Poetry Troupe Partners with BetterArts
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| Line Assembly Poetry Group's tour schedule thus far. |
Line Assembly is a collective of six emerging poets—Adam Atkinson, Lillian-Yvonne Bertram, Zach Harris, Ben Pelhan, Anne Marie Rooney, and S.E. Smith—embarking on an ambitious, unique tour of readings and workshops in summer 2013. The entire tour will be filmed for an upcoming documentary about the group. The poets share an indebtedness to community experiences with poetry in their early childhoods and adolescence—most notably in branch libraries, writing groups, and independent bookstores that hosted readings and fostered grassroots literary activity. These places and programs are close to Line Assembly's hearts—and betterArts will be working with local libraries and other venues to host the group during their visit.
Noel Tague, betterArts' director of outreach and fundraising, worked with members of Line Assembly to create a partnership between arts organizations. BetterArts will sponsor the poetry group's stay at Better Farm, and will coordinate with local libraries, Better Farm, and media outlets to get the word out for the upcoming workshops.
Here's the schedule:
6-8 p.m. Monday, July 1: All-Ages Open Mic at the Lyric Coffee House and Bistro, Clayton. Bring your poems to share!
10 a.m.-12 p.m. Tuesday, July 2: Word Play (A Poetry Workshop for Kids) at Macsherry Library in Alexandria Bay.
7-9 p.m. Tuesday, July 2: All-Ages Open Mic at Better Farm in Redwood.
In addition to these events, Line Assembly will be participating in impromptu flash-poetry sessions on the streets of Alexandria Bay. Those guerilla performances have been coined "People Against Poetry", an interactive performance pioneered by Adam Atkinson and S.E. Smith in which (unsuspecting) participants often find themselves advocating passionately for the importance of keeping poetry and literary arts programs in public schools. This entire adventure will be documented on camera by Ben Pelhan (an experienced filmmaker in addition to being a poet) along with secondary camera operator, and will be produced as a documentary capturing the ways and places in which poetry is very much alive in these United States.
