April is National Poetry Month, and NightBallet Press couldn't be more excited about it! We have several exciting announcements and upcoming publications to celebrate our love of, passion for, and dedication to poetry:
NightBallet Press is thrilled to announce that Cleveland will host an event for the National Beat Poetry Festival in September of this year!
"The National Beat Poetry Festival, as a non-profit organization, is dedicated to hosting, collaborating, and fostering joint partnerships for Beat-themed poetry readings, workshops, plays, radio shows and much more, locally and across America...and even internationally at times. The collaborations and joint partnerships extend to individuals, organizations, and representatives of universities and colleges. NBPF supports the further development and exposure of non-traditional poetry from people of all ages and backgrounds within communities where interest is significant and/or where interest needs support. The Beat Generation's significant writings and history of its original prime movers lives on from its inception in the early 1940's, and its legacy continues today by way of new writers, poets and artists of disparate influences and means of expression. The NBFP is committed to not only supporting venues in existence, but also in developing new venues where cultural preservation and the works of new artists can show yesterday meeting the living voices of today. NBFP's activities promote literacy and open exchange dialogue which incorporates the Beat history and art at its base, to break boundaries and bridge cultures with new thought, ideas, and free expression."
Confirmed participating cities and states, with the administrators of the events in parentheses, include
Connecticut (Festival Headquarters, Free Poets Collective)
Massachusetts (Lori Desrosiers)
New York City (Nicole Goodwin)
Indiana (William Sovern)
Kansas City, Missouri (Jason Ryberg)
Pittsburgh, PA (Jim D. Deuchars)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Amelia Matus)
Long Island, NY (Kat Lamberg)
Berkeley, CA (Harold Adler)
Oklahoma (Benjamin Myers)
Fredonia, NY (Vincent Quatroche)
San Luis Obispo, CA (Kevin Patrick Sullivan)
Chicago, IL (Charlie Newman)
Clearwater, FL (Larry Jaffe)
West Virginia (William DeVault)
Poland (Anna Zapalska)
Mumbai, India (Sunil Sharma)
and
Cleveland (Dianne Borsenik)
This is going to be BIG, and we are especially pleased and honored to represent the Festival in Cleveland, home of d. a. levy. "As poet, artist and publisher, d.a. levy was an important literary and underground figure in Cleveland's emerging poetry and small/alternative press scene in the early 1960s and continued to be until his untimely death in 1968." (Read more about levy HERE)
We will post more details as the Cleveland event's location and featured poets are confirmed. But one thing is certain—Cleveland will feel the BEAT this coming September! And we want YOU to plan on being a part of Cleveland's heartBeat!
Margie Shaheed's recently published Onomatopoeia received a wonderful review from Lorraine Currelley at Mom Egg Review. Currelley writes:
NightBallet Press is thrilled to announce that Cleveland will host an event for the National Beat Poetry Festival in September of this year!
"The National Beat Poetry Festival, as a non-profit organization, is dedicated to hosting, collaborating, and fostering joint partnerships for Beat-themed poetry readings, workshops, plays, radio shows and much more, locally and across America...and even internationally at times. The collaborations and joint partnerships extend to individuals, organizations, and representatives of universities and colleges. NBPF supports the further development and exposure of non-traditional poetry from people of all ages and backgrounds within communities where interest is significant and/or where interest needs support. The Beat Generation's significant writings and history of its original prime movers lives on from its inception in the early 1940's, and its legacy continues today by way of new writers, poets and artists of disparate influences and means of expression. The NBFP is committed to not only supporting venues in existence, but also in developing new venues where cultural preservation and the works of new artists can show yesterday meeting the living voices of today. NBFP's activities promote literacy and open exchange dialogue which incorporates the Beat history and art at its base, to break boundaries and bridge cultures with new thought, ideas, and free expression."
Confirmed participating cities and states, with the administrators of the events in parentheses, include
Connecticut (Festival Headquarters, Free Poets Collective)
Massachusetts (Lori Desrosiers)
New York City (Nicole Goodwin)
Indiana (William Sovern)
Kansas City, Missouri (Jason Ryberg)
Pittsburgh, PA (Jim D. Deuchars)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Amelia Matus)
Long Island, NY (Kat Lamberg)
Berkeley, CA (Harold Adler)
Oklahoma (Benjamin Myers)
Fredonia, NY (Vincent Quatroche)
San Luis Obispo, CA (Kevin Patrick Sullivan)
Chicago, IL (Charlie Newman)
Clearwater, FL (Larry Jaffe)
West Virginia (William DeVault)
Poland (Anna Zapalska)
Mumbai, India (Sunil Sharma)
and
Cleveland (Dianne Borsenik)
This is going to be BIG, and we are especially pleased and honored to represent the Festival in Cleveland, home of d. a. levy. "As poet, artist and publisher, d.a. levy was an important literary and underground figure in Cleveland's emerging poetry and small/alternative press scene in the early 1960s and continued to be until his untimely death in 1968." (Read more about levy HERE)
We will post more details as the Cleveland event's location and featured poets are confirmed. But one thing is certain—Cleveland will feel the BEAT this coming September! And we want YOU to plan on being a part of Cleveland's heartBeat!
Margie Shaheed's recently published Onomatopoeia received a wonderful review from Lorraine Currelley at Mom Egg Review. Currelley writes:
"I became a passenger on a journey of exploding colors, passion and emotions. Stopping to digest and to breathe in familiar experiences and images. Margie Shaheed’s poems and stories pull at you, demanding your full attention."
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Check out Onomatopoeia HERE.
Read the entire Mom Egg review of Onomatopoeia HERE!
And if you have the opportunity to hear Margie Shaheed read, don't miss it...she is an exciting and dynamic poet!
NightBallet plans on publishing several books this month of April, so you'll want to keep an eye out for new work by Ohioans Kathleen Cerveny (Poet Laureate of Cleveland Heights 2013-2014) and Steve Brightman, and New Yorker Alan Catlin!
Be sure to check the Cleveland Poetics Blog Calendar for local poetry events. Check out Cuyahoga County Public Library's daily poem and poetry prompt at Read + Write: 30 Days of Poetry. Write a poem. Attend a reading. Buy a book. Hug a poet. Join with us in celebrating the glorious art of poetry!