LONESOME ROMAN HOLIDAY
National Poetry Month: A LONESOME EVENING with NY State Poet Laureate Patricia Spears Jones / Writing as Medicine: Umbria with Kamin Mohammadi / The Kollection Poetry Gallery
A LONESOME EVENING: NATIONAL POETRY MONTH
On the final day of National Poetry Month, join us for A LONESOME EVENING of poetry and music with NY State Poet Laureate Patricia Spears Jones, Ilka Scobie, Lisette Austin, Cathy Simmons, Francine, and America Murphy. I will read what is, arguably, my most important work. Wednesday April 30th from 6-8pm NeueHouse 110 E 25th Street.
I landed in Rome on Saturday afternoon, and on Sunday evening I visited Baron Cody Franchetti in his Palazzo, a short walk from my hotel. Cody is a tremendous mind, a poet, a collector, and above all things, for me at least, a bibliophile. He now has his copy of LONESOME Nº1, and I have a gift I will cherish: Lunacy and the Arrangement of Books. If you know me you know I suffer from this particular affliction.
I write this from Castello di Titignano in Orvieto, Umbria, Italy. Lisette and Sarah (stage name America Murphy) who will perform with me at NeueHouse are both here on an incredible retreat Writing As Medicine with the writer and journalist Kamin Mohammadi and herbalist and homeopath Victoria Young. The setting is magical, the food is incredible, and the writing, I hope, will be fruitful.1 Kamin is a powerful teacher, and her use of somatic healing techniques to tackle writing’s inherent pain is uniquely beneficial.
Last night at dinner Luigi (Cazzaniga aka Mr. Ilka Scobie) called me from Soncino. Our connection was bad and I could barely hear him, but when we said goodbye he said ‘love you’ and I choked right up. Opening April 13 in Orzinuovi, visit Piazza Vittorio Emanuele Il to see Luigi’s takeover: The Balconies of Orzinuovi (through September 2025).
POETRY GALLERY BY THE KOLLECTION.
I’m thrilled to have a poem in the next installment of The Kollection’s Poetry Gallery, a series curated by Finlay Mangan that explores the relationship between the spoken word, the artist, and the audience. Finlay is known to many as a model, to us as a poet, and to the internet as having very specific ideas about white sneakers. Just ask Cate Blanchett. I have read my poem, Twelve, only once publicly, and it hits very close to my heart. Baby bibliophile, indeed. Sunday, April 20th from 12-7pm 66 Greene Street in Soho.
Amazing!