TNY Presents November 17: Alberts, Hoover, Matthews, Stoner

When - Thursday, November 17th
Where - ModernFormations, 4919 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh
Time – 8:00 p.m.
Cover - $5 or free w/ contribution to potluck

David V. Matthews was born on Neil Young's 20th birthday. David's writing has appeared in the Pittsburgh City Paper and Unicorn Mountain, and he has given readings at Brillobox and the Andy Warhol Museum. Also, his art has appeared in several Western Pennsylvania galleries, including Garfield Artworks, which held a retrospective of his drawings this June. A documentary about him, directed by Pittsburgh filmmaker Julie Sokolow, is in production. He lives with a couple of orangutans made from coconuts.

Renee Alberts' poetry and visual art have appeared in print, dance performances, live radio shows and at least one tattoo. She is author of the poetry collection No Water and editor of Natural Language: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Sunday Poetry & Reading Series Anthology, a collection of writers featured in the series she founded and curates. She guest hosts 90.5 FM’s Prosody and moderates the Pittsburgh Literary Calendar. She posts writing, photography, and collage, including her Detail a Day Project, at animalprayer.com.

Elizabeth Hoover is a poet, critic, journalist, and, most importantly, a native of Pittsburgh. She has contributed poetry reviews and author interviews to such publications as The Paris Review, The Los Angeles Times, and The Dallas Morning News. Her poetry has appeared in Poetry Northwest, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Natural Bridge, and The Café Review, among others. In 2011, she was a Flight School Fellow, resident at the Virginia Colony of the Creative Arts, and a nominee for Sundress Publications Best of the Net award. She received a combined MFA/MA from Indiana University and is currently working on a biographies of Suzanne Collins and Robert Hayden. You can see more of her work at www.ehooverink.com/poetry.html

Michelle Stoner's first book of poetry, Flats and Riots, was published in 2008 (CustomWords). Her poems have also appeared in The Collared Peccary, The New Growth Arts Review, Weave Magazine, The Carlow Journal, Pittsburgh's City Paper and Natural Language: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s Sunday Poetry and Reading Series Anthology, among others. She is a sound engineer for Prosody, NPR-affiliate WESA fm’s weekly show featuring the work of national writers and holds an MFA in poetry from Carlow University.

TNY Presents October 20th: Capewell, Carroll, Mar, McIlroy

When - Thursday, October 20th
Where - ModernFormations, 4919 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh
Time – 8:00 p.m.
Cover - $5 or free w/ contribution to potluck

Leslie Anne Mcilroy won the 2001 Word Press Poetry Prize for her full-length collection Rare Space and the 1997 Slipstream Poetry Chapbook Prize for her chapbook Gravel. She also took first place in the 1997 Chicago Literary Awards Competition judged by Gerald Stern. Her second full-length book, Liquid Like This, was published by Word Press in 2008. Leslie’s work appears in numerous journals including American Poetry: The Next Generation, Dogwood, The Emily Dickinson Award Anthology, The Mississippi Review, the Nimrod International Journal of Prose & Poetry and Pearl. Leslie works as a copywriter in Pittsburgh, PA, where she lives with her daughter Silas, and writer/guitarist, Don Bertschman, with whom she performs her poetry. For books and videos visit http://lamcilroy.com/

Ocean Capewell just moved to Troy Hill from Lawrenceville. She just finished touring the midwest, via Megabus, with her writing. She works at the welfare office and enjoys the occasional kale smoothie.

Khet Mar is a journalist, novelist, fiction writer and essayist from Burma. Author of one novel, Wild Snowy Night, as well as several collections of short stories, essays and poems, her work has been translated into English and Japanese, broadcast on radio and made into a film. Khet Mar is an emeritus exiled writer-in-residence in City of Asylum/Pittsburgh. She has written the text and her husband, the visual artist Than Htay, created the new artwork on the façade of 324 Sampsonia Way.

Terrence Michael Carroll has been making music in Pittsburgh under the name Tee Glitter for the better part of two shitty decades. As long as he brings his notebook, he is a real artist. Thats what someone said once anyway. He's been working on two books, "Chasing the Ghost" and "What World Do You Live In?", for several years. "Underground Economy", the newest album by his band Dirty Faces, will probably be out before either book. He also performs in the bands Raw Blow and White Ghetto (formerly White Guilt). He spends his days working construction and hating his life

The Next TNY is October 20!

TNY Presents September 15th: Krygowski, Klauscher, Wielkopolan

When - Thursday, September 15th
Where - ModernFormations, 4919 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh
Time – 8:00 p.m.
Cover - $5 or free w/ contribution to potluck


Nancy Krygowski’s first book of poems, Velocity, was chosen for the Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize from the University of Pittsburgh Press. A recipient of a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Individual Artist Fellowship, a Pittsburgh Foundation Grant, and residencies at Jentel, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, she was co-founder and booker of poets for the Gist Street Reading Series. She is an adult literacy instructor at Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council.







Kevin Klauscher is 23 years old and has lived his entire life in Pittsburgh, minus a year in Ohio. He has been doing creative writing and poetry for 9 years independently and playing the drums for ten years. Kevin's poetry is very spiritual and at times slightly political. He has been an activist for the past five years helping to organize peace rallies as well as other grass-roots events aimed at raising local geopolitical awareness and the importance of independent thought in the 21st century. His influences for writing include MLK Jr, JFK, Malcolm X, Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier, Che Guevara, Mother Jones, Everyone involved in the Civil Rights struggles of the 1960s-70s (Black Panther party and American Indian Movement in particular). Musical influences include: Ani DiFranco, Immortal Technique, Dead Prez, BB King, The Roots, Oldschool and Underground Hiphop, Saul Williams, Last Poets, Jazz, Funk, Soul, Classic Rock, Every DJ that still spins vinyl and too many artists to name in particular.

Kevin finds any artist that does what they do on their own terms and conveys their own messages to be inspiring. He attended the Oakland School, which is a private college-prepatory academy with a focus on creative arts .. and has no formal secondary education, however is self-taught and deeply interested in ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology, sociology, psychology, metaphysics, spirituality and comparitive religion, history, astrology, astronomy, philosophy, and art among other things.




Stefanie Wielkopolan is a Michigan poet who keeps moving back to Pittsburgh. Up until the age of eight, she grew up in the family's bowling alley in Dearborn, MI and she credits this experience for her love of a good dive bar, people watching, and writing poetry. She received her M.A. in Liberal Studies from the University of Michigan and in 2008 her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Chatham University. Her first collection of poetry, Border Theory, was published by Black Coffee Press in 2011. She currently teaches English and creative writing at Waynesburg University and the Community College of Allegheny County.

August TNY Presents: In Photos

Mike Ninehouser reads a drily hilarious short story set in Lawrenceville.

Abeer Hoque reads from a novel about memory loss.

Jerome Crooks reads from The Whiskey Rebellion with Red Bob on drums.

Juliet Bey reads a poem about Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann.

TNY August 18th: Bey, Crooks, Hoque, Ninehouser

When - Thursday, August 18th
Where - ModernFormations, 4919 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh
Time – 8:00 p.m.
Cover - $5 or free w/ contribution to potluck

In 2001, Juliet Bey------> earned a bachelor's degree in creative writing from Carnegie Mellon University. Though sometimes cold, she hates the cold...and colds. She enjoys cold chillin with a cold one. She's into a few Coldplay songs (but don't tell anyone!). She's never cold clocked someone in the face; she's not like that. Her poetry is a novelty snack.

<------Jerome Crooks began writing poetry 20 years ago this September. "i've been a mess and i feel fine" (Speed and Briscoe) was released in 2001. "The Whiskey Rebellion" (Six Gallery Press) with Jason Baldinger, was released this year to be followed by "The Moment I Feared" (Low Ghost Press). Jerome has served as the active head of the Speed and Briscoe writer's collective since its inception in 1998. His work has appeared in the City Paper, Natural Language, The New Yinzer, and Open Thread's regional review. His journalism has appeared in Magazino and Islas. He is the son of Mary Anne and Jerry Crooks, brother to Theresa, brother in law to John Leonard, and proud uncle of young Aeden.

Abeer Hoque------> is a Nigerian born Bangladeshi American writer and photographer. She is working on a novel about memory loss. See more at www.olivewitch.com.

<-------Mike Ninehouser goes by Michael. He lives in Polish Hill; real high up. He is a painter who wishes to be a filmmaker. He writes very little.

The Return of TNY Presents: August 18th!

Two upcoming TNY readings: May 19 & May 20

Read more about the May 19th reading here in our previous post.

And don't miss The New Yinzer Staff Presents, a May 20th reading at Fleeting Pages pop up bookstore.

TNY May 19th: Gershman, Himmer, O'Connor, Pollard

When - Thursday, May 19th
Where - ModernFormations, 4919 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh
Time - 8 p.m.
Cover - $5 or free w/ contribution to potluck

Noah Gershman-----> travels frequently. His first collection of poems, The Enthusiast (Snail Press), has recently been published.

<-----Steve Himmer is the author of the novel The Bee-Loud Glade (Atticus Books, 2010), and editor of the webjournal Necessary Fiction. His stories have appeared in a number of journals and anthologies, most recently Hawk & Handsaw, Weber: The Contemporary West, The Collagist, and Re:Telling. He lives near Boston, where he teaches at Emerson College, and he has a website at http://www.stevehimmer.com.

Traci O Connor----> is the author of the short story collection, Recipes for Endangered Species (Tarpaulin Sky Press, 2010). She's published fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and other unclassifiable work in many journals and magazines and is currently at work on: a collaborative film/writing project about her Mormon childhood, a series of art dolls, a novel, a live storytelling series, and the formation of a collaborative artist group called The Box Salon.

<------Derek Pollard is co–author with Derek Henderson of the book Inconsequentia (BlazeVOX 2010). His poems, creative non–fiction, and reviews appear in American Book Review, Colorado Review, Court Green, Diagram III, H_ngm_n, Pleiades, and Six–Word Memoirs on Love & Heartbreak, among numerous other anthologies and journals. He is a contributing editor for Barrow Street, Inc., and is on faculty at Brookdale Community College, at Pratt Institute, and at the Downtown Writer’s Center in Syracuse, New York. More information is available at www.twodereks.com.

Coming soon: TNY April: Ross, Michalski, Robinson, Kane

Thursday, April 21: Kane, Michalski, Robinson, & Ross

When - Thursday, April 21st
Where - ModernFormations, 4919 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh
Time - 8 p.m.
Cover - $5 or free w/ contribution to potluck

<-----Kelli Stevens Kane's poetry appears in numerous journals including The Mom Egg, Kweli Journal, and Mythium Literary Journal. She's the recipient of a Flight School Fellowship, an alum of the VONA and Hurston/Wright poetry workshops, the editor of Planet Saturday Comics, and the author of an oral history manuscript about Pittsburgh's Hill District. She has performed nationally. For more information visit: http://www.kellistevenskane.com/


<----Jen Michalski's first collection of fiction, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS, is available from So New (2007), her second is forthcoming from Dzanc (2013), and her novella MAY-SEPTEMBER (2010) was published by Press 53 as part of the Press 53 Open Awards. Her chapbook CROSS SECTIONS (2008) is available from Publishing Genius. She also is the editor of the anthology CITY SAGES: BALTIMORE (CityLit Press 2010), which won a 2010 "Best of Baltimore" award from Baltimore Magazine. She is the founding editor of the literary quarterly jmww, and is co-host of the monthly reading series The 510 Readings in Baltimore.

<-----Adam Robinson lives in Baltimore, MD, where he runs Publishing Genius, a micro press. He also plays guitar in Sweatpants, a rock band, and has written two collections of poetry including Adam Robison and Other Poems which was nominated for the Goodreads Award in 2010, and Say, Poem, a self-published MFA thesis which will be republished this year by Mitzvah Press. CAConrad called his work "marvelous, genius fun." Robinson is also a contributor to HTMLGiant, the literary blog of the future.

<-----Kristin Ross is a freelance writer, musician, and performance artist who has been active in the Pittsburgh cultural scene most of her life. She has been published by The New Yinzer, Zygote in my Coffee, Yawp and The Cerebral Catalyst. She is the author of Day Prize nominated comic book Hate Your Friends and paid her dues in local bands Sing the Evens Play the Odds and the Will Kills. Her current pet project is Literazzi, a poetry and performance troupe that is focused on increasing literacy in Pittsburgh. Literazzi donates partial funds to the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council and expects to release its first anthology at the end of 2011. Kristin can be found on the internet as the Editorial Intern at Pop Damage, a contributor to Soldout Music, and her own blog: http://baronetess.blogspot.com/ (Kristin’s photo by Ashly Nagrant)

Photos: March 17th TNY Reading

Thanks to everyone who came out last Thursday to the reading. There was a good crowd to greet three of Pittsburgh's own:

<----Dave Newman read a riveting section from his novel, Please Don't Shoot Anyone Tonight.

Bob Pajich, who will soon be published on Low Ghost Press, read some wonderful Pittsburgh poems------->

And ex-cop Jimmy Cvetic closed the evening with poems both in and out of his new book, Secret Society of Dog.

Shortly I'll be posting about our next reading on Thursday, April 21st: Kane, Michalski, Robinson, Ross. Stay tuned.

Next TNY Reading: Newman, Pajich, Cvetic, March 17th

When - Thursday, March 17th
Where - ModernFormations, 4919 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh
Time - 8 p.m.
Cover - $5 or free w/ contribution to potluck

Dave Newman---> has published more than 200 poems, stories, essays, and articles in journals and magazines around the world. He is the author of the novel Please Don't Shoot Anyone Tonight (World Parade Books, 2010) and four chapbooks, most recently Allen Ginsberg Comes To Pittsburgh.

<-----Bob Pajich spent the last decade-plus as a professional reporter and even longer than that as an idiot poet. He has a book of poems forthcoming from Low Ghost Press.

Jim Cvetic---> has been writing and performing poetry all his life. A retired county police officer, he is the director of the Pittsburgh Police Athletic League, and founder and director of the Summer Poetry Series at Hemingway's Cafe in Oakland. His poems have appeared in the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette and other publications. He is currently previewing readings from Ebony, a play he wrote, celebrating the value of human life, as part of the Three Rivers Peace Project. Jim's first full-length book of poetry, Secret Society of Dog, was published by Awesome Books in 2010.

Next TNY Reading: March 17th

Thanks to all who came out to the February 17th TNY Presents reading. I'm always impressed how a great audience appears out of thin air at exactly 8:32 for a reading scheduled for 8:00pm. The tardy crowd didn't actually miss anything but enjoyed poems by Jason Baldinger & Justin Hopper, and stories by Sherrie Flick.

Please stay tuned for bios from our readers for Thursday, March 17th: Dave Newman will be reading fiction while Jim Cvetic will read poems; Bob Pajich writes both poetry and prose, so he'll surprise us (or at least, me).

TNY Presents kicks off its fourth season with a Special early-bird Edition!

When - Wednesday, February 2nd
(Pssst! We've got another event coming up on Feb 17th, when we move to 3rd Thursdays)
Where - ModernFormations, 4919 Penn Avenue, Pittsburgh
Time - 8 p.m.
Cover - $5 or free w/ contribution to potluck

Michael S. Begnal’s collections include Ancestor Worship (Salmon Poetry, 2007), Mercury, the Dime (Six Gallery Press, 2005), and Future Blues (Salmon Poetry, forthcoming 2011). He has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Notre Dame Review, BlazeVOX, Poetry Ireland Review, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. His blog is: http://www.mikebegnal.blogspot.com/ -->

<--Alan Jude Moore is from Dublin. Three collections of poetry, Black State Cars (2004), Lost Republics (2008) and Strasbourg (2010) are published by Salmon Poetry. His short fiction has been twice short-listed for the Hennessy Literary Award for New Irish Writing. Translations of his work have been published in Italian, Russian and Turkish. His website is http://www.alanjudemoore.com/

Ellen McGrath Smith teaches literature and writing at the University of Pittsburgh and in Carlow University's Madwomen in the Attic program for women writers. Her critical work has appeared in Sagetrieb, The Denver Quarterly, The Pennsylvania Review, American Book Review, The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature, and The Pittsburgh Quarterly. Poems have appeared or are forthcoming in: Cerise, Weave, The Same, Kestrel, Oranges & Sardines, CQ, 5 a.m., Café, Oxford Magazine, Diner, The Best of the Prose Poem, Pearl, Zone 3, Southern Poetry Review, The Pittsburgh Quarterly, Sistersong, Descant (Canada), and others. Her work has received the Rainmaker Award in Poetry from Zone 3 magazine, the Academy of American Poets Prize, the Ascher Montandon Prize in Poetry (HyperAge magazine), and an Honorable Mention in the Lynda Hull Awards (Crazyhorse, 2004). Reviews Editor, Sentence: A Journal of Prose Poetics; 2007 Individual Artist Fellowship in Poetry from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

Kevin Finn is author of the poetry collection, Exit Wounds (Amsterdam Press, 2010). His poetry leans on the politics of a changing environment and the social, emotional and spiritual implications of the planetary condition. Also a singer-songwriter, Finn’s music has gained critical acclaim world-wide.