The hangover has been nursed; the Christmas Tree, once again, finds itself dormant in the basement; the last crumbs of your Auntie’s famous fudge have hardened into little, chocolate crystals at the bottom of the decorative tin. Take a big deep breath and slowly let it out. We have finally reached a long stretch of the mundane in the wake of all the Holiday hubbub. While some prefer to hit the ground running with all its loud proverbial bone-breaking, I would highly recommend you finish out the first week of the New Year with quality reflection – and some beer; that’s good, too. The InKY Reading Series [4]is back at The Bard’s Town [5]for 2012 and ready to start things the right way with the right kind of local talent. Join poets Brett Eugene Ralph and Norman “Buzz” Minnick this Friday, January 13th with special musical guests, Kentucky Chrome Revue.
A native of Louisville’s South End, Brett Eugene Ralph and his alternative blend of poetry and punk have been featured in the likes of Conduit, Mudfish, Willow Springs and The American Poetry Review, as well as in the anthologies The McSweeney’s Book of Poets Picking Poets and The Stiffest of the Corpse: An Exquisite Corpse Reader. His first published collection, Black Sabbatical (Sarabande Books), was the 2009 selection for the Linda Bruckheimer Series in Kentucky Literature. Spreading the word wherever the wind takes him, Ralph has taught at a variety of institutions, including the University of Massachusetts, Missouri State University, as well as the Central Institute of Buddhist Studies in the Himalayas of northern India. He is currently professing at Hopkinsville Community College.
Ralph’s co-star for the night is Norman “Buzz” Minnick, a poet and playwright hailing from the Crescent Hill neighborhood. The author of the poetry collection To Taste the Water: Poems, Minnick has also penned several chapbooks collections, including the collaborative with Lawrence Atwood, Two for the Cold; Minnick is also the editor of Between Water and Song: New Poets for the Twenty-First Century. He has not yet written his debut play.
As always, these two gentlemen and their poetic stylings will follow an open-mic and live music. Open-mic sign-ups for eager amateurs begin at 6:30pm, with Ralph and Minnick taking the stage at 8pm. Raise a glass (belated New Year’s champagne optional) to everyone’s favorite poetic pub and set your course for another good year of local literary talent.
The Bard’s Town is located at 1801 Bardstown Road
For more information on the InKY Reading Series visit the Louisville Literary Arts website [6]
Photo: Courtesy of Louisville Literary Arts Website