The stanza is a fickle creature. Standing alone on a page – an innocent column or small, tumbling paragraph – silences the inherent voice of the words. It is stark. It is quiet. And while a lone internalization of a poem has its own merits, the experience of the stanza changes completely when married to the human voice. Spoken words breed intimacy with the writer in a way that a solitary reader may not sense. The poem now has eyes and breath and motivation outside of its meter and couplings; it is now a living organism. Looking for some living words near you? Let it be no surprise that the Highlands has got you covered. Drop by The Bard’s Town tomorrow, Friday, May 11th, for this month’s InKY Reading Series featuring the writers – and partners – Charlotte Pence and Adam Prince.
A regular staple on Louisville’s literary scene, the InKY Reading Series is held on the second Friday of every month and features the talents of local, regional and national writers. Warming up the evening with an open mic, daring amateurs will hit the stage at 7pm before the musical guest of the evening, Doug Van Gundy, adds a little rhythm to the evening’s flow. The star attractions of the evening will take the limelight at 8pm following Van Gundy’s set.
Charlotte Pence, a well awarded mistress of the stanza, is the recipient of numerous accolades including the Discovered Voices award, an Individual Artist Commission from Tennessee, as well as three Pushcart nominations. The author of the recent essay collection, The Poetics of American Song Lyrics, Pence has also freshly published two chapbooks and was awarded the Flying Trout Chapbook prize and the Black Lawrence Press Chapbook prize following the releases. Additional examples of Pence’s poetry have graced the pages of several journals, including North American Review, Prairie Schooner, Denver Quarterly and Kenyon Review Online.
Joining Pence for the evening is fellow writer – and legally-acknowledged better half – Adam Prince. Prince, a well-traveled fictionsmith, was named as one of 2011’s Twenty Best New Writers by Narrative Magazine. With his first short story collection, The Beautiful Wishes of Ugly Men, slated for release this month, Prince has also had his award-winning work featured in the likes of The Missouri Review, The Southern Review and Narrative Magazine. He is currently at work on a novel set against the backdrop of Jakarta, Indonesia.
Ready for some living work (and maybe a beer or two…)? Skip the club, grab a pal and mix up your Friday night with some fresh literary fare. No stanza shall remain stale on the shelf.
The Bard’s Town is located at 1801 Bardstown Road.
Image: Courtesy of Louisville Literary Art’s website www.louisvilleliteraryarts.org
