Hello, and welcome back! I have — literally — the coolest event to get things started this month. It’s the grand opening of Frisson Soft Serve on Sunday, April 2, from noon-5 p.m., at the Shops at Porter East (717 Porter Road). Author Steve Simpson (aka the Ice Cream Gypsy) will be on site to serve up his latest book called Ice Cream Gypsy . Find more information here . National Poetry Month . Let’s go!
Poetry Readings and Open Mics
The open mic series, Poetry in the Brew Ari Eastman . The event, which never disappoints, is free to attend and fills up quickly.
Michael McRay brings his Tenx9 Nashville Storytelling
DNR Publishing presents A Night of Free Speech
, Matt Johnstone will host two editions of his established Et Al. Poetry programSun -related reading. It will feature poets Alan Felsenthal, Emily Liebowitz , and Meagen Crawford . It is free to attend, BYOB, and will be well worth your time.
The second event, also at Sauvage Galerie on Saturday, April 15, at 3 p.m. will be a very special Et Al. Poetry reading dubbed A Nashville Micro Poetry Festival Nolan, Ciona Rouse, Todd Dills, Joseph Powell, Christina Stoddard, Alysha Irisari Maio, Alric McDermott , and Lagnajita Mukhopadhyay . There will be tables representing Nashville Indie Poetry groups such as Ursus Americanus Press + Landfill Journal, Sobotka Journal, April Gloaming Press + Waxing & Waning Journal, and The Porch Writers’ Collective. This will be epic. Do not miss it.
Scarritt Bennett Center will once again host its monthly Poet’s Corner
Ciona Rouse’s Writings on the Wall Lyrical Brew Facebook
VIDEO
National Poetry Month or not, Southern Word has plenty of events this month, in the region and beyond. Too many to list here, so head on over to its web site for the full April calendar
Cheekwood in Bloom
East Side Storytellin’
I’ll be hosting three East Side Storytellin’ shows in April. Yes, three! The first, East Side Storytellin’ 104 , takes place on Tuesday, April 4, at 7 p.m. at The Post (1701 Fatherland Street) and features Defunct Books founder Gregory Delzer and musician Alexis Stevens . Two weeks later, on April 18, at the same venue and time, East Side Storytellin’ 105 Robyn Leigh Lear and Ally Brown . Both events are free and BYOB. The bonus third show will be an East Side Storytellin’ special event in partnership with Cheekwood in Bloom on Saturday, April 8. It joins several other literary-themed events that day. At 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m., East Side Storytellin’ alumnus Jamina Jackson , author of Herman’s Journey ,Children’s Storytime at Sigourney Cheek Literary Garden At 11:30 a.m. the East Side Story Storytime Trail begins with authors Anne Armstrong, Kimberly Dana, and Mark North leading young readers from the Howe Garden Cottage (11:30 a.m.), the the Treehouse (11:45) and finally at Trains! (12:00 noon). At 12:30 p.m., at the Frist Learning Center Courtyard, a more formal East Side Storytellin’ takes place with Zen Pig author Mark Brown and children’s music performer Bill Crosby. The Parnassus Bookmobile will also be on site from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. n Parking Lot B. This will be epic and not to be missed for kids of all ages. Learn more on the Cheekwood Estate & Gardens calendar.
Speaking of Parnassus, the Green Hills bookstore has dozen of author events each month, in the store and around town. This month’s calendar includes Jenna von Oy, Phillis Gobbell, Laini Taylor, Estelle Laure , and more Parnassusbooks.net John Oates (author of Change of Seasons: A Memoi r). On April 12, at 6:15 p.m., at the Library, its respected journalist Lesley Stahl (author of Becoming Grandma: The Joys and Science of the New Grandparenting ). Advance tickets available here
Local great Bill Brown will hosts two special workshops this month with the Porch Writers Collective. On Saturday, April 1, from 2-5 p.m., at Refinery Nashville (438 Houston Street, Suite 263), it’s Writing from Art & Photography. On Saturday, April 29, from 2-5 p.m., also at Refinery Nashville, it’s Scars, Gifts and Journeys Also this month from The Porch: On Saturday, April 22, from 9 a.m.-noon at MTSU’s Sam Ingram Building, Tiana Clark will lead the MTSU Writes program, The Intersection Between the Sacred and the Sexual: Writing Poem . On Sunday, April 23 from 2-5 p.m., at Refinery Nashville, visiting poet and Oxford American magazine senior editor, Rebecca Gayle Howell , will be reading her work and leading a cross-genre workshop called We All Write Sentences . Full details on these workshops and more on the Porch’s web site
Poets, Playwrights, and Players at The Family Wash (626 Main Street), will return on Friday evening, April 28. This event will feature Greg Greene, Jas Taylor, award-winning poet Destiny Birdsong , poet and preacher Larry Polo Radford , stand-up comedian and writer Laurie Hoffma and WMOT Program Director Jessie Scott , all backed by Ted Drozdowski’s Scissormen .
I’ll be back after the pollen strikes and I blow the candles from my ice cream birthday cake. Until then, I hope you have a great month ahead. Remember to be nice to one another out there.
Salud,
Chuck
EastSideStoryTN.com
Ed. Note. Beard on Books is survey of events. For a comprehensive list of upcoming literary events, be sure to check the Arts > Literary section at NowPlayingNashville.com
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[…] Beard on Books | April 2017 Nashville Literary Happenings (NowPlayingNashville.com) Each month, East Side Story proprietor Chuck Beard offers up a survey of Nashville literary events he’s looking forward to, including A Nashville Micro Poetry Festival, East Side Storytellin’, Salon@615 and more. […]
[…] Beard on Books | April 2017 Nashville Literary Happenings (NowPlayingNashville.com) Each month, East Side Story proprietor Chuck Beard offers up a survey of Nashville literary events he’s looking forward to, including A Nashville Micro Poetry Festival, East Side Storytellin’, Salon@615 and more. […]
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