Next Up to The Mic

In this 12th episode of the podcast, we welcome Mary Panza who was the featured poet at the Albany Poets Presents reading at Restaurant Navona on June 15, 2016.

Mary Panza originated and hosted the poetry open mic at Border’s and has been a driving force in the poetry community for almost 30 years. She has been active in promoting, hosting, and participating in many arts events throughout Upstate New York. Until last spring, Mary hosted the long-running Poets Speak Loud series at McGeary's.

Mary has published a number of poetry chapbooks with Gina Grega (Hair Buffet, Komic Kunts, and Bite Me: Love Poems) and Paul Weinman (Three Poets and One Bed, Mary Eats Paul, and Vise Versa). Mary produced and wrote the liner notes for the CD “Volume”, a compilation of Albany-area poets performing their work at local readings and open mics, and “A Little Nip” a compilation of female singer/songwriters. She has been published in countless publications such as Rant, In Your Face, OTHER:___, Revival: Spoken Word from Lollapalooza 94, and Open Mic: The Albany Anthology. Mary served as the Poetry Editor for the short-lived Capital Region edition of Chronogram. She currently writes the Housewife Tuesday column on the Albany Poets website and is an editor of the literary journal,  Up the River.

Please welcome, next up to the mic, Mary Panza.

In this episode of the podcast, we welcome Michele Battiste who gave a very special, intimate reading at The Poetry Motel in Albany, NY on May 22, 2009.

Michele Battiste was one of the many local poets who got their start at Tom Nattell’s legendary QE2 open mic back in the 90s and she has continued to share her words all across the country ever since.

Michele Battiste is the author of Waiting for the Wreck to Burn (Trio House, 2019), Uprising ( Black Lawrence, 2014), and Ink for an Odd Cartography ( Black Lawrence, 2009). She is also the author of several chapbooks, including Left: Letters to Strangers (Grey Book, 2014). Her poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, The Rumpus, Memorious, and Women's Studies Quarterly, among others.

Michele has taught poetry workshops for Wichita State University, the Prison Arts Program in Hutchinson, KS, Gotham Writers' Workshops, and Teen Ink. A finalist for the National Poetry Series, she has received grants and awards from the New York Foundation for the Arts, AWP, the Center for the American West, the Jerome Foundation, and the NY State Senate. She lives in Colorado where she works for The Nature Conservancy, raising money to save the planet.

You can find out more about Michele on her website https://www.michelebattiste.net/

Please welcome, next up to the mic, Michele Battiste.

In this 10th episode of the Next Up to The Mic podcast, we welcome Christopher Johnson  who was our featured poet at Nitty Gritty Slam #93 at The Low Beat on Central Ave., in beautiful, crime-free Albany, NY on Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Christopher Johnson is the recipient of the 2018 Rhode Island State Council of the Arts Fellowship for Playwriting. He is also a finalist for the 2018 for the McColl Johnson Fellowship and an award-winning Slam Poet.

Timely, relevant, honest, unapologetic, personal, and political, Christopher Johnson’s spoken word commands in a way that is uncomfortable and arresting. Educated in performance art through experience and mentorship, it has been said that his pieces touch the heart with feathers and barbed wire alike, speaking uncomfortable truths, invoking the best and worst of human emotions. Christopher’s presence demands attention in a way that leaves people captivated and eager to hear more. Using words like a dancer uses movement or a painter uses color, his delivery is nuanced. There is an expressive intention in every gesture without it appearing choreographed. Able to evoke deep-seated dormant emotions through writings and performance, Johnson’s emotional expression through his art transcends race, gender, and other divisions. His impassioned words reach into the collective soul of all of us, touching and expressing our own pain, fear, and love, as well as his own. When Christopher is on stage you can rest knowing you are safe in his capable hands treating strangers like family guaranteeing both the content and delivery will remain a part of you forever.

You can find out more about Christopher on his website https://thencredibull.com/

Please welcome, next up to the mic, Christopher Johnson.

In this episode of Next Up to The Mic, we welcome Melody Davis who was our featured poet at the Poets Speak Loud open mic series at McGeary's in downtown Albany, NY on April 30, 2018.

Melody Davis, a writer and art historian, is the author of three poetry collections, most recently,  a special edition artists’ book, One Ground Beetle, with Harold Lohner (2017); and Holding the Curve (2013) from Broadstone Books.  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 is an Associate Professor of Art History at Russell Sage College in Troy NY.

Please welcome, next up to the mic, Melody Davis.

To find out more about the great poetry and spoken word community in upstate New York, go to albanypoets.com

Our theme music was “Imagination” by Danijel Zambo (https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/imagination) License code: 44TCGFPF1L1434BE

In this episode of Next Up to The Mic, we welcome Wil Gibson who was our featured poet at Albany Poets Presents at Restaurant Navona on April 20, 2016

Wil Gibson currently lives in Humboldt County, California where the trees are big. He has had five collections published by kind people, and has been included in a number of anthologies and lit mags both online and in print, such as Marsh Hawk Review, Button Poetry, Midwestern Gothic, Drunk in a Midnight Choir, Cascadia Rising, Collective Unrest, Yellow Chair Review and many more. He has twice been nominated for both a Pushcart and Best of the Net, and currently opening a poetry-only bookstore and art gallery.

You can find links to books and more info at wilgibson.com

Please welcome, next up to the mic, Wil Gibson.

To find out more about the great poetry and spoken word community in upstate New York, go to albanypoets.com

Our theme music was “Imagination” by Danijel Zambo (https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/imagination) License code: 44TCGFPF1L1434BE

In this episode of Next Up to The Mic, we welcome Influence who was our featured poet at Brass Tacks at The Low Beat on April 16, 2019.

Sharmont "Influence" Little is a Poet from New Haven Ct. who has been called engaging, prolific, and truly passionate.  He uses the art form of Spoken Word to deliver his message and belief, as quoted by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Influence's goal is to educate and inspire people of all ages and mindsets, with a strong focus on the youth of the inner cities. He has performed all over the country using Colleges like Yale, Virginia State, Boston University, and a host of public schools as his platform to reach the youth of today. As well as performing at some of the most historic poetry venues such as the Nuyorican Poetry Café in New York City and the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge, MA just to name a few. Influence made a name for himself as a slam poet winning over 100 slams nationwide and being a five-time member of the Connecticut slam team Verbal Slap including being the coach of the 2017 team and Grand Slam champion of the 2018 team. He has worked with and or shared the stage with musical entertainers Common, Mos Def, and R&B artist Rome. One of His greatest accomplishments was to have the opportunity to open for the NAACP Image Awards.

Influence's first album was released in 2007 entitled Verbal Tears.

If “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” then Sharmont "Influence" Little has made it a mission to use every ounce of his poetic talents to engage and enlighten his audience. Living by his own saying “Poetry is life, Live it”.

Please welcome, next up to the mic, Influence.

To find out more about the great poetry and spoken word community in upstate New York, go to albanypoets.com

Our theme music was “Imagination” by Danijel Zambo (https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/imagination) License code: 44TCGFPF1L1434BE

In this episode of Next Up to The Mic, we welcome D. Colin who was our featured reader at the Albany Poets Presents reading series at Restaurant Navona in Albany, NY on April 18, 2018.

Originally from Bridgeport, CT, D. Colin is a poet, actor, and visual artist living in Troy, NY. As a multidisciplinary artist, she aims to inspire, empower and educate through poetry, paint, and performance and is passionate about cultivating space for stories, healing, and community. She is the author of two poetry collections, Dreaming in Kreyol and Said the Swing to the Hoop.

She is a New York State Writers Institute fellow with degrees in English and Africana Studies. Since 2016, D. Colin has been running Poetic Vibe, a weekly open mic voted best in the Capital Region in 2019. In 2019, D. Colin was honored as Resourceful Woman of the Year in the Arts by YWCA of the Greater Captial Region and one of The Collaborative's Creatives Under 40. In her rare spare time, she likes to eat pistachio ice cream, visit used book stores, and think of ways to change the world.

Please welcome, next up to the mic, D Colin.

To find out more about the great poetry and spoken word community in upstate New York, go to albanypoets.com

Our theme music was “Imagination” by Danijel Zambo (https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/imagination) License code: 44TCGFPF1L1434BE

In this episode, we welcome Ian Macks who was our featured reader at Brass Tacks at The Low Beat on March 19, 2019.

Ian Macks is a 27-year-old poet based out of Troy, New York. Originally raised in the Bronx until 10 years old, Macks felt the actions and emotions of love, loss, racism, and hardship all while being non-verbal for half of that decade. This sensitive perspective of life is what fuels Ian's poetry, and that light shines brightly throughout Identity Crisis, coming out this summer on Amazon and Barnes and Noble through recto y verso editions inc.

Please welcome, next up to the mic, Ian Macks.

To find out more about the great poetry and spoken word community in upstate New York, go to albanypoets.com

Our theme music was “Imagination” by Danijel Zambo (https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/imagination) License code: 44TCGFPF1L1434BE

In this episode, we welcome Don Levy who was our featured reader at Poets Speak Loud at the Lark Tavern on March 30, 2009.

Don Levy has been part of the Albany poetry scene since 1989 when he first read at the QE2 open mic. He has read at various venues and events in Albany, including The Albany Public Library, Poets in the Park, Poets Speak Loud, and the Third Thursday Poetry Night at The Social Justice Center. He has hosted a number of readings over the years, the first being at The Albany Art Gallery on Jefferson Street, to his last, a featured reader / open mic series called Live From the Living Room, a straight-friendly reading held at The Pride Center of the Capital Region.

Don was one of the editors of  Open Mic: The Albany Anthology., a fantastic book that featured work from the poets who frequented the local open mics in the mid-90s.   He published 2 chapbooks with local artist Kevin Bruce: How Green Was My Big Eden, a collection of gay fantasy poems, and Super Queer Poet Saves the Day.  He currently writes a book blog called The Next Chapter on the Albany Poets website.

Please welcome, next up to the mic, Don Levy

To find out more about the great poetry and spoken word community in upstate New York, go to albanypoets.com

Our theme music was “Imagination” by Danijel Zambo (https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/imagination) License code: 44TCGFPF1L1434BE

In this episode, we welcome Billy Stanley who was our featured reader at Poets Speak Loud at the Lark Tavern on March 27, 2006.

Billy Stanley grew up in the backwaters of the D'arbonne Bayou on the outskirts of West Monroe, Louisiana. After exhausting his literary ambitions in the twin cities of Northeast Louisiana he took off to Provincetown Massachusetts to become Stanley Kunitz's garbageman for a few summers. He humbled himself before Yusef Komuyakaa at the end of Cape Cod. Dave Brinks agitated him on the streets of the Big Easy as Billy yawped his bona fides. He then fell in Love and shoveled snow in New York’s capital. Shaker ghosts in Watervliet haunted him on early morning sunrises in the dead of winter. Adam Goldsworthy teaches him the poetry of nature as Livio Levante teaches him the riches of nature.

Billy says that “Poetry is man's attempt to rationalize the magnificence of nature in the face of our human hubris. Hope you like mine, I do.”

Please welcome, next up to the mic, Billy Stanley

To find out more about the great poetry and spoken word community in upstate New York, go to albanypoets.com

Our theme music was “Imagination” by Danijel Zambo (https://uppbeat.io/t/danijel-zambo/imagination) License code: 44TCGFPF1L1434BE