Poetry and music at the Priestly Chapel

The ninth season of the First Sunday Program of Words and Music at Priestley Chapel is underway at the Joseph Priestley Memorial Chapel, 380 Front Street, Northumberland (about half an hour from Bloomsburg).

Programs begin at 9:30 am and conclude at 10:10 am. Each program includes a poem from a Pulitzer winning book of poetry, music and a guest poet. Programs for the spring include:

• On Sunday, April 5, Hope W. Kopf will perform selections on the historic John Wind organ and chapel piano. Guest poet for the program is Raymond Cummings. Originally from Baltimore Raymond Cummings is the author of several books of poetry and commentary, including Crucial Sprawl, Assembling The Lord, and Class Notes; his newest book of poetry, Vigilante FLUXUS, has just been released. His writing has appeared in the Village Voice, MAGNET, and the Baltimore City Paper, among other publications. He lives and works in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania and is a regular participant at the Poetry under Paintings at Faustina’s Gallery in Lewisburg.

• On Sunday, May 3 David Levengood will perform piano selections. David is a student of Professor Barry Hannigan at Bucknell University. Guest Poet is Steve Olofson. Originally from Buffalo, NY Olofson now lives in Sunbury and works as an educator and trainer in the Geisinger Medical System. Last fall he published a digital book of holiday poems, Thoughts and Observations on the Holidays.

• On Sunday, June 7, guest musicians are Bill Calhoun on piano and vocals and Erik Wynters on guitar performing original songs and songs from the repertoire of the band, “The Derivatives”, based on humorous mathematics themes, such as being “touched by a tangent”. Both Calhoun and Wynters are professors in the math department at Bloomsburg University. The program features the poetry of Sharlene Gilman. Beginning while in high school she has published poems in many journals. Currently she is a frequent reader at the Poetry Under Paintings program held in Faustina’s Gallery in Lewisburg on the second Thursday of each month. Gilman is a Professor at Bloomsburg University. 

Priestley Chapel Associates is a secular, non-profit 501 (c) 3 corporation established in 1977 to care for and manage the Joseph Priestley Memorial Chapel, the beautiful memorial garden and the historic 1811 John Wind organ located in the chapel. This lovely country chapel was built in 1834 by descendants of Joseph Priestley and members of the Unitarian congregation in Northumberland. Currently, the chapel is open to the public the first Sunday of each month for a program of words and music. The chapel is also used for wedding ceremonies, memorial services, and community events. For more information call 570-473-1688 or visit: www.priestleychapel.org.

BU poets to give reading Feb. 11

Two Bloomsburg University faculty members will read their poetry on Wednesday, Feb. 11, at 7 pm in Monty's Assembly Room on the university's upper campus.

Jerry Wemple, assistant professor of English and creative writing, and Shanna L. Smith, English instructor, will give the reading as part of the university's Big Dog Reading Series, which is free and open to the public. 

Wemple’s work includes three poetry collections, “You Can See It From Here,” selected by Pulitzer Prize-winner Yusef Komunyakaafor the Naomi Long Madgett poetry Award; “The Civil War in Baltimore”; and “The Artemas Poems.” Wemple has received awards for both writing and teaching, including a Fellowship in Literature from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Word Journal chapbook prize. His work has been included in journals and anthologies, including publications in Chile and Ireland. A Susquehanna Valley native, Wemple’s work often details the people and places of this area.

 Originally from Kentucky, Smith was featured in the 2001 documentary, “Coal Black Voices,” celebrating the Affrilachian Poets’ 10th anniversary, and performed with the group again in 2011 at Busboys and Poets in Washington, D.C. Her work has been published in Artists in Revolution, Eclipsing a Nappy New Millennium: An Anthology of Contemporary Mid-Western Poetry and Java House Anthology. In 1999, Smith was selected to attend the Zora Neale Hurston-Richard Wright Institute for poetry and received a grant for poetry from the Kentucky Foundation for Women.

The Big Dog Reading Series is a part of the College of Liberal Arts’ Center for Visual and Performing Arts. The series will continue on Tuesday, March 24, with Domenica Ruta, author of the memoir “With or Without You.” For information, contact Wemple at jwemple@bloomu.edu.

Sample the arts Saturday

Taste of the Arts, an afternoon of art and entertainment, will be held on Saturday, March 8, from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Caldwell Consistory in downtown Bloomsburg. The event, sponsored by Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania’s College of Liberal Arts and Center for Visual and Performing Arts, is free and open to the public.

Students and faculty in theater, music, dance, art and art history, and English will showcase their talents throughout the afternoon with performances taking place about every 10 minutes. A Taste of the Arts will feature music by the Jazz, Percussion and Guitar ensembles, Concert Choir, Sax Quartet, Women’s Chorale and Husky Singers; theatrical and dance performances; and poetry readings, along with fine arts exhibitions, demonstrations and talks.

Visitors may attend any portion of the three-hour program. Refreshments will be available.

Schedule of Events

MURAL ROOM (DOWNSTAIRS) 

2:00 PEP BAND and WELCOMING REMARKS 

2:10 HUSKY SINGERS 

2:20 POETRY | PROSE 

2:30 WOMEN’S CHORALE 

 2:40 PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE 

STAGE THEATRE (UPSTAIRS) 

3:00 THEATRE PERFORMANCE 

3:10 DANCE 

3:20 BRASS CHOIR/SAX QUARTET 

3:30 THEATRE PERFORMANCE 

3:40 JAZZ ENSEMBLE MURAL ROOM (DOWNSTAIRS) 

 4:00 POETRY | PROSE 

4:10 ART HISTORY PRESENTATION 

4:20 GUITAR ENSEMBLE 

4:30 ART HISTORY PRESENTATION 

4:40 CONCERT CHOIR 

ONGOING (COLUMN ROOM) 

ART DEMONSTRATIONS AND STUDENT EXHIBITION

Poetry will go on

The River Poets will hold their February reading tonight (Feb. 6) at 7:30 pm at the Bloomsburg Public Library. Featured readers will be Richard Brook and Tara Holden. Sue Brook will MC. The theme of the night is "Confession-Less Heart."

Jazz expert Sascha Feinstein featured River Poets reader

Poet and jazz expert Sascha Feinstein to read from his work Thursday, Nov. 7 with the River Poets at the Bloomsburg Public Library, Market Street, at 7:30 p.m. An open reading will follow with the suggested theme All That Jazz. The public is invited.

 Feinstein is the author of two collections of poetry, Ajanta’s Ledge and Misterioso (the winner of the Hayden Carruth Award.) His poems have appeared in such publications as American Poetry Review, The Georgia Review, The Missouri Review, and North American Review, as well as in anthologies such as American Poetry, the Next Generation, The Penguin Book of the Sonnet and Poets Against the War. Essays he has written have appeared in scholarly journals and he also writes regularly for JAZZIZ magazine. He has written liner notes and program notes for Jazz at Lincoln Center. Feinstein hosts Jazz Standards, a radio program on WVIA-FM, the public radio station for Central Pennsylvania. In 2008, he received the Pennsylvania Governor’s Award for Artist of the Year. He enjoys playing the saxophone at local venues.

Arts in Autumn dinner at Moose Oct. 20

Musical performances by a jazz combo, poetry readings and scenes from “Avenue Q” will be featured during the second annual Arts in Autumn. Presented by Bloomsburg University's Center for Visual and Performing Arts, the dinner celebration will be Sunday, Oct. 20, beginning at 5 p.m. at the Moose Exchange, 203 W. Main Street. Tickets at $35 per person benefit BU scholarships and must be ordered in advance.

Guests can preview the items available in the silent auction beginning at 5 p.m., including pieces by local artists and tickets for Celebrity Artist Series shows and BU theatre department performances. Guests may also view an exhibit which spotlights works in a variety of mediums by advanced art students.

The three-course dinner will be interspersed with musical performances, poetry readings by BU students from Creative Writing: Poetry classes and members of BU Players performing a scene and a song from the upcoming production of “Avenue Q,” which will run from Nov. 7 to 10.

Centerpieces will be contributed by Introduction to Sculpture students. Tickets may be reserved at www.bloomu.edu/cvpa or by calling (570) 389-4410. The deadline is Oct. 4.

Poetry and song Sunday in Northumberland

Poet and musician Lester Hirsh will read from his work accompanying himself on guitar Sunday, Sept. 1, from 9:30 to 10:10 am at Joseph Priestley Memorial Chapel, 380 Front Street, Northumberland. Hirsh is a guitarist, singer/songwriter, and poet who plays on Spanish 6-string and acoustic 12-string guitars in styles ranging from classical, country, and folk, to Brazilian jazz and Flamenco.

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More poetry in September

The 5th annual Stillwater Poetry and Music Festival will be Saturday, Sept. 7, under a  tent in the Stillwater Memorial Park. The event will feature award-winning poets from across Pennsylvania, including:

• Julia Spicher Kasdorf, Associate Professor of Women’s Studies and Creative Writing at Penn State University. Kasdorf is the author of three volumes of poetry, Sleeping Preacher, Eve’s Striptease, and Poetry in America.
• Sheryl St. Germain, a Louisiana native and director of the MFA writing program at Chatham University, Pittsburgh. St. Germain is the author of Going Home, The Mask of Medusa, Making Bread at Midnight, How Heavy the Breath of God, and The Journals of Scheherazade, as well as her latest Let it Be a Dark Roux: New and Selected Poems.
•  Jack Troy, professor emeritus of Juniata College and author of Calling the Planet Home.

The theme of this year’s festival is agriculture and nature writing. Several other poets completing the roster are farmer/poets who write of the land and its importance in their lives.

Additionally, Benton’s Fort Ricketts Post #8317 is supporting the festival with the sponsorship of a veteran poet who, in addition to reading at the festival, will make a visit to the Benton Area School District for a reading. Two open mic sessions allow anyone with a poem to share it from the festival stage. Live acoustic music will also be part of the festival. Local and organic food will be available.

Free admission, rain or shine. For more information contact: stillwaterpoetry@yahoo.com.

Poetry: Harry Humes featured reader Thursday

Harry Humes will be the featured reader for the River Poets Thursday, June 6, at 7:30 pm in the Bloomsburg Public Library. Humes' most recent collections of poetry are August Evening with Trumpet (2004) and Butterfly Effect (1998). MC will be Dave Barsky and there will be time for open readings.

River Poets Thursday reading to feature Rob Burnside

Rob Burnside will be the featured reader for the River Poets on Thursday, May 2, at 7:30 pm at the Bloomsburg Public Library, 225 Market Street. The theme of the reading is Old Friends. A native of northeastern Pennsylvania, Burnside's interest in poetry began in childhood, listening to his mother recite from memory. He is a graduate of Wyoming Seminary and received a B.A. in Art Education from Wilkes University. In the early 1990s, near the end of a career on the Wilkes-Barre City Fire Department, he began writing poetry and short fiction to fill in long night shift hours at the fire station, and joined the River Poets shortly thereafter. He currently resides in Swoyersville, and has published a chapbook Falling Off the Bone, with the help of Finishing Line Press. His work is substantially influenced by the poetry of Stanley Kunitz, Ruth Stone, William Stafford, Patti Smith, and Walt Whitman. MC is Mike DeMarco.

Miscellanea: Economics, Edith Wharton, Poetry + Jazz

Economics

A Harvard University professor called “America’s leading immigration economist” by Business Week and The Wall Street Journal will speak at 2 p.m., Thursday, April 18, in BU's Kehr Union, multipurpose rooms.

George J. Borjas, professor of economics and social policy at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, will discuss “Immigration and Economics.” The free lecture is open to the public.

A research associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor. His editorials appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journaland Le Monde, and he is the author of the textbook, Labor Economics, now in its sixth edition, and Heaven’s Door: Immigration Policy and the American Economy.

He has appeared on CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” the PBS “NewsHour” with Jim Lehrer, the nightly news shows of CBS and NBC, Fox News’ “O’Reilly Factor” and “Fox and Friends,” and Ben Wattenberg’s “Think Tank.” The lecture is sponsored by BU’s College of Liberal Arts, economics department, and International Economics Honors Society. For more information, contact Mehdi Haririan, chair of economics, (570) 389-4682 or mhariria@bloomu.edu.

I know this isn't strictly arts related. However, the speakers that Mehdi Haririan has brought to campus over the years —including NYT columnist Paul Krugman — have been consistently superb and insightful. — EGF

Edith Wharton

BU English professor Ferda Asya will give a talk on "Edith Wharton's Transatlantic Homes and Friends" on Thursday, April 18, from 4:30 – 5:30 pm, in Warren Student Services Center, room 004 This event is open to the public and free of charge. Light refreshments will be provided. Edith Wharton was the recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for her novel The Age of Innocence (1920) and she was the first woman to receive an honorary doctorate degree from Yale University. For her war work, she was awarded la Légion d’honneur, the highest decoration given by the French government.

Asya will explore Wharton’s passion for her houses in the United States and France, devotion to her transatlantic friends, including Elisina Tyler, Rosa de Fitz-James, Minnie David Bourget, Paul Bourget, Walter Van Rensselaer Berry, and William Morton Fullerton, and enactment of her friends in some of her fiction.

Poetry

The River Poets will host readings Thursday, APril 18, at 7:30 pm (sharp) at Bloomsburg Public Library, 22 Market St. Abigail Hess and other poets from the Slam Poetry group at Susquehanna University will perform and present their poems. MC is Tara Holdren.

More Poetry + Jazz

A tidbit from guitarist Matt Leece: Channel your inner bohemian Friday night at the Center Street Café (next to Artspace). Poetry readings and jazz music commence at about 7 pm.

Essayist and poet Lia Purpura to read Tuesday

Essayist and poet Lia Purpura will give a reading Tuesday, April 16, at 7 pm in BU's Hartline Science Center, Kuster Auditorium.

A leading author in the "New Essay" movement, A 2012 Guggenheim fellowship recipient, Purpura is the author of three collections of poems (King Baby, Stone Sky Lifting, The Brighter the Veil), three collections of essays (Rough Likeness, On Looking, and Increase) and one collection of translations (Poems of Grzegorz Musial: Berliner Tagebuch and Taste of Ash).

Her poems and essays appear in AGNI, The Antioch Review, DoubleTake, FIELD, The Georgia Review, The Iowa Review, Orion Magazine, The New Republic, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Parnassus: Poetry in Review, Ploughshares. Southern Review.

Her visit, part of the Big Dog Reading Series, is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and is free and open to the public.

Miscellanea: Poetry and an International Festival

Poetry at the Priestley Chapel

April's First Sunday Program at Priestley Chapel is this Sunday, April 7, at 9:30 am. Bloomsburg University professor Claire Lawrence will discuss poet Elizabeth Bishop. Ann Evans will read a selection of her poems. Bucknell student Nate Dresher will perform several classical pieces on the chapel piano. The Priestly Memorial Chapel is located at 380 Front Street, Northumberland, which is about a half an hour drive from Bloomsburg.

International Festival

BU’s International Student Association will hold its Cultural Diversity Festival on Friday, April 19, beginning at 5 pm in the Kehr Union Ballroom. In addition to international cuisine, there will be a fashion show and performances. Admission is $10 with BU Student ID; $20 for others. Tickets are available at the Office of International Education Services in the Student Services Center or by contacting msharma@bloomu.edu.

Poetry: Jim Magill featured reader Thursday

Jim Magill will be the featured reader for the River Poets on Thursday, April 4, at 7:30 pm at the Bloomsburg Public Library, Market Street. Magill's writing has received, and continues to garner, some national attention. A sample of his writing can be accessed at his web site: http://romonxassociatedartists.com/profile/JamesMagill. This will be an interactive event, audience participation requested.

Miscellanea: Poetry, prose, justice and the Arctic

Poetry:

PNC Television will air  "A Gathering of Laureates" Wednesday and Thursday, March 27 and 28, at 11:05 pm. The program features past and present laureates of Perry, Berks, York, Harrisburg, and Montgomery counties, including Melanie Simms of Sunbury — a familiar face in the Bloomsburg poetry community.

Prose:

Puerto Rican writer Marta Aponte Alsina will give a talk "We Had Never Seen Such People Before: Puerto Rican Literature and the Writing of Other" on Thursday, March 28, from 7 to 8 pm in Kehr Union, Multipurpose Room B. In connection to that lecture, there will be a series of talks related to diversity throughout that day.

• Paul Loomis, faculty, "Student Life in South America" (1:20-1:50 pm)
• Tom Aleto, faculty, "Carnival in San Martin Tilcajete, Oaxaca, Mexico: A Ritual of Inversion² (2:00-3:00 pm) 
• Kendal Arthur, international student, "St. Lucia: French and British Culture" (3:00-3:20 pm) 
• Marthe Beauvais, student, "Once Upon A Time, Haiti" (3:20-3:40 pm) 
• Iker Omar Belsaguy (exchange student, Mexico), "The Importance of Learning a Foreign Language. Experiences on Chinese language" (3:45-4:00 pm) 
• Study Abroad Panel (China, Germany, France, Haiti, Panama, Peru, Spain): 4:05-5:00 pm 

Justice: 

Terrence Roberts, one of the Little Rock Nine, will speak on Lessons from Little Rock, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 2 in Bloomsburg University’s Kehr Union, Ballroom. Roberts was a 15-year-old 11th-grader when he joined eight other African-American students in 1957 and entered all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Ark. Roberts’ presentation, open to the public free of charge.

The Arctic:

Arctic scientist Martin Jeffries will speak on "The Arctic Report Card: On the State of an Environmental System in Rapid Transition" on Wednesday, April 3, at 7:30 pm in BU’s Hartline Science Center, Kuster Auditorium. Jeffries, currently on leave from a faculty position with the University of Alaska/Fairbanks, is program officer and arctic science adviser for the Ocean, Atmosphere and Space Research Division at the Office of Naval Research, Arlington, Va. His talk is sponsored by the Green Campus Initiative and open to the public free of charge.

Paula Closson Buck featured River Poets reader

The featured reader for the River Poets on Thursday, March 7, is Paula Closson Buck, the author of two books of poems, The Acquiescent Villa (1998) and Litanies Near Water (2008), both from Louisiana State University Press. Readings begin at 7:30 pm in the Bloomsburg Public Library, followed by an open reading. MC is Dick Brook.

She has published poems in such journals as Agni, Denver Quarterly, Gettysburg Review, Shenandoah, and Southern Review and has been the recipient of three individual artist fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. In addition to teaching at Bucknell University as professor of English, for eleven years she edited West Branch, the nationally distributed literary magazine published out of Bucknell’s Stadler Center for Poetry.

Illustration by Sarah Foster.

Miscellanea: Road trip, poetry and dinner

BU Math prof Paul Loomis will share insights gained while traveling through Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile in Speaking Math in Spanish: A South American Road Trip on Monday, Feb. 25, at 4:30 pm in Warren Student Service Cetner, room 004. Loomis will discuss how cultural, economic and political factors affect university life in South America. The lecture is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts’ Institute for Culture and Society.

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If you missed Sunbury poet Melanie Simms and other Pennsylvania Poet Laureates at the Mid-Town Scholar Bookstore in Harrisburg ... at least a part of the event is on YouTube.

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The annual Kids Fun Carnival will be Sunday, March 3, from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 3, in the Nelson Field House. BU student organizations will offer games, crafts and activities free of charge for local children. For information, contact the SOLVE Office, (570) 389-4788 or stvolser@bloomu.edu.

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The BU LGBTA Commission is hosting the 5th Annual, It’s Time Fundraiser on Tuesday, March 26, at The Barn at Boone’s Dam from 5-7 pm. The evening will begin with a light reception followed by an awards presentation and silent auction. Silent auction includes items from artists, restaurants and local businesses. Tickets are $25 and include creative appetizers, beer and wine. Checks may be made payable to the BU Foundation and can be dropped off at the LGBTA Resource Center located in the SSC 226.

Culture ... near ... far ... and now

The fourth annual ArtWalk-In runs today (Feb. 21) from 4 to 8 pm.  Downtown Bloomsburg Inc. and the Moose Exchange host the event, which brings together more than 30 local and regional artists in many media, including photography, painting, drawing, sculpture, fiber, and others, and in addition we will have exhibitions of student work from area high schools and Bloomsburg University. The Children’s Museum will provide art activities for kids of all ages, and musicians will play both in the Grille Room and Ballroom throughout the event. Food provided by Downtown restaurant.

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Poet Melanie Simms of Sunbury and several other Pennsylvania Poet Laureates will present a special reading, this Friday, Feb. 22, in Harrisburg at the Mid-Town Scholar Bookstore, 3rd & Broad Streets. The reading is free and open to the public from 7 to 9 pm. If time permits, there will be an open reading period for other poets to participate.

Miscellanea: Beginnings, closings, readings and taxes

Bloomsburg University’s annual Chinese New Year Party, sponsored by the BU Chinese Student Association and Chinese Faculty, will begin at noon Saturday, Feb. 9, in Kehr Union Ballroom. The potluck dinner will be served at 1 p.m., followed by music and dance programs. For information, contact Ju Xin, associate professor of physics and adviser of the Chinese Student Association, (570) 389-5309.

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A reception to close an exhibit of photography by Tomiko Jones will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, in Bloomsburg University’s Haas Gallery of Art. For information, contact Rebecca Morgan, art gallery associate, (570) 389-4708 or rmorgan@bloomu.edu.

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Bloomsburg University English faculty members Anne Dyer Stuart and Jerry Wemple will read from their personal works at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, in BU’s Monty’s Assembly Room, Upper Campus. Each will present their manuscripts-in-progress: Stuart from How to Behave after Murder and Wemple from The Artemas Poems. For information, contact the BU English Department, (570) 389-4427. The reading is part of the Big Dog Reading Series.

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Discussions on faith 

Dr. Ian Wendt, history department, Bloomsburg University, will give a talk “One God, Many Gods: Diverse Hindu Paths” on Thursday, Feb. 21, at 7 pm in McCormick Center, room 1303.

Dr. Jeffrey Long, Professor of Religious Studies and Department Chair, Elizabethtown College, will give a talk “Buddhism: Origins, Philosophy, and Practice” on Tuesday, March 12, at 7 pm in Hartline Science Center, Kuster Auditorium, Hartline.

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Free tax help for qualified residents of Columbia and Montour counties is available from the Student Accounting Association at Bloomsburg University. Help will be available from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from Monday, Feb. 11, to Wednesday, April 10, at Wesley United Methodist Church, 130 W. Third St., Bloomsburg. The site will be closed March 18, 19 and 20. No appointments are needed. To learn more about the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, visit the IRS website or contact Gabriel Genovese, accounting instructor, (570) 389-5234 or ggenoves@bloomu.edu.

The song's the thing ...

Have a favorite song? The River Poets reading tonight, Dec. 6, will revolve on the theme of "song lyrics."  Readings begin at 7:30 pm at Bloomsburg Public Library. Bring the CD or cassette or any song you'd like to read. Players will be there.

A multi-media art happening

Now this looks different ...

Award-winning pianist Charisse Baldoria (left) will give a perform Wednesday, Nov. 7, at 7:30 pm in Bloomsburg University's Carver Hall.

The unusual part: BU professors will interact with the music by reciting poetry, doing live drawing, and performing dance.

Performance artist Hunter Fine will recite works by Federico García Lorca and Rainer Maria Rilke. Artist Lisa Corine von Koch will create a drawing onstage. Dancer Julie Petry will perform.

Details here: bloomuliberalarts.blogspot.com