Next Up to The Mic

Thom Francis welcomes poet, author, and educator Melody Davis to the Poets Speak Loud stage at McGeary's in downtown Albany, NY. She was the featured poet at the long-running open mic series on April 30, 2018.

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On April 30, 2018, Davis was the featured poet at the long-running series hosted by Mary Panza. She began her reading with work from her book One Ground Beetle: A Year in Haiku (Bad Cat Press, 2017), with prints by Harold Lohner. It was "Show & Tell" with Melody reading a haiku or two, then holding up the book to show the colorful print on the facing page. The haiku were on trees, clouds, birds, round stones, Albany, and work meetings. She then read from her collection of poems Holding the Curve (Broadstone Books), “Caillebotte’s Laundry” and “Walter, the Lawyer.”

Melody Davis, a writer and art historian, is the author of three poetry collections, including a special edition artists’ book, One Ground Beetle, with Harold Lohner; and Holding the Curve. Her work in the history of photography has been published widely.  In 2015, she published Women’s Views:  The Narrative Stereograph in Nineteenth-Century America with the University Press of New Hampshire.

Davis has held fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Henry Luce Foundation, the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts, MetroArts (PA), and she was a finalist in the National Poetry Series. 

She holds a Ph.D. from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and was an Associate Professor of Art History at the Sage College of Albany.  

Listen to the whole 25 minute reading here - https://soundcloud.com/hvwritersguild/melody-davis-at-poets-speak-loud

This week on the Next Up to The Mic podcast, Thom Francis welcomes Ulster County Poet Laureate Mike Jurkovic. Mike was the featured reader, promoting his chapbook Eve’s Venom, at Poets Speak Loud on Monday, October 27, 2014. 

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Poets Speak Loud was a poetry open mic series hosted by Mary Panza that began at The Lark Tavern in January 31, 2005 - the same night that that legendary local poet, environmentalist, activist, and “grandfather of the Albany poetry scene” Tom Nattell passed away. In 2010, a fire destroyed the longtime Albany establishment, forcing the open mic to find a new home. Not long after, Poets Speak Loud rose from the ashes and began its run at McGeary’s in downtown Albany until COVID-19 brought the series to its end. 

Over the years many poets and spoken word artists from the Capital Region, Hudson Valley, and beyond were featured at Poets Speak Loud. On October 27, 2014, poet and writer Mike Jurkovic took the stage. 

Mike Jurkovic was named 2025 and 2026 Ulster County Poet Laureate. He has published poetry, prose, and music reviews globally with little reportable income. Jurkovic’s 5 full-length poetry collections include Buckshot Reckoning (Luchador Press, 2023), mooncussers (Luchador Press, 2022) AmericanMental (Luchador Press, 2020); haiku collections Monet’s Bamboo (CAPS Press, 2025), and Blue Fan Whirring (Nirala Press, 2018). He is the president of Calling All Poets reading series, which is celebrating 26 years in the Hudson Valley. You can find his reviews online at All About Jazz and lightwoodpress.com. He hosts NuJazzXcursions every Monday night at 9:00 am on WVKR-91.3FM Vassar College. 

Local poet Dan Wilcox posted on his blog about MIke’s reading:  

"Mike Jurkovic has been reading around a lot lately, promoting his new chapbook Eve’s Venom (Post Traumatic Press, 2014), which I’d already bought, but it is always fun to hear Mike read. He began with some poems not in the book with minimal introduction, because his poems often tell a story, cynically pondering the world around him, such as a poems about being stopped at a traffic light next to “the dwarf Morpheus,” or “Crows Gathering at the Grey Sky,” or “Andy Martin’s American Letter.” Then to poems from Eve’s Venom, some read without the titles, …the hysterical “Bio-Hazard,” “Yearbook,” … In the past Mike would wander the room performing his poems, tonight he stuck pretty close to the mic, his poems doing the wandering."

Thom Francis welcomes poet Don Levy who shared his work at the 2024 Word Fest Open Mic at the Sand Lake Center for the Arts on April 27, 2024.

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The Word Fest first took shape in 2001 as a one-day open mic in Thatcher Park, bringing together poets from across the region to share their work. Over the years, it has expanded into a week-long celebration of poetry and spoken word, incorporating workshops, poetry slams, performances, and its signature open mic event.

After a break since 2019, the Word Fest Open Mic made its highly anticipated return on Saturday, April 27, at the Sand Lake Center for the Arts. The evening showcased powerful performances from featured spoken word artists and a dynamic lineup of open mic participants.

In today's episode, we are thrilled to highlight Don Levy, a long-time area poet and former host of many open mics in the 90s and early-2000s,  At the event, Don read a new piece, “My Queerness,” and some old time favorites such as the once-televised “Lobsters at the Grand Union.”

Thom Francis welcomes poet, author, and artist Elizabeth Gordon who shared her work at the Year in Review event at The Linda, WAMC's Performing Arts Center in Albany on December 17, 2022.

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Since 2021, the Hudson Valley Writers Guild has hosted the Year in Review poetry event to highlight the poets and writers in the area while looking back at the year that was. 

In 2022, I was joined on stage by five other local writers for the second annual Year in Review at the Linda, WAMC's Performing Arts Studio. 

Today we are going to hear from one of those writers - poet, author, educator, and artist Elizabeth Gordon. 

Elizabeth K. Gordon is a college literature instructor based in Cohoes, New York, and the author of two books: Love Cohoes and Walk with Us. A pioneer in the local poetry scene, she was a member of the Capital District’s first slam team, the Nitty Gritty Slam, representing them at the National Poetry Slam and the Women of the World Poetry Slam (WOWPS). Later, she competed at WOWPS on behalf of New York City’s Urbana Slam. Beyond performing, Elizabeth has served as a writing coach and mentor, most recently guiding Troy’s Café Euphoria slam team. In addition to her literary work, she is also a painter specializing in abstract art.

Local poet Dan Wilcox wrote on his blog about the reading:

“Elizabeth Gordon, otherwise known on the Slam circuit as Elizag, not surprisingly brought the performance level up a few more notches with her pieces of radical social engagement, such as her opening piece beginning “It was the Summer tuna cost less than cat food…” & a meditation on shopping with her younger self. She too had a poem about her cellphone, & another an “Ode to My Painting Pants,” followed by the linking alliteration of a poem on Putin. She ended with a poem from memory in her best Slam performance style, “A Hiding Place,” on the shooting at a gay bar in Orlando.”

This week, Thom Francis welcomes poet and wildlife rehabilitator J. Lester Allen to the stage for a reading at The Linda, WAMC's Performing Arts Studio, on July 27 2022.   

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J. Lester Allen was one of 11 poets who shared their work as part of a two-night event series presented by the Hudson Valley Writers Guild, Hobo Camp Review, and Trailer Park Quarterly that took place in both Troy and Albany. 

J. Lester Allen is an American writer and poet. Originally hailing from the Central Pennsylvania region, he currently calls the waterfall rich holler of Ludlowville, NY home. He published his first collection of poems, The Days Carnivore, in 2008 and has since published three other collections of poetry and short stories, most notably This Is a Land of Wolves Now (Kung Fu Treachery 2019). A fourth collection, Beyond The Wounded Horizon, a split effort with fellow poet James H. Duncan, is also available on Alpine Ghost Press.

Allen's poetry covers topics from growing up with his brother and single dad, friends who have passed, and why there might be a raccoon in his apartment. 

This week, Thom Francis welcomes poet, artist, and musician Matthew Klane to the mic. Matthew read poems at the first Year in Review spoken word event at The Linda, WAMC’s Performing Arts Studio, on December 17, 2021.

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At the end of 2021, coming out of the pandemic, there were a lot of stories to tell. Albany Poets (soon to be merged with the Hudson Valley Writers Guild) invited eight local poets to perform on The Linda stage in front of their first live poetry show in over a year. The Year in Review was an incredible evening of poetry, art, and community. 

Matthew Klane was one of the poets who read his work at the event. Matthew is co-editor at Flim Forum Press. His books include Canyons (w/ James Belflower, Flimb Press 2016), Che (Stockport Flats 2013) and B (Stockport Flats 2008). An e-chapbook from Of the Day is online at Delete Press, an e-book My is online at Fence Digital, and a chapbook Poetical Sketches is available from The Magnificent Field.

He currently lives and writes in Albany, NY. You can find out more about Matthew at his website matthewklane.com.

This week, Thom Francis welcomes poets Kathleen Anne Smith and Nathan Smith to the mic. They shared their work at the 2024 Word Fest Open Mic at the Sand Lake Center for the Arts on April 27, 2024.

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After years away, Word Fest returned.

What began in 2001 as a one-day open mic at Thatcher Park grew into a week-long celebration of poetry and spoken word across the region. On April 27, 2024, the open mic came back to life after a four-year hiatus at the Sand Lake Center for the Arts with an afternoon of featured readers and community voices.

Today, we’re highlighting two of those poets: Kathleen Anne Smith and Nathan Smith.

Kathleen Anne Smith, author of Let the Stones Grow Soft, read poems including “How Do We Home Alone?” Nathan Smith read “Chapters”  from his book Cotton Candy Sun and “The Gay Boys Survival Guide: 20 Rules to Reach 25.”

This week, Thom Francis welcomes poet Andy Fogle to the mic. He was one of the eight featured poets who read their work at The Fish Market in Troy last fall. 

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Andy Fogle read at the Eight Poets event on October 11, 2025, at The Fish Market in Troy, presented by Trailer Park Quarterly, Hobo Camp Review, Paper Moon bookstore, and the Hudson Valley Writers Guild.

He shared poems about family and abolitionist John Brown, along with other work.

Fogle is the author of Mother Countries, Across from Now, and seven chapbooks. A 2021 Saratoga Arts grant recipient, his work has appeared in Best New Poets 2018, Tahoma Literary Review, and Potomac Review. He is poetry editor at Salvation South and teaches English at Bethlehem Central High School.

This week, Thom Francis welcomes Hudson Valley poet Cheryl A. Rice to the mic. Cheryl was featured at the Eight Poets event at The Fish Market on Saturday, October 11, 2025, where she was joined by writers from the Hudson Valley Writers Guild, online zines Trailer Park Quarterly and Hobo Camp Review, and Troy-based bookstore Paper Moon.

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On October 11, 2025, Trailer Park Quarterly and Hobo Camp Review, in partnership with Paper Moon and the Hudson Valley Writers Guild, presented an afternoon of poetry at The Fish Market in Troy.

Eight poets read that day, including Cheryl A. Rice, who shared work from an upcoming collaboration with Jason Baldinger, along with other poems from her collections.

Rice is the author of Love’s Compass and My Minnesota Boyhood, and co-author of Until the Words Came with Guy Reed. A Best of the Net nominee, she also founded the Sylvia Plath Bake-Off, a unique mix of poetry and baking.

Her work has appeared in numerous anthologies and journals, and she has been a fixture in the Hudson Valley literary community for over forty years.

Thom Francis welcomes poets Mojavi and Poetic Visionz who shared their work at the 2024 Word Fest Open Mic at the Sand Lake Center for the Arts on April 27, 2024.

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When two long-time area spoken word artists, who have since moved away, walked in the front door of the Sand Lake Center for the Arts, Word Fest Open Mic host Mary Panza made it a point to add them to the list.

Today, we are going to hear from those two incredible poets.

Mojavi, who was the host of the Soul Kitchen series at Clayton’s Restaurant in the late-90s and the founder of Urban Guerrilla Theatre after that, read some childhood memoirs. Poetic Visionz who was one of the original Nitty Gritty Slam poets a decade ago, representing Albany at the National Poetry Slam, took the stage with his deconstructive word-play.

You can find more information, photos, and videos on all of the Word Fest events on the Hudson Valley Writers Guild website, hvwg.org.