Celebrate Black History Month
POETIC TRAVELERS *2012
February 17th
Joe "Element615" Brundidge and Alexander "a dub" White
Hosted by Laura Bodary
Joe “Element615” Brundidge is a traveling poet out of Austin, TX, on a 32 state tour. A Poetry Slam winner who was a member of the inaugural 2006 Austin Neo-Soul slam team that ranked 2nd in the nation he's also appeared on PBS's 'In Context' (still in rotation by viewer request), YNN and ChannelAustin. Element615 has emceed several engagements to include showcases at the Austin International Poetry Festival, South by South West, and currently hosts his own open mic, Spoken&Heard, which has been running for more than four years. With several performances at colleges and universities, such as UT, and TX State, Huston-Tillotson, etc., Element615 still has time to conduct workshops on writing as well as creating, hosting and maintaining an open mic. So far, Element615 has published 3 chapbooks and recorded 3 cds-2 EPs and a full length CD. Listen to one of his inspiring messages: http://www.wix.com/elementsixfifteen/online
Alexander "a dub" White is a spoken word artist whose passion and musicality with words demands his audiences attention. New to the Detroit poetry community, a dub debuted at Detroit's MLK Jr. Cultural Event on January 16, and released a collection of poetry entitled, "for what it's worth..." on the same day. Born and raised in Battle Creek Michigan, this self- taught artist now calls the city of Livonia and greater Detroit home. With themes bordering the spiritual and the dangerous, he draws upon a world he sees that is full of misinformation, secret knowledge and impending disaster to create his captivating poetry. Through it all, this man's work aims to lead you on a quest for understanding and enlightenment, offering a glimpse at peace, in the stormy pictures he paints.
Gaining inspiration from the greatest lessons in history, a dub aims to inspire audiences to shift their thinking away from being passive consumers of the world, to becoming the creators of the world they wish to see.
Click on link to see photos from previous events. PoeticTravelersPIX_2011
January 20th
Philosopher. Scholar. Excellent driver. None of these phrases have ever been used to describe Zach Ashley.
Constantly surprising and entertaining, Zach’s poetry ranges from beautiful love poems sure to make the ladies swoon to psychotic rants sure to attract the attention of the nation’s leading psychologists. He often refers to poetry as his drug of choice, believing that a good performance is the best high a person can hope to get.
Though he grew up on the mean streets of South Central Ferndale, Zach currently resides in Hazel Park. Aside from poetry, Zach also plays the guitar (poorly), collects Pez Dispensers, is a black belt in karate and enjoys garage sales.
Tom Budday competed and won the first poetry slam he participated in alongside some of the top-ranked poets in the nation at the birthplace of slam. He has been a vital member of the Detroit slam scene ever since. He has competed nationally and regionally with his distinct blend of high- octane performance, knife’s edge imagery and gritty compassion. He is currently at work on the follow-up to his debut chapbook, Blood, Bone and the Little Birds and pursuing his education degree.
December 16th
Sarah Dalton was born and raised in the Detroit area - the daughter of singer-songwriter, Theresa Dalton and Richard Dalton, a local minister. Some have called Sarah Dalton’s voice “angelic” but her past has been anything but. As a rebellious teenager, she was enthralled by the music of U2, Sarah Mclaughlin, the Cure, and the Beastie Boys; but definitely did not consider herself a singer. However, after seeing God help her through many situations while she was working as a door-to-door salesman in California, Sarah came to believe the gospel. At that point, she began to write songs about faith, hope, and struggles. Since 2003, Sarah has been playing locally and has frequented many open mics including Goldfish Tea, AJs Music Café, the Thistle, Tracy’s Corner Café, The Phoenix Café, and Rochester Mills. Her project “Like A Child” was produced by local great Rufus Harris and released in 2009. You can hear more at sarahdalton.com and find her music at Redletterrecords.com and cdbaby.com.
Justin Harris, 37, is a finish carpenter by trade and has been married for four years. He grew up in what is known as Delray, an area of Detroit that is without doubt the most heavily industrialized portion of the city. Once a thriving neighborhood filled with Eastern European immigrants, it has been in deterioration for decades. Much of Justin's life growing up in Delray can be heard in his writing.
Justin likes his poetry raw and gritty just like his life has been. He started to write poetry at about age 8 and there is no way I can characterize his work other than to say it is real, original and full of imagery. The kind of work that most people don’t like to see but need to, so they can understand that not every child, not every adult lives in sunshine or darkness but in the shades of gray... and that is where Mr. Harris shines his poetic light, in the hope that we can see a way to save the better part of our being.
November 18th
Patrick O'Leary is a poet, novelist, songwriter and photographer. His first Novel, DOOR NUMBER THREE (TOR) was chosen by Publisher’s Weekly as one of the best novels of the year. His second novel, THE GIFT (TOR) was a finalist for the World Fantasy Award and The Mythopoeic Award. His third novel was THE IMPOSSIBLE BIRD (TOR). OTHER VOICES, OTHER DOORS (Fairwood Press) was his first collection of fiction, essays and poetry. THE BLACK HEART (PS PUBLISHING) is a collection of his newest stories. His short stories and poems have appeared all over North America. He plays in a Beatles tribute band called “The Buntles”. He lives in Troy, Michigan with his wife, the artist, Sandy Rice. http://web.mac.com/paddybon
“I was born in 1945, pretty much exactly nine months after my father got home from the war. Passionate and enthusiastic beginnings, which have sustained me to this day. I have a high high regard for Human-Beings, and that's mostly what I end up writing about. I am grateful as all heck to still be here on the Planet and able to run my mouth!” Sparrow Karras
October 21st
Mike Stenberg has often been called the “Workingman’s Poet”. He graduated from Michigan State in 1974 with a Bachelors in Political Science but decided to go to work for a living instead. He spent 32 years working for GM retiring in 2008. Mike first started to write poetry in 1970 and became a regular on the open mic circuits ten years later. Poetically Mike uses his experiences in the factory and the insane fertile soil of politics as a basis for his poetry. Mike is a true performance poet when he reads his longer pieces. But of the styles he likes, Haiku, is one of his favorites and he uses that third line with humor and wit. All of Mike’s poetry is pointed and sharp where the audience at times is forced to think, then the point hits them, an unexpected hit and run. But his wit is no accident. He steers the point directly, intentionally to the mind of his listeners.
Mike is a lover of baseball, cats, and poetry that is read to an audience. He is a widower with 2 grown sons and 4 grandchildren.
Katherine Vergin is the only person I know who has been literally kissed by a bat and has not written any poetry about the experience. At 23 years old, she is many things, daughter, student, and astute observer of people, not only the flashy, but the down on their luck. Above all else I find her to be a poet of the next generation of poets who are working in all genres of poetry from love to goth to steampunk. It is from her experiences that she draws her words and at her age one would think of her as not being experienced but having known her since she was a teen I disagree. Her words are fascinating, her delivery varies from the soft and mild to the intense which is the truest reflection of her personality.
September 16th
Joe Kidd: Musical, lyrical genius, guitarist, vocalist and driving force behind the Sedition World Orchestra and an authentic poet of peace, struggle and celebration.
And
JuanZo: Percussionista, lyricist, digital photo artist, poet whose pennings have appeared in various published form including on bar napkins, paper hand towels, brown paper bags as well as respectable literary journals. Plan an evening of musical and poetic consciousness to arouse the muse and stir the conscience. Join us!
*2011 feature schedule is listed below For more information on Poetic Travelers' next event or to inquire about being a featured performer, please send a message.
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