic License - Albany & was one of the readers at the event in September. She has a new book of poems out from Finishing Line Press Crossing the Divide, which I had the pleasure to read in manuscript. She earned her PhD. from the University at Albany & teaches at Hudson Valley Community College.

She read mostly from Crossing the Divide with a couple poems at the end from her earlier book, Orbit, also from Finishing Line Press. First she set up on the construction scaffolding a small gallery of photos of her parents from the 1950s. Her father, who died when Megeen was just 6 months old, was a train enthusiast & photographer, the book includes some of his photos. “Survivors” was a poem about trains, & his family, & the poet sorting through the slides; the title poem combines a story of a journey he took by train & the slides he took; when her father died he was only 45, as she tells in the poem, “Heart Failure.” Not ever knowing her father except from stories her family told, she imagines him cutting the lawn in the poem “Hey Dad;” from a photo taken of her father she imagines him meeting Albert Einstein (“Top This”); & the sound of a plow outside her house makes her think of her father working on & photographing such equipment. 

She ended with a trio of poems about her mother, who was left with 8 children at age 42 when her father died. “Encircled by the Engraved Band” is about her mother's ring that the poet now wears, remembering it on her mother’s hand. From Orbit she read about her mother preparing a holiday meal (“Measuring the ingredients”), & ended with the subtle music of the poem “Well Well Well” about how the memory of her mother becomes a model for her bringing up her own daughters. This reading was much like sitting around a holiday dinner table, listening to family stories, as indeed it was.

After the break I jumped in to read a new poem that had been commissioned by the Writers Institute on the theme of “collaboration” for an event to honor the Opalkas on the 20th anniversary of the gallery by the same name; my poem was a brief history of “3 Guys from Albany.” Melissa Anderson was back again, her Summer job with the Park Playhouse inspired a poem “On Stage They Are Singing About Love” during a downpour.

Pippa Bartolotti mentioned her collection of short stories, in what is called cli-fi, title Black Felt Fedora then read a poem titled “The Dervish.” Sally Rhoades also read a poem by Dorothy Alexander “Carrying Condoms to the Revolution” from the previously cited book, a humorous account of bringing 40 pounds of condoms to Nicaragua. Tom Bonville, who had recently been the featured poet at the re-started series at the Pine Hollow Arboretum, read “Never” about an elderly couple taking their daily walk past his house.

Edie Abrams joined us once again read a poem titled “Coyote Nights” a tale about being “beguiled” by their cries. Joe Krausman used his magnifying for assistance in reading “Feedback” about one’s possible reactions to other’s comments on your work. Joan Goodman was the final reader for the night, her poem a meditation on “Finding a Place to Write” at night.

Join us on the Third Thursday of the month at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany, NY at 7:30PM for a featured poet & an open mic for the rest of us — $5.00 suggested donation.