poetry - Midbrow

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An Evening of Ceremony: Joy Harjo’s Native Jazz-Rock

Our world moves fast, and something special happens when these four focus on a center point—almost like an incantation.

Kathryn Parkman

1 Nov 2024 · 2 min read

Avant Pan Africanism In “Lake Walking, Revolutionary Talking”

Lake Walking, Revolutionary Talking BAM House 1540 Broadway, Oakland August 9, 2024

Fred Noland

12 Aug 2024 · 1 min read

Yevtushenko Reads Yevtushenko: A 92nd Birthday In Two Languages

Yevtushenko Reads Yevtushenko WOMPA Tulsa July 19, 2024 If you haven’t been to WOMPA yet, I’ll start by saying it’s unlike anything else in the city. It

Cassidy McCants

28 Jul 2024 · 2 min read

Seeking The Soul Of James Baldwin

Winter in America: The Speakeasy; Bold, Black & Brilliant — The Baldwin Edition Joyce Gordon Gallery 406 14th St. Oakland April 3, 2024 When I think of James Baldwin, the images

Stacey Peters

10 Apr 2024 · 3 min read

Gold Nuggets: The Other Monday Open Mic

The Other Monday Open Mic The BLU House Oakland March 25, 2024 A laminated sign on the gate had graphics of hanging plants. It read, “The BLU House,” with the

Stacey Peters

29 Mar 2024 · 3 min read

Ross Gay Incites Joy

Ross Gay practiced what he preaches last night at Possible Futures, as the poet, essayist, and teacher offered a grateful crowd a selection of his work encompassing joy and tenderness

Karen Ponzio

21 Feb 2024 · 1 min read

I Couldn’t Hear The Poets Amid The Unironic Fascism-fetishists At The Sports Bar

The Writer’s Circle at Offside NYC East Village Manhattan Jan. 31, 2024 Something’s happening in NYC right now. Whether it’s a blending of scenes that previously had

K Hank Jost

1 Feb 2024 · 3 min read

Owed To A Poet Laureate

New Year’s/Inauguration Day Twenty Twenty-Four Boring speeches Left us snoring Like captives wilting In the auditorium For an hour. Plus an hour Then Influence stepped up And spit

Paul Bass

25 Jan 2024 · 1 min read

New Haven

Poetry Slam Keeps MLK Vision Alive

Memories of the Children’s Crusade. A vision of alien visitations in the future. Invocations of superheroes. Fist-raising calls for change. These were all part of the 28th annual Z

Brian Slattery

16 Jan 2024 · 1 min read

Vinyl Breathes Anew, With A Whiskey Chaser

Bar Shiru Selector Series 1611 Telegraph Ave. Oakland Dec. 20th, 2023 Dr. Ayodele Nzinga, Oakland’s poet laureate, closed out season seven of Bar Shiru’s Selector Series by selecting

Lisa Gray

3 Jan 2024 · 5 min read

Kathy Acker Masturbated Here

JASON McBRIDE and ANAHID NERSESSIAN with KATHY ACKER’S WRITING DESK Poetic Research Bureau Los Angeles Dec. 11, 2023 It’s a fact: Kathy Acker often wrote while masturbating. And

Jack Skelley

19 Dec 2023 · 2 min read

Unheard Voices Find A Watering Hole Home

Palace Reading Series The Palace Bar/ Greenpoint Palace Greenpoint, Brooklyn Nov. 21, 2023; ongoing Tuesday nights It’s the week of Thanksgiving and, by and large, the city is empty.

K Hank Jost

27 Nov 2023 · 4 min read

What Happens When An OG New York School Poet Walks Into A Basement

The Segue Foundation Reading Series featuring Eileen Myles Artists Space Tribeca, NYC Nov. 18, 2023 Everything worth knowing about in NYC is tucked away in some nook or cranny. There’

K Hank Jost

21 Nov 2023 · 4 min read

Death Be Not Cowed

Riverfront Poetry Series Real Art Ways Hartford Nov. 8, 2023 When one of my friends died during the pandemic, I couldn’t bring myself to go to his wake. He

Jamil Ragland

9 Nov 2023 · 3 min read

Rappers Meet Up With Poets To Pärlā

Pärlā Creative Festival Presents: Open Mic Poetry & Hip-Hop Night Letterman’s Lounge Sept. 21, 2023 “Good poets talk about the loss. Great poets teach you how to win.” These

Ryan Anderson

27 Sep 2023 · 2 min read

“Neverending Poetry” Moves From Open Mic To The Page

On the last page of the new poetry anthology Never Ending Poetry — a celebration of the first year of Open Mic Surgery, the poetry reading series that happens almost every

Brian Slattery

27 Sep 2023 · 1 min read

Amid Verse-Tossing, The Cutest Date Night Of All Time

Poetry Open Mic Night Trident Booksellers & Cafe 338 Newbury St, Boston Sept. 3, 2023 “And next up, Tony!” called the host of Trident Booksellers’s Poetry Open Mic Night.

Sasha Patkin

8 Sep 2023 · 4 min read