When: Thursday September 12, 2019, 7:30–8:30pm.
Where: Milkweed building, corner of 39th and (3820) East Lake. Upstairs. Entrance just west of Milkweed (the former Blue Moon coffee house); up the stairs and to the left. Not wheel-chair accessible. Plentiful street parking.
Best to arrive 10-20 minutes early to get coffee and food/dessert from Milkweed, and to be seated by 7:30 so we can begin on time. The venue will easily hold about 35; after that, standing or floor-sitting room only. The early bird gets the seat. Please occupy the close seats first. Be an up-front person.
Original poems and stories read/performed by their creators: Chris Martin, Sharon Chmielarz, Louis Alemayehu, Andrea Johnson
Chris Martin’s fourth book of poetry, Things to Do in Hell, will be published by Coffee House Press in 2020. He recently launched a poetic audio walk, located on the campus of Carleton College, in the form of a free app called Steps of the Sun. He is the recipient of grants from the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Minnesota State Arts Board. He is the co-founder and executive director of Unrestricted Interest, an organization dedicated to helping neurodivergent learners transform their lives though writing. He lives in Minneapolis, where he also teaches at Hamline University and Carleton College.
Sharon Chmielarz’s latest, twelfth, book of poetry is The J Horoscope (2019). Previous books have been finalists for the Independent Book Publishers Award, Midwest Book Awards, National Poetry Series, and the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. Kirkus Review named her The Widow’s House one of the 100 Best Books of 2016. Her work has been published in magazines like The Notre Dame Review, The Iowa Review, Prairie Schooner, The Hudson Review, The North American Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Commonweal, Salmagundi, Margie, The Seneca Review, Louisiana Literature, Ontario Review, CutBank and many others. The Other Mozart, a biography of Nannerl Mozart in poetry, was made into an opera. Her work has been nominated several times for a Pushcart Prize (latest, 2017, 2018, 2019), and featured on American Life in Poetry.
Louis Alemayehu delivers his poems with the musicality of a seasoned jazz singer. He integrates melodies into each piece that complement its unfolding meaning and punctuate the stages of the journey, keeping the listener focused and rapt. His phrasing demonstrates an uncanny precision of timing, aware of the broader flow, floating over the beat and finding cadence exactly where it needs to fall. Alemayehu's voice is sharp, bold and confident but not arrogant in the slightest. He demonstrates wisdom in gentleness and occasional humor as he speaks the daunting truth that we humans have A LOT of work and healing to do, while also giving voice to the love that drives us.
Andrea Johnson was born in Buffalo, New York, learned to talk in Memphis, Tennessee, and went to school in the Twin Cities. She got a BFA degree in piano and a BSN degree in nursing from the University of Minnesota, and years later, a M.Ed. degree from the University of St. Thomas. Along the way, she was an AFS exchange student in Brazil and spent a semester at the University of Oslo studying philosophy. After 40 years working primarily in the field of public health, she retired and began to pursue textile arts. She has always dabbled in writing poetry and since this past winter has taken classes through the East Side Arts Council in St. Paul. She lives in Lake Elmo with her husband, Lowell.
Before and after: Milkweed, downstairs, has coffee, sandwiches, desserts. Merlin’s Rest, a bar/restaurant 3 blocks west, has a full bar, good food, a late hours kitchen, and reserved seating for Midstream attendees.
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