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

Artist Interviews: Best of 2012 (Part III)

Garrison by Brian Barber

It's been another great year here just north of Lake Woebegone. There are too many stories to tell, but I've tried to do my part and pass along some of them here. I get asked all the time how I have time to blog every day, and I reply that for thirty years I wrote in a journal every day before heading off to work. I transferred my hour for that to this. I'm not entirely sure what my all my motivations are, but it's been an interesting run. My initial interest was simply my innate curiosity.

Thank you again to everyone who shared a bit of themselves here in 2012. I've enjoyed it and so have many readers.


A Few Minutes with Artist Eric Dubnicka

A Few Minutes with Wisconsin Artist Patricia Lenz

Eight Minutes with PRØVE Collective’s Kathleen Roberts, Founder of PRØOF Magazine

Patricia Lenz, Runway Gulls

Ten Minutes with Illustrator/Animator Brian Barber

Ten Minutes with Jessica Liszewski, Artist and Gallery Owner

Five Minutes with Dublin Artist John Nolan

Exloring HyperLightness ad absurdum with Portuguese Artist Margarida Sardinha

Dialogue with Margarida Sardinha on HyperLightness ad absurdum, Part II

Dialogue with Margarida Sardinha on HyperLightness ad absurdum, Part III

Five Minutes with Artist  Lisa Eddington

Six Minutes With Rock Art Magician Peter Juhl

Eight Minutes With Artist Ernest Gillman

Tate Rich Talks About Ceramics and Community Art

Bones and Steel: Six Minutes with Sculptor Sam Spiczka

Don't Miss Master MEME Daniel Hansen Tonight at the PRØVE 

The Striking Imagery of Unda Arte

It's been a privilege getting to know so many really fascinating people. May each and all of you have a fulfilling 2013. Maybe we'll meet again at the end of the rainbow. Happiest New Year to you.

Eight Minutes with PRØVE Collective’s Kathleen Roberts, Founder of PRØOF Magazine

Kathleen Roberts is the newest addition to Duluth's PRØVE Gallery and Artist Collective, now springing into second year. She is also the first writer and female, bringing a new sensibility and vitality to this creative team.

EN: How did you come to get involved in the PRØVE Collective?
Kathleen Roberts: I had been in Duluth for over a year when I moved away briefly to finish my studies in Classics at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. When I came back, I met Steven Read through happenstance. He was looking for a replacement member, since he would soon be leaving for graduate school in Pennsylvania, and I was looking for a way to get involved in the arts. After a brief internship, I was brought on board as a full member.

EN: Where did you grow up and how did you end up in Duluth?

KR: I grew up in Cranston, Rhode Island, the town with the greatest concentration of blue eye-shadow and dropped R's in the nation. I first moved to Minnesota for college, and eventually came to Duluth to work for the Minnesota Conservation Corps, an Americorps program that works for environmental conservation. My contract with them ended in 2010, but I was hooked on Duluth, and I've been here ever since.

EN: What attracted you to the arts? 
KR: I have been writing for as long as I can remember. I love all forms of art, but my truest love is literature. When I came to Prøve, it was with the intention of giving written and spoken word a place in this already eclectic space. So far, I have done so by organizing a storytelling event featuring Rachel Nelson, Jean Sramek, and Bob Monahan and by founding our magazine, PRØOF, whose second issue will be out in January.

EN: What is your take on the Twin Ports arts scene? 
KR: My God, the Twin Ports art scene is blowing up! I feel incredibly fortunate to have bumbled into the middle of a really exciting time in Duluth and Superior. It seems like every month I see new venues, shops, and ventures popping up. This coming May will be 'arts month', and I am so excited to see this new tradition beginning. When you throw a brand-new, independent record label (Chaperone) into the mix, I think that 2012 has been a year of serious and permanent growth for the arts scene here.

EN: What have you learned thus far from running a gallery? 
KR: Running a gallery could be compared to, I don't know, wrangling a rabid zombie cat herd. It's a really tough job, and communication is vital, but often challenging. That said, nothing is more satisfying than watching a show go up, as work is delivered and comes together to create a cohesive space. After weeks of working on an exhibit, there's nothing better than finally standing back, pouring a glass of wine, and watching the community come together to enjoy art.

EN: What prompted you to start the PRØOF magazine? What is you aim with this eZine?

KR: When I first joined, I had no ambitions of starting a publication. I wanted to begin to incorporate literary events into the gallery's schedule, but the idea of creating a magazine had not crossed my mind. Shortly before he left, Steven brought up the idea and told me that he thought I was the one for the job. I was overwhelmed, and still am sometimes, but I am so glad that we just went for it. The first issue was almost 40 pages long, filled with art and writing, some of it from nationally acclaimed artists. As far as my goals, I am hoping to continue to have a varied and interesting group of contributors making it great. I am also entering the process of signing on advertisers so that we can put it into a limited print run. I'd love local businesses and artists to be able to pick up a copy of PRØOF.

EN: Do you make art as well, and if so, what kind? 
KR: I have been writing poetry for about ten years now. I have not been widely published, but hey, I'm workin' on it, and this past year I won a fairly significant literary prize, which was exciting in that it was my first time being financially compensated for creating art.

EN: Who have been your biggest influences thus far in your life? 
KR: Other than my mother, father, and brother, who are all great inspirations to me, most of my major influences have been terrifyingly rowdy and/or weird people. As a teenager, I idolized Jack Kerouac and basically aspired to be a journeyman drunk. Fortunately, that career kind of fell through. At this point, I would say that my greatest modern literary influences are probably Bukowski, Faulkner, e.e. cummings, and Toni Morrison. I also love ancient writers, since they are not as bashful about philosophizing or making dirty jokes; my favorites are Lucretius, Ovid, and Cicero.

EdNote: Stay current with what's happening at the PRØVE by bookmarking their website provegallery.com.