December 15, 2010

This Saturday in Lakewood!

This Saturday, December 18, we close out 2010 with Saturday Night With The Poet's Haven at the Root Café in Lakewood, OH!  Our featured poets will be Rachelle Gallant and Jacob Oet!

Rachelle Gallant is a modern poet for the new world. With twenty-five years of formal English and literary training, Rachelle's poetry brings her uniquely poignant yet intimate look into the everyday human condition. Her signature fusion of poetry and photography strikes to the heart of life's randomness. Other artistic performances to her credit include; featured poet at the Tremont Art and Cultural Festival in 2008, 2009, and 2010, featured poet at the Literary Café in November 2008, featured poet at Club Alchemy in February 2009, and The Cleveland Playhouse in May 2010. (http://www.theurbanwordcharmer.com)

Jacob Oet lives in Solon, Ohio and is currently a junior at University School. He has loved writing stories and poems since he was little. His favorite poets include e.e cummings, Mary Oliver, and Pablo Neruda. Jacob was a finalist in Playhouse Square's 2010 SlamU! program and looks forward to participating again this year. His poem, "Metamorphosis," was recently named a winner of the Poetry in the Garden competition, co-sponsored by Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Botanical Garden. Jacob is also a champion chess player, taking first place three years running at the Ohio Grade Level Chess Championships. (http://phantasmicmelody.deviantart.com)


This is an ALL-AGES/MODERATED event. That means that language must be kept within PG-13 guidelines. (This show rating was the decision of The Poet's Haven, it was not requested by the venue. Our show last April at the Root Café saw a high number of younger children, usually with parents who were stopping for coffee while out shopping. For this reason, we decided to make this show a moderated event. This is NOT censorship. If you want to read material with explicit content at a Poet's Haven show, we're just asking you to save it for January or February.) Hint: If you have kids or siblings that don't get to go to many poetry events due to mature content, now's your chance to bring them along. The open-mic is open to writers of ALL AGES!

This will also be your LAST CHANCE to get a copy of "VENDING MACHINE: POETRY FOR CHANGE!"  We will be collecting canned food donations for the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank.  Bring a donation to get a copy of the "Vending Machine" anthology.  (Offer only good until we run out of books!) 

December 3, 2010

"Vending Machine" food drive at First Friday Poetry Spectacular!

The Love Initiative's "Music for Meals" food drive may have wrapped up (after collecting over 1,000 lbs. of food!), but the Akron-Canton Foodbank still needs donations!

If you missed out on getting a copy of "Vending Machine: Poetry for Change" at November's "Saturday Night With The Poet's Haven" event, you now have a second chance at tonight's Canton First Friday Poetry Spectacular!  "How do I get one?" you ask.  Why, it's simple!  Bring a non-perishable food donation to tonight's show (cans and/or boxes only, no glass jars) and you can trade your donation for a copy of this awesome poetry anthology.  Quantities are limited, so they will only be available until we run out.  The food donations will go to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank.

Tonight's Poetry Spectacular features Robert Miltner.  Robert Miltner teaches literature and creative writing at Kent State University's Stark campus. He is the author of "Hotel Utopia," selected by Tim Seibles as winner of the New Rivers Press book prize, and a dozen chapbooks, including "Against the Simple" (Wick chapbook award). Miltner has published poems in "Artful Dodge," "Barrow Street," "LIT," "Diagram," "Pleiades," "Prose Poem," "Sleeping Fish," and "Sentence," and short fiction in "Istanbul Literary Review," "Apple Valley Review," "Storyglossia," "Ophelia Street," "Perigee," and "Christmas Stories from Ohio." He is working on a novel, "Tempest," and edits "The Raymond Carver Review" (http://dept.kent.edu/english/RCR/).

Canton's First Friday Poetry Spectacular takes place at the Kathleen Howland Theatre, downstairs at the Second April Art Gallerie (324 Cleveland Ave. NW  Canton, OH  44702).  Sign-up time for the open-mic and poetry slam is at 7:00, with the open-mic starting promptly at 7:30.

See you there!  :-)