Poetry at Pat’s in the Flats: 2nd seasonal session
2nd Seasonal Session
Poetry at Pat’s in the Flats #2
poster design by Jean Brandt of Brandt Gallery
foto Smith
Our 2nd seasonal session of Poetry at Pat’s in the Flats floats fluxes flexes and flows THIS Sunday August 26th at Pat’s in the Flats from 11am to 3pm.
6 poets, at least 1 music group, and — if our 1st session last May is any indication — a dynamite open mic set . . . with ever-humble me as your bubble-blowing master of ceremonies, i.e. emcee.
Doors open at 11am. Sandwiches available at 11:30am. Part 1 of open mic at noon. Music 12:30. Featured poets 12:45; more music 2pm; open mic 2:15 (time permitting); leave at 3pm. 2233 West Third Street, Cleveland, Ohio.
Poets Mary Weems, Russ Vidrick, Tom Orange, Steve Thomas, Milenko Budimir, and Shelley Chernin with music provided by Malphonia: Joe Milan on accordion and vocals, Steven Mastroianni on euphonium, trumpet, vocals, the stylings of Milenko Budimir on Micro-Percussion.
Here are the bios — more info than you’d ever want to consume.
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Pat’s in the Flats calls itself a “Working-man bar by day, blue-collar rock-club at night.” From an online user review by M.M., “Pat’s, and Pat herself, are Cleveland institutions. I’ve been coming here on and off since the 1980s and have had some of the coolest times of my life here. If you look up at the record covers posted on the wall you’ll see 20-25 years of underground Cleveland music history, right there. And then if you cast your eyes downward you’re likely to see a couple of the people who are on those record covers, in their 10-20 years older incarnations, staggering around with beers in hand. Pat has met all those people in person, served them drinks, in some cases gone to their funerals. She’s truly the grande old dame of Cleveland punk and, now that Mitzi of Mitzi’s has passed on, probably the last great lady of the 1900’s Cleveland bar scene.” — patsintheflats.com.
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Mary E. Weems, Ph.D is a poet, playwright, author, performer, and imagination-intellect theorist. She is currently the Poet Laureate of Cleveland Heights (April 2007 – April 2009). Dr. Weems is the author and/or co-editor of several books including Cleveland Poetry Scenes: A Panorama & Anthology (Bottom Dog Press, 2008), Poetry Power (Silvermoon Press, 2003), her educational text Public Education and the Imagination-Intellect: I Speak from the Wound in My Mouth (Peter Lang, 2003), Working Hard for the Money: America’s Working Poor in Stories, Poems, and Photos (Bottom Dog Press, 2002), and a book of poems An Unmistakable Shade of Red and the Obama Chronicles (Bottom Dog Press, 2008). uncrownedcommunitybuilders.com/person/mary-e-weems.
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Shelley Chernin is a freelance researcher, writer, and editor of legal reference books. She lives in Russell, Ohio (aka Novelty, proving that the US Postal Service once had a sense of irony). Her poems have appeared in Scrivener Creative Review, Rhapsoidia, What I Knew Before I Knew: Poems from the Pudding House Salon-Cleveland, the Heights Observer, the 2010 through 2012 Hessler Street Fair poetry anthologies and the Cuyahoga Burning edition of Big Bridge. She received the 2nd Place award in the 2011 Hessler Street Fair Poetry Contest and Honorable Mentions in the Akron Art Museum’s New Words Poetry Contest in 2009 and 2010. Her chapbook, The Vigil, was just published by Crisis Chronicles. Yes, of course, she plays the ukulele. Who doesn’t?
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Russ Vidrick (the sad-eyed poet of the highlands) is the quiet mainstay of the myriad poetry & experimental sound communities of Cleveland, Ohio and has been for over twenty years.
He is an uncomplicated man. He says that his poems land on his head, often in the early morning while he enjoys his first cup of coffee and his first cigar.
In addition to featuring at various venues in Cleveland and out of town, for the past decade he has hosted a monthly open-mic reading at Brandt Gallery, located in the historic Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland.
Here’s what some folks have to say about Russell Vidrick:
“A good poker player knows there are not separate hands, just one long game. Likewise good poets know they are only writing one poem. Russell Vidrick has perfected this in that his poem appears as equally separate poems of varying length and yet when strung together are seamlessly one poem. A voice writers spend a lifetime searching for comes to Vidrick naturally.” (Jean Brandt, Atty./Gallery Owner/Poet
“Russ brought a level of mid-American authenticity to the big stage in NYC — the legendary Bowery Poetry Club — and showed everyone who matters were their roots ought to be. His self-possession in a venue more known for its histrionics than its depth won the hearts of the New York crowd.” George Wallace, NYC poet
“Vinegar-blooded yet with a sweet line of melancholy, the poetry of Russ Vidrick is intense and bewildering, strangely beautiful and very, very moody. Russ ain’t your grandad’s poet of choice, but he is mine.” (David Smith, San Franscisco poet)
“Over the years I have asked poets to work up a collective works with me, a twofer chapbook I call a duet. Most give me a stare and say “what for?” I have a few who said yes and one was Russ. We did a happy collaboration, picking each others poems and printing up DUELLING POETS — a complete success. Russ is that rarity: An egoless poet who makes cooperation and community a reality.” (Jim Lang, Cleveland poet)
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Malphonia is Joe Milan on accordion and vocals, Steven Mastroianni on euphonium, trumpet, vocals, and the stylings of Milenko Budimir on Micro-Percussion.
The eight-month-old embryo that is Malphonia uses notes, tones and aural colors to paint a palette of harmonies and melodies of life.
They have performed far and wide throughout the Tremont area (and Lakewood) to largely critical acclaim, taking enraptured audiences on a musical tour from the Mediterranean and South America and back again to the good ol’ U.S. of A. The secret to their addictive sound is their acoustic, a-electrical performances, always in a casual, rock-star neutral environment.
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Tom Orange, Ph.D Since 2000, Tom Orange has taught literature and writing at a variety of colleges and universities, including Georgetown, George Washington, Vanderbilt, Cleveland State, Tri-C and (starting this fall) Case Western Reserve. His chapbook publications include 25 Poems (Washington, DC: The Interrupting Cow, 2004), A Day in Switzerland (Schaffhausen [Switzerland]: Dusie, 2006), and American Dialectics (Oxford, OH: Slack Buddha, 2008). He works at Brandt Gallery in Tremont and is an active curator and performer in the local rock and experimental music scenes.
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Steve Thomas: i was born at 12:35 am june 26th, one of 3 brothers and 1 sister. after that everything gets foggy till i became the father of a boy then girl which really clarified things for me. and so we have learned from each other ever since and during all of it i occasionally wrote stories and poems…which makes me a lucky guy.
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Miles Budimir’s newest chapbook is Departures (2012, Burning River Press). He’s also the author of Rustbelt Romance (2006, deep cleveland press) and a broadside, Missing Albertly (2008, Green Panda Press). His poems have appeared in Red Fez, Poetry Motel, Compost 2010, MoonLit, Artcrimes, The Long Islander, and Muse among others. He pays the bills by working as a philosophy lecturer and freelance technical writer and editor, and resides in the pierogi paradise that is Parma.
Smith: Was born, am living, will die. Poet 49 years, artist 48 years, yada yada yada . . .
Pat’s in the Flats – fotos Smith
