The Poetry Menu

Organism: A Festival of Words & Building all November long!

The month of November will be a month of poetry and building at The Empty Room (13th and Webster Streets, Omaha, in 22 Floors, a new building of apartments and retail space east of Film Streams (located on the building's north, or parking lot, side)).

Where you can see 18 public poetry readings in November, 3 poetry workshops for local schools, music, yoga, art, chairs, power tools, sock puppets, and thousands of poems placed on its walls and made into furniture!

The event closes on November 28th. Who would you like to see read at that event? Go to This Survey to vote for the local poets you want to hear (we can't guarantee we'll get them, but I'll ask!).

Mondays will be Local Wonders nights with a smorgasbord of Nebraska poets.
Tuesdays will have readers from The Backwaters Press as well as new talents.
Wednesdays will be Poetry Slam Nights.
Not to ignore Thursdays-Sundays, they will have some events, too.

Mondays, 7-8:30pm
Local Wonders Nights:

11/2: Todd Robinson, Heidi Hermanson, Jack Hubbell, Prahduct, and Marissa Gill

11/9: Michelle Troxclair, Dave Hufford, God’s Gift, Miles Waggener, and Steven Evans

11/16: Nabraska, Diona Poff, Dominique Garay, and Henry Krusiewicz

11/23: JV Brummels, Sam Stecher, Leo Marks, Devel Crisp, and Neil Harrison

Tuesdays, 7-8:30pm
Backwaters Nights with The Backwaters Press:

11/3: Rex Walton, Michael Skau and Jennifer Lambert

11/10: Greg Kosmicki, Lorraine Duggin, Liz Kay, and Michael Catherwood

11/17: Marjorie Saiser, Shelly Clark, Molly O’Dell, and Cat Dixon

11/24: Clif Mason, Mel Krutz, Carrie Helmberger, and Gary Dop

Wednesdays, 7-8:30pm
Poetry Slam Nights:

11/4: (7-10pm tonight) Shout! Group Poems w/ Katie F-S and Sara Lihz Dobel, Andrew Ek, Marissa Gill, Jarvis, Pat McEvoy, Zedeka, Sam Stecher, and music by the KoreyAnderson Trio and Little Black Stereo

11/11: Haiku Slam and the Lincoln Poetry Slam team, run by Bad Andy

11/18: Sock Puppet Slam and Omaha Poetry Slam team

Other events:

11/1: 3-5pm, Day of the Dead Poets

11/7: 2-3pm, reading by Matt Mason and Sarah McKinstry-Brown

11/12: 7-8:30pm, the 7 Doctors Project reading. The Seven Doctors Project at the University of Nebraska Medical Center is a series of creative writing workshops at UNMC led by local writers who help mentor area physicians and healthcare workers. Among their goals is to work toward publication of poems, stories and essays. Readers tonight include Becky Anderson, Lindsey Baker, Bette Bauer, Andy Jameton, Lydia Kang, Natasha Kessler, Todd Robinson, Rebecca Rotert, Bud Shaw, Phil Smith, and Maureen Tobin.

11/14: 6pm, Yogatry: yoga and poetry: Join Megan Minturn and Katie F-S as they lead this groundbreaking workshop uniting body, mind, and creative energy like never previously attempted (for serious--we even had to invent a word to describe it). Together, we'll explore yoga, poetry, and music to discover inspiration under every inch of our skins. Suggested donation: $20. Register today at emptyroomyogatry@gmail.com!

11/20: 7:30pm, Look Again: Artists and Writers Collaborate. Based on Lincoln's hugely successful "Look Both Ways," Look Again matches an artist with a writer, who will write inspired by the artwork. On Friday, November 20, writers and artists gather in front of the artwork and writers read their pieces. More information: Heidi at prairie.sky@gmail.com.

11/21: 4:30pm Special Edition Local Wonders poetry reading with Felicia, Bruce Koborg, Deirdre Evans, Kassandra Montag and Lauren Goldstein.

11/28: 7-10pm, Closing Ceremonies

All events: suggested donation $2-$10 to help pay artists as well as cover costs. Any extra will go to charities.

You are also invited to bring poems to hang on the walls. The walls start empty on 11/1 and will be papered with poetry by the 28th!

Brought to you by Matt Mason, Peter Cales, Doug Kiser, The Nebraska Writers Collective, The Empty Room, Secret Penguin, and Poetrymenu.com

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Last update: November 17, 2009