Wine & Poetry LIVE

A spectacular night of poetry and spoken word

Featuring the legendary: Jack McCarthy

With  Karen Finneyfrock, Mary Eliza Crane, Stephen Roxborough and Mike Hickey

Plus special spotlight appearances from  David D. Horowitz, Roy R. Seitz, and organizer and host:

Christopher J. Jarmick

November 10, 2012  7 p.m. at Grape Choice in Kirkland

FREE

BIOS:

Jack McCarthy was born in Massachusetts and now lives in Seattle, Washington. He began writing poetry in the 1960s, averaging about a poem a year until 1992-93, when two things happened. First, his new wife, Carol, blackmailed him into attending a workshop with Galway Kinnell; then he brought his daughter Annie, for her birthday, to the open mike at the Cantab Lounge in Central Square, Cambridge, hoping she’d get excited about poetry. Jack was the one who got hooked.

His latest books are  Almost a Remembrance from Moon Pie Press in 2011 and  What I Saw from EM Press in 2012.  His work has appeared in a number of anthologies, including The Spoken Word Revolution .

Jack was a member of the Boston team at the 1996 National Poetry Slam, and was an engaging minor character in the feature film "Slamnation," which documented those proceedings, and he was a member of the Worcester team at the 2000 National Poetry Slam, where he finished as the 10th ranked individual. The Boston Phoenix has named him “Best Standup Poet,” the Boston Poetry Awards “Best Love Poet,” and the Cambridge Poetry Awards “Best Spoken Word” and “Best Humorous Poet .” The Boston Globe says, “In the poetry world, he's a rock star.”

Karen Finneyfrock is a poet, novelist and teaching artist in Seattle, WA. Her second book of poems, Ceremony for the Choking Ghost, was released on Write Bloody press in 2010. Her young adult novel, The Sweet Revenge of Celia Door, is due from Viking Children’s Books in 2013. She is a former Writer-in-Residence at Richard Hugo House. In 2010, Karen traveled to Nepal as a Cultural Envoy through the US Department of State to perform and teach poetry and in 2011, she did a reading tour in Germany sponsored by the US Embassy.

Stephen Roxborough (aka roxword) was born in New York to a Canadian father and American mother. He’s a past board member for the Washington Poets Association and Head Poet for Madrona Center on Guemes Island. An internationally acclaimed, award-winning performance poet, Rox has been three times nominated for the Pushcart Prize (2003, 2006, 2011), appeared at the Skagit River Poetry Festival (2004), Brave New Words (Whidbey Island, 2009) and co-edited radiant danse uv being, a poetic portrait of bill bissett (2006). He is the author of six collections of poetry, the most recent being 2011's this wonderful perpetual beautiful, published by NeoPoiesis Press.

Mary Eliza Crane - Mary Eliza Crane grew up in New England and began writing poetry at age fourteen.. Poetry remains the one constant to which Mary always returns. In the Adirondacks she fell madly, passionately and desirously in love with the natural world. A transplant to the Cascade foothills of the Pacific Northwest, her voice lives in the understory and fog of the Snoqualmie River. A fusion of this one true love and a deep understanding of what makes us human, she writes simultaneously of the personal, political and natural world. A regular feature at poetry venues in the Puget Sound region, her first volume of poetry What I Can Hold In My Hands was published in 2009.Her latest is 2011’s At First Light, both published by Gazoobi Tales .  Mary recently read two poems to open a Graham Nash charity concert in Los Angeles in October 2012.

Michael G. Hickey, the oldest of eleven children, received a BA from the University of Arizona, 1987, and an MFA from the University of Washington, 1992. He is a tenured professor of creative writing at South Seattle Community College. In 2009, he was elected Seattle’s Poet Populist. In addition to widely publishing creative non-fiction, fiction, and poetry, he has served as a writing volunteer for children at bereavement camps, youth offenders at King County Youth Detention, and prisoners at the Monroe Correctional Complex. His first book of poetry, In Defense of Eve, was published by Good Egg Press in 1999. He has won numerous awards for teaching, writing, and union leadership, and he lives with his wife and two sons in West Seattle. His motto is to “work hard and have fun.” His life goal is to “take over the world 28 students at a time.

Plus Spotlight readings from:

David D. Horowitz,  Roy Seitz and host Christopher J. Jarmick

David D. Horowitz founded and manages Rose Alley Press.  He earned B.A. degrees in philosophy and English from the University of Washington and an M.A. in English from Vanderbilt University. His work has appeared in numerous journals, including The Lyric, Candelabrum, Exterminating Angel, ArtWord Quarterly, and The Sporting News. His most recent books, published by Rose Alley, are Strength & Sympathy, From Notebook to Bookshelf, and five poetry collections: Streetlamp, Treetop, Star; Resin from the Rain; Wildfire, Candleflame; Stars Beyond the Battelsmoke; and his most recent, Sky Above the Temple. He also edited the Rose Alley anthologies: Limbs of the Pine, Peaks of the Range and Many Trails to the Summit. David lives in Seattle.

R.R. Seitz or Roy Seitz is a poet, journeyman carpenter and Vietnam veteran who has organized poetry readings at the Index Arts Festival and his debut poetry collection, now back in print is called: Right Here, Right Now.  Blurb from the book:  Roy was a sniper in Vietnam. The vibrancy and immediacy of his work will stun you. This is neither a political rant nor a therapeutic exercise. These poems do not say, "War is terrible" or "War is glorious," they simply say, "This is war." Roy's storytelling is artful, unflinching "" definitely not for children "" but wending through these poems is a deep respect for life, a quiet and enigmatic hope.

Christopher J. Jarmick Poet-Author-Journalist  curates and organizes two monthly poetry readings 2nd Wednesday’s at Kirkland’s Park Place Books,  3rd Friday’s at Seattle’s Bookworm Exchange.  His latest poetry collection is 2010’s Ignition: Poem Starters, Statements, Septolets and Double Dog Dares. He also released a spoken word CD with Pulitzer nominated Los Angeles based poet Michael C. Ford (produced by Entertainment Tonight producer Kevin Gershan) in 2009 entitled Radio Mysteries; Aural Anxieties.  He co-wrote the mystery novel The Glass Cocoon.  He’s published poems, articles, interviews with poets, and filmmakers in various regional and national newspapers, magazines and E-zines.  Born on the East Coast, he worked as a screenwriter, documentary film-maker and TV Producer in Los Angeles for three decades before moving to Seattle in 1994.  He has three daughters and 5 step-children and lives in Kenmore with his wife Teresa.  Email: emeraldchris@yahoo.com