A Fine Line...and a little Wine: A Night of Poetry and Art

Cheltenham Center for the Arts is pleased to be partnering with Open Book Bookstore for our Spring Fundraiser, to present a night of shared poetry.  April is National Poetry Month, but we just can’t stop!  We’ve invited some fantastic poets for a cabaret evening of spoken words.  The night includes visiting poets, wine, tempting treats, art and books! The second round includes a chance for you to express the poet in you by reading a poem yourself!   Join us to celebrate A Fine Line…in conjunction with our 76th Annual Juried Painting Show at the Cheltenham Center for the Arts!

The schedule:

7pm: Meet, gather, imbibe, snack, and browse the Cheltenham Center for the Arts 76th Annual Juried Painting Show.

7:30 – 8:00pm: Round One begins. Our featured poets take turns at the mic and each share original work.

Our featured poets include:

MaryAnn Miller

MaryAnn L. Miller’s book of poems Cures for Hysteria was published by Finishing Line Press in 2018. She has been twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her work has been published in Mom Egg Review, Ovunque Siamo, Stillwater Review, Wordgathering, Kaleidoscope, International Review of African American Art and others.

Tanya Olson

Elliott batTzedek

Elliott batTzedek holds an MFA in Poetry and Poetry in Translation. Her translation of Dance of the Lunatic by the Israeli Jewish lesbian writer Shez won the 2012 Robert Bly Translation prize, judged by Martha Collins. She works as the Outreach Manager at Big Blue Marble bookstore and as a liturgist. Her chapbook the enkindled coal of my tongue was published by Wicked Banshee Press in 2017.  Her work has appeared in:  American Poetry Review, Massachusetts Review,  Armchair/Shotgun, Poemeleon, Naugatuck River Review, Lambda Literary Online, and Sinister Wisdom.

8:00pm to 8:30pm: Browse and socialize, meet the poets, have them sign books. (Open Book will have an on-site bookstore featuring the works of the evening’s poets.) (Or hide in a corner and practice your own poem, getting ready for Round Two!)

8:30m to 9:00pm: Round Two: You’re up!  Poetry Open Mic Round: If you have a poem you’d like to read aloud, this is the time to do it!

Here’s how it works. Come prepared and bring a poem with you (either original or not). If you want to read but don’t have a poem, we’ll have poems at the ready, inspired by the art exhibit. Each reader will sign up on-site during the event and is limited to no more than 3 minutes at the mic.

This round will be led by and features the work of local poet Jenny Burkholder.

Jenny Burkholder

Jenny A. Burkholder’s poems have appeared in New American Writing, The Spoon River Poetry Review, and The Prose-Poem Project, among others. Her creative nonfiction has appeared in the online issue of So to Speak: A Feminist Journal of Language and Art, Epiphany, and The Healing Muse. She teaches English at Abington Friends School and yoga at Blue Banyan Studio & School.

7:50pm to 8:10pm: Browse and socialize, meet the poets, have them sign books. (Open Book will have an on-site bookstore featuring the works of the evening’s poets.)

8:10pm to 8:30pm: Round Two begins: our poets read again!

8:30 – 9 – You’re up!  Poetry Open Mic Round: If you have a poem you’d like to read aloud, this is the time to do it!

Here’s how it works. Come prepared and bring a poem with you (either original or not). If you want to read but don’t have a poem, we’ll have poems at the ready, inspired by the art exhibit. Each reader will sign up on-site during the event and is limited to no more than 3 minutes at the mic.

For even more details visit the Open Book Bookstore website Here