A Cornel West stage sharer, a Texas Observer contributor, an author who dropped a hand-made tome that's covered with fur and a Quarterly West winner.
Yeah, that's a pretty kick-butt way for a new-ish poetry series to keep its forward momentum.
At 2 p.m. Saturday, July 2, Public Poetry is kicking off its Summer Series that will feature namedrop-worthy scribes reading and/or performing poetry for approximately 25 minutes each.
The lineup includes Outspoken Bean, who's performed on the same stage as West, Talib Kweli and MC Lyte; Gulf Coast, Texas Observer and Hayden's Ferry Review contributor Radames Ortiz; Book of Wool and Fur author Loueva Smith; and Quarterly West prizewinning scribe in the novella category, Randall Watson. Mark K. Craig, a NASA heavy-hitter, will be in the house to jumpstart the festivities.
Public Poetry, which takes place the first Saturday of each month, is a relatively new endeavor that launched in April with guest reader Mayor Annise Parker. The year-round program partners with several branches of the Houston Public Library, including the Kendall Neighborhood Library and Community Center, which will host the event for the first time.
In case you can't wait that long, Public Poetry will post up on the radio airwaves at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday on KPFT-FM 90.1.
Summer Series continues on August 6 and September 3. The scene for next weekend's shindig is 609 North Eldridge. Admission is free. For more information, check out the Public Poetry website.
