November 9th Stone Pigeon!

Breaking new Grounds, Portsmouth! Monday, November 9th at 7pm! These are the facts, ma'am! In just two days, the "FISH OR CUT BAIT TOUR" comes to the Stone Pigeon!

Fall has returned to New England. We managed to wrestle and extra hour from its leafy grip, and now Mother Nature is out for revenge! She's sent two poets of the apocalypse to destroy us... with words. You'd think she'd use a hurricane or tidal wave or something, but times are tough.

Ryan McLellan - The author of three collections of poetry, Ryan McLellan is a performance poet, singer/songwriter and English teacher from Exeter, New Hampshire. His poems have most recently appeared in "Concise Delight", "Bird's Eye reView", and the "2010 Poets' Guide to New Hampshire", with forthcoming publications in "O.V.S. Magazine", "The Taj Mahal Review" and "Chopin With Cherries". A member of Blood on the Floor, the recipient of the 2009 Esther Buffler Fellowship and member of the 2009 Slam Free or Die team, he is sick of writing about himself in the third person.

Unseen the Poet has never been published, but doesn't care. This is probably because he doesn't spell good and has no idea how to use periods and what not. He believes in putting on a good live show. I feel that poetry is better seen live rather than read. I was also a memeber of the first ever N.H. slam team. I'm also the fill in co-host and the resident drunk of the poetry night Slam Free or Die in ManchVegas. Come check me out. Word.

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October 12th Stone Pigeon!

Ah, fall. Time when thoughts turn to hot pumpkin pie and hotter poetry. And this Columbus Day, you can discover some great poets (that, just as with Columbus, other people have already discovered) at The Stone Pigeon! Surely, you must have to enter into a pact with the devil to get in on something this awesome? You'd think so, but no! All you have to do is come to Breaking New Grounds, Portsmouth on Monday, October 12th, starting at 7pm to see:

Heidi Therrien is a performance poet, singer, actor/director and painter from Manchester, NH. Her poems have appeared in journals such as, The 2010 Poets’ Guide to New Hampshire, Blood on the Floor Vol: II, Centripetal, Angelic Dynamo and her chapbook, High Point of My Day, was published by Sargent Press. A finalist for the 2009 NH slam team, her writing group, Blood on the Floor, won the 2008 New England Invitational Slam in Portland, ME. She was one of the featured poets at the 2009 Jazzmouth Poetry Festival and has featured around the seacoast at venues such as The Northstar Café, Beat Night at the Press Room, The Bridge Café and The Stone Pigeon, which she currently co-hosts.

Molly Skerry hails from a rual part of southern New Hampshire but has recently moved to Manchester to take on "big city living." She calls the Bridge Cafe her home-base for poetry, and credits the NH poetry scene for getting her motivated to write as many kick butt poems as possible. She is very excited to be featuring at the Stone Pigeon with her partner-in-crime Heidi, and thanks all the lovely poets who have shown their support to her along they way.

And you can RSVP to this event on Facebook!

August 10th Stone Pigeon!

Ah! Look out! It's two poets from the Lakes Region! The first three rows will get wet! make sure to bring your towel to Breaking New Grounds in Portsmouth on August 10th at 7pm and behold the wonder and glory that is our sister-scene to the North!

And, of course, you can RSVP to this event on Facebook!

Kalee Burrows is a recent graduate of Kingswood Regional High School. She has participated in the Teen Writers' Jazz Mouth the past two years and was a co-feature poet at the Conway Public Library last winter. Kalee is excited to leave her ridiculously small town in the fall and venture to Stonehill College.

Gordon Lang teaches English at Kingswood High School in Wolfeboro, and dabbles in plays, short fiction, and verse. Some know him as the host of the Poets in the Attic poetry readings in Wolfeboro on the fourth Thursday of the month. His wife knows him as the stable boy who feeds her Gypsy horses and fetches things for her when she's fallen and she can't get up. He's been featured hither and yon around the state and now has a new book to hawk, No Match for a Scarecrow-with signature and groovy cover: $10.

July 13th Stone Pigeon!

Monday the 13th of July is fast-approaching, and The Stone Pigeon is once again coming back to Breaking New Grounds, Portsmouth at 7pm... and we guarantee to deliver!

Kim Triedman’s first poetry collection – "bathe in it or sleep" – was named winner of the 2008 Main Street Rag Chapbook Competition and semi-finalist for the 2008 Black River Chapbook Competition. In the past year, she has also been named finalist for the 2007 Philbrick Poetry Award, finalist for the James Jones First Novel Fellowship, and, most recently, semifinalist for the 2008 Parthenon Prize for Fiction. She’s recently been nominated for the anthology “Best New Poets 2009.” Her poems have been published widely in literary journals and anthologies here and abroad.

Mike Nelson is a poet, father, former Asian woman, and heckle-fodder for most of us poetry jerks every time he so engagingly embraces the stage. He is the author of two books of poetry, "The One in the Middle" and "Sometimes at Night", which is alternatively known as "The One with the Kitty", which foreshadows a potential future omnibus collection of his greatest works, called "The One in the Middle of a Kitty". Some say he enjoys wearing the color brown. Other say he is forced to wear muted tones, lest he capture all attention of every room he enters. He likes hugs and huevos rancheros.

June 8th Stone Pigeon!

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Next show's coming on on Monday, June 8th at Breaking New Grounds, Portsmouth from 7-9 PM. And have we got a little something-something for you! For the first time in Pigeon history, our features are husband and wife. D'awwww!

They're some darn fine poets individually, as well.

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Adam Shlager works as a slightly distracted consultant for the healthcare industry. He writes most of his poetry on his 2+ hour daily commute and wrangles with words and meaning in the City Hall Poets Workshop. He is currently collecting creative and enthusiastic personal rejections from some of the finest poetry journals in the country. When not writing poetry or advising someone about the current or future state of healthcare, Adam spends time with his daughter and wife, who are teaching him how to enjoy life and laugh. He can't wait to see what happens next.

Lesley Kimball burst onto the Seacoast Poetry scene with the Borderlands collaborative interactive poetry sculpture in 2004 after hundreds of years of toiling and rolling around in words and stories and research as a librarian. She has had poems appear in The Café Review, the anthologies The Other Side of Sorrow and The Longest Day, and the Spotlight Magazine. Lesley lives and writes in Portsmouth with her husband-poet Adam and their pixie-daughter Amalia.

Great show with technical difficulties

This to be followed by the sound of a thousand hearts breaking: I had a technical problem with my digital camcorder, so it looks like there will probably be no videos of the outstanding performances of Redbeard Bullrider and Lindsey Coombs. I know, I know. I'm working on fixing the thing now and making some progress, but for now I'll assume the worst. I may have gotten one of two poems recorded before it froze, so we'll see.

As a way of making amends for this horrible injustice, I'm including a bonus picture of tonight's white elephant prize, a pink flamingo hat donated by Andrew Periale, and the winner of said prize... Cara "Rollergirl" Losier. Enjoy!

May 11th Stone Pigeon

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Another month, another show featuring two great poets! Check it out!

Redbeard Bullrider is the outgoing persona belonging to a preferably anonymous and reclusive New England farmer. He fills his days with happiness by unloading his negative emotions onto paper and into song. His hobbies include poetry, art, history, socioeconomics, philosophy, political satire, and lexicography. Most all of the attributes you have just read are composed from his reddish-brown armchair, and head.

Originally a Connecticut girl, in 1999 Lindsey Coombs landed (after a circuitous journey and 25 years in New Jersey) in Delaware, where she was rescued from oblivion by discovering a crazy talented world of amazing poets plus a whole new world of Slam poetry. Thus began her poetry love affair that includes “Between You & Me” and “In Certain Places,” spoken word programs she performs at Senior Residences. Lindsey loves painting portraits of people's pets, her cat, living in Deerfield and a friend’s horse named Ignatz as well as her husband and 3 sons and one daughter-in-law who live too far away. She has shared her enthusiasm for poetry with kids, cashiers, auto mechanics and anyone willing to listen!

April 13th Stone Piegon

On Monday, April 13th at Breaking New Grounds, Portsmouth, from 7 to 9pm, we've got another great show with two more great poets!

Ryk McIntyre is a three-time National Poetry Slam Team member, as well as co-host at the Cantab Poetry Reading. He has toured nationally and in Canada, opening for acts as varied as Leon Redbone, Andrei Codrescu and Jim Carroll. He has performed his work at Boston's ICA, New York's New School and Lollapalooza 1994. He has been published in "Short-Fuse - An Anthology of New Fusion Poets", "100 Poets Against the New World Order", "Nth Magazine" and "The Worcester Review"

Adam Barone makes his living at the keyboard, by writing headlines and copy that motivate people to buy stuff. He was a finalist for the 2008 New Hampshire Slam Team, and is the bassist for a new rock band called Mary's Ghost. He currently resides in Newmarket, is single, but taken, loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, drinks mostly Redhook ESB and Cranberry juice with no sugar added.

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March 9th Stone Pigeon

On Monday, March 9th at Breaking New Grounds, Portsmouth, from 7 to 9pm, the Manchester invasion continues with two more great poets from our buddies to the West!

Cara Cristina "Rollergirl" Losier is a two-time member of the NH Slam Team. She is a graduate of Plymouth State University and Southern NH University. The author of two chapbooks, "In Any Given Lifetime" and "Constellation Scars", Cara has featured at The Bridge Cafe, Cantab Lounge, Portland's North Star Cafe, Beat Night at The Press Room and the poetry coffee break at Breaking New Grounds as part of the 2008 Jazzmouth Festival.

Charles Xavier Lacerte is an 18-year-old poet out of Manchester NH. He is currently a student planning on pursuing both a military service along with secondary schooling. Due to a demanding schedule of school, 9 school-related clubs and organizations, workout routines, chores, and homework, he often sacrifices sleep in the attempts of reading and writing. Charles has a large family, consisting of his mother, father, step-mother, brother, his sister Katrina (who is quite awesome), a total of 9 aunts/uncles, 7 cousins, 5 grandparents, and 4 great grand-parents. Nothing makes Charles happier than spending times with friends and family. Which leads into him always wanting to make new friends.

You can RSVP to this event on Facebook.

Videos of The Colonel and Mckendy!

For those of you who weren't at The Stone Pigeon this past Monday, and for those of you that were and just want to relive some great performances, check out the six (ohmygodnowaysix!?) videos of Manchester poets and members of the 2008 New Hampshire Slam Team Mark "The Colonel" Palos and Mckendy Fils-Aime.

These videos, as well as many more from multiple venues, can always be found at StonePigeon.com, just click on "video". Videos from The Stone Pigeon at Breaking New Grounds can also be found on our Facebook Group.

February 9th Stone Pigeon

For directions and more info, please RSVP to this event through our Facebook Group!

The Manchester Invasion begins! This month, we're featuring two members of the 2008 New Hampshire Slam Team. Slam Free or Die!

Mckendy Fils-Aime is a poet from Manchester, NH. When he's not causing trouble at his school, Southern New Hampshire University, you can find him at his house, which is located at an undisclosed location. On not so rare occasions, he can also be found at the Slam Free or Die reading in Manchester and the Cantab Lounge reading in Boston (when he can get there).

Likes: Tofu stirfry, Panacea, Sneakers, Vegans, Orange juice, Revolutionaries

Dislikes: Heartburn, Bad rappers, Uggs, Vampires, Coffee, Revolutionaries

Mark Palos (aka The Colonel) is the host of Slam Free or Die @ the Bridge Cafe, an open mic poetry night in his hometown of Manchester, NH. He was the alternate for the 2007 NH Slam Team and a member and coach of the 2008 NH Slam Team. His influences include: Hunter S. Thompson, Chuck Palahniuk, Trent Reznor and Cormac McCarthy. He dreams of some day roaming the wasteland of a post-apocalyptic future in a modified Mustang in any endless search for gasoline.

2009 Calendar Update

The 2009 Stone Pigeon Calendar is almost filled, kids!

February 9 - Mckendy Fils-Aime and Mark Palos
March 9 - Cara Losier and Charles Xavier Lacerte
April 13 - Adam Barone and Ryk McIntyre
May 11 - Lindsey Coombs and Redbeard Bullrider
June 8 - Adam Shlager and Lesley Kimball
July 13 - Mike Nelson and Kim Triedman
August 10 - Gordon Lang and Kalee Burrows
September 14 - Ayanna Gallant and Beau Williams
October 12 - Heidi Therrien and Molly Skerry
November 9 - Ryan McLellan and Unseen the Poet
December 14 - Matt Gallant and Guest

Also, should have three hot new videos up on the site tomorrow! So, ABC... Always Be Checking. StonePigeon.com, that is.

Wow. That was lame, even for me.

Stone Pigeon, the Bird of Tomorrow!

So we've got some new technology for our show. Interactive music and video!

- If you have a particular piece of music you'd like to accompany your reading, we can probably do that for you. Just let me know in advance through here or by email.

- If you have any ideas/requests for "theme music" (it gets played at the start and end of the show), post it here.

- We also now have video capability. If you'd like a video of yourself reading at The Stone Pigeon, or would generally just like to volunteer to let your poem be recorded (I hope to do a couple every month and upload them to the Facebook group page here as well as the main site), you can let me know here, through email, or even at the show.

Feedback in comments here is welcome, and discussion on this and other topics is available at our Facebook Group Page.

January 12th Stone Pigeon

Monday, January 12th at Breaking New Grounds, Portsmouth, from 7 to 9PM... this month, the show features a Tribute to Gary Widger:

Gary Widger was a great poet of the Seacoast scene, and founded the Stone Pigeon Poetry series with Tanya Gold in 2005 and, unfortunately, we lost Gary in the summer of 2008.

Matt Gallant of Sargent Press has put together a chapbook in tribute to Gary, and we've invited several contributors to the project to read their work and maybe share a story or two about Gary.

Scheduled to appear are: Matt Gallant, Lesley Kimball, Mark Decarteret, Jennifer Belkus, Mike Nelson, John-Michael Albert, Tammi Truax, Maren Tirabassi and maybe more...

Please come join us for this long overdue tribute to our friend, Gary Widger.

You can RSVP to this event via our Facebook Group.

File Under Holy Crap

The new amp came. The arrival date was listed between the 5th and the 12th, with the show on the 8th... but today's the 4th... well, you can do the math. I've tested it and it seems to work no problem. Even hooked up the Zune to try out the auxiliary function. The first song I played? Well, I'll likely play it at the show, so it's a surprise. You'll have to come to find out.

2009 Calendar

Announced on the Facebook Group just moments ago (as was this test site, so the only way you're here right now is if you're on Facebook... so it's still an exclusive!), the 2009 Stone Pigeon Calendar!

January 12 - Gary Widger Tribute
February 9 - Mckendy Fils-Aime and Mark Palos
March 9 - Cara Losier and Guest
April 13 - Adam Barone and Guest
May 11 - Lindsey Coombs and Redbeard Bullrider
June 8 - Adam Shlager and Lesley Kimball
July 13 - Mike Nelson and Kim Triedman
August 10 - Gordon Lang and Kalee Burrows
September 14 - Ayanna Gallant and Beau Williams
October 12 - Heidi Therrien and Molly Skerry
November 9 - Ryan McLellan and Unseen the Poet
December 14 - Matt Gallant and Guest

Subject to change. All spots labeled "Guest" are currently in negotiations and TBA.