Guilford Poets Guild

Please join GPG Members for an exciting staged reading with the Moses Gunn Play Company of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf” by Edward Albee on May 4th at 2pm at the Guilford Free Library!

Admission is free and refreshments will be served.

Place: Guilford Free Library, 67 Park St, Guilford

Date: Saturday, May 4, 2024

Time: 2:00 PM

Contact: Norman– johnbrown1859@sbcglobal.net 

The Actors: 

PRIMI TOWNSEND (Martha) has had a long career in film, TV and stage productions. She was a regular on many TV series. One of her earliest roles was as Tom Baker’s sidekick, Mula in DR. WHO. Ms. Townsend has performed in leading roles in London’s West End, around the UK on various tours, as well as Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, the Middle East and Asia. She’s appeared in comedy, drama and many Classical roles, and has been fortunate enough to share the screen with Ralph Richardson, Beau Bridges, Deborah Kerr, Donald Pleasence, to name a few. Primi is also a well-known Voice Over actor in the UK, narrating National Geographic series and many commercials. 

MIKE BOLAND (George) is an award-winning actor and writer. He recently performed in the Long Wharf Theatre’s inventive new production of A View From the Bridge. BROADWAY- An Enemy of the People; OFF-BROADWAY – The Orphans’ Home Cycle; NATIONAL TOURS – Twelve Angry Men, West Side Story, All My Sons; REGIONAL – Hartford Stage, Yale Rep, Playhouse on Park, ACT of CT, Stonc, MTC, Ivoryton, Westchester Broadway, Fulton, Judson, Engeman, Coastal Carolina and many others. TV – The Blacklist (recurring), FBI, Person of Interest, Zero Hour, Rubicon. As a writer, Mike’s feature Yo Andrea is the winner of the 2023 Miami Screenplay Awards. 

MARK SAGE HAMILTON (Nick) Mr. Hamilton was most recently seen in “Fences” as Jim Bono in Westport, CT and “A Pitch from Satchel Paige” at the Acorn Theatre in New York City. Other appearances include, The Valley Shakespeare Festival production of “Our Town” as Dr. Gibbs, The Elm Shakespeare Company’s production of “Romeo and Juliet” as Lord Capulet, and the Yale Repertory Theatre’s production of “An Enemy of the People.” Additional appearances at Yale include “Death of a Salesman” with Charles S. Dutton and “King Lear” with Avery Brooks. New York credits include “Richard the 3rd” (American Theatre of Actors), “The Tempest” (Columbia University) and “Thirst” (Provincetown Playhouse). Regional credits include “King Lear” (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), “Streetcar Named Desire” (Hartford Stage Company), “Romeo and Juliet” (Prince) and “The Tempest” (Gonzalo) both with the Elm Shakespeare Company. Mr. Hamilton earned his MFA from Ohio University and is a graduate of Fairfield University. http://www.mark-sagehamilton.com

JULIE FITZPATRICK (Honey) recently performed Let’s Get Together at Legacy Theatre with Wheel Life Theatre Troupe. She is writer/actor/theater teacher who has performed Off-Broadway, regionally, and in TV/short film. She is delighted to work again with the Moses Gunn Play Company and is a member of The Playwrights Circle, Guilford Poets Guild & Ensemble Studio Theatre in NYC. She is the author of the play “77 U-Turn” & the poetry compilation “Church on the Screen: A Sunday Series of Pandemic Poetry,” both available at Breakwater Books. http://www.juliefitzpatrick.com

MARION GITTLEMAN (Stage Directions) is a poet, playwright, novelist as well as a stage and voice actor. A native New Yorker, Marion is a retired broadcast executive, having spent most of her 35 year career in Los Angeles. She and her late husband initially retired to the San Francisco Bay area, then to New York and Connecticut. She has written volumes of poems, including several books of poetry, multiple plays, two novels, and memoir. Marion appeared in the original production of COME SLOWLY, EDEN, by Norman Rosten; with Hurd Hatfield in JOHN BROWN’S BODY, and a myriad of productions in New York and the Bay Area. She won a Best Actor Award in a Bay Area production, and was a Boli Award nominee for voice work in New York. This is her third appearance with the Moses Gunn Play Company. 

Join us for Carol Altieri & Mark McGuire-Schwartz this Thursday Night from 6:30-8pm at the Guilford Free Library! There will be an Open Mic for any poets who are interested in sharing their work at 6:30-7pm and then the featured poetry will begin.

Carol’s Bio:

Carol Leavitt Altieri was born in Boston, Massachusetts and grew up on a farm  in East Andover, New Hampshire. Echoes of early life on the farm and the natural world rooted in New England’s rocky soil  enhance her poetry as do the variety  of creatures and landscapes thoughtfully observed by the poet. Her poems  crisscross  the planet, interwoven with travels in the United States and other countries: British Isles, Canada, China, Costa Rica, France, Germany,  Italy, New Zealand, Australia, Soviet Union, Switzerland, Yugoslavia and Venezuela.

In her poems, Altieri evokes the strong emotions that usher from a deep hole in her heart from the untimely loss of her sisters, daughter and husband. She moves from grief to acceptance to appreciation of what her family members  meant to her and honors their lives in her poems. She inspires the reader to consider the pendulum that swings  between the memories and  experiences of family and our engagement with the natural world.

Mark’s Bio:

Mark McGuire-Schwartz, new Poet Laureate of Guilford, believes that poetry has the potential to save the world. And that something has to. For decades, he has promoted poetry and the arts through his teaching, publishing the work of poets and artists, producing poetry readings and other poetry programs, and his arts advocacy. His own creative work includes fiction, drama, hybrid forms, and volumes of poetry. He is the inventor of a new poetry form, the Seventeen, as presented in his book, 289, a book of 17s. His other books include Loss and Laughs, Love and Fauna; and Attic Chest. His poetry has also been published in numerous literary journals and on the bottoms of rocks. Mark has a B.A. degree in Creative Writing from Goddard College, an M.Ed. degree from the University of Maine, and an M.F.A. degree from Southern Connecticut State University.

Please register to join us Thursday here: https://guilfordfreelibrary.org/upcoming-events/

Join us for Mark McGuire-Schwartz & A Mystery Poet To Be Revealed Thursday Night from 6:30-8pm at the Guilford Free Library! There will be an Open Mic for any poets who are interested in sharing their work at 6:30-7pm and then the featured poetry will begin.

Mark’s Bio:

Mark McGuire-Schwartz, new Poet Laureate of Guilford, believes that poetry has the potential to save the world. And that something has to. For decades, he has promoted poetry and the arts through his teaching, publishing the work of poets and artists, producing poetry readings and other poetry programs, and his arts advocacy. His own creative work includes fiction, drama, hybrid forms, and volumes of poetry. He is the inventor of a new poetry form, the Seventeen, as presented in his book, 289, a book of 17s. His other books include Loss and Laughs, Love and Fauna; and Attic Chest. His poetry has also been published in numerous literary journals and on the bottoms of rocks. Mark has a B.A. degree in Creative Writing from Goddard College, an M.Ed. degree from the University of Maine, and an M.F.A. degree from Southern Connecticut State University.

Please register to join us Thursday here: https://guilfordfreelibrary.org/upcoming-events/

Join us Sunday June 2nd from 2-4pm for this Free and Open to the Public Event in which we will all be immersed in poems and songs of rural life! Join us to hear GHS Poetry Contest Winners and these wonderful poets and songwriters: Gordy Whiteman, Joe Flood, Norman Marshall and Mark McGuire-Schwartz, Guilford’s new Poet Laureate. For more info, head over to dudleyfarm.com/events! Hope to see you at the farm.

Guilford Poets Guild is heading to Breakwater Books this Thursday April 4th at 5pm! Breakwater has a wonderful event planned for 5pm and at 6pm, where we’ll be hearing poetry by Guild members and other local poets.

** NO REGISTRATION NEEDED TO CREATE POETRY AND LISTEN, JUST SHOW UP TO BREAKWATER BOOKS at 81 Whitfield Street in Guilford! **
If you’re a local poet who would like to read, please email us at the store to get on the evening’s line up.

A two-in-one event: an opportunity to create your own erasure/redacted poetry at your leisure starting at 5:00. Listen to local poets share their work starting at 6:00, with chances to read your own newly-created redacted poetry. Conversation, reading, poetry writing & book signing.

WHAT IS BLACKOUT POETRY?

Blackout poetry, also known as erasure or redacted poetry, are all types of found poetry. Specifically, found poetry has a goal of using pre-existing or “found” text to create something new. Portions of the original text are kept, while other parts are drawn over or crossed out. Well-crafted blackout poetry can give new meanings to old texts. In addition to the words themselves, often times the artwork created by blacking out words can also contribute to the poem’s meaning.

Some examples of found sources include: newspapers, magazines, books, and journals. Poems in this style can be short or long, abstract or concrete, carefree or tragic. All you need to do is: 

1. Identify the text you want to use.
2. Make note of meaningful words, phrases, or ideas.
3. Mark out the text you wish to exclude from your poem. You can blackout text with lines or even drawings. 

Image

LOCAL(ish) POETS COME AND READ!

We are excited to be presenting some readings from The Guilford Poets Guild and other local poets. More details to come! In the meantime, check out some of the amazing poetry offerings available on our shelves right now! (Local author’s works are available in the the store, but often do not show up in our online sales database because they are not available from our distributor, Ingram. We can’t seem to change that without a lot of effort, so please come browse the shelves for our local authors!)

Guilford Poets Guild is heading to Breakwater Books on Thursday April 4th at 5pm! Breakwater has a wonderful event planned for 5pm and at 6pm, where we’ll be hearing poetry by Guild members and other local poets.

** NO REGISTRATION NEEDED TO CREATE POETRY AND LISTEN, JUST SHOW UP TO BREAKWATER BOOKS at 81 Whitfield Street in Guilford! **
If you’re a local poet who would like to read, please email us at the store to get on the evening’s line up.

A two-in-one event: an opportunity to create your own erasure/redacted poetry at your leisure starting at 5:00. Listen to local poets share their work starting at 6:00, with chances to read your own newly-created redacted poetry. Conversation, reading, poetry writing & book signing.

WHAT IS BLACKOUT POETRY?

Blackout poetry, also known as erasure or redacted poetry, are all types of found poetry. Specifically, found poetry has a goal of using pre-existing or “found” text to create something new. Portions of the original text are kept, while other parts are drawn over or crossed out. Well-crafted blackout poetry can give new meanings to old texts. In addition to the words themselves, often times the artwork created by blacking out words can also contribute to the poem’s meaning.

Some examples of found sources include: newspapers, magazines, books, and journals. Poems in this style can be short or long, abstract or concrete, carefree or tragic. All you need to do is: 

1. Identify the text you want to use.
2. Make note of meaningful words, phrases, or ideas.
3. Mark out the text you wish to exclude from your poem. You can blackout text with lines or even drawings. 

Image

LOCAL(ish) POETS COME AND READ!

We are excited to be presenting some readings from The Guilford Poets Guild and other local poets. More details to come! In the meantime, check out some of the amazing poetry offerings available on our shelves right now! (Local author’s works are available in the the store, but often do not show up in our online sales database because they are not available from our distributor, Ingram. We can’t seem to change that without a lot of effort, so please come browse the shelves for our local authors!)

Join us on March 14th for an evening celebrating Mark McGuire-Schwartz as he assumes the post of Guilford’s Poet Laureate! McGuire-Schwartz will become our new Poet Laureate as Gordy Whiteman passes the torch to him in a celebration at the Guilford Library on March 14th starting at 6:30pm. Join us to applaud Gordy Whiteman for his remarkable tenure as Guilford Poet Laureate and usher in the talented Mark McGuire-Schwartz to that illustrious post! Both poets will share their work at this event. Read more in this article from The Patch. Hope to see you there!

On Sunday, March 17, 1:30–3:30 pm, members of the Guilford Poets Guild will read poetry inspired by Guilford Art League paintings currently on exhibition at Guilford Free Library. Guilford Art League has held ekphrastic poetry readings—poems inspired by other works of art—in the past.

Join us for this special event celebrating the visual and aural arts!

Both groups are excited about the collaboration. The theme of the art work on display is “Chasing the Light.”

Even after all this time
the sun never says to the earth,
“You owe me.”
Look what happens with
a love like that,
it lights the whole sky.

—Hafez

Join us on Thursday March 14th at 6:30pm for the Second Thursday Poetry Series presented by Guilford Poets Guild and then on March 17th from 1:30-3:30pm for an exciting partnership with the Guilford Art League!

Join us on March 14th for an evening celebrating Mark McGuire-Schwartz as he assumes the post of Guilford’s Poet Laureate! McGuire-Schwartz will be our new Poet Laureate as Gordy Whiteman passes the torch in a celebration at the Guilford Public Library on March 14th starting at 6:30pm. Join us to applaud Gordy Whiteman for his remarkable tenure as Guilford Poet Laureate and usher in the talented Mark McGuire-Schwartz to that illustrious post!

Join us on March 17th from 1:30-3:30pm when members of the Guilford Poets Guild will read poetry inspired by Guilford Art League’s paintings in the show. Guilford Art League says “GAL has held ekphrastic poetry readings—poems inspired by other works of art—in the past. They have always been very popular, and we are delighted to ‘collaborate’ with the Guilford Poets Guild again.” This year the theme will be Chasing the Light. Join us for Art & Poetry on Sunday March 17th from 1:30-3:30 at The Guilford Free Library!

Join us on March 14th for an evening celebrating Mark McGuire-Schwartz as he assumes the post of Guilford’s Poet Laureate! McGuire-Schwartz will be our new Poet Laureate as Gordon Whiteman passes the torch in a celebration at the Guilford Public Library on March 14th. Join us to applaud Gordon Whiteman for his remarkable tenure as Town Poet Laureate and to usher in the talented Mark McGuire-Schwartz to that illustrious post!

The Guilford Poets Guild presents Poets Mark McGuire-Schwartz and Gordon Whiteman for their Second Thursday Poetry Series event on Thursday, March 14th at 6:30pm. The event will begin with an Open Mic and then move into a shared evening of poetry from McGuire-Schwartz and Whiteman.

Mark McGuire-Schwartz believes that laughter is a gift to be shared. He has published poetry and prose in many journals, including Caduceus, Fairfield Review, RogueScholars, Bent Pin Quarterly, Connecticut River Review, 6 Sentences, Whatever Literary Magazine, Connecticut Law Journal, and on the bottoms of rocks.  His first chapbook, Loss and Laughs, Love and Fauna, was published in 2009. Mark is author of a short play, Meeting Arthur Miller, which was produced as part of the Short and NEAT program during the 2004 International Festival of Arts and Ideas and he has authored many other poems, plays and books. He received his MFA from Southern Connecticut State University and has taught at Housatonic Community College among other posts. Join us on the 14th for more stories and information about both Mark McGuire-Schwartz and Gordon Whiteman!