Poetry in Person - Lakewood Public Library

KENNETH WARREN
Feeling into Poetry; Feeling into Lakewood
Captain Poetry's Sucker Punch: A Guide to the Homeric Punkhole, 1980-2012
Kenneth Warren explores how C.G. Jung's psychology of types provides a set of cardinal directions for engaging four records of interactive knowledge spoken through poets, punks, and Lakewood visionaries. The talk will draw on the former Library director’s recent breakthrough book of history, criticism and imagination, Captain Poetry's Sucker Punch: A Guide to the Homeric Punkhole, 1980-2012. Joe Napora writes, “If you have any interest in poetry, the poetry that matters, Ken Warren's Captain Poetry’s Sucker Punch needs to be your constant companion. It is a critical examination of the past thirty years of poetry (plus some film & music), and it’s a language event in itself, a poetic mirroring of the occasion for its writing of not only what's new but what's news worthy. The list of writers, essential but too often ignored, is impressive: Kerouac, Snyder, Corso, Wakoski, Acker, Eshleman, Doubiago, Eigner, d. a. levy, Susan Howe, Hirschman, Oppen, Tarn, as well as cultural figures like John Cage, Simone Weil, David Lynch, Bo Diddley, and including the major revision of the Charles Olson and Vincent Ferrini relationship, the importance of Jack Clarke, teacher, scholar, poet, all set in the human context (the Homeric subtitle) that makes even the archaic contemporary.” Books will be available for sale and signing at the event.
Thursday, April 4 at 7:00 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium

BETTY ROZAKIS
A Blueprint for Poets
Coffee with the Subconscious
Life is about relationships, the resolved and unresolved… As a poet, a muse and a graphologist, Betty Rozakis has inspired scholars and tastemakers like Kenneth Warren and Michael Heaton with her powerful intuitive insight. Warren wrote of Rozakis, “From Hippocratic humorology to Jungian typology, from enneagram to graphology, Rozakis has done her homework across esoteric systems of human personalities to make Coffee with the Subconscious a functional fiction of archetypal modalities. Intelligently probing elemental vocabularies for structural insights into human process, Rozakis fashions a charming prose-poem of life experience, mystery, romance, and self-confrontation within the conceit of an objective blueprint.” You can either read her work as one epic poem or follow its lessons to map out your own poetic journey. Books will be available for sale and signing at the event.
Tuesday, April 9 at 7:00 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium

MICHELLE DISLER
Dissecting the Spy
[BOND, JAMES]: alphabet, anatomy, [auto] biography
The title is an inscrutable as the man himself. James Bond is an elusive character who navigates the world of international espionage with only brief layovers for smokes, drinks and beautiful women. Dr. Michelle Disler, a professor at Ohio Wesleyan University, slows the man down with prose, poems and essays that deconstruct 007 as a model of masculinity. With her own narrative of the reluctant killer, Disler turns the tables and exposes Bond in an entirely new light. Books will be available for sale and signing at the event.
Thursday, April 11 at 7:00 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium

Sunday with the Friends: The Living Edgar Allan Poe with Vladimir Swirynsky
Poe is long dead, but his midnight verses will live for centuries. How can the living compete? Contemporary poet Vladimir Swirynski dons the guise of Annabel Lee’s most ardent admirer for a haunting recitation of classic poems and stories, mixed with his own contemporary musings.
Sunday, April 14 at 2:00 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium

I Sing the Body Electric
A Portrait of Walt Whitman in Words and Music
By Wordstage
Letters, diaries and revolutionary poems set to live violin music paint an intimate portrait of America’s most influential poet. The period musical selections serve to conjure the mood of a great, emerging nation careening into civil war. Building on that charged atmosphere, director Tim Tavcar weaves carefully chosen snatches of the poet’s writings into a compelling biography. In an age marked by progress and hypocrisy, slavery and abolition, booming opportunity and silent homophobia, Walt Whitman drew upon his endless reserves of compassion to forge a poetic voice that spoke for the fledgling nation. It shouldn’t be possible to condense all of the passions and circumstances that made a man like Whitman into a single, one-hour presentation—and it isn’t—but Wordstage does a masterful job of sketching out a framework for new appreciation.
Thursday, April 18 at 7:00 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium

Remembering Daniel Thompson
A Raucous Outdoor Concert Event for Friends, Strangers and Saxophone
By Drumplay with Maj Ragain, Bill Kennedy, Ray McNiece and Ernie Krivda
Drumplay Remembers Daniel Thompson
On the eve of the eve of what would have been Daniel Thompson’s seventy-eighth birthday, poets and percussionists will gather to celebrate his defiant spirit, making a joyful noise on the Library's Front Porch. The late poet laureate of Cleveland was a founding member of Drumplay and he has never left their circle. His words still resonate through Afro-Cuban rhythms and Middle Eastern motifs, sometimes driving the beat and sometimes being carried away. Thompson was a larger-than-life character. He fought and wrote for the homeless, the helpless and the disenfranchised. He had a wicked sense of humor and an anti-authority streak a mile wide. The world-famous jazz saxophonist Ernie Krivda, inspired by Thompson's devotion to just plain folks, was a frequent collaborator too. He will join poets Maj Ragain, Bill Kennedy and Ray McNiece in an effort to reimagine those legendary Drumplay concerts and spread Thompson's words through the city streets—right where they belong.
Friday, April 19 at 6:00 p.m. on the Library’s Front Porch

Sunday Poetry Events with the Friends
Muscle and Bone: The Songs of Bob Dylan
Blending rich vocal harmonies over guitar, bass, and harmonica, Susan Weber and Walt Campbell celebrate National Poetry Month with the ballads of Bob Dylan. Some are as familiar as old lovers you didn't know you'd miss while others are friends you never knew you had.
Sunday, April 28 at 2:00 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium

2012 Transversion Official Poem by Tom Baskerville Rowland

POETRY FOR A YOUNGER CROWD

Poetry Carnival: For youth 2nd through 5th grade
What do poetry and party have in common? Three letters: T-R-Y! Come to our Poetry Carnival and try your hand at crafting several kinds of poems. Make an acrostic out of your name, or favorite word. Create a collage and poem in one. Think you’ve got the fastest tongue? Then compete in our Poetry Race! The room is your stage, and the poem, your script: Act out a poem using props in our Poetry Theatre! To register, please stop in or call (216) 226-8275, ext. 140.
Saturday, April 20th, 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. in the Main Library Multipurpose Room

Poetry Out Loud! :For teens 6th through 12th grade
Fancy yourself a poet? A lyricist? Or do you just listen to a ton of music? Bring in a (clean version) copy of your favorite song lyrics. In this poetry workshop, you will have the opportunity to create several poems with your peers. A poetry jam session will be held at the end of the program, for those who would like to read or act a piece out. Together we will merge the worlds of music and poetry to create a masterpiece! To register, please stop in or call (216) 226-8275, exr. 140.
Thursday, April 25th, 4:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. in the Main Library Multipurpose Room