“My Roots In Sparta, My Branches In Stamford”

In proximity to Stamford’s high-ticket commercial and corporate core, Curley’s Diner remains a resilient testament to real community that has served customers 24-hours-a-day for decades.

As co-owner with her sister Maria, Monday’s featured Barnes & Noble Open Mic poet, Elena Begetis Anastos, opened the doors of Curley’s to sustain PoemAlley and its various functions since its inception with the same combination of firmness and unhesitating generosity with which she serves and assists her customers, earning her the affection nickname, “Big Mama”.

Big Mama, her 2009 poetry collection (Turn of River Press), like all her work, flows prodigiously with first-hand peeks into human behavior and trials, love and nature, all delivered through a special brand of magical expression shaped by her childhood experiences and the mythic tradition of her homeland, Greece. Her poetry has also appeared in assorted magazines in New York and Connecticut, as well as the PoemAlley collections Beyond the Fence, Eating Our Hearts Out and Wednesdays at Curley’s. You can read selections from Big Mama, or order a copy at http://test10.itexvideo.com/.


Hosted by Frank Chambers and PoemAlley's Nick Miele, the Barnes & Noble's Open Mic Poetry program meets the second Monday of each month in the cookbook section on the main floor of the bookstore (located in the Stamford Down Center), beginning at 7:15 p.m.

For more information, contact:

Barnes & Noble

100 Greyrock Place Suite H009

Stamford, CT 06901

203-323-1248