Poems, Poet Laureate Precede Casket Saga at March First Wednesday

And music too. Opening March’s multi-co-sponsored (cf. February 1, et al.) Bloomington Writers Guild’s “First Wednesday Spoken Word” at the downtown Backspace Gallery, singer/guitarist/songwriter Nathan Dillon presented groupings of songs under a general theme of “collaboration” — songs, that is, that he and one of a number of other local songwriters created together — interspersed with descriptions of methods of collaboration and idea creation for songs in general.

Then came first featured reader, poet and live sound effects artist Tony Brewer with longer works, including from two of his published books, PITY FOR SALE and HOT TYPE COLD READ, bracketing a flurry of shorter poems from “Poetry on Demand” tables at various events. Then, following, came multi-award winning and current Indiana Poet Laureate Matthew Graham with poems from his most recent book, THE GEOGRAPHY OF HOME, as well as “a couple of new ones,” ranging in subject from early school “Dick and Jane” reading texts, things (as from his father) that combine to define us, New Orleans and music, and, ending, new poems from various parts of Indiana as part of his being appointed Poet Laureate.

Then intermission, snacks, and seven (of fifteen in person, but with the session also being livestreamed, an unknown number “attending” from home) “open mic” readers, including me just past the middle with Aimée and the Casket Girls — speaking of New Orleans! — in “A Surfeit of Poe,” the second of the five-part “Casket Suite” which began last month, and in which we also meet the poetic Yvonne, the jokester Claudette, and the always glamourous Lo.