Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Rattle Reading Series continues May 5 in La Canada

Rattle magazine will host the fourth installment of the 2013 Rattle Reading Series on Sunday, May 5th. Every first Sunday, Rattle continues to gather a selection of performers from around the country for a series of poetry readings to celebrate the spring issue.

                  Rattle’s spring issue is devoted entirely to the work of Southern Poets. The cultural fabric of the American South has been changing rapidly in the 21st century, and many of the old assumptions about Southern literature—an emphasis on bucolic landscapes, history, family, and so on—no longer hold. So what is it that makes a poet Southern? As always, we’ve let the writers speak for themselves, selecting the best 39 poems that we could find from over 10,000 submissions. The South is too rich a heritage for any stereotype, but by gathering these poems together we can tease out the subtle traits they share. Helping us along the way is an intimate and entertaining conversation with Georgia State Poet Laureate David Bottoms.

                  The second reading for issue #39 brings together Southern poet Joel F. Johnson of Georgia, and two bonus guests: local publicist Kim Dower and 2012 Rattle Poetry Prize winner Heidi Shuler. The audience is also encouraged to bring their own poems for a brief open mic. Rattle’s readings will continue every first Sunday through the year.

WHO:       Founded in 1994 by Alan Fox, Rattle magazine operates under the simple premise that it doesn’t take a scholar to be moved by the written word—poetry is for everyone. That principal has guided Rattle through 38 issues, publishing the poetry of lawyers, landscapers, doctors and prisoners right alongside the stars of modern literature. The result is one of the most enjoyable and eclectic literary journals in the country, and one of the most-read. 

Operating outside of poetry’s mainstream, Rattle often seeks out work by groups of poets that the academics have yet to embrace—genres like visual and slam poetry that don’t conform to traditional boundaries. Other issues gather together poets of similar racial or vocational backgrounds, to give their experiences a collective and interactive voice, and to provide a social context for individual works of art.

WHERE:   Flintridge Bookstore & Coffeehouse, 1010 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada-Flintridge, CA 91011

WHEN:     Sunday, May 5th, 5 p.m., and every first Sunday.

HOW:       Each poetry performance is free and open to the public.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE RATTLE READING SERIES,
CONTACT RATTLE MAGAZINE AT 818.505.6777 EXT. 111 OR VISIT WWW.RATTLE.COM/POETRY/READINGS

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