“A Night Without Borders”: Modern Israeli Poetry And Music With Yael Stolarsky & Richard Schwartz

Palestinian rapper Muhammad Mughrabi

and Israeli poet Adi Keissar, live, October

Mekudeshet festival, Jerusalem

This Tuesday's featured speakers at Curley's will jointly present material as part of  their engagement in the current Israeli literary and performance scene and its role in healing the near two-generational wounds between Palestine and Israel via joyous cultural interchange of Kulna/Kulantu (Arabic and Hebrew, respectively,  for “all of us”), rather than through the strident dogmatism of politics. 

Since last year, Yael Stolarsky has been working at the Jewish Community Center in Stamford as an emissary of Israel who brings a version of her land and people not usually found in the public media. A former intelligence research officer serving with the IDF for three and a half years, Yael worked as a counselor in a Jewish day camp in Philadelphia and in Nyack, New York. 

She is also active as an Israeli Poetry and Songs presenter with Richard Schwartz at the Jewish Historical Society of Fairfield.

Richard earned his Master's Degree from Columbia University, specializing in 17th Century English Literature (he elaborates on his particular fondness for this period here) and wrote his thesis on John Milton; Richard also received a J.D. in California.

Israeli & Palestinian peace marchers  

A photographer and poet, Richard’s love of the written word and instruction was first instilled in him by his mother, Helen, who taught classes in the Psalms at the local synagogue in Mt. Vernon. He carries on his mother’s zeal for creative guidance through an eponymous Connecticut- and New York-based consultancy, delivering logistical support to client artistic, publishing and photographic projects; presently, he is designing a liberal arts curriculum to be included in pre-medical studies. His blog, “Tell It Like It Is”, covers his passion for poetry, culture, mentoring and other topics (click here to listen to one of his readings).

The Returning And The Cherished

Opening with Kaaren Whitney reading tomorrow evening at 7:15 at Barnes & Noble's Open Mic program in the Stamford Town Center, this week features two consecutive events recognizing seasonal and foundational members of the local poetry community.

Following on two prior autumnal appearances to the area (click here and here), Kaaren, a UK resident originally from  Connecticut, practices homeopathy and is active in the English contemporary universalist community. She will be reading selections from The Turning Of the Year: A Book for 8 Seasons (Solstice-Equinox Press, 2016), a chapbook collaboration with Jim Nind of forty-four new pieces, accompanied by full-color photographs.

Among her credits as part of a body of work honoring the natural world, the environment and the urgency of our better stewardship of it, Kaaren has contributed to  Voicing Visions, a 2009 DVD/booklet release featuring assorted artists and poets, England's 2006 National Poetry Anthology and Moonwise Diary (2007 through 2009).

Kaaren has also appeared at the Halesworth Fringe Festival and open mic programs in England, the United States and Australia. Below is her reading from Aldeburgh Beach in UK’s Suffolk County of “The Coming of Light” by the late Mark Strand as part of the 2015 National Poetry Day:

Hosted by Frank Chambers, Barnes & Noble Open Mic meets the second Monday, each month in the cooking section on the main floor of the Stamford bookstore. For more information and directions, contact:

Barnes & Noble
100 Greyrock Place, Suite H009
Stamford, Ct 06901

203-323-1248

A retired professor of literature and peace activist at Nassau Community College, Ralph Nazareth has generously extended his academic chops as moderator/facilitator and creative nurturer to PoemAlley's eclectic assortment of poets and other artists for well over ten years, now, consistently introducing members to new expressive perspectives spanning art, foreign affairs, family, travel, illness and other topics through his energetic organizing of special public readings and frequent appearances of guest readers and performers at Curley's Diner.

In appreciation, the Tuesdays At Curley's group has decided to return the favor by asking Ralph to be this week's featured poet, reading work from his new collection Between Us The Long Road (Owlfeather Collective, 2017).

Ralph is managing editor of of Stamford-based Yuganta Press and president of Grace Works International, a charitable foundation involved in outreach in the developing world (proceeds from the sales of Between Us will be donated to GWI). Ralph has participated in poetry festivals in India, the Middle East, and in Latin America and has placed work in numerous books and magazines both in the United States and abroad, including Indivisible: An Anthology of Contemporary South Asian American Poetry (University of Arkansas Press, 2010) and Multilingual Anthology: The Americas Poetry Festival of New York 2014. His collection Glass: Selected Poems, was published by El Quirófano Ediciones in Ecuador in 2015.

He uses the title poem from the latter to examine the multi-layered role of metaphor in this clip from a 2009 discussion for the Bent Pin (http://BentPin.net):

All are welcome to hear this patient, inquisitive and dedicated advocate for the importance of engaging in, and being engaged by,  the written and spoken word in upholding the human in human affairs.