Fermenting Twin Ports Poetry Scene Produced Exquisite Moments in 2013

The first section of this blog post appeared in The Reader as part of a 2013 Arts Year in Review feature. The second half was gracious submitted by Kathleen Roberts of the PROVE Gallery, Duluth.

"Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance." -Carl Sandburg

Opportunities to hear live poetry in the Twin Ports seem as pervasive as good views of the lake from Skyline Drive these days. This comes as no surprise to those following this subset of literary arts as a number of nationally recognized names have connections here, including Barton Sutter, Louis Jenkins, Jim Northrup and internationally honored lyricist/bard Bob Dylan.

Even a casual observer can see that the poetry scene here has become increasingly integrated with the avant garde arts scene. 2013 gave ample opportunities to experience this first hand. For example, Adeline’s Salon hosted a poetry event in July with four featured poets followed by an “open mic” involving other poets present. Pineapple Arts on 1st Street drew a large crowd of all ages to a poetry event in June. Double Dutch, the relatively short lived business at the intersection of Lake and Superior, hosted several art and poetry events in conjunction with the Second Friday art crawls. Poets Lewis Mundt and Bob Monohan were among those who gave readings there.

Dylan Days this year incorporated an afternoon to poetry featuring many of our more familiar local names sharing poetry inspired by Bob Dylan’s music and poetry. Former Duluth poet laureate Sheila Packa served as moderator of the event that took place in the Zeitgeist Atrium.

Twin Cities poets have also found a warm welcome from our local literary arts scene which is a-swirl with the energy of youth. Award-winning Minneapolis poet Dobby Gibson shared his work at a well-attended evening at the PRØVE Gallery where several other poetry readings have taken place in conjunction with the art and music of their Second Friday openings. (Special thanks to Kathleen Roberts for championing the poetry action there.) And Sierra DeMulder, 2-time National Poetry Slam champion, gave us a piece of her heart at one of our newest arts venues, The Underground, formerly the Duluth Art Institute Children’s Museum space.

The poetry highlight of 2013 for me personally was veteran poet Al Hunter’s Beautiful Razor: love poems and other lies at Trepanier Hall in March. What made the reading compelling was the accompaniment by a set of guest musicians that included Kathy McTavish, Frank Montana, Michael “Waabi” Furo, Jake Vainio, and Larissa Desrosiers. The eclectic instrumentation – cello, flute, guitars, keyboard – produced a wonderful backdrop of sound that served to amplify the sometimes haunting, sometime melancholic emotion in the readings. It was a night to remember.

Al Hunter shares from Beautiful Razor

2013 MONTH BY MONTH OVERVIEW
Poetry events this year included…
January: Sharkhooks at Double Dutch
February: Bitters art exhibit and poetry reading, featuring Lewis Mundt, Seth Feralin, Kat Mandeville, Amy Lynn, Paris Kelvakis, and Kathleen Roberts
February; Warner Reading Series presented Bob Hicok at Somers Lounge
February: St. David's Day open reading
March: Al Hunter's 'Beautiful Razor' book launch at AICHO
April; Cracked Walnut Reading Series at Prøve Gallery, featuring Ryan Vine, Bob Monahan, Joe Maiolo, Mary Bue, Sheila Packa, Julie Gard, and Tina Higgins
April: Minnesota Book Award Finalists read at Prove, featuring Jim Johnson, Patricia Kirkpatrick, and Dore Kiesselbach (not present: Todd Boss)
May: radio pluto, including spoken word and motion poems from many local artists
May: Prøve Gallery and Duluth Superior Film Fest host Lynette Reini-Grandell w/ Venus DeMars, featuring Kate Harrison and Kathleen Roberts
May: Daylan Days poetry event at the Zeitgeist Atrium
June; Poetry Show at Amazing Grace, featuring Briana Zora, Seth Feralin, Lewis Mundt, and me June, radio pluto opening at Carbon Chroma in Northeast Minneapolis, featuring many local artists and poets
June: Open Mic at Pineapple Arts with featured musical guests Crunchy Bunch
July: Waterworks Poetry Readings at the DAI, featuring Sheila Packa, Liz Minette, and Kathleen Roberts
July; radio pluto film and live readings at Redstar
September; rock (verb) poetry reading at Redstar, featuring Ryan Vine, Kate Harrison, Daniel O (Goody Night), Katelynn Monson, and Tina Higgins, followed by open mic
September: Spirit Lake Poetry Series kickoff party, featuring readings by Ellie Schoenfeld, Connie Wanek, and Sheila Packa September: Poetry Open Mic at Pineapple Arts with musical guests Teach Me Equals
October: radio pluto/loom at Prøve and Gimaaji, featuring live poetry reading and motion poems from local artists
October; Spirit Lake Poetry Series presents Sierra DeMulder at The Underground
October; Open mic and book swap at Beaners, hosted by Tina Higgins
October; 'Dropping into the Flower' book release, featuring Susan Deborah King
November; Duluth All Souls Night, featuring readers Ellie Schoenfeld, Sheila Packa, and Kathleen Roberts
November: Spirit Lake Poetry Series presents Dobby Gibson at Prove November, Lights Off poetry reading at Redstar, featuring Amy Clark, Crystal Gibbins, Rocky Makes Room For Them, and Kathleen Roberts
November: Sharkhooks at Prøve Gallery, with featured guest Peter Pain
November: 2nd annual Coffee and Cigarettes, featuring various local artists, poets, and musicians, at 2104
December: poetry open mic and book swap at Beaners

Al Hunter's Beautiful Razor

I’ve numerous times noted the vibrancy of our local art scene in recent years. Everyone feels it, and enjoys the sense of being part of something significant that is emerging here. This weekend it dawned on me that there is a lively and vital poetry scene developing here as well. We already have a number of nationally recognized poets from our neck of the woods, people like Louis Jenkins and Barton Sutter. Now a whole new crop of emerging poets to join the ranks of veterans like Sheila Packa and Al Hunter.

Saturday night Al Hunter read poems from his newly released third volume of poems titled Beautiful Razor: love poems and other lies. It was an unexpectedly powerful event, held at Trepanier Hall (the American Indian Center.) 

What made the reading compelling was the accompaniment by a set of guest musicians that included Kathy McTavish, Frank Montana, Michael "Waabi" Furo, Jake Vainio and Larissa Desrosiers. The eclectic instrumentation -- cello, flute, guitars, keyboard -- produced a wonderful backdrop of sound that amplified the sometimes haunting, sometimes melancholic emotion in the the readings.

Once the musicians were in their places, Bill Howes took center stage to welcome us. "Tonight there will be emotion, with both pain and pleasure." He noted that this special gathering was hosted by the American Indian Community Housing Organization.

Miss Larissa DesRosier opened the show with a breathy version of "One Light Left In Heaven" before Al Hunter commenced. The size of the audience was impressive, not what one would expect for a poetry reading. But then again, this was no ordinary reading.


Hunter comes in, perches himself center stage, and prepares his material on a music stand. The cello lays a foundation as the lyric flute gives wing, producing a backdrop to the opening lines… leading into the loss of innocence… “to the darkness of mental destitution and dissociation.” The mood created by McTavish’s cello intertwined with the song of the Native flute enables the pulsing words to penetrate more deeply.

The piano joins in...

“We are the same, you but a girl, I but a boy… lost in middle age, may we someday return to our healing… may we be guided… back to our place of souls, back to where we belong.”

“It was my mistake to think that we could return to shores that we once loved… to think that we could light the fire that had grown cold… to think that we could find the flowers that grew in winter… to think that we could return to the miles already gone… “

Hunter's phrasing and word rhythms evoke a sense of mystical incantation. At one point I was reminded of a Jim Morrison recording I'd once heard. Morrison himself had been influenced by Native culture.

Hunter's "In Your Absence" was another especially powerful reminiscence. He introduced the poem with these words: "This one has a kind of pow wow story where you go to a pow wow and you’re looking for someone and it’s Sunday night and they never showed up." The delivery and the mood created by the musicians gave these simple lines a memorable potency.

In your absence they sang the horse song. I could not deny it. I danced it for me and for you.
In your absence they sang the hummingbird song. I could not deny it. I danced it, for me and for you.
In your absence they sang the star song. I could not deny it. I danced it, for me and for you.
In your absence they sang the clan song. I could not deny it. I danced it, for mine and for yours.
In your absence they sang the forever song. I could not deny it. I… I… I… yes, I… yes, I…. yes, I… yes I… yes I…. yes I…. I truly … yes I truly…. Yes I truly… yes I truly… yes I… truly…. Danced alone.
Yes I truly… danced alone. 

Hunter’s delivery carries gravity, emerging from a life lived with grave earnestness. Hunter is a former chief of the Rainy River First Nations. His first books of poetry are titled Spirit Horses and The Recklessness of Love. Both of these and Beautiful Razor can be found at Kegedonce Press.

Photos on this page by Stephan Hoglund courtesy Ivy Vainio.

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