Poetry Thursdays, at Crimson Frog Coffeehouse, 1104 Carlisle Road, Camp Hill, PA, 717-730-0633, 7- 9 pm, presented by the Almost Uptown Poetry Cartel and hosted by Marty Esworthy. For more information: 761-4721
 

We have readings every doggone Thursday. Sometimes we have a two-hour open reading, generally with a break around eight. Other Thursdays we have a featured presentation, and, usually, an open reading (about an hour) precedes the featured reader.

Sometimes we have a special theme. Like this year on Valentine's Day, we're honoring the late Tom Bickman, oft referred to as the "Love Poet."

Poetry Thursdays is a weekly poetry series that began in a small coffehaus (Sweet Passions) on Third Street in Harrisburg even before the turn of the century, and went through many venues (and tribulations) before settling in for several peaceful & sedate years at an art museum in downtown Harrisburg.

Now we're at the Crimson Frog. It's located just off I-83 in the Cedar Cliff Mall. And, jeepers, it's a swell place, easily accessible, plenty of parking and-- wowsers!-- both a stage and a fine sound system. So the Cartel is energized for an exciting and positive new year, anxious to reach out to new writers and maybe stir up, as well as entertain, the mid-state poetry community.

Come out and see for yourself. In 2008 we'll have readings by Michael Lear-Olimpi, Jack Veasey, Barbara DeCesare, Gene Hosey, Michael Hoover, and Rebecca Gonzalez. That's entertainment! And that's just for starters.

  August 7, 2008 Open reading
  August 14, 2008 Daniel Hawkins
From the hum of a massive incinerator in Harrisburg, Pa., to the tonal distinctions of Chinese languages, Daniel Hawkins has found musical inspiration in atypical places. The Princeton senior is just completing a year spent traversing America’s highways, having taken his search for muses onto the open road. Hawkins, a cellist and music major, was supported in his travels by the Martin Dale Fellowship.

Hawkins also previously traveled twice to Ghana to study its cultural and musical traditions, and spent a summer in China. In both countries he made recordings of ambient noises in the areas he visited, and in China he studied the tonal music of the country’s languages.

Hawkins’ project, titled "Road Songs: An American Sound Story," will focus on what he calls "overlooked American communities and the highways that connect them." He spent last year exploring areas where different people and traditions have come together to produce unique, original music. A major element of his project involves recording ambient noise encountered on the road, used, possibly, as inspiration, or to incorporate into his own compositions. His road experiences are chronicled in his blog.
  August 21, 2008 Open reading
  August 28, 2008 John Terlazzo, August 28:
John Terlazzo co-founded the York Poet's Union and has been a poet-in-residence in the York schools. Terlazzo sings, paints and engages in storytelling and is the author of Some Strange Cunieform, Five Red Angels, Vicious Information, and The Axe & the Lute, as well as recordings of poems and songs. Terlazzo also teaches writing at retreats.
  September 4, 2008 Open reading