CT Beat Poetry Festival!

Photos
I couldn't help using these photos of wild roses. Seemed to go with today's subject somehow.

The 8-day CT Beat Poetry Festival came to an end today. It was a great success with participation by local Connecticut poets and several poets (I didn’t count) from all over the country—CA, WI, NJ, NH, NY, PA, TX, OH, KS (some states had more than one). The idea of the festival was to celebrate the Beat Generation of poets and writers.

Before the festival I knew nothing about the beat poets, but because of the festival I heard their names, listened to their works, researched their biographies on the internet and was amazed. How could I not have heard of these people before now?

Not all the poetry was the works of Beat poets. The features and the open mic poets read their own works as well, trying, for the most part, to be as Beat as they could. And we had music—everything from some saxophone jazz to classical flute.

It was fun. Fun for the Connecticut poetry community and fun for the folks who came from all corners of the country. Chamys Crane from San Francisco, who writes under the name Blue, can’t wait to come back again next year and she wants to bring all her friends. That’s the energy that prevailed during the entire festival. I hope to get to all the venues next year.

The venues were varied including libraries, historic museums, cultural centers, taverns and brew houses. No matter where the events were held they were a resounding success. Each venue introduced us to a different poet, character, energy.

The three people who I know worked very hard to make it all happen are Colin Haskins, Stephanie Elliott and Yvon Cormier. Good job, guys. Let’s do it all over again next year!