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Monday, February 3, 2025

Spoken Word Poetry Events - February 2025

 

February 2025

“Come, February, lend thy darkest sky.

There teach the winter'd muse with clouds to soar;

Come, February, lift the number high;

Let the sharp strain like wind thro' alleys roar.”

—Thomas Chatterton, "February"
 (excerpt)

 

IMAGE: 'February Dawn',  B Kathleen Fannin (2019)

Spoken Word Performance

“Sentinels of the Heart”

Open call for performance readers for our next spoken word event, ‘Sentinels of the Heart’ (Four Centuries of Love Sonnets)!

Join us as spoken word performance readers for a captivating evening of spoken word poetry celebrating the enduring power of love. This special event will feature a diverse collection of love sonnets from renowned poets spanning centuries, from Shakespeare to contemporary voices. Prepare to be moved, inspired, and entertained as talented performers bring these timeless works of literature to life. Discover the beauty and complexity of love through the words of some of the greatest poets of all time. Don't miss this unique opportunity to experience the magic of love sonnets through the spoken word. Light refreshments will be served.

WHERE: Thompson Park Visitor Center in the Beech Room
WHEN: Wednesday, February 12, 2025, from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.

 

Readthrough Schedule:

February 8, 2025, from 9:00 am to 10:30 am at Thompson Park Visitor Center

For interested performance readers, libretto can be found here.  If interested in this production please email RobertReads@outlook.com with your preferred selections.

Libretto can be obtained by clicking here.

The Red Bank Public Library

84 W. Front St., 2nd Floor

Red Bank, NJ  07701

Your co-hosts: Linda ~ lindacjm@gmail.com 

Gregg ~ gregglory@aol.com

Performance Reading: Sal Roseo

Subscriber and Monmouth County Poet Sal Roseo provided a  performance reading of his poetry on Tuesday, January 14, 2025, at Mr. Pi’s in Highland Park for the Corinne Gliozzi reading series program.

New Workshop at the Morristown Library. To register email info@artsbythepeople.org with “The Link: Grief As Inspiration For Creative Writing” in the subject line.

The Mad Art Supper Club returns on February 23, 2025, from 3:00 pm - 5:30 pm!

Being Poetically Punctional

The humble marks that pepper our verses carry histories as rich as the words they accompany. Consider Emily Dickinson's famous dashes — those horizontal strokes that editors sanitized into conventional punctuation until 1981. These marks weren't mere grammatical choices but visual embodiments of her thought process, creating psychological pauses that modern readers can finally experience as she intended.

We write poetry in an era far removed from medieval manuscripts, where readers navigated verse without punctuation's guidance. Today's poets might find such texts daunting, yet they remind us that the relationship between breath, meaning, and visual markers has evolved dramatically through centuries of literary tradition.

The Renaissance brought us the semicolon, poetry's "middle pause," a sophisticated tool for creating nuanced rhythmic structures. William Blake later transformed punctuation into mystical symbols within his illuminated manuscripts, while Walt Whitman obsessively revised punctuation between editions of "Leaves of Grass," each change altering the breath patterns of his epic work.

E.E. Cummings revolutionized typography as meaning, making punctuation dance across the page in ways that would have bewildered Renaissance poets. Gerard Manley Hopkins went further, developing a personal system of accent marks to guide readers through his complex sprung rhythm. Even the now-forgotten pilcrow (¶) once marked verse beginnings before line breaks became our standard.

Contemporary concrete poets have inherited this rich tradition, using punctuation marks as visual building blocks. Meanwhile, Japanese haiku reminds us that punctuation isn't universal — its "cutting words" (kireji) create breaks through language rather than symbols.

As we craft our own verses, each comma, period, or dash carries this weighted history. These marks aren't merely grammatical tools but part of poetry's visual music, its breath, its silence, and its song. They're our inheritance from centuries of poets who understood that how words pause matters as much as how they flow.

Kevin Young and Poets of The New Yorker: A Century of Poetry

Join award-winning poet and New Yorker poetry editor Kevin Young for a reading honoring a century of poetry in The New Yorker — and the release of a monumental new anthology, edited by Young — featuring some of the most iconic poetic voices in America.

From Dorothy Parker to Derek Walcott, Sylvia Plath to Sandra Cisneros, John Ashbery to Amanda Gorman, The New Yorker is both a gateway into and a treasure trove of English-language poetry. A Century of Poetry in The New Yorker: 1925-2025 gathers one hundred years of the most influential, entertaining, and taste-making verse ever published in the magazine, including by many poets who have graced the stage of 92NY — Seamus Heaney, Louise Glück, Langston Hughes, Tracy K. Smith, Mark Strand, Terrance Hayes, Billy Collins, Ada Limón and dozens of others.

In a special celebratory reading, hear Young and a group of some of today’s premier poets reading from the anthology, both classic selections and their own work — a tribute to the stunning poetic range of the magazine’s history and the resounding power of poetry itself.

Join ABC partner Project Write Now on February 11, 2025, at 7:00 pm for a fun evening of storytelling, conversation, and community! Using creative prompts, we generate new writing and then share our work. (Outside pieces are welcome too, but they must be your own work, 500 words or less, and align with PWN’s mission to provide a supportive environment.) 

If you would like to read, please email info@projectwritenow.org to be put on the readers list. Come to write, read, or listen! Your story matters, and we want to hear it!

Monmouth County Poets - 2025 Schedule

Emotional or humorous, storytelling or intense, poetry can evoke a variety of thoughts and emotions. Explore or recite literary works during a time of alliteration, rhythm and verse.

All are welcome to read your work aloud or read work from your favorite poet(s).

Themes are suggested and original poems are encouraged. Poems must be appropriate for a family-oriented audience. Preregistration is recommended for readers, though drop-ins are welcome as time permits. FREE!

Next session is Sunday, March 23, 2025, from 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm at the Thompson Park Theater Barn. Contact RacheI Cohen to be added to the list of readers at (732) 542-1642, ext. 29 or via rachel.cohen@monmouthcountyparks.com.

A Soul Awakens” Notecards

Beautiful notecards featuring the inspiring poem "A Soul Awakens." Perfect for expressing heartfelt messages as well as a gift to friends.

Let your words come alive on these exquisite notecards. Adorned with the poignant poem "A Soul Awakens," each card is a blank canvas for your thoughts and feelings. Share inspiration with every note.

Ignite your correspondence with our "A Soul Awakens" notecards.  This set of ten beautifully designed cards, featuring a thought-provoking poem, is the perfect way to add a touch of poetry to your everyday life. Order yours today!

The Final Word

Previous Editions of Spoken Word Poetry