TUESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 7pm – POETRY
Moonstone Poetry Series Presents:
LAMONT STEPTOE

Lamont B. Steptoe is a poet / photographer / publisher born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is author of eight books of poetry including In the Kitchens of the Master, Mad Minute, Uncle’s South Sea China Blue Nightmare, Cat Fish and Neckbone Jazz, Dusty Road, Common Salt and Trinkets and Beads. Steptoe is a father, Vietnam veteran, and founder of Whirlwind Press. “Thinking back on it, I was really exposed to black poetry through the church. Because, as the late write Henri Dumas said, ‘every black poet is a preacher and every black preacher is a poet.’ My work is influenced by the fire and brimstone that black preachers generally exhibit in the context of the church on Sunday mornings. Rev. Augustus C. Sumter from South Carolina was the first person to call me a poet. I had written a poem about the fact that they were going to be tearing down our church and I read it and word got back to him and he announced to the congregation one Sunday, ‘We have a poet in our midst!’ And it was like a revelation. Like a little light went on.” He has read his work at the Library of Congress, the National Library of Nicaragua, the Geralding R. Dodge Poetry Festival, Shakespeare & Co. in Paris, the Knitting Factory, the Schomberg Center for Black Culture, and colleges and universities throughout the United States. Steptoe is also an activist in human rights, environmental issues, and gay/bisexual issues.
Followed by an open reading, moderated by Ray Garman

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 7pm – POETRY
Moonstone Poetry Series Presents
LYNN LEVIN & ROB WRIGHT

Rob Wright has been a regular contributor to the magazine Big City Lit since 2001. He was awarded Fellowships in Literature from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts in 2005 and 2007. His poetry has been published by Schuylkill Valley Journal of the Arts, Headwater Press, and in the magazines Big City Lit and Siren’s Silence. He has read his poetry at the First Person Arts Festival in Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, Studio 34 in Philadelphia, and at Poets and Writers, the Gotham Book Mart, and the Cornelia Street Cafe in New York City.

Lynn Levin’s third collection of poems, Fair Creatures of an Hour, has just been published by Loonfeather Press. “These poems are a charm against solemnity,” says Eleanor Wilner. “So much excitement, such a rush of vitality!” says Elaine Terranova. Lynn Levin’s poems have appeared in Ploughshares, Boulevard, 5 AM, Lilith, Mad Poets Review, Schuylkill Valley Journal of the Arts, and on Garrison Keillor’s show, The Writer’s Almanac. The recipient of two grants from the Leeway Foundation, Lynn Levin teaches creative writing at the University of Pennsylvania and at Drexel University where she also produces the TV show The Drexel InterViewTM.

Rafi Lev is still searching for a reliable Muse. Even so, he recently published some of his work in the Fox Chase Review. Currently, he serves as the Arts and Spirituality Center’s Board liaison to Greater Philadelphia’s We The Poets initiative. In addition, he is involved in museum education, diversity training and para-chaplaincy service. For five years, he performed with Full Circle Theatre’s Intergenerational Improv Troupe. Originally from the Midwest and an avid linguist, Lev has lived and studied in Latin America and the Middle East, as well as worked and traveled extensively in Africa, Asia and Europe. Rafi is proud to be a member of Center City Poets for the past 3 years. He is rumored to have one of the largest refrigerator magnet collections in the Delaware Valley.

Daniel Abdal-Hayy Moore’s first book of poems, Dawn Visions, was published by Lawrence Ferlinghetti of City Lights Books in 1964. He created and directed The Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company in Berkeley in the late 60’s, and presented two major productions, The Walls Are Running Blood, and Bliss Apocalypse. He became a Sufi Muslim in 1970, performed the Hajj in 1972, and lived and traveled throughout Morocco, Spain, Algeria and Nigeria, landing in California and publishing The Desert is the Only Way Out, and Chronicles of Akhira in the early 80s. Residing in Philadelphia since 1990, in 1996 he published The Ramadan Sonnets, and in 2002, The Blind Beekeeper. He has been the major editor for a number of works, including The Burdah of Shaykh Busiri, translated by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, and the poetry of Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish, translated by Munir Akash. He is also widely published on the worldwide web: The American Muslim, DeenPort, and his own website: danielmoorepoetry.com, and poetry blog: ecstaticxchange.wordpress.com.

Open Reading to follow