Tuesday February 28, 7pm – Poetry

Anne Waldman author of The Iovis Trilogy – Colors in the Mechanism of Concealment ($40.00 coffee House Press)

Published for the first time in its entirety, this major epic poem assures Anne Waldman’s place in the pantheon of contemporary poetry.

The Iovis Trilogy, Waldman’s monumental feminist epic, traverses epochs, cultures, and genres to create a visionary call to poetic arms. Iovis details the misdeeds of the Patriarch, and with a fierce imagination queries and subverts his warmongering. All of Waldman’s themes come into focus—friendship, motherhood, politics, and Buddhist wisdom. This is epic poetry that goes beyond the old injunction “to include history”—its effort is to change history.

“Begun in the 1980s, this mammoth work may be the summit of [Waldman’s] career and . . . an attempt at a new world history, a radical re-creation myth, an homage to Blake’s epics and Pound’s cantos, and a mystic or matriarchal answer to the male-dominated civilization that we have known. . . . A book to admire, to pay homage to, to get lost in, Waldman’s epic goes splendidly on and on, mixing the shamanistic with the diaristic, the topical with the prayerful, incorporating almost everything . . . ”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“This Virgilian epic song, a vast written performance that must be acknowledged for its “orality of intention,” is an expression of knowledge—embodied and disembodied, material and transcendental, violent and pacifist, visionary and starkly realist, present and transhistorical. To read it, to move across its many pages, is to invite a demand for and a belief in freedom that is platonic and phonemic. The three books collected in The Iovis Trilogy . . . together show the force of Waldman’s galloping collection of forms as a vibration of knowledge through ceaseless experiment, a sensorium through which the roundness of self burrows in to win the furthest circumference.”—The Poetry Project Newsletter

“Waldman takes you by the collar and slams you down with language, image, and message, leaving you breathless and shattered in the aftermath of her incantatory vision. . . . The poems repeat themselves, wrap around themselves, glide through linguistic holes that only the poet herself could have seen. They trumpet, blare, and whisper vision upon vision of a world gone crazy with war and patriarchal mores, then proceed to share another vision, one of healing and peace. . . . This is a book of action, a poetic clarion call. Huge and weighty, it will be compared to The Cantos and Paterson. It is neither. It is Iovis; it is an act of incendiary love, and it stands alone.”—Powells.com

Tuesday February 21, 7pm

Poets & Prophets Presents

Kimmika L. H, Williams-Witherspoon

Professor, Poet, Playwright, Lecturer, Director, and performance Artist. She holds a Ph.D (Anthropology); MA (Anthropology); MFA (Theater); Graduate Certificate (Women’s Studies); B.A. (Journalism); Kimmika is a two-time recipient of the Future Faculty Fellowship, at Temple University; and is currently an Assistant Professor of Theater History in the Theater Department at Temple University.

Winner of the PEW Charitable Trusts Fellowship in the Arts for Scriptwriting(2000); the 1999, winner of the DaimlerChrysler “Spirit of the Word” National Poetry Competition at Seattle, Washington’s Unity’99 Conference and the DaimlerChrysler Regional Poetry Contest for Philadelphia, the 1996, Lila Wallace Creative Arts Fellowship with the American Antiquarian Society and Dr. Williams-Witherspoon is also a two-time returning playwright with the Minneapolis Playwrights’ Center and Pew Charitable Trusts Playwrights Exchange. A one time Arts Producer for public radio, she was also cited for outstanding journalism by the Philadelphia Veterans Administration. And she has stage credits. Williams is a contributing poet to several anthologies including Bum Rush the Page; Houston Poetry Fest Anthology, Houston Poetry Fest Anthology; Spirit of the Words: Moving Through Poetry etc. The author of eight books of poetry, her latest is They Never Told me there’d Be Days Like This. Williams is a recipient of numerous Residency, Teaching and Community Service Awards, including citations from City Council, The Goode Admin., the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom and the key to the city of Scranton, Pennsylvania by Mayor James P. Connors in 1992.
Her adventures as a Recording Artist include a new CD Spoken Word long with the ground-breaking cassette, DON’T CALL ME A BITCH, (1985) on the Mark Hyman Associates label. Up-coming projects include, the soon-to-be released short story collection, Never Alone: Tales from the ‘Hood. Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, PH.D., is a contributing poet to several anthologies and is the author of seven volumes of poetry. She is recipient of numerous awards and honors, including: the Pew Charitable Trust Fellowship in Screenwriting; the Daimler Chrysler “Spirit of the Word” National Poetry Competition; and the Lila Wallace Creative Arts Fellowship.

Tuesday February 14, 7pm – Poetry

The Moonstone Poetry Series Presents The National Black Arts Spoken Word Tour in How Love Got Lost, Strayed or Stolen

Poetry and Spoken Word Performances about the trials and tribulations of finding and being in love. Featured Readings and Open Mic. Contact Maurice Henderson @ 215-987-7918

Tuesday, January 24, 7pm – Poetry
The Moonstone Poetry Series Presents
Diane Sahms- Guarnieri & g emil reutter

Diane Sahms- Guarnieri is a Philadelphia Poet. She is a graduate of East Stroudsburg State University and has performed post graduate work at Holy Family University. Her work has been published widely in the small and electronic press, Images of Being, her first full length collection was released in September of 2011. Currently the Poetry Editor of The Fox Chase Review (2009 –present), Diane served on the Editorial Board of Philadelphia Stories Magazine (2007-2009), founded The Fox Chase Reading Series “2nd Tuesdays Poetry Open Mic” (2009-2011), founded The Center City Poets Workshop (2006-2011). Diane has performed her poetry at venues along the east coast of The United States.

g emil reutter lives and writes in the Fox Chase neighborhood of Philadelphia. Eight collections of his poetry and prose have been published, the latest, Carvings released in November of 2010. He is the founder of The Fox Chase Review and The Fox Chase Reading Series.

Wednesday, December 21, 7pm – Women’s Writing & Spoken Word

The Women’s Writing and Spoken Word Series Presents

Janet Mason & Nassunni

Janet Mason is an award-winning writer of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry whose literary commentary is regularly featured on This Way Out, an international LGBT radio syndicate based in Los Angeles.

Nassunni is a Business Woman: Visual Artist, Writer, Spoken word Poet, Designer, Advocate Against Domestic Violence, Membership Coordinator, Event Host/Planner/Organizer – President/Owner of NASSUNNI (NS) ENTERPRISES, Membership Co-ordinator with THE ARTISTS UNITED.

Tuesday, December 20, 7pm – Poetry

Poets & Prophets Presents the Pre-Solstice Open Reading

Tuesday, November 22, 7pm
Moonstone Poetry Series Presents

Wednesday, November 16, 7pm – Multi-Genre
The Women’s Writing & Spoken Word Series Presents
Charlyn Brownskin & Elliott batTzedek

Charlyn (Charly Honey Brownskin) Griffith is a multi-media fine/visual and performance artist who owns and operates several growing businesses including Sanctuary Wholistic Arts, Flowers of the Ancestors Indigenous Arts and Sciences Academy, and Honey Tree (wellness practice). Her commitment to caring for, teaching and being in communion with others motivates all of her endeavors and brings a unique synergy to the in/experience of working with her. She constantly challenges herself to be/do/have better practices throughout all aspects of her life. A teacher and a mother also, Charlyn lives and practices what she teaches alongside her family, friends, students, business partners and clients. Her spirit calls to her to connect to others through integrity and love. Her intention is to passionately in/experience every realm of life as sweet and golden. Visit her at charlybrownskin.wordpress.com.

Elliott batTzedek has a shiny new MFA in poetry from Drew University, and is finishing the MFA in poetry in translation, working with poems by the Israeli lesbian writer Shez. Elliott works as a literacy program designer, adjunct graduate school faculty, general gadfly in the face of the powerful, and co-leader of Fringes, a poetry-based, feminist, non-zionist havurah in Philadelphia. Her work has appeared recently inPoetica, Poemeleon, Trivia, Naugatuck River Review, and Sinister Wisdom]

Hosted with live music by Cassendre Xavier! Always includes a Mixed-Gender Open Mic! Streams LIVE at www.moonstoneartscenter.org, click on the Watch Live button. Founded in 2002 by Cassendre Xavier, the Women’s Writing & Spoken Word Series is a nurturing environment that celebrates women in the craft of multi-genre writing. For submissions and other information, please visit www.womenswritingseries.org

Tuesday, November 8, 7pm – Poetry
Moonstone Poetry Series Presents

Tuesday, October 25, 7pm – Poetry
The Moonstone Poetry Series Presents
Kiraat & Ray Brown

KIRAAT.  This is the pseudonym chosen by Anthony James William, Jr. to write and publish his poetry.  It is an acronym for Keeping It Real At All Time.  Anthony was born in Philadelphia but received his early education in Virginia.  His family returned to Philadelphia in his late teens and has called Philly home ever since.  He is the father of Javonte’ and an uncle to Christopher and Aaleyah. Kiraat’s journey to poetry came out of a need to deal with life and its challenges.  His poetry bravely exposes and discusses the taboo and hidden issues facing us all today, from addiction to mental health he relentlessly poets a penetrating truth.  His work has a tender poignancy yet it has a strength, a rawness and a precision to slice through sentimentality.  His most recent work can be found in The River Poet’s Journal and in his chapbook Natalie and Other Selected Poems.

“Ray Brown’s poetry is for everyman – and woman. His easily read poems give just enough for the mind to draw an image that can be completed – made into rich imagery - when they blend with the reader’s own experiences. Ray’s words are sometimes assembled in a way that makes a phrase glow with a human warmth that is so intense that the words burn into a place – maybe it’s memory – that stirs the soul.”
Mary McAvoy, author, “Love’s Compass”