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Join us April 24th, from 6:00 - 8:00 pm at The Magic of Books in Seymour, IN for a night of bringing music and poetry together to create some MAGIC!Multi instrumentalist Tommy Bays, songbird Katrina Harper and a lineup of local poets, including Special Guest, US National Lifetime Beat Poet Laureate Ron Whitehead, are celebrating National Poetry month with an evening highlighting the powerful combination of music and poetry.
Don't forget to bring your poetry and prose for the open mic!
Tommy Bays is an eclectic Singer/Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Jeffersonville, IN, and the Louisville, KY area. Tommy has been playing music, solo or with bands, for nearly 2 decades. From Terrapin Hill to 502 Corner Jams (by 4Sake Media), from the old Silver Creek Lanes in Sellersburg, IN to the Final Gonzofest (2023) in Louisville KY, Tommy has played all over Kentuckiana in all kinds of different venues. Busking at the Big4Bridge and other places, open mics, featured performances, guesting with friends and other amazing local talent, Tommy Bays can turn up just about anywhere. He has been featured on 91.9 WFPK's website. He has had his writing featured in Night Owl Narrative from Cajun Mutt Press. He has performed alongside US National Beat Poet Laureate Ron Whitehead and his Storm Generation Band.
Originally from Texas, Katrina Harper grew up singing and playing music of all kinds and trained to be an opera singer. In recent years, the Lexington, Kentucky singer songwriter has been part of many projects with Ron Whitehead & The Storm Generation Band. She is also a member of the Bill Clark & The Route 15 Band and has collaborated with a variety of other artists for video and recording projects.
Tony Brewer is a poet and audio artist from Bloomington, where he is executive director of the Spoken Word Stage at the 4th Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts and co-producer of the Writers Guild Spoken Word Series and the Urban Deer Performance Series. His most recent books are Centaur (with Johnathon S Baker, Dark Heart Press) and Good Job, Lightning (Stubborn Mule Press). Tony has been offering Poetry on Demand at coffeehouses, museums, cemeteries, churches, bars and art and music festivals for fifteen years, and he is a frequent collaborator with experimental music & field recording ensemble ORTET. He was named Indiana's 2024 Literary Champion by the Eugene and Marilyn Glick Indiana Author Awards.
Walden Quinn Caesar is the founder, editor and reviewer at Waldenspoetry.com, has released two anthologies for charity and published several poetry collections and a novel. Their latest release, The Things We Still Don't Talk About: Phoenixes drops April 15th
Wendy Cartwright is a poet/author/photographer/reporter/columnist/weirdo (among other things) out of Columbus, Indiana. Her travels have taken her as far as Mayan Ruins and as near as the filling station. Her undiscerning tastes allow her to find creative fodder regardless of location. She has been published in various print anthologies and featured in online publications. She has also self-published 3 books and has another on the way.
With Chris Dean, Wendy is a co-founder of Keeping the Flame Alive. The small press publishes a randomly-released, submission based magazine and holds monthly Open Mics. The duo also does some graphic design and website development and maintenance. The only creative issue facing the two is one's love of raccoons and the other's disdain. As of yet, they have not let this come between them.
Chris Dean is a storyteller, spoken word artist and self-proclaimed Magpie Poet who writes from the heart of Indiana where they live with their husband, dog and too many cats to mention.
Along with Wendy Cartwright, Chris is co-founder of Keeping the Flame Alive Press.
Their work has been featured online, in multiple print anthologies and they are the author of two books of poetry, Tales From a Broken Girl and We're All Stories in the End, published by Storeylines Press.
Dan Denton is a former union autoworker that moved into a travel trailer to pursue his dreams of writing full-time. His poetry and short stories have been widely published and he was voted the best writer in Toledo in 2023. His latest novel, The Dead and the Desperate (Roadside Press, 2023) is available online from most booksellers.
Michael E. Duckwall was born and raised in the Ohio Valley. A featured poet at the 10th “Final” Gonzofest in 2023, he took off and hit the ground running as part of the production team for a 57hr non-stop “Insomniacathon” music and poetry event in Louisville KY 2024. Michael’s poetry, artwork and photography have been in a handful of magazines and anthologies, along with numerous online features. He has a couple of chapbooks “The Ramblings of a Recovering Poet” & “7.2 SkullQuake” in publication and one limited edition co-authored chapbook you may have missed out on. Michael is also the host of a monthly Open Mic in Scottsburg IN.
TYLER FREDERICK is a spoken word poet from Bloomington, IN who regularly performs at poetry slams and various open mics around the state. He was recently appointed as treasurer for the Writer's Guild at Bloomington. His work has been published in "What is in John's Basement," "October Stories," and "Rebirth."
Peter Kaczmarczyk is a lifelong writer who only began to seriously pursue poetry in the last few years. Raised in Massachusetts, Peter was willing to leave the comfort of Red Sox country when he learned there were Dunkin Donuts in Indiana.
His writing is assisted by cats, who think they can do better than him by walking across the keyboard. Sometimes they do.
Pete writes from the perspective of one who has lived many years and plans to live many more. His poetry is simple and accessible and will be appreciated by anyone who has spent time in our shared world.
Peter’s work has been included in over 60 journals and anthologies and he has published two chapbooks, Distant Yet Always Heard and The Scars Across My Thighs (both from Alien Buddha Press)
Peter is co-creator of the Captain Janeway statue in Bloomington, Indiana.
WESTLEY PENLAND was a burp-the-alphabet kid and despite his deviated septum was quite good at it. He first discovered writing as an escape from reality, after years of being scolded for being left-handed. Now, he uses it as a cheap form of public therapy, but that’s health care, Baby. His work can be found in his debut chapbook "Confirmation of Life" published by Alien Bhudda Press, "Trans*Citizens Project" by {New} Word Press, and in the anthologies “October Stories”, “Rebirth”, and “Stormwash: Environmental Poems, vol 2.” He enjoys antiquing, cooking, traveling, and spending time with his two pups.
April Ridge lives in the expansive hopes and dreams of melancholy rescue cats. She thrives on strong coffee, and lives for danger. In the midst of Indiana pines, she follows her heart out to the horizon of reality and hopes never to return to the misty sands of the nightmarish 9 to 5. April aspires to beat seasonal depression with a well-carved stick, and to one day experience the splendor of the Cucumber Magnolia tree in bloom.
Rita S. Spalding has been published in 16 Calliope anthologies, National Library of Poetry, AX-POW Magazine, The Heartland Review, Kentucky Monthly Magazine, Keeping the Flame Alive, 2024 Fallen anthology, The Rye Whiskey Review, and Walden’s Poetry and Reviews. Her first book Abstract Ribbons was published in 1992. In addition to What is Beauty, another book to be published soon is The Eighth.
She had poetry exhibited at the Main Branch of the Louisville Free Public Library, and in a joint venture with the Kentucky Derby Museum, received awards for poetry from Jefferson Community and Technical College, Elizabethtown Community College, National Library of Poetry, Kentucky Monthly Magazine and was recently nominated for the Pushcart Prize in poetry.
She has been writing for sixty four years, breathes and bleeds poetry, and gives readings regionally and nationally.
Patty Cooper Wells is a native of Queensville, Indiana. She and her husband, John have made Madison their home since 2000. Primarily a visual artist, Patty has recently begun to focus on writing and poetry. She believes art is calling and revels in the creative process.
She studied art with Cal-Arts alumni, artist Paul E. Neufelder at his Magic Theatre Studio in Columbus, Indiana (1993). She has painted and exhibited her artwork for over thirty-five years. She has painted many murals in Madison- The Taproom, Analog Coffee, and River of Kindness at Mural Plaza are three of the best known.
Her other passions are local history, genealogy, and vintage Halloween. She is a volunteer curator at Gallery @ the SPOT/M.A.A.A., and co-founder of The Gadfly Art & Poetics Society with Jane Vonderheide.
U.S. National Lifetime Beat Poet Laureate Ron Whitehead, author of over 30 books and more than 40 albums, is a poet, writer, editor, publisher, professor, organizer, scholar, activist. He grew up on a farm in Kentucky. He attended The University of Louisville and University of Oxford. He lives in Clarksville, Indiana.
Ron's poetry has been published around the world in a diverse range of print and online publications. Ron's work is held in museums, libraries, and private collections around the world. The University of Louisville Rare Books & Archives is the permanent repository for Ron's work. Several exhibits from the archives have been held, most recently at the main branch of the Louisville Free Public Library, for the Poets, Rock Stars, & Holy Men: A Literary Renaissance Exhibit. Ron's poems have been translated into 20 languages.
Outlaw Poet: The Legend of Ron Whitehead (Storm Generation Films/Darkstar TV), a feature length documentary on Ron’s life and work, released in 2022 is now available for screening on Amazon Prime Films Documentaries.
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Magic of Books 115 W 2nd Street, Seymour, IN, United States
