July 20th: LisaAnn LoBasso Features



Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery at 106 Prospect Street with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On July 20th, Stone Soup will be visited by well-traveled poetLisaAnn LoBasso.

Refusing to characterize her poetic style as either academic or performance, LisaAnn LoBasso considers herself most at home among artists. With over 20 years experience, she has produced countless readings and collaborative arts events, such as the Up Close, Let Loose Traveling Poets’ Reading Series, and Operation Soapbox, while still racking up her own credentials, including Poet Ambassador of Kern County in California, as well as appearances at venues and universities from West Coast to East. LisaAnn’s work has been lauded as both dynamic and boundary-breaking; dubbed a poetry minstrel by Las Vegas City Life Weekly, she has featured with diverse and noteworthy poets, such as Nicholas Roerich Prize winner Lee McCarthy, California Poet Laureate Al Young, and Paterson Award Winner Indran Amirthanayagam.

Twice nominated for California Poet Laureate 2008, she has two poetry books in print: In the Swollen a poetry collection (2003), and Oleander Milkshake, (2008). In her spare time, LisaAnn develops creative writing programs, theatre scripts, arts-education programs, and public arts installations with artists as far as England. She travels worldwide and recently just returned from living in India for three months. LisaAnn has worked closely with Gluck Award winner Frances Mconnel, National Book Award finalist and critically acclaimed author Susan Straight, and Pulitzer Prize nominee Maurya Simon.

Click here for a sample of her work.

July 13h: Dan Provost and Erin Reardon Feature

Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery at 106 Prospect Street with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On July 13th, we welcome a double feature of poets and friends Dan Provost and Erin Reardon.



Dan Provost's poetry has been published throughout the small press for years. He has two chapbooks coming out this summer; The Southside of Agony published by New Polish Beat and a flipbook with the talented Aleathia Drehmer published by Tainted Coffee Press. He lives in Worcester where he is a college administrator at Assumption and an Assistant Football Coach at Millbury High School.



Erin Reardon is a poet. She has been published at Silenced Press, Hecale, the Neo-Lampshadian Outpost, Spoonful Quarterly, Parasitic, Zygote in My Coffee, Words Dance, Beat the Dust, Heroin Love Songs, Epic Rites and Gutter Eloquence Magazine. She has featured twice at Stone Soup, Boston’s Longest Running Poetry Series and has performed several open mics there and at The Cantab and The Lizard Lounge. She currently resides in Somerville, MA where she is often spotted bringing the funk.

July 6th: James O'Brien Features



Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery at 106 Prospect Street with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On July 6, local artist James O'Brien brings his performance piece, "Lizard Link," among other works, to our venue.

n three short decades, James O'Brien has lived lives as a traveling political folk singer, performance poet, journalist, film critic, and fictionist. From festival stages alongside Tanya Donelly, Juliana Hatfield, and Josh Ritter, to the pages of The Boston Globe - where he is currently a regular correspondent on municipal politics, health, wildlife, and the environment - O'Brien's writing spans medium and purpose. His poetry is generally focused on national identity, guilt, responsibility, and the psychology of the American artist and the American mind in the natural and supernatural landscape. He lives in Boston, Massachusetts.

Visit James' blog.

June 22: Karen Szklany Gault Features



Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery at 106 Prospect Street with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On June 22nd, we welcome Karen Gault with her first Stone Soup feature.

Karen Szklany Gault has been writing poetry since she attended Marist College (BA 1986). Her hometown is Hawthorne, New York, with family ties to the historic town of Sleepy Hollow. Her final year at Marist was spent studying at the University College, Galway in Ireland, with a three-week whirlwind tour of the European continent snuck in. From 1986-1988 she called Orange, California home, where she took classes in both the Music and Psychology departments at Chapman University. While studying there, she spent a week of cultural exchange with Mexican Students from the Universidad de la Ciudad de Mexico, partying and speaking with them in their native tongue. In 1996 she graduated from UMass Boston with a M.Ed. in Elementary Education. She co-taught Kindergarten and taught second grade, as well as serving as an historical interpreter at the Paul Revere House (where she met her husband, Edward Gault) and The Boston Tea Party Ship and Museum. She has a passion for the sea and maritime history and looks forward to publishing poetry and prose for the entertainment of young readers. Since 2004, when she delivered her daughter Cosette, she has been inspired to write more poetry and has been reading at Stone Soup, Open Bark, and Tapestry of Voices.

June 15: Paul Bamberger Features

Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery at 106 Prospect Street with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On June 15th, Stone Soup will be starting earlier as we introduce New Hampshire poet Paul Bamberger, who will be reading his longer poem "In This Land" and a selection of others.

Paul Bamberger holds an MFA degree in English from UMass/Amherst and teaches at Northern Essex Community College. He has contributed to Agenda and the North Essex Review. His first book, Eating is to Till the Earth, was published by Shore Publishing in 1972. His most recent book is Down by the River from Islington-bryer Press, which has received praise from Straus & Giroux Publishing founder Jonathan Galassi.

Click here for samples of Paul Bamberger's work.

June 8th: Mignon Ariel King Features



Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery at 106 Prospect Street with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On June 8th, we feature Mignon Ariel King, who will be featuring her first poetry collection courtesy of Ibbetson Street Press.

Mignon Ariel King is a lifelong resident of greater Boston, Massachusetts. She is author of the autobiographical poetry collection THE WOODS HAVE WORDS (Ibbetson Street Press, 2009). Ms. King has been reading at open-mics since 1998. An alumna of Simmons College and a former English instructor, she edits the online journals MoJo! and U.M.Ph.!

Visit King's MoJo.

June 1st: Derek JG Williams Features



Stone Soup Poetry meets from 8-10 p.m. every Monday at the Out of The Blue Art Gallery at 106 Prospect Street with an open mike sign-up at 7:30 p.m. On June 1st, we begin the month featuring young local poet Derek JG Williams, who will be debuting his latest CD.

Derek JG Williams grew up in Connecticut and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in English from the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in the spring of 2004. He has featured at numerous venues around New England and New York. He recently released a full length CD of poetry and music titled A Chorus of Cities, his work bridges the gap between academia and performance. He is 26.

Visit Derek JG Williams' Myspace page.

Stone Soup Tonight

Tonight, May 25th, we conclude our month-long 38th anniversary celebration and feature Walter Howard.

Click the YouTube links below for samples of Walter's work.