HART Rock Poetry Series and Open-mic hosts Free-Range Poets, June 24, 2011

Hello Everyone,

Peggy and I are looking forward to our last poetry program of the 2010 - 2011 year this Friday, June 24th at 7:00 pm!

Click Here to Read Information on our website

Friday, June 24th, HART ROCK POETRY SERIES AND OPEN-MIC at RACHAEL'S CAFÉ hosts “FREE-RANGE POETS” Lee James Chapman, Jack King, Judy Lafferty Beerman, Jerry Smith, Suzanne Sturgeon, Bob Taylor, Ian Woollen followed by a Community Open-Mic. The Free-Range Poets are the product of a 2001 idea of Bob’s. Jerry and Ian were friends with whom Bob knew he shared an interest in the craft of poetry. He met Jack through a writing workshop at the John Waldron Art Center in Bloomington. Wouldn’t it be grand, Bob thought, if we could get together and share what we’ve been writing. The invitations were issued, all accepted, and the group was born. It has been meeting ever since. has been meeting ever since. The format has remained the same. A member reads a recent work, the others mull it over, and then there is time for written and oral critiques. So the process goes—around the table until all have had their turn. From the beginning coffee, tea, and cookies have been a necessary part of the ritual. Meetings happen every two weeks or so. Until 2006 we took summers off but now meet year-round. Since the group’s founding, three others have joined the circle. Judy, Lee, and Suzanne were met during poetry classes at the Waldron. There have been some leaves of absence from our circle—getting married, finishing and publishing a novel, spending winters in Florida, occasional unavoidable obligations of earning a living, assorted grand tours, etc.—but none have been permanent. We’re grateful for that. Lee James Chapman wrote his first, terrible, poems at age 15 but spent most of his life energy helping physicists smash atoms at Fermilab. Between quarks he wrote songs and poems and set poems of Emily Dickinson to music. While a member of the Naperville Writer’s Group in Illinois he had several poems published. He set a collection of Bloomington poets’ poems, including some of his own, for voice and piano, and produced a performance of them in Bloomington. He has been a member of the Free-Range Poets since 2005. Jack King is a New Yorker by birth—a Hoosier by choice. He moved to Bloomington with his wife Sylvia and their three children in 1974 to take a position with the now defunct Center for University Ministry at Indiana University. While in town he has practiced—and retired from—at least three distinct careers. Through all three he wrote—lectures, a thesis or two, sermons, résumés, funding proposals, newsletters, etc. Now he writes poetry as a means of self expression, exploration, and spiritual discipline. The third retirement seems to be final. Judy Lafferty Beerman, A native of Kansas, Judy moved to the Bloomington area in the late 1980’s. A retired Interior Designer for Residential Programs and Services, Indiana University, her experiences as a wife and mother and her appreciation of nature and the out-of-doors are strong influences on her poetry. Judy has been a member of the Free Range Poetry Group since 2002. Jerry Smith and wife Betty, having lived in Bloomington for forty years, now call it home. Jerry “wakes to sleep and takes his waking slow.” He’s too old to try a new art form and too young to stop writing. He has 100 favorite poets and 1000 favorite poems. Don’t ask for the list. It’s not compiled and constantly changes. He tries to read 50 poems for each one written but seldom succeeds. Betty is his most helpful critic and daughter Linda and son Paul, his most prized accomplishments (with Betty). He has been writing poetry seriously, though not without humor, since 1996. His poems have been published in several magazines and anthologies. Suzanne Sturgeon lives on a farm in Owen County with her husband, Michael Tracy, and three cats, Lancelot, Murphy, and Bear. Michael and the cats are instrumental in the poetry writing process—from inspiration to revisions. She began writing poetry by taking classes at the John Waldron Art Center, where she met members of the Free-Range Poets. An attorney in private practice in Bloomington, Indiana, her Monday-through-Friday writing consists of motions, wills, and trusts. Bob Taylor, In the 70’s, I wanted to record memories from childhood on a small Iowa farm and thought that poetry could be a way to proceed. Upon taking them to a knowledgeable poet he noted that there was a child in there but probably they were not poems. Haiku and tanka style offered some improvement, along with graduate courses and workshops. As a student and professor of psychology, I find the power of story with dense structure, image, and metaphor useful and healthy for me. Honing skills with this writing group is most gratifying. Ian Woollen, walks his dog in Bryan Park almost every day. Poems have surfaced in Zone 3, Porcupine, and Red Dancefloor. His short stories have appeared in The Massachusetts Review, Onthebus, and The Mid-American Review, from which he received a Sherwood Anderson Prize. His novel, Stakeout on Millennium Drive, won the 2006 'Best Books of Indiana' Fiction Award. Come to share poems, songs and stories of your favorite poets and to listen. Open-mic readers have up to three minutes to share their own or another’s works. ******************************************* Rachael's Café is located at 300 East 3rd Street, Bloomington, IN (812) 330-1882 Send questions to poetry@hartrock.net or bloomingtonpoetry@gmail.com. This event is FREE and open to the public. Food and drinks are available for purchase.

HART ROCK, http://www.hartrock.net , a member of the Indiana Holistic Health Network, http://www.indianaholistichealth.net Hosted and produced by Patricia C. Coleman and Peggy Squires. Readings for the 2010-2011 season are every fourth Friday, September through June. 2011-2012 Poetry Season Join us on September 23rd, 2011 for the Opening Program of our 2011-2012 season! http://www.hartrock.net/poetryrachaels.htm poetry@hartrock.net ALSO: to connect with the BLOOMINGTON WRITERS GUILD contact Patsy Rahn at prahn@worldnet.att.net WRITERS, ARTIST AND STORYTELLERS RESOURCES – http://www.hartrock.net/writersartistresource.htm **********************************