Last night's Loch Raven Review literary extravanganza emceed by Chris George was an amazing success-with 30 + in attendance-a good number for a reading- many glittering personalities in the audience- my abridged and irrelevant, irreverent? take (I will modify and add more once I wake up from my stupor) :
Many PIBster (Poetry in Baltimore) members were present, not just those published in the Review- which is, perhaps, Baltimore's classiest.
Mike North- the Bardmaster-channeling Johnny Cash in attire- raw, corruscating power
Danuta E Kosk-Kosicka- a poem read in Polish? a very dignified and noble presentation- must be descended from Polish nobility...look at that name!
Michael Salcman- serene, Olympian, classicism- most polished- Michael is a show stealer. When you think about it- Mr. S.- dressed all in black- being also a brain surgeon- he just sort of has the GRAVITAS! Mike also gave a shout out to Gregg Wilhelm and the City Lit Project- well deserved. Michael is on their Board. Michael read a poem "Drone", which escaped his more tailored other pieces into a wilder spot- it was a very frightening piece- as he meant it to be.
Alan Reese- most entertaining- with a lit up nose and poetry to match- Alan stole the show; when is he going to get that med mix right?.
Dino Pantazonis from Ohio- quirky, down home, highly accomplished work- appearance by his beloved Kiwi- definitely stole the show.
David Eberhardt- raw, corruscating power; since I am writing this review- let me expand a bit....the scene in Baltimore (which Dan Cuddy and I wrote about in an essay that is in the Loch Raven Review archives)- our scene- has a great mix of the polished and more academic and the uncooked, more beat, rawer poetry. You saw it at this reading....and many of the poets- myself and, take for example, Alan Reese, can write both beatnik style uncooked stuff as well as more academic cooked material. Dino P can write about Sherry's Show Bar and Michael S can write about opera tunes. I think peopole do not necessarily know what these readings represent-(why do I always seem to add an o in people? (it's because i trype too fast impatiently). (trype- i like that) What we have here is the GENIUS OF POETRY!!!!!!!
Caryn Coyle- at once, pathos and sex represented in fiction- i think there was drugs and violence too- very "rock and roll"- "troggish".
Charles Rammelkamp- a hilarious prose excerpt, a product garanteed to make you more youthful- reminded me of David Mamet- a love of words: eg:
"the magnetic elixir.
Yeah,
I like the sound of that.
"The magnetic elixir.”
Al tried saying it a few more times, changing the emphasis from one syllable to the next.
“The mag netic elixir.
The mag net ic elixir.
The magne tic elixir.
We may be onto something. Did this guy Balboa say anything about magnets, do you know?”
“You mean Ponce de Leon?”
“Whatever his name was. Is there anything we can use?”
“Not that I know of. He did give Florida its name, and the Tortugas and some other places.”
“Tortugas,
tortugas,”
Al repeated, to see if he could use the word."
Mike Monroe- a geek that turns into a Hell's Angel poet
Chris George- wonderful poetry about Mum- usual Liverpudlian brilliance; this reading was Chris's idea and Dave E helped with the organizing. Thanks to Neil and Jim of B & N. An added feature- Chris gave a bit of history about Johns Hopkins, who stared down upon us imperiously from a highly placed banner. He also described the Loch Raven Review and introduced fellow editors present.
Dan Cuddy- Dan's usual Carneyan brilliance....bounty from the county.
Julie Fisher- PIB mother dominatrix- her usual warm, quirky wit.
The reading went from 7- 8: 30 at the Barnes and Noble at 33rd and St./ Paul on 12/16. Mark Sanders could not make it- being under the weather. His poster with a sexy black haired Santress much admired.
I have photos if one should wish- and even some movies but you wld have to come over to my house to see- which is fine w me- dave
mozela9@comcast.net
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