For Immediate Release

Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival as part of the Woodstock Arts Consortium is sponsoring the following poetry event as part of the Woodstock "Second Saturdays" Art Events. For a full listing of "Second Saturday" events, see: www.artsinwoodstock.org

Poets Bobbi Katz and George Nicholson will be the featured readers when the Woodstock Poetry Society & Festival meets at the Colony Cafe, 22 Rock City Road, on May 12, 2012. Note: WPS&F meetings are held the 2nd Saturday of every month.

The readings will be hosted by Woodstock area poet Phillip Levine. All meetings are free, open to the public, and include an open mike.

Bios:

Bobbi Katz - Bobbi Katz ‘s witty and charming poems are the gift of a quirky imagination, perfectly in sync with what delights both children and adults. She is the author of over a dozen collections of poetry, as well as picture books, biographies and essays. Ms. Katz had given many workshops in writing poetry and fiction to children, parents, and teachers, as well as to aspiring adult writers.

The Monsterologist: A Memoir in Rhyme, a playful survey of the greatest monsters of all time, was a finalist for the Cybils, a literary award, as well as the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award. Her collection, Once Around the Sun, was a the Independent Booksellers Pick of the Lists for the Best Ten Poetry Books of 2007 on the adult list. History buffs will enjoy Trailblazers: Poems of Exploration and We the People, which chronicle in poetry the contributions to American life of figures both famous and unknown.

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George Nicholson - George J. Nicholson returns to the poetry performance stage after a hiatus of nearly five years with a presentation he has entitled: ASTARTE: Affirmations of the Great Mother

During his recent absence from the poetry scene, George has been, among other things, renewing his connection to our Great Mother Earth. An accomplished nature photographer, graphic designer and poet, George is currently at work on a number of books that showcase his refreshed, conscious relationship to Gaia, the spirit body of our planet. He will be reading selections from two of these works nearing publication: Astarte, a chapbook of poetry that contains works written from the perspective of ancient indigenous peoples; and Aphrodite's Winter Mirror, which presents examples of poems that literally "sprang to voice" upon the photographic capture of evocative and mysterious Winter imagery. Words and photographs began flowing simultaneously for George in the early 70s after a series of undergraduate encounters with mystic-poet-photographer Minor White, then in residence at MIT. Echoes of the Ancient World as they inform modern life, the sacred mystery of Symbols and Archetypes and the processes of Transformation are the key themes evident as undercurrents throughout his work, regardless of medium. George has self-published the chapbook First Light; he also hosts the blogs Lens Upon the Clouds that journals remarkable cloud formations and Parking Lot Reveries that documents photographic reminders that city dwelling is lush with affirmative wonders of the natural world. At the age of six, George was unwittingly introduced to Dante's Divine Comedy and the haunting illustrations of Gustav Dore by his uncle Chris and considers this biographic tidbit to be the inciting incident at the root core of his creative calling and process. George currently resides in Kingston, New York and can be reached at georgejnicholson@me.com.

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