HART ROCK Poetry Series and Open Mic will present a reading and Open-Mike on the fourth Friday of each month at 7:00pm unless otherwise announced. The event is FREE and OPEN to the Public - Come Eat Drink, Listen, Enjoy! The series is produced and hosted by Patricia C. Coleman. Patricia is a member of 5 Women Poets and the Bloomington Storytellers Guild and has been presenting, producing and hosting poetry and multi media presentations for more than a decade. Previously this series was the Runcible Spoon Poetry Series, which she hosted for over five years before the move to Rachael's Cafe.

Margaret Squires and Allison Nicole became co-host and producers in January of 2010.

For further information about the series and future readings contact Patricia.

Patricia C. Coleman, is available to help you improve your presentation skills or to host your event . She's been a presenting poet and storyteller for more than a decade performing in coffeehouses, libraries, theaters, on college campuses, in workship services, including an interfaith service with the Dahlia Lama as well as presenting on radio.

She is host and producer of Hart Rock Poetry Series and Open-mic and previously hosted and produced the Runcible Spoon Poetry Series for over five years before the programs move to Rachael's Cafe.For more information e-mail Patricia

WINTER OPEN-MIC - Introducing new co-host and producers, Margaret Squires and Alison Nicole!

BEGINNINGS - LOTUS with Nancy Pulley and Jade Sylvan

Nancy Pulley's new chapbook Dream Puzzle was published this spring by Art in the Heartland Publishing. Nancy is a graduate of Indiana Central College-now the University of Indianapolis. A previous chapbook, Tremolo of Light, was the winner of the 2nd Indiana Poetry Chapbook Contest sponsored by the Writer's Center of Indiana. Her poems have appeared in The Flying Island, Arts Indiana Literary Supplement, Passages North, Plainsong, The Sycamore Review, the Humpback Barn Collection and A Linen Weave of Themes, a collection of poetry on tape, as well as other journals and publications. For information, go to www.nancypulley.com.

Writer and performer Jade Sylvan sows new ground in contemporary poetry with The Spark Singer. Incorporating performance, philosophy, sensationalism, tradition, science, religion, and internet meta-culture, Sylvan pulls verse into the future with proven mastery of a vast range of poetic forms. Her evocative images, economical and precise diction, and fresh uncompromising point of view are the driving force behind her extraordinary momentum. Sylvan succeeds in breaking through the current pigeonholes of slam and academic writing. The result is a strikingly new voice.

Sylvan, a self confessed geek, was born of a family of scientists. She spent her adult education studying world religion, esoteric mysticism, the occult, sustainable design, and rock & roll history. After college, she traveled extensively, becoming acquainted with most of the best bars in the Western World and learning how to pour a proper glass of absinthe in both the French and Bohemian styles. She settled in Boston in 2007 and in a short time made a powerful splash in the independent literary community. Her work has been widely published online and she has performed across the country alongside such poetry icons as Regie Gibson and Jack McCarthy.

Spuyten Duyvil is one of New York City's most ambitious independent publishing houses. Recent critically-acclaimed works include Nona Casper's Little Book of Days, Tsipi Keller's Jackpot, and Robert Creeley's Day Book of a Virtual Poet. For more information, contact Spuyten Duyvil at prod.dept@spuytenduyvil.net or 718-398-9067.

Here's what people are saying about Sylvan's poetry:
Jade Sylvan's poems are ornaments to holidays that don't exist yet. Something with candles. Our first instinct is to treat them with extreme care, but not out of fragility, just the understanding that the sacred has occurred. Magic. Too much of the world fit into this small ritual. - Brian Ellis, author of Uncontrolled Experiments in Freedom.

Jade Sylvan transcribes our strangers and familiar scripts to the page without the fear of romanticizing the bottle in the artist's hand, the kid slumming in expensive shoes, the husk of smoke rubbed voices. She then casts them alongside literary and mythological icons, not flinching as she offers the notion that we often do not learn from history. In a time when many writers are attempting to bow down to the reader or listener, Jade's work is unapologetic without being violent or cruel. - James Caroline, author of Neon Hospital
Fine, fine poetry, both in craft and performance. - Ryk McIntyre

The flood of passion that generated these poems saturates every sandbag piled up to hem it in. - Tom Daley, Online School of Poetry

David Keppel is a writer and activist living in Bloomington.

Salih Altoma is a poet and has been a professor of Near Eastern languages and cultures at Indiana University since 1964.

Kadhim Shaaban was born in Bagdad, Iraq. He came to Indiana University in 1965. He is interested in poetry and related issues of metaphoric and rhetorical language.

Patricia C. Coleman is a member of 5 Women Poets and the Bloomington Storytellers Guild. She makes art, practices Reiki and is a peace, wellness and community activist.

Julia Heimer Dadds writes poetry because it tells her to. She loves her 3 boys, husband, parents, maaaarvelous many friends because they are SO deep and wonderful. She's wrapping up a gradual degree in Education and working very part time for Community Justice and Mediation as Development Coordinator because she loves doing these. She's accepting suggestions for the next right things to do….

Bill and Glenda Breeden, members of this community since the mid-80's, have been celebrating Valentines Day together as best friends and lovers for more than forty years. Teenage sweethearts, young parents, middle-aged grandparents, Glenda and Bill believe whole heartedly in the work and play of long term relationships, and hope to laugh, cry, and sing together for another forty years.

Paul Swanson came to Indiana six years ago to work on a farm in Paoli, fell in
love with Bloomington and has been living here since. He works as both
teacher and International Student Coordinator at Harmony School, and
teaches courses including critical thinking, cultural arts, history,
language, and music. Outside of teaching, Paul spends his time playing
guitar and bass, training martial arts, and telling stories. He is
currently on a campaign to convince the world that stories are more than
simple diversions; the stories that we tell about ourselves and the world
are at the heart of our struggle to find meaning out of life.

Women's Words - Women's Voices with Barb Schwegman, Amanda Wrigley and Silja Weber. Join us for a diverse palate of womens voices through poetry, storytelling and more ? in honor of Women's History Month.

Barb Schwegman has lived in Bloomington since 1980. She is a local school teacher wanting to do more writing, and more public reading. Barb mostly writes about family relationships.

Silja Weber - I grew up in Germany and moved to the USA in 2000. I have a 7 year old daughter who continually keeps me on my toes, concerning correct English and everything else. My original job was to have been high school teaching, but coming here, I fell in love with American Sign Language and went back to school to become an interpreter. Language in any shape and guise is fascinating to me. I have used written language as catalyst and therapy since I was 13, but am still wary of calling the end product 'poetry'. Another lifelong companion is music, and I have a keen interest in the environment (including all those diverse humans), natural building, and what is maybe best called creative inconsistency.

Amanda Wrigley writes poetry the way some people keep a journal, compulsively and often daily. Any experience or phrase that fires her imagination goes right to paper, often only as a fragment of thought- and sometimes, later, those fragments become a poem. She works at IU, has completed graduate seminary work, and plans to work on an MFA in poetry starting next year. She breeds and trains horses, loves to garden when she gets the chance, and has a penchant for finding and rescuing stray animals in her spare time.

For OUR Earth - POETS SPEAK - this month join us as we celebrate poetry and honor our earth! Program with Storyteller Brandi Hartman, Musician Alex Voiles from Harmony School, and Poets from South High School: Matthew Bower, Jessica Hewitt, Ariel Walden, Miriam Kerler, Levi Rogers and Miranda Stinson.

Brandi Hartman is a member of the Bloomington Storytellers Guild. Folktales from around the world, especially those featuring "wise women", are a large part of her repertoire. She has often told at "Wintertelling" in the Monroe County Public Library, the Bloomington Senior Center, and been a guest in the Runcible Spoon Poetry Series. This program features the fold tale "How the Oceans Began"

Alex Voiles is a student at Harmony School and will share with us a gift of music.

Matthew Bower is the name that I was given by my mother and father on June 20th of 1990. I am the sibling to my older brother Mark, my older sister Michelle, and my younger brother Michael. We have lived in Bloomington all of our lives, but eventually I plan to see what else is out there and take the opportunity to travel some day. I enjoy spending time outside and just relaxing with some good friends spending the time to the best of our abilities.

Jessica Hewitt is 18 years old and was born and raised in Bloomington, Indiana. She enjoys eating donut sticks and spending mindless hours on her i-pod and computer. She finds poetry to be a release of her inner thoughts. Writing has just recently become a constant in her everyday life, and she hopes it continues to be that way.

Ariel Walden; the name I was given and have always used, a sprite destined for freedom. Bloomington, Indiana; an adventure for the past sixteen years, the magical fairytale land I found when I was just a child. Colorado; the land I will soon call home, deep in the greenery of the mountain. Writing; a natural feeling, the expression I have become accustomed to without second thought. The stars; where my mind may wander and dream to write of the endless beauty around.

Miriam Kerler is a sophomore at Bloomington High School South. I have a very supportive family; my brother, father, and mother all motivate me to achieve all I can and persevere with all that I set out to accomplish, whether this be academic, athletic, or as simple as my love for writing. Nature provides a great deal of inspiration for my writing as I love to spend time in the outdoors, either cycling, running, or simply walking around Bloomington's beautiful campus. I hope to pursue a career in journalism but to also continue writing poetry as a hobby.

Levi Rogers is a senior at Bloomington High School South. If you were trying to describe me in a nutshell, then I guess I would be the average Hoosier boy with some non-conventional characteristics. My father is a cutter at Indiana Limestone; he is also the president of the stone cutters' union, so I get to be around all of the politics and get taught the trade in the process. After commencement, I plan to attend the 2009 IU Groups Program and continue on at IU in the fall semester. Overall, Bloomington is my home; it has given me so many opportunities that just don't come about in other communities.

Miranda Stinson has been writing for six years, and last summer she attended the Iowa Young Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. She writes mainly fiction but lately has been experimenting with poetry and memoir. She is sixteen and a senior at Bloomington High School South. Next year she hopes to pursue a BFA in writing at the University of Evansville.