Honoring the Muse at FLCC

From Curt Nehring Bliss (The man with the coolest last name ever!)



HONORING THE MUSE with poet T.R. Congdon on Wednesday, September 24th at 7pm in the Honors House

Please consider joining us as FLCC Honors Studies kicks off our new Honoring the Muse performance series this Wednesday, September 24th at 7pm in the Parlor Room of the Honors House. Our first featured performer will be Rochester musician/poet/activist T.R. Congdon. Following Congdon’s reading will be a spoken word open mic.

As a musician, T.R. Congdon has played all over the country, opening for big names such as Tom Waits, Bonnie Raitt, and Jerry Lee Lewis. As a poet, he is widely published though he refers to himself as “an unknown figure in contemporary literature.” As a student at Cornell, he studied creative writing with the late A.A. Ammons, and as an independent film maker he has worked with Pulitzer and National Book Award winners and poet laureates such as Donald Hall, Yusef Komunyakaa, Carolyn Forche' and Amiri Baraka. Congdon’s current project is a forthcoming film to benefit New Orleans’ Common Ground Relief organization and will feature numerous poets, Katrina survivors, and volunteers from Common Ground Relief.

A profile of TR. Congdon on the web at www.commongroundrelief.org/node/676
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Honoring the Muse aims to engage, challenge, and surprise audiences with an eclectic mix of weekly Wednesday night readings and performances. Each evening will feature a guest performer followed by an open mic. The Honors House and the community it cultivates provide a generous venue for the presentation of original work. More information on the series can be found online at http://www.flcc.edu/honors and on Facebook (search “FLCC Honors House” and become a fan to stay connected).

The schedule for the 08-09 academic year is as follows:

First Wednesdays at 7pm: Songwriters Circle hosted by Curt Nehring Bliss

Second Wednesdays at 5pm: Composers Forum hosted by Dr. David McGuire

Third Wednesdays at 7pm: Go Bananas (comedy/improv) hosted by Noah Earl

Fourth Wednesdays at 7pm: Writers Bloc Party (spoken word) hosted by Jon Palzer

Poetry, Nonfiction, Discussions Galore

So many things are happening this week! So hard to choose ... I would love to make it to all these events, but I know I'll never pull it off. The one place I know I'll be is at Pure Kona Thursday night for Rich Forster's feature.


I never pass up a chance to hear him read, though I'm partial, since I'm convinced he talks like a tree and I've been known to be quite fond of trees. Intrigued? Come decide for yourself ... and bring something to read for the open mic ... add to the melee!


Tuesday, September 23:

Clea Koff,Author of “The Bone Woman” will speak at SUNY Brockport in the Tuttle North Gymat 8:30 pm. Koff will discuss her work asa UN forensic anthropologist working with families who lost loved ones togenocide.


25 And Under Reading will be hosted by: Sally Bittner Bonn in the VerbCafé at Writers & Books at 7:00 pm. Free toW&B members, $3 general public


Wednesday, September 24:

Francis Smith Foster, African American family life and Women’s Studiesscholar will be holding a discussion on “Freedom’s Journal and its Work,” atNewton Hall on the SUNY Geneseo campus at 5 pm.


Dinty W. Moore is the author of Between Panicand Desire; The Accidental Buddhist: Mindfulness, Enlightenment and SittingStill; Toothpick Men; and The Emperor’s Virtual Clothes. Reading held in The New York Room, CooperHall at SUNY Brockport at 8pm (free & open to the public)


KathAnderson, mentor and friend of poet Ruth Lunt, will be reading from AsQuarks Are to Cicadas, a selection of Ruth’s poemsselected and organized by Kath andrecently published byFoothills Publishing at 7pm. FREE


Thursday, Sept. 25:

Rich Forster will be the feature at The Pure Kona Open Mic, at The Mez, 389 Gregory Street at 7:30 pm. Followed by an Open Mic. FREE

Phil Memmer and Michael Jennings will be the Visiting Writers at Writers andBooks will host.

7 pm: $4 W&Bmembers, $6 general public.

For info on the writers, see http://www.wab.org/events/2008_09.shtml.

Tomorrow: David White

David White at Books, ETC

On Sunday, September 14th, at 4:00 PM, David White will read from his collection of poetry.

David is a philosopher with forty years of professional experience in Upstate New York. All his philosophical work focuses on Bishop Joseph Butler, author of The Analogy of Religion (1736). David balances philosophy with poetry in his dialectic, but the poems are not religious.

The poems, collected under the title Luck of the Welsh, take up the theme of life as a trial with a naturalized Deity as the Probation Officer. This program is free and open to the public. We will meet at Books, ETC., 78 W Main St., Macedon.

If you have any questions, please respond by email books_etc@yahoo.com or phone John at 585-464-9103.

Amy Bloom at Brockport

September 10: Amy Bloom will be featured at the Brockport Writers Forum at 8pm in the New York Room of Cooper Hall on the Brockport campus. This event is co-sponsored by the Women & Gender Studies Program at Brockport and is free and open to the public.

About Amy Bloom: Amy Bloom is the author of two novels, two collections of short stories, and a nominee for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her stories have appeared in Best American Short Stories, Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards, and numerous anthologies here and abroad. She has written for the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, Slate, and Salon, among many other publications, and has won a National Magazine Award. Her first book of nonfiction, Normal: Transsexual CEOs, Crossdressing Cops, and Hermaphrodites with Attitude, is an exploration of the varieties of gender. She lives in Connecticut and teaches at Yale University.

*About info taken from the flyer sent by Kathleen Gill Re: Brockport Writer’s Forum

For more information contact Writers Forum Co-Directors
Ralph Black and Anne Panning at (585) 395-5713
www.brockport.edu/wforum/

Pure Kona Open Mic

Here are the upcoming features for Pure Kona Open Mic.

Sept. 11 - Major Tony Nelson
Sept. 25 - Rich Forster
Oct. 9 - Patricia Roth Schwartz
Oct. 23 - Norm Davis
Oct. 30 - Lynn Cuthbertson
Nov. 13 - Mike Rae & John Francunas


We are alternating weeks with Free Speech Zone Open Mic, with Pure Kona occurring on the 2nd & 4th Thursdays. Readings take place at The Mez, 389 Gregory Street, beginning at 7:30PM. Norm Davis and Rick Petrie are the evening's hosts. Please email Rick at petrie95@hotmail.com if you have any questions.