Updates from The Bards Initiative

I hope you didn't miss my presence on the streets and net last week, but I was up at an autistic-run retreat (that likes to call itself a conference) that I can only describe as an autistic Shangri-La, and now that I'm back, it's time to give you all the news about The Bards Initiative! This time around, that includes what happened at our past couple of readings and info on what's coming up.

First off, our last couple of readings in the Bards Reading From Page One series have really gotten lively! Last month, our features were former Suffolk County Poet Laureate George Wallace on July 13, and Russ Green and Stefanie Lipsey on July 27th!  I'd like to thank our ever-growing following, and if you'd like to see some of the readings from those nights and other readings and events run or attended by our organization, you can check out our Youtube channel at www.youtube.com/bardsinitiative.

This month, The Bards Initiative has one reading for the Bards Reading From Page One series, on Wednesday, August 24, and we're having a double-feature!  Our features are Charles Peter Watson, author of the soon-to-be-released Netherworld Befalls, and respected Brentwood poet Lynda Wade.

Instead of having a second Bards Reading From Page One this month, we're having a special one-time-only event on Saturday, August 27 at 1 p.m., also at Page One!

Last month, The Bards Initiative came out with its annual poetry anthology, Bards Annual 2011, which premiered at an event called "Bards Day" at the Walt Whitman Birthplace in Huntington.  Over 60 of the contributing poets came, and we had so many who wanted to read from the book that we couldn't even get through the entire list!  Now, on Saturday, August 27, at 1 p.m., just in time for lunch, Bards Annual is coming to Page One!  This is your big chance to get the book that's been the latest buzz in the Long Island poetry community, have it signed by some of the poets, and learn more about the bards of the new age!

Starting next month, and going from there, Bards Reading From Page One will be running on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month, instead of the 2nd and 4th!

On Wednesday, September 7, our feature is the recently-appointed Nassau County Poet Laureate, Linda Opyr!  If you haven't heard her read yet, you'll want to come down and hear for yourselves!

After that, on Wednesday, September 21, we're featuring the fierce, untamed, crazy-and-damn-proud-of-it-if-you-don't-mind-or-even-if-you-do hostess of the wildest, most liberated open mic in New York City, Vivianna Grell!  No matter what she decides to read, it's guaranteed to be one hell of a show!

Looking further ahead, our feature on October 5 will be Samantha Barrow, a nationally-acclaimed NYC-native poet who, when not traveling the country by motorcycle, conducts poetry workshops for sexual abuse survivors.

That will be followed up on October 19 with a powerful triple feature.  Our list of features that night include the following:

• James "Ishwa" Wagner, President and cofounder of The Bards Initiative, fellow coeditor of Perspectives: Poetry Concerning Autism and Other Disabilities and Perspectives 2, editor-in-chief of Bards Annual 2011, owner/publisher of Local Gems Poetry Press, and prominent Long Island-based performance poet
• Frankie "Hidden Legacy" Soto, nationally and internationally recognized spoken word poet who often tours as part of the spoken word group "Words With a Pulse", his works have been published in Pedastal Magazine, Bards Annual 2011, and Perspectives: Poetry Concerning Autism and Other Disabilities, among others, and he's repeatedly won slams throughout NYC over the years
• Kempton "Boone" Van Hoff, owner of Boone's Dock Press, adjunct professor at Hofstra University, and sponsor of a monthly reading series at Cornucopia's Noshery in Amityville

If you have any questions about any of the readings, my contact information is listed on the event pages, and I do respond quickly.