by the Civic Media Center
The Civic Media Center will host a night of local and regional artists reading and performing original works of poetry, spoken word, and short prose on Saturday, Oct. 19, beginning at 8 p.m.
The event is organized in honor of the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Center and its long-running weekly open reading, The Thursday Night Poetry Jam. The Poetry Jam is the longest-running open poetry reading in Gainesville, and one of the longest-lived independent, grassroots poetry-oriented event series in the U.S.
The featured artists include current or former participants in, and some former hosts of, the Poetry Jam.
Reader/performers will include well-known Gainesville poet Johnny Rocket, who is the current Poetry Jam host and also co-hosts the Feminist Open Mic at Wild Iris Books; local author and widely published poet Wendy Thornton; internationally-acclaimed poet and author A. Kyle Strohman; poet, performance artist, musician, and host of the Tabernacle of Hedonism Tom Miller; playwright, actor and performance artist Sheila Bishop; Jacksonville poet, author, editor and teacher G.M. Palmer; and Rollins College writing teacher, poet, essayist and long-time small-press publisher Paul W. “Jake” Jacobs.
Other local and regional artists who are current and past regulars at the CMC Poetry Jam will share original works as well. A full roster of reader/performers will be announced.