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From Sonnets to Slam
6 MayYou could feel the energy ignited by Bao-Long Chu, Cindy Huyser, Katharine Jager and Gerald Cedillo at Public Poetry! Playing to a packed house, these four featured poets, plus a dynamite WITS student, ranged from sonnets to slam. It was a great Saturday afternoon of poetry!
Gerald Cedillo
Bao-Long Chu
Katharine Jager
Cindy Huyser
National Poetry Month. . . By The Week
11 Apr
Usha Akella
Chuck Taylor
Public Poetry began celebrating National Poetry Month, week one, with readings by four featured poets Usha Akella, Scott Chalupa, Ange Mlinko and Chuck Taylor at Oak Forest Neighborhood Library. Included in a standing room only crowd were Public Poetry’s 2013/14 selection committee members Ken Jones, Oscar C. Peña, Yerra Sugarman (Jane Creighton and Marcel Murphy plus Director, Fran Sanders, complete that crew), as well as WITS Director, Robin Reagler. You couldn’t ask for a better start for our third year in partnership with the City of Houston/Houston Public Library.
Scott Chalupa
Ange Mlinko
Week two sees the culmination of the process to appoint a Poet Laureate for Houston (congratulations to Gwendolyn Zepeda); Public Poetry was honored to serve on the committee involved with that project. We’ll close out this week in front of the Society of Petroleum Engineers Auxiliary with poet Randall Watson evoking the Muse. Week three, Public Poetry will be at Kashmere Elementary School, helping them celebrate Poem In Your Pocket Day with a presentation by poet Darla McBryde. Week four, we’ll be having a great time at the Poetry Festival at Roundtop. So, what are you doing this month?
Public Poetry in April
29 MarWe are starting year three (!) this month with a fabulous line-up of invited featured poets plus a talented young student with Writers In The Schools/WITS. Come join us at Oak Forest Neighborhood Library and post-poetry for After-Words across the street at PLONK. 
Before we leap. . . thank you all!
16 Mar
It’s been a fantastic year for Public Poetry! Over the last 12 months (April 2012-March 2013) we’ve presented readings that have included three Texas Poets Laureate, two winners of the Yale Prize for Younger Poets and a roster of outstanding featured poets at various library locations, on the radio and at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Before we leap into our third year, we would like to thank all of the poets (see below) who have participated in these free public events. Th
ese programs would not be possible without an army of volunteers and supporters (also below) whose help and contributions keep Public Poetry going. We are especially grateful for generous financial and in-kind support from our wonderful partners at Houston Public Library, from the City of Houston, Houston Arts Alliance
, Poets & Writer
s Inc., Writers In The Schools (WITS), The Front Row (88.7 FM kuhf News & 91.7 FM kuha Classical), Houston Media Source (HMS-TV), Pinewood Cafe in Hermann Park, Rudyards Pub and Mutabilis Press. Thank you one and all for your contributions and support. If we’ve inadvertently left anyone out in all the naming of names below, please know that you, too, are thanked.
Featured Poets ~ April 2012-March 2013
Thay Alafitta, Mike Alexander, Amanda Auchter, D.F. Brown, Jane Creighton, Barbara Crooker, Kelly Ann Ellis, Eric Ekstrand, Adamarie Fuller, Carolyn Florek, Van G. Garrett, Stephen Gros, Kurt Heinzelman, Ken Jones, Fady Joudah, Teresa Juarez, Katherine Larson, Erica Lehrer, Thad Logan, Janet Lowery, William Marabella, Lorena Parker-Matejowski, Anne McCrady, Karyna McGlynn, Jasminne Mendez, Jonathan Moody, Lisa Moore, Katherine Noble, David M. Parsons, Joseph “JoeP” Palmore, Jeremyah “The Fluent One” Payne, Oscar C. Peña, John Pluecker, Claire Kageyama-Ramakrishnan, Robin Reagler, Pattiann Rogers, Paul Ruffin, Jan Seale, Carmen Tafolla, Rebecca Wadlinger, Scott Wiggerman 
Featured Poets ~ April 2011-March 2012
Alan Ainsworth, Sam Amadon, Outspoken Bean, Joseph Campana, Hayan Charara, Sarah Cortez, Robin Davidson, Ryler Dustin, Jeannie Gambill, Van G. Garrett, Elisa A. Garza, John Gorman, Rich Levy, Carol Louise Munn, Marcell Murphy, Radames Ortiz, Dave Parsons, Evangelina Vigil-Pinon, Kevin Prufer, Martha Serpas, Eva Skrande, Loueva Smith, Randall Watson, Deborah “DEEP” Wiggins, Susan Wood
Special Guests:
Mayor Annise Parker, Dr. Rhea Brown Lawson, Mark Craig, Margaret Smithers Crump, Ad Deum Dance, Laney Dwyer, Carter Ernst, St.John Flynn, Stephen Fox, Katya Horner, Ken Jones, Paul Kittelson, Dominico Luciano, Arielle Masson, Meta-Four Houston, The Mighty Orq, Carol Brooks Platt, Art Rascon, Don Sanders, Dominic Walsh
Many thanks to the following volunteers, supporters, contributors and donors:
Mike Alexander, Alan Ainsworth, Ali Audi, Janet Allen, Archway Gallery, Carolyn Avery, Michael Baldwin, Outspoken Bean, Gail Black, Tia Black, Olivia Blair, Sara Borders, Leslie G. Brown, Brazos Bookstore, Glen Burns, Sarah Caress, Joseph Campana, Champion Pipe, Jane Chance, Bao-Long Chu, Angie Coats, Elzy Cogswell, Jane Creighton, Sarah Cortez, Tony Diaz, Lucy & Wayne Donohow, Sandra Fernandez, Carolyn Dahl, Karen Deakin, Susan Ellis, Carolyn & Bob Florek, Adamarie Fuller, St.John Flynn, Dee Dee Fox, Richard Goldman, Kevin Hayes, Jay Heuman, Tony Hoagland, Katya Horner, Diem Jones, Jeninne Johnston, Ken Jones, Norma Koonz, KPFT-90.1, Katherine Lu, Wes, April & Beryl Kinsey, Maxine Lennon, Ivan Lett, Marilyn Lewis, Stephen Lloyd, Kim Lykins, Lupe Mendez, Susan Meyers, Margaret Mimms, Lauren Mitchell, Joshua Gottlieb-Miller, Mary Montague, Marcell Murphy, Gayatri Parikh, David M. Parsons, Gerhard Paskusz, Donna Pauley, Nancy K Pearson, Donna Perkins, Oscar C. Peña, Carol Brooks Platt, Dos Gatos Press, Kevin Prufer, Robin Reagler, Carol Reposa, Jacquelyn Reppond, Lelia Rodgers, Rudyards Pub, Don Sanders, Larry S. Sanders, Tracy Saucier, Alex Saenz, Judy Schubert, Jennifer Schwartz, Bret & Layla Shaw, Martha Serpas, Ire’ne Lara Silva, Greg Simpson, Loueva Smith, Society of the Fifth Cave, Bob Stephenson, Melissa Studdard, Colin Sturdevant, Harry Stille, Yerra Sugarman, TALA, Susanne Theis, David Ray Vance, Ariana Montelongo de Valdivia, Beatriz Varman, Scott Wallace, Jennifer Watson, Allen Westrick, Sarah Wheeler, WITS students, Vanessa Zimmer, D.E. Zuccone
Still with us? You can preview our new Spring Series (April – June 2013) here.
March Poets
15 FebThe combination of DF Brown, Erica Lehrer, Thad Logan and Karyna McGlynn is sure to ignite and energize the room at our next free library event taking place in Alief’s Asian corridor, Saturday, March 2 at 2 PM. Hear four outstanding poets weave their words, encourage a new student talent from Writers In The Schools, enter our raffle give-away, acquire on-the-spot autographed books, bring an appetite and eat afterwards – all this and more is upcoming at Public Poetry!
Houston’s first Poet Laureate!
12 FebYou – or someone you nominate – could become Houston’s first Poet Laureate! Mayor Annise D. Parker announces the application/ nomination process for selection of Houston’s first Poet Laureate. Submissions are welcome from persons nominating a poet for the position of Poet Laureate or from individual poets who are seeking the position. Only online applications will be accepted.
DEADLINE: March 8, 2013
Guidelines and complete information here: Houston Poet Laureate Application
Winter Series 2013
21 JanHennington Alief Regional Library is home to Public Poetry’s Winter Series for the months of February and March. Located on the southwest side of town, just off Bellaire Blvd., Alief is at the epicenter of Houston’s Asian community, noted for its distinctive culinary and cultural offerings. Public Poetry will be presenting four featured poets - Amanda Auchter, Jane Creighton, Kurt Heinzelman and Joseph “JoeP” Palmore – on Saturday, Feb 2 at 2 PM. Come join us there.
Free Sunday Reading
13 JanDue to to an unexpected power outage, the Prize Poets reading by Fady Joudah and Katherine Larson on Saturday at Central Library was canceled. We apologize to everyone who made the trip there to find the lights out and the building closed.
However, both poets will give a free reading on Sunday, January 13 at 1:00 PM at Archway Gallery 2305 Dunlavy, 77006. A brunch to benefit Public Poetry is also being served starting at noon. You can purchase a ticket to the brunch here or at the door if you prefer. There is some parking behind the gallery (entrance off Fairview, opposite the Royal Bakery) or street parking. Come join us!
Winner: BEST READING SERIES 2011 ~ Houston Press
Public Poetry exists to bring the public and poetry community together, and to create a buzz about poetry.
A monthly reading series is presented at various library locations in partnership with Houston Public Library.
The ARTlines Poetry Competition is presented in collaboration with The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH).
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