Local poets showcased at Long Branch Poetry Fest

LONG BRANCH — Lovers of the written and spoken word can experience the richness of the community's poetry scene during the third annual Celebrate Long Branch Poetry Festival on Saturday, Dec. 5.

A collaboration of the Long Branch Arts Council, the Long Branch Free Public Library, the Long Branch Historical Association and the city of Long Branch, the festival will begin at noon inside the library at 328 Broadway. At 2 p.m., the festival will continue next door in the auditorium at city hall.

The one-day celebration brings together many aspects of the greater Long Branch area's literary mosaic — from the halls and classrooms of Monmouth University, Brookdale Community College and the city's public schools, to such offbeat locales as SICA, the Brighton Bar and The Inkwell.

The festival kicks off with a program titled "iPoet: An Hour of Young Poets" in the library's community room; and a familyfriendly presentation of works by students of Brookdale, Monmouth, Long Branch High School, Red Bank Regional High School and other local halls of learning.

The best of the next generation of Monmouth County poets will read from their work, with several original "poetry animations" scheduled to be screened. Complimentary refreshments will be served following the presentation.

At city hall, a roster of 18 poets ranges from published professionals and renowned academics to moonlighting musicians and other figures from the region's fast-growing literary underground.

The Monmouth University contingent is represented by associate professor Michael Waters, an editor, translator and author; assistant dean and professor of English Michael Thomas; Mihaela Moscaliuc, award-winning poet; creative writing teacher/poet/playwright Richard Paris; and Dan Weeks, educator, author, historian and avant-jazz musician.

Representing Brookdale is Creative Writing Program founder, author, critic and journalist Laura McCullough, joined by colleagues Michael Broek, Suzanne Parker, Charles Mencel and Nancy Noe.

An eclectic group of creative people will also read from their work, among them award-winning poet, translator and professor Emanuel di Pasquale; Guyana-born performance poet and RBR faculty member Gretna Wilkinson; actress, writer and dancer Lorraine Stone; Carol L. Greene, a poet as well as a biographer of other literary figures; publisher, editor, poet and children's book author Frank Finale; and Frank Valentino, known as the "Poet of the Jersey Shore."

Some new voices on the scene include Middletown-based author and editor John Petrolino, co-founder of a monthly reading series at Red Bank's Dublin House; poet and guitarist Chris McIntyre, well known as coeditor of The Idiom magazine; and singer/rapper/producer/performance poet Rock Wilk. Books and CDs of works by many of the featured artists will be available at the event.

The festival will also include a series of original "poetry animations" by video artist Juan Delcan using poems by Gabor Barabas and Billy Collins and the New York neo-futurists.

There will be two scheduled breaks for complimentary refreshments during the event, and at the conclusion of the readings the festival will invite participating poets to take part in a lively series of panel discussions on the state of modern American poetry and the art form's future in the age of new media and shifting reading habits.

For more information, contact Robyn Ellenbogen, community arts coordinator for the Long Branch Arts Council, at robynellenbogen@ comcast.net; Kate Angelo, of the Long Branch Free Public Library, at kangelo@ lmxac.org; and all other questions can be directed to 732-229-3166.