kalamazoopoetryfestivalkalamazoopoetryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/... · 2017 Nasty Women Poets > Continued from previous page Feminist Wire. She has also published two chapbooks

kalamazoopoetryfestival.com

The Kalamazoo Poetry Festival would not be possible without the generous support of many individual donors and these major supporters

DONORS:AnonymousAnn E. AdamsKit AlmyMarion BoyerJennifer ClarkEd EckelAmy FergusonJohn Fink

Kathleen JenningsGeorge MartinDonna McClurkanKathleen McGookeyJohn MinserAmy NewdayStacy NowickiRichard PattisonRonald Pattison

Zaide Pixley Robert PostKathy RabbersWayne RamseyJohn RiccioElaine SeamanVicki VanameydenSherie Veramay

1kalamazoopoetryfestival.com

We humans are hard-wired for stories. We need them: to move the heart, to make sense of the obscure and inexpli-cable, to enchant and connect us in powerful and lasting ways. Are poems a form of story telling? We absolutely believe they are.

As part of our continual evolution in programming and commitment to collaboration, the Festival board held a Story Circle in January to collect stories from members of the Kalamazoo community about their experiences and concerns. A group of local poets mined the raw material of those stories to craft several "State of Kalamazoo" poems that will be performed as part of our annual Celebration of Community Poets. This year, our fifth bow to National Poetry Month, is a grand experiment in

Welcome to the 2018Kalamazoo Poetry Festival

We envision a community where every voice is heard.Our mission is to connect people through the power of poetry.

We are an anti-racism and anti-bigotry organization.

Ed Eckel — PresidentRichard Pattison — TreasurerJoseph Costello — Program CommitteeAllison Kennedy — Program CommitteeDonna McClurkan — MemberJohn Minser — Program CommitteeZaide Pixley — Program Committee

weaving together the strands of story telling, poetry, and music. Kalamazoo- based music ensemble The Last Gasp Collective, lives this spirit of outreach and collaboration in all they do. These Kalamazoo-based musicians and poets fuse soul, gospel, and hip-hop, leading us in an exploration of the connections between poetry and music.

It takes an entire team of people to present this type of programming, a team that strives to be creative and inclusive, and to listen attentively to your thoughts and ideas. We invite anyone who has an interest in poetry, whether as a writer or appreciative reader, to consider joining the board or one of its planning committees as we continue to develop the festival into a showcase for all voices across the community.

Kathy Jennings — Ex-officio Member, Program and Public Relations Consultant

Festival collaboratorsOlivia Stier — Festival PhotographerJamie Rix — ASL Interpretation for the DeafZac Clark — Videographer

Kalamazoo Poetry Festival Board

2 Kalamazoo Poetry Festival 2018

EVENTSAT A GLANCE

Readings and Performances

FRIDAY, APRIL 6

SATURDAY, APRIL 7

8:00 p.m. - Your Turn: Open Micat FIRE Auditorium - 1249 Portage Road, Kalamazoo

Doors open at 7:30 p.m

2:00 p.m. - Anthology Reading, Nasty Women PoetsAt This is a Bookstore, 3019 Oakland Drive, Kalamazoo

Poets read their work from “Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse”

6:00 p.m. - Celebration of CommunityPoets and Inspiration Fair

At Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Auditorium, 314 S. Park Street, KalamazooLocal poets reading, special guests Last Gasp Collective and emcee Ed Genesis. Local

organizations inspire participation in the work they are doing in the community.


The compelling collection of artist that is Last Gasp has made waves that would leave the Pacific envious.

Sometimes soft or loud, at times smooth and mature, other times youthful and thought provoking, their raw, yet passion-filled performances have intrigued thousands in little over a year at Midwest Fest, Lamplight Festival, Farm Block, Harvest Gathering, and the Black Arts Fest.

The group has shared the stage with acts such as Nappy Roots, Bus Driver, The Go Rounds, Guilty Simpson, Shamar Alef, J. Robb, Yolonda Lavender, and DC of Truth Tone. Last Gasp promotes the collaborative spirit that is shared amongst many artists in Southwest Michigan.

Made up of Western Michigan University music students as well as local musicians, the diverse group has been brought

together by a mutual love of art. Their live arrangements are reminiscent of The Internet and Hiatus Kaiyote, where melodic cello or saxophone lines, fuzzed out guitar lead, and gospel piano set a beautiful soundscape underneath the soulful voices and poetic lyricism of Ashley Hicks, Lakeshore Drew, and Jay Jackson. The band compares itself to The Roots and Arrested Development.

The Last Gasp Collective released its first album, Agape, in early 2017 and could be described as a hip-hop, soul and jazz group with flourishes of rock and gospel music. Its music features lyrics spoken and sung over guitar, keyboard, drums and more. As this group continues to debunk stereotypes one melody at a time, they hope their music continues to touch the hearts of people from all walks of life.


Singer Ashley Hicks, is one of the newest key additions to the group. Nicknamed “Ashley Soulsinger” for her heartfelt melo-dies and large vocal range, Ashley has been an aspiring Detroit-born vocalist who from the age of four spent most of her life in Kalamazoo cultivating her eclectic sound

Keyboardist Jon Boyd is a Detroit native who received his Bachelor’s Degree in Viola Performance at Western Michigan University, having also studied Russian and German. Growing up in the gospel church fueled his passion for organ and keyboard, a skill that is invaluable to the sound of Last Gasp today.

Jordan Hamilton is the cellist and Executive Producer for Last Gasp Collective. Currently a Master of Music student at Western Michigan University, Jordan aims to find new ways for the cello, a traditional instrument, to relate to a modern audience. Shortly after its inception, Jordan joined Last Gasp to practice his passion for hip hop, cello, and funk music.

Joel Pixley-Fink is the bassist for Last Gasp Collective. At a young age he had a passion for drums, but was required first to study piano and violin. Finally he found the bass guitar. Love at first sight! Joel is a 2016 graduate of WMU’s School of Music, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Multi-media Arts Production. His presence in Kalamazoo has nurtured the success of such bands as Mirage, Zion Lion, and MNOE, through his talents as a bassist, studio manager, and producer. He is the owner of East Paterson Recording Studio.

Saxophonist and arranger Xavier Bonner is a recent addition to the Last Gasp Collective. A recent student in the jazz performance department of Western Michigan University and a future major in sociology, Xavier’s aim

is to create music that inspires genuine interaction with life and people. Born into a musical family in Detroit, Xavier has found a new musical home in Kalamazoo, where he walks quietly but makes a loud impact through his live arrangements, writing, and soloing for Last Gasp Collective.

Producer, engineer, MC, guitarist, and vision-ary, Jay Jackson is the founder of Last Gasp Collective. Fueled by the passion to create and be inspired with others, Jackson decid-ed to combine players who have like passions to create music together in 2015. Since the group's creation Jackson has used his influence from gospel, hip hop, and engineering to write rhymes that have won MC competitions and to build beats that have been featured on albums across Michigan.

Live sound engineer Joe Lucas is one of the longest standing members of Last Gasp Collective. His talents led him to be the bassist for Last Gasp until physical condi-tions no longer allowed. Now he is the live sound engineer, mixing the complex sounds of Last Gasp Collective.

Hand percussionist Nicholas Baxter is a graduate of Western Michigan University with degrees in German and philosophy. He is a notable drummer, singer/songwriter, poet, educator, and humanitarian in the Kalamazoo area. Fueled by his passion for music, culture, education and mental health advocacy, Nicholas became a part of Last Gasp Collective shortly after its conception during the #Something EP.

The sounds of the drum kit are provided by Terrance Smith. The son of a pastor, he speaks his heart using music. A native of Flint, Terrance joins the Kalamazoo community to pursue his degree in the Music Arts and Technology program of Western Michigan University.


EVENTDETAILS

2:00 p.m. - Anthology Reading, Nasty Women PoetsAt This is a Bookstore, 3019 Oakland Drive, Kalamazoo

Poets read their work from “Nasty Women Poets: An Unapologetic Anthology of Subversive Verse”

During the third presidential debate, Donald Trump called Hillary Clinton a "nasty" woman while she was talking about social security and raising taxes.

Women across the United States went on to embrace the title as they resisted misog-yny and embraced their power. Poets will present their works from this anthology of poems from women who proudly celebrate their own nastiness and that of other women who have served as nasty role models; poems by and about women defying limitations and lady-like expecta-tions; women refusing to be "nice girls;" women embracing their inner bitch when

the situation demands it; women being formidable and funny; women speaking to power and singing for the good of their souls; women being strong, sexy, strident, super-smart, and stupendous; women who want to encourage little girls to keep dreaming.

Patricia Clark is Poet-in- Residence and Professor in the Department of Writing at Grand Valley State Univer-sity. Author of five volumes

of poetry, Patricia’s latest book is The Canopy. Recent poems appear in Prairie Schooner, Michigan Quarterly Review, Superstition Review, Salamander, and The

SATURDAY, APRIL 7

8:00 p.m. - Your Turn: Open MicFIRE Auditorium - 1249 Portage Road - Doors open at 7:30 p.m

Fearless readers from Kalamazoo and beyond present their work.Fire is a youth driven space for art and justice. Fire envisions a world where young people can express their authentic selves without the fear of judgement and have the courage to imagine and the freedom to create a more just and vibrant future for all.

FRIDAY, APRIL 6

2017

Nasty Women Poets > Continued from previous page

Feminist Wire. She has also published two chapbooks of poetry: Wreath for the Red Admiral and Given the Trees. She was poet laureate of Grand Rapids from 2005-2007. A new chapbook, Deadlifts, will appear from New Michigan Press later in 2017.

Michigan poet, Lynn Pattison’s work has appeared in Rhino, Smartish Pace, Tinderbox, and Slipstream, among others, and been antholo-

gized several times, most recently in the Nasty Women Poets anthology and in plein air, poems and drawings of the natural world, edited by Arlan Miller and Susan Gundlach, Poetic License Press. She is the author of three collections: tesla's daughter (March St. Press); Walking Back the Cat (Bright Hill Press) and Light That Sounds Like Breaking (Mayapple Press). In past years, Pattison was awarded an Irving S. Gilmore Emerging Artist Grant through the Arts Council of Greater Kalamazoo, and a writing residency at the Ragdale Foundation in Lake Forest, Ill. Her work has appeared locally in Encore Magazine and in the 2017 artist/writer collaboration Alchemy. She has a member of Kalamazoo Friends of Poetry for many years and previously served on its board.

Christine Rhein is the author of Wild Flight, a winner of the Walt McDonald First Book Prize in Poetry (Texas Tech University Press). Her

poems have appeared widely in literary

journals, including The Gettysburg Review and The Southern Review, and have won awards from Michigan Quarterly Review and Green Mountains Review. Her work has also been selected for Best New Poets 2007 and The Best American Nonrequired Reading 2017. A former automotive engineer, Christine lives in Brighton, Michigan.

Monica Rico is the author of Twisted Mouth of the Tulip (Red Paint Hill Publishing, 2017). She lives in Michigan and

writes at www.slowdownandeat.com

Denise Sedman is an award-winning author. In Fall 2017, Lost Horse Press featured a poem in “Nasty Women, An

Unapologetic Anthology of subversive verse.” Other publications in 2017 include the Wayne Literary Review, Current Magazine and Gravel Literary. Later in 2018, Nassau Review will feature two of her poems for its Blue Collar and Blues Issue. She won its Writer Award in Poetry for her piece “Channeling Bo Carter.” “Get me out of this idea” is a line from her signature poem, “Untitled,” Abandon Automobile, Wayne State University Press, 2001. Architect students at Univer-sity of Detroit Mercy built a temporary environment in Detroit for this poem.

EVENTDETAILS


6:00 p.m. - Celebration of CommunityPoets and Inspiration Fair

At Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Auditorium, 314 S. Park Street, KalamazooWith ASL interpretation for the deaf

This reading celebrates poets known and unknown from across the writing community of Kalamazoo. It also celebrates poets affiliated with many of the organizations whose efforts make Kalamazoo a thriving community. Several will have display tables in the KIA lobby to display informa-tion about their work and inspire others to become involved. Last Gasp Collective will provide music. Ed Genesis will emcee. * Readers may be subject to change.

Janet AladetohunNgoc ChenRobin Church, Friends of Poetry

Great DaneNathan Dannison, activist, pastor

Kathy Doud, Imagine writers

Melanie Dunbar, Friends of Poetry

Michael Evans, Kalamazoo Literacy Council

Fire YouthRumsha Sajid, Fire

Deborah Gang, Friends of Poetry

Casey GrootenDC Lavender, Black Arts and Cultural Center

Jesselyn Leach, Speak It Forward

Nancy Nott, The Left Margin writers

OutFront KalamazooKathy Rabbers, The Poetic Line

Read and Write Kalamazoo (RAWK) and KVCC's Center for New MediaAmy Sailer, Kalamazoo Book Arts Center

Hannah Seelman, Western Mich. University

Ginny Shilliday, Imagine writers

Jimmy Welty, KVCC student writer

competition winner

Chelsea WhelhamWoodward Fourth Graders

Sue William Silverman’s newest memoir is The Pat Boone Fan Club: My Life as a White Anglo-Saxon Jew, a finalist in Foreword

Reviews’ 2014 IndieFab Book of the Year Award. Her two other memoirs are Love Sick: One Woman’s Journey through Sexual Addiction, also a Lifetime TV movie, and Because I Remember Terror, Father, I

Remember You, which won the Association of Writers and Writing Programs award in creative nonfiction. Her craft book is Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir, and her poetry collection is Hiero-glyphics in Neon. She teaches in the MFA in Writing program at Vermont College of Fine Arts. www.SueWilliamSilverman.com.


SATURDAY, APRIL 7

Nasty Women Poets > Continued from previous page


Black Arts andCultural Centerdevelops potential and creativity in Blacks in

the Kalamazoo area, advances the awareness of Black artistic ability, helps to preserve Black cultural heritage and enhance interactions among diverse groups. They believe engaging arts, culture, and history are critical to a strong community.

Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo (CIS) has as its mission to surround students with a community of support. Without community support, students who live in poverty are more at risk for missing school, dropping out and failing

ParticipatingOrganizations

to earn a high school diploma. By helping the most vulnerable students stay in school and succeed in life, Community In Schools builds stronger, healthier, and more economically stable communities where every person is capable of reaching his or her greatest potential.

FIRE is an organization that encourages and responds to people's desires for authentic expression and believes that

social and cultural awareness generates and sustains social justice. Through its regularly scheduled open mic and youth programming, it is a premier supporter of local poets.

Ed GenesisArtist, musician, entrepreneur, community leader and organizer Ed Genesis has profes-sionally pursued his love of music since 2006. As a community organizer he has worked with S.E.E. Change and Michigan United on mass incarceration and school to prison pipeline issues.

Read and Write Kalamazoo (RAWK) and KVCC's Center for New Media collaborate to celebrate poetry and amplify youth voices and imaginations. Using their poetry written in a RAWK workshop,

young writers then teamed with CNM animators and storyboard artists to set their words in motion. The students’ animated poems are presented as part of the evening.

Aubrey Jewell Rodgers, KVCC’s Chair of Art and New Media, teaches Animation and serves as a Multimedia lead instruc-tor. She’s also a multimedia artist.

Emily Kastner is the executive director of Read and Write Kalamazoo.


Friends of Poetry is a nonprofit Kalama-zoo group dedicated to the enjoyment of the reading and writing of poetry.

Kalamazoo College offers a popular major in English with a writing emphasis, through which students specialize in fiction, nonfiction, or poetry and staff the literary magazine, The Cauldron.

Kalamazoo Literacy Council is a nonprof-it volunteer tutor organization dedicated to enhancing the lives of illiterate adults through free one-on-one programsde-signed to develop reading, writing, and spelling skills. The council is working with the community on the common goal of making Kalamazoo County 100 percent literate.

The Kalamazoo Institute of Arts offers art classes, exhibitions, lectures, events, activities and a permanent collection. The KIA

cultivates the creation and appreciation of the visual arts in the region. Current exhibits include Passion on Paper: Masterly Prints from the KIA Collection, Dawoud Bey: Harlem, USA, and Harlem Redux. Exhibits coming soon include Young Artists of Kalamazoo County and the High School Area Show.

Kalamazoo Valley Community College Center for New Media offers career based, industry-standard instruction for all aspects of digital design and web development.

The English Department at KVCC offers classes in writing and literature, a

Visiting Writers series, and annual awards for essay and creative writing. Kalamazoo Valley Community College Ned Foskey Poetry Prize Contest is open to all Kalamazoo Valley students. Mr. Foskey was a tutor in Kalamazoo Valley’s Writing Center. The contest was established by his family and friends to honor his memory and the students he enjoyed helping.

Out Front Kalamazoo is a nonprofit organization with a 27-year-long history of serving the LGBTQ and allied community in the greater Kalamazoo area. It

strives to create a just, inclusive, and support-ive environment in Southwest Michigan for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities, and expressions.

Read and Write Kalamazoo (RAWK) exists to support the growth and learning of young Kalamazooans

through the consistent cultivation of reading and writing skills.

Speak It Forward works to uplift youth and adults who have been silenced by helping them

find and powerfully express their voices.

Western Michigan University’s Department of English gives students the opportunity to study literature, writing, and rhetoric in a supportive and engaging intellectual community of faculty and peers.

ParticipatingOrganizations

10

All the wonderful places you can go,like home, the Kalamazoo Public Library,and all the schools. I love going to school and learning.

Kalamazoo can be loving and caring, even to people who aren’t always nice.

This big, wonderful city has all my friends in it.In this city that is not too big and not too smallpeople can be themselves.Did I mention I love the schools?That teachers are teaching?

Kalamazoo does not have hurricanes.Get this: it has a banana car!

My head feels like it will explode because Kalamazoo is so cool.I love the way people handle their biz.I love the summer and wind.

My family is here. My friends. My school. My teachers. Me!

Kalamazoo is the best city I’ve ever been to,it’s our home, we have the Promise--and college is free!You see, people here treat each other with kindness.

Kalamazoo can be so kind.

Kalamazoo gives presents and parties on cold, Christmas mornings.It gives us teachers and tutors who help us with our work.

People say kind words. Someone says hi. Students listen to their teacher. We play together. We clean up. We get along.

When people are put down, Kalamazoo help them get back up.We get together and help the homeless, the poor, and those who are feeling sad. We fix each other’s houses.

I wish everybody had a home and that it never snowed.


Yes, there are things we wish were true about Kalamazoo.

We need more good jobs.If only everything cost a penny!I wish the river wasn’t polluted,that I could see my dad.

I wish we always remembered to treat others how we want to be treated.

I wish we had a robot.If only rappers lived in Kalamazoo and there was no such thing as the flu.

I wish Kalamazoo was 5,000 miles long and 5,000 miles wide.I wish everybody-and I mean everybody-could be in my family.

I wish I could help everyone and that we wouldn’t stop helping each other— even when we don’t always get it right.

I wish that the power wouldn’t get shut off.I wish everyone had a place to live and I had a bed of my own.There should be a waterpark in the middle of town.

If only Kalamazoo was California. I miss my cousins. I miss my mom. I worry and wonder where she is.We need more bikes and shooting stars.

No shootings! There is a scared little street that worries someone could get hurt today.Will you keep me safe forever?I dream I will become ….

A firefighter, a doctor, a teacher, an artist, a football player, a wildlife technician…

Will you take care of me? Help me learn today?Be there when I grow up? Will you do your best, like us, and try hard, too?

-a group poem by 4th graders of Woodward

Public Media Network is passionate about amplifying local voices and connecting people to our community

through electronic media.

We provide local coverage on news and events like the Kalamazoo Poetry Festival on our channels.

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Jim CroteauThe poetry community continues to mourn the loss of Jim Croteau. In the years shortly

before his death, Jim experienced a life-changing and creative metamorphosis—he

uncovered his remarkable ability to write poetry. Jim fiercely honed his writing skills both

on his own and through multiple poetry classes in the Kalamazoo area and beyond. He

quickly, and remarkably, became a published author with the help of his writing mentor,

Denise Miller. Jim’s poetry wed his creative abilities and his social justice convictions into

an art form that was powerful, authentic and challenging. His presence as a listener and

creator is missed in the Western Michigan University classes he taught, in the Open Mics

he attended and more.

- Shared with permission of his partner, Darryl Loiacano.


WMUK102.1

wmuk.org

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kalamazoopoetryfestivalkalamazoopoetryfestival.com/wp-content/uploads/... · 2017 Nasty Women Poets > Continued from previous page Feminist Wire. She has also published two chapbooks