Friday, June 21, 2013

Coming Up June 24, 2013

A perfect evening!  Weather was ideal- just a  light breeze- and the Readers were even better!


Ron Baumback started off with passages from his memoir of growing up here on Long Island, which brought knowing nods from the crowd; Jared Harel, a rising star, treated us with powerful, evocative poetry; Tom Phelan brought the crowd to frequent laughter with scenes from his Ireland-based novel; and the ever-delightful Barbara Reiher-Meyers closed out the evening with poetry emotional and funny.
And look what we have in store for you this week!
Coming up this Monday, June 24th, we feature:

Jane Ormerod

 
 
 
Jane Ormerod is the author of the poetry collections, Welcome to the Museum of Cattle (Three Rooms Press, 2012), Recreational Vehicles on Fire (Three Rooms Press, 2009),and 11 Films (EXOT/Modern Metrics, 2008),and the spoken word CD Nashville Invades Manhattan.  Her work is widely published in anthologies and journals including AND/OR, Have a NYC, Maintenant, Sparring with Beatnik Ghosts, Ambush, and the Hydrogen Jukebox compilation CD Brain Ampin'.  She is a founding editor of the innovative small press, great weather for MEDIA.
Born on the south coast of England, Jane now lives in New York City and performs extensively across the United States and beyond-Los Angeles to Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, Nashville, Salt Lake City, Canada, Britain, Ireland, and The Netherlands to name just a few places. In 2011 she performed at the major John Cage retrospective at The De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea (UK).  

 "One of the most imaginative, persistent poetry visionaries... (Jane's) signature style is beyond belief-moving lightspeed with an astoundingly unique beat and the ability to communicate with complete command of language," - Daniel Yaryan, producer of the San Francisco poetry series Sparring With Beatnik Ghosts.
www.janeormerod.com


Narges Rothermel

 
 

Narges, Russian and Turkish descend, 
was born in Khoy-Iran. She came to Summit, New Jersey in September of 1969 as an Exchange Visiting Nurse. After completing the two-year program,
decided to stay and make this country her home.
She received her RN diploma in New Jersey.
Later, she chose to become a Critical Care Nurse
and worked as a Critical Care Nurse for thirty years.
                                    ***
Growing up in Persia, she had the privilege of being introduced to poems of Hafiz, Saadi, Omar Khayam, Rumi, and others. She has been writing poetry in Farsi since seventh grade. When she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1978, she decided to write her poems in English so her children could read them and know her through her poems in case she didn't survive.
She is a 34-year Breast Cancer Survivor. 
                                    ***
Her first poem, "My Left Breast," was published
in Serenity at Daybreak byInternational Library Of Poetry in 1999.
Since then six more poems were published
in different anthologies by the same publisher.
Her poem, "The Holiest Blessings," was published
in Songs of  Seasoned Women.
Her poems are published in many anthologies in Long Island, New York: Songs of Seasoned Women, Toward Forgiveness, Bards Annuals, Whispers and Shouts, and Soul Fountain. First prize winner of Haiku from PPA and first prize winner of Princess Ronkonkoma production. 
Her first book of poems, Wild Flowers, was published in June of 2010 and her second book, Rays and Shadows in October of 2012.

 
George Guida

 
 

George Guida is a native of Lynbrook and the author of five books, including The Pope Stories and Other Tales of Troubled Times, and three collections of poems* Friars Club Conscience, New York and Other Lovers,
and Low Italian. His work appears in many journals and anthologies, including Harpur Palate, Inkwell, Barrow Street, The Paterson Literary Review, Literature and Gender, and Rabbit Ears: An Anthology of T. V. Poems . He teaches English and creative writing at New York City College of Technology, and serves as Poetry Editor of 2 Bridges Review.

 
Ron Ross

 

Ron's latest work, a short story collection titled "TALES FROM THE SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK", joins his five previous books, "THE TOMATO CAN", "BUMMY DAVIS VS. MURDER, INC.", "NINE...TEN...AND OUT! THE TWO WORLDS OF EMILE GRIFFITH" and two children's books, "McGURK AND ME" and "WILLIE THE QUIET TURTLE." Ron was also a consultant and appeared in the feature length documentary "RING OF FIRE; THE EMILE GRIFFITH STORY", based on his book.
A former boxer, manager and promoter, besides being a full-time author, Ron is also a sportswriter covering fights around the country. He earned his B.A., majoring in English, at Brooklyn College and then studied for his Masters Degree at New York University after a two year hitch in the army. He and his wife Susan are long-time Oceanside residents

            Ron was inducted into the L.I. Jewish Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Florida Boxing Hall of Fame in 2012.

Harriet Slaughter

 
 

Since her retirement from the Broadway League as Director of Labor Relations , she has been pursuing her creative journey through painting and writing poetry.
This past year she curated  an photographic exhibition on behalf of the League of Professional Theatre Women,  Celebrating Our Legacy for the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts  at Lincoln Center.  She also produced an  Oral History  on the role of women in management and press agentry for the Theatre on Film and Tape Collection for the Library.   She was pleased to host a tribute to composer Alan Menken on behalf of Encompass New Opera Theatre Company and will be performing the same duties this fall to honor the 90th  birthday of  America's legendary lyricist, Sheldon Harnick.   This past fall she produced  and participated in an evening of women's poetry, WOMEN'S WORDS at New York's  Cherry Lane Theatre.
As a member of the Poets of Nassau, she participates as a featured reader of her poetry in venues in Long Island.  Her poetry has appeared in various Long Island poetry collections , including Shouts and Whispers and  Performance Poets Association's Literary Review.  She has received citations for her poetry from several  poetry publications.   Her goal this year is to compile her writings and her art work for publication.   She is pleased that her paintings have been accepted into several juried exhibitions in New York City and Long Island  in recent months.
She holds a BFA in theatre and dance from the University of Texas and a MFA from New York University in arts administration, and certificates  from MOMA's art program.  She is a student of Long Island painter, Kyle Blumenthal .
 

See you at the Gazebo!!
Many thanks!

Tony Iovino 
tonyiovino@gmail.com

Upcoming Schedule 


7/1/13
Independence Day Celebration

7/8/13
Walter Wagner, Matt Pasca, Terri Muuss,  
Jack Anderson, Doreen Spungin 

7/15/13
Nino Provenzano, Louisa Calio, Florence Gatto,
Marisa Fresca

7/22/13
Jerry Zezima, Vicki Iorio, Gayl Teller,
Richie Woods, Herb Siegel 

7/29/13
Christina Rau, George Wallace, Linda Frank,
Judy Turek, Deborah Hauser  

8/5/13
Wendy Wisner, Ed Stever, Pramila Venkateswaren,
Linda Opyr 

8/12/13
Saralee Rosenberg, Deborah Honorhof, Alix Strauss,
Carol Hoenig, Ellen Meister  

8/19/13
James Arthur, Richard Vetere, Mario Susko,
Bruce Grossberg, Natasha Guruleva 
 

And more to be announced!!!

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Coming Up June 3, 2013

It's Summer!!!! And we're back!

Season 7 promises to be our best yet-- some of the best of our past Readers and a group of "newbies" we expect will continue our tradition (I think after 7 years we can have a tradition!) of excellence.

Sponsorships ($150) and Program Patron ($25) opportunities are still available--just let me know if you are interested.

So come join us on the Green! 

Coming up this Monday, June 3rd, we feature:

Peter Dugan

 
 
Peter V. Dugan was born and raised on Long Island. He is a graduate of The New School in New York City and currently enrolled in the MFA program at Adelphi University. He has published five collections of poetry and has been published in numerous anthologies and magazines over the years. His work has recently appeared in Reckless Writing: The Modernization of Poetry by Emerging Writers of the 21st Century, Chatter House Press 2012 and he co-edited and formatted the Writing Outside The Lines poetry anthology, Wyld Syde Press 2012. He also hosts a reading series at the Oceanside Library on Long Island.

John Brennan

 
 
Comes from Crossmaglen, a small town in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. LIved in Manhattan for twelve years but thankfully managed to escape to the relative sanctuary of Long island just in time to save his sanity!.................. (Or so he thought!)
He has traveled extensively and has visited many of the sacred sites. He incorporates his experiences in both his prose and poetry. John is a member of the Long Island Writers Guild: the Long Island Poets Collective: the Amateur Writers of Long Island: the Performance Poets Association and the Bards Initiative. Some of his writing expresses the spiritual dimension and each piece hopefully contains a lesson coupled with historical facts. He has also written a series of poems dedicated to the musicians who, sadly, are no longer with us.

 
Elizabeth Rowe

 
 
Elizabeth Rowe is a professional storyteller and voiceover artist from Oceanside, NY.  For over 25 years, she's been performing her repertoire of world folk tales, myths, legends, literary short stories and personal tales in schools, libraries, museums, conferences and festivals throughout the metropolitan Tri-State area.  She is widely known for a vast repertoire of ghost stories collected since she was a student.  Elizabeth has been a regular performer for the New York Story Exchange at the Cornelia Street CafĂ© in Greenwich Village since its inception in 1997.  Other featured appearances include the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington, the Players' Club, Manhattan; Wave Hill, NY and LI Cablevision's Tell Me a Story.   She has conducted workshops for parents and teachers with the New York State Reading Association, Nassau BOCES, the Long Island PARP Conference and the Columbia Teachers' College Writers' Project. 
Ms. Rowe is a member of the National Storytelling Network and the Long Island Storytellers Network. You can visit her website at www.Storytellerowe.com.

Barbara Novack


 
Barbara Novack is Writer-in-Residence at Molloy College, where she is also a member of the English Department.  As Writer-in-Residence, she founded and hosts Poetry Events and Author Afternoons, two reading series at Molloy College that bring contemporary poets and writers to a wider audience.


An award-winning writer, her work has appeared in numerous literary journals, magazines, and anthologies. Her most recent full-length poetry collection, Something Like Life (JB Stillwater, 2012) has received a warm welcome. With art as its theme and life as its story, Something Like Life explores the journey we all take in our search for happiness. 

Barbara also presents programs and conducts workshops on poetry, fiction and memoir at various metropolitan area venues. She is a member of The Authors Guild and is listed in the Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers, and in both Who's Who and Who's Who of American Women.  Her website is www.barbaranovack.com.

See you at the Gazebo!!
Many thanks!

Tony Iovino 
tonyiovino@gmail.com

Upcoming Schedule 


6/10/13
Lloyd Abrams, Roxanne Hoffman, Robert Savino,  
Vincent Casale  

6/17/13
Barbara Reiher-Meyers, Ron Baumbach, Jared  
Harel, Tom Phelan

6/24/13
Jane Ormerod, Narges Rothermel, George Guida,
Ron Ross

7/1/13
Independence Day Celebration

7/8/13
Walter Wagner, Matt Pasca, Terri Muuss

7/15/13
Nino Provenzano, Louisa Calio, Florence Gatto, Marisa Fresca

7/22/13
Vincent Maher, Vicki Iorio, Gayl Teller

7/29/13
Christina Rau, George Wallace

8/5/13
Wendy Wisner, Ed Stever, Pramila Venkateswaren

8/12/13
Women Authors of LI

8/19/13
James Arthur, Richard Vetere, Mario Susko        

And more to be announced!!!