Poet George Spencer Launches new book at Cornelia Street Cafe 9/23 6pm

Three Rooms Press & Cornelia Street Cafe

present

SON OF A PONY Poetry Reading Series

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2011, 6 pm

Featured poet: George Spencer (book launch for "Unpious Pilgrim")

Spotlight poet: Nicca Ray

PLUS NYC's Sensational Open POETRY Mike

Hosted by Kat Georges

ALL PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF UNPIOUS PILGRIM

GO TO SAVING TRIBES & STEVE CANNON’S HOME

George Spencer's brand new poetry collection, Unpious Pilgrim (Fly By Night Press, 2011), makes its debut at this Son of a Pony reading. According to Michael Graves, "Its movement from a lighthearted satire of Language Poetry and the School of Ashbery to a passionate concern for sexual honesty and political and social justice and freedom entails the exposure and ridicule of hypocrisy and is memorable." Spencer has two previous books: Screw the Muses and The Obscene Richness Of Our Times. He is the director of two cable shows, one about poetry and the other about multimedia artists. He is the founding editor of faroutfurthertoutoutofsight, an Internet and hard copy multimedia literary magazine. He is also a painter, sculptor and videographer. He lives in New York City and Quito, Ecuador. He has just returned from Prague where he read his work at PEN International

and at the National Gallery.

Opening for George is special guest poet, fiction writer, actor, producer/director and playwright Nicca Ray.

The featured reading follows the fabulous Son of a Pony open reading at the cafe. Poet & insightful mistress of ceremonies Kat Georges curates and hosts. Doors open at 5:45 p.m.; open reading begins at 6 p.m. Admission is $7, which includes a free drink.

Cornelia Street Cafe is at 29 Cornelia Street, between W. 4th Street & Bleecker, just around the corner from the W. 4th Street subway station. Phone: 212-989-9319. www.corneliastreetcafe.com

Poets Amber Atiya & Ngoma Electrify You 9/2 at Cornelia St. Cafe

Three Rooms Press & Cornelia Street Cafe
present
SON OF A PONY Poetry Reading Series

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2011
Featured poets: Amber Atiya and Ngoma
PLUS NYC's Sensational Open POETRY Mike
Hosted & curated by Kat Georges

AMBER ATIYA is an electrifying presence in the New York poetry scene, with an intense body of work that slices fresh emotional grooves on stage and page. Her poetry has been published in Word Riot, Cartier Street Review, Drunken Poet and Tribes Magazine and she is co-founder of a weekly women's writing group, currently celebrating its nine-year anniversary.

NGOMA is a performance poet, multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter and paradigm shifter, who for over 40 years has used culture as a tool to raise sociopolitical and spiritual consciousness through work that encourages critical thought. A former member of the Spirit House Movers and Players with Amiri Baraka and the Contemporary Freedom Song Duo, Serious Bizness, Ngoma weaves poetry and song that raises contradictions and searches for a solution for a just and peaceful world. He has been published in African Voices Magazine, Long Shot Anthology, The Underwood Review, Signifyin' Harlem Review, Bum Rush the Page/Def Poetry Jam Anthology, and more. His new CD -- Ngoma/Poetry from a Smartphone — was recently released and will be available at the show, on PoetCD.com and iTunes.

The featured reading follows the fabulous Son of a Pony open reading at the cafe. Poet & insightful mistress of ceremonies Kat Georges curates and hosts. Doors open at 5:45 p.m.; open reading begins at 6 p.m. Admission is $7, which includes a free drink.

Cornelia Street Cafe is at 29 Cornelia Street, between W. 4th Street & Bleecker, just around the corner from the W. 4th Street subway station. Phone: 212-989-9319. www.corneliastreetcafe.com

Poets Bernard Block & Erik Richmond Blast Off this Friday at Cornelia St. Cafe, NYC

Three Rooms Press & Cornelia Street Cafe

present

SON OF A PONY Poetry Reading Series

FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 2011

Featured poet: Bernard Block

Spotlight poet: Erik Richmond

PLUS NYC's Sensational Open POETRY Mike

Hosted by Kat Georges

BERNARD BLOCK was born and raised in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, where he began writing poetry as a teenager. After college, he hitch-hiked to the West Coast in the mid-60s in support of the anti-Vietnam War movement, then wound up in the heart of Haight-Ashbury during the 1967 Summer of Love, before returning to NYC in the late 60s. His poetry poetry is published in numerous university presses, as well as in several chapbooks including The Quest, Prometheus Returns, Portraits, and To Music. His artistic vision is inspired by jazz and the melting pot of cultures that make up the New York City poetry scene. He currently hosts monthly poetry readings at his Park Slope apartment, with musicians and poets combining to make new creations.

Chicago native ERIK RICHMOND is a writer and poet who currently lives in Queens. He has been reading his work in public since the early Nineties, and has performed at numerous open mikes in Chicago and New York, including the original Pink Pony series. He recently finished writing his first novel, and is starting work on a second.

The featured reading follows the fabulous Son of a Pony open reading at the cafe. Poet & delightful mistress of ceremonies Kat Georges hosts. Doors open at 5:45 p.m.; the open reading begins at 6 p.m. Admission is $7, which includes a free drink.

Cornelia Street Cafe is at 29 Cornelia Street, between W. 4th Street & Bleecker, just around the corner from the W. 4th Street subway station. Phone: 212-989-9319. www.corneliastreetcafe.com

Kat Georges & Jane Ormerod fire up poetry at Guns of August DDAY show on 8/10 at Bowery Poetry Club

DDAY PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS GUNS OF AUGUST! POETRY & PERFORMANCE! Hosted by the one and only BIG MIKE, produced by BIG MIKE, PUMA PERL, and FAUX MAUX! For our first show at the Bowery, we honor women who have held the doors open for other poets through the creation of venues, publications, small presses, and wild dancing! Our featured performers: JANE ORMEROD - Jane is the author of the full-length poetry collection, Recreational Vehicles on Fire (Three Rooms Press, 2009), the chapbook 11 Films (Modern Metrics, 2008), and the spoken word CD Nashville Invades Manhattan. Look carefully and you may spot her in the ‘80’s cult horror movie classic Screamtime. Find out more at www.janeormerod.com. KAT GEORGES - Kat's poetry collections include "Punk Rock Journal," and "Slow Dance at 120 Beats a Minute" (Three Rooms Press) and her first full-length collection, "Hunger Sinner" (due out in late 2011). She curates and hosts Son of a Pony, a bi-weekly poetry series at Cornelia Street Cafe in Greenwich Village, and is poetry editor of A Gathering of the Tribes magazine and Maintenant (annual contemporary dada poetry and art journal) and is also the founder & publisher of Three Rooms Press. VIVIANA GRELL - She's the host of the Stark Reality Open Mic at Nola Studios in NYC is a writer/performer/dancer specializing in waking up the dead!! a wake up genie..through song, poetry and dance...published in numerous magazines and anthologies she has hosted Stark Reality since 2006 ....and continues to grow wings helping the young, the old, the numb, the mad ones in heaven and the angelic in hell...write write write!!! And let us entertain you some more: PUMA PERL – Poet/Writer/Performance Artist/Producer/Curator and co-creator of DDAY Productions and this event - author of the recently released book "knuckle tattoos," the award winning chapbook "Belinda and Her Friends," widely published in journals and anthologies, internationally! http://pumaperl.blogspot.c​om/ FAUX MAUX - Lifetime performance artist/actress/ playwright and writer, she took her one-woman play, Lil' Red and few burlesque acts to Holland and Scotland. Now, she does the occasional stand-up and continues to create plays, perform outragous acts of art, and creative havoc here in New York City. BIG MIKE - author of 2 books, 81 Pounds and Sibling Rivalry and appears in the anthology One Millimeter, all published by Pretty Pollution Press. Big Mike is known for his performance art and was awarded Best Neptune in the 2004 Mermaid Parade in Coney Island. Join us at the historic Bowery Poetry Club! OPEN MIC SIGN-UP 7:45! $3 Admission, and for that price you can afford a drink! http://www.bowerypoetry.co​m/

Check Out the Thrill that is Hans Condor!

Nashville's own Hans Condor tore it up tonight at NYC's Mercury Lounge, with a blistering set that screamed intensity from start to finish. The trio, fronted by phenom guitar/vocalist Charles Kaster, kicked into high gear during the soundcheck and it was take no prisoners from then on. Bassist Erik and drummer Roger (The Brothers Holcombe) built the rock n' roll of Gilbralter from which Kaster plunged--literally--into a mad set of full throttle MC5/Husker Du-esque fury, with a touch of melodics via The Sweet.

They're opening for fellow Nashvillians The Ettes for at 27-city U.S. tour. Catch them 8/3 at The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn; 8/4 at the Escape to New York Festival in Southampton (w/Patti Smith, Best Coast, Chairlift, The Postelles and more) and for our West Coast fans--be sure to check them out at The Echo in Echo Park on 8/23.

Write it down, and see 'em now. Hans Condor. Oh, yeah.

Son of a Pony & Three Rooms Press rock the NY Poetry Festival This Saturday

Join Son of a Pony and Three Rooms Press as poets take over Governor's Island for the FREE New York Poetry Festival Saturday & Sunday, July 30-31 from noon-5 each day.

The Son of a Pony Posse will read on SATURDAY, JULY 30 at 4:30 PM on the BRIGADIER stage. Featured poets include Hala Alyan, Peter Carlaftes, Kat Georges, Brant Lyon, and Jane Ormerod. During the reading, we'll have free giveaways including books, cds & more!

Meanwhile, Three Rooms Press will be there both days with a table showing our latest offerings for you to check out!

With over 30 reading series, 100 poets and tons of vendors on board, the festival connects disparate poetry communities by bringing poetry out of the dark bars and universities, to a place amongst elms, plein trees & sycamores on an island in the sun. Bring a picnic, blanket, sunscreen, and lots of water!

There will be a Pre-Fest Party and Fundraiser at the Bowery Poetry Club on Thursday, July 21st, 8pm-2am. Tickets are $10 and support this free festival. Hear curators of the series to be presented at NYPF read their work, and dance to live jazz from Shawn Randall and tracks from DJ Eliel Lucero, among others.

NYPF's sponsors include City Winery, Sixpoint Brewery, and Bowery Poetry Club.

Details available here: http://tpsny.org/

Amy Winehouse is Dead -- A Memorial Poem

by Kat Georges

Amy Winehouse is dead.

She joined the 27 club with fellow members

Joplin, Hendrix, Morrison & Cobain.

I didn't think the young rebel stars

still died these days. That way.

It's a game these days.

You watch them self-destruct online

then they are cured and their careers

go down the drain.

But not this time.

Amy Winehouse is dead.

Her jazzy throaty swirl bent the rules

and brought her fame. It was her

who bent my ears and made me

pay attention, sway. Those words,

so today, swimming in a stream of

olden beats and minor riffs.

She sang about rehab and vodka and love

and cheating and heartache and pills and

scoring and pubs and baths and bed and

sex and life and lust and hurt and fear

and yes it was pop but it was so deep

and heavy and light at the same time

and you got the feeling that she knew

she knew

she knew something about the core

the center the invisible needles that

sew us up in modern society. The things

that make us rot and make us thrive and

are more real that fluff that is the stuff

we now believe in. She was under skin

and twisted the fake smiles that became

the norm when everyone got their own

camera phone. And she is dead, she's

gone, she ain't coming back.

She's not going to Rehab. She's not going

anywhere. Amy Winehouse is dead and all

those gossip pages are going to have to

find someone new to tear to pieces.

She should have known better Mick and Keith

said. We made the mistakes so she wouldn't

have to. Talking like fathers about their errant

daughter. Daughters don't listen. The ones like

Amy Winehouse have to strip it down, they have

to burn the finish, they got to get to the core and

build fresh. These days it takes a lot of work

to undo the layers of who you are supposed to be.

Amy Winehouse is dead. She stripped it to the core.

She made me burn hearing words and a voice that

slipped in and out of the unreal she made real.

And she is dead. She is gone. She is finished.

She is done. Amy Winehouse is dead and every

Twitter feed and Facebook status update broadcasts

the fact that it was -- after all -- just a matter of time.

Omitting that fact that it's just a matter of time for us all.

Some burn slow. Some bright. Some dim.

And some burn with such intensity they glimmer

in their sleep. A glow. Amy Winehouse is dead.

They all say we told you so.

and then they say

Who's next?