On Sunday, May 18th from noon to 9 pm the downtown area of Port Chester, New York will be throbbing with creativity as the town’s first Port Chester Fest kicks off. The Festival’s purpose is to use the arts to celebrate community and the cultures of Port Chester. An integral component of the festival will be a selection of poetry readings co-sponsored by the Community Council of Port Chester and Rye and The Hudson Valley Writers' Center. The readings are being organized and hosted by Brenda Connor-Bey, Poet Laureate of Greenburgh, and poet/professor Celia Reissig-Vasile of Port Chester.

Three of Port Chester's premiere restaurants -- Pasta Per Voi, Copacabana, and Chavin, will host an international roster of poets and musicians from 6 to 9 pm. All three will open their doors at 6 pm for dinner. Poetry readings have been scheduled as follows:

For bios of the poets, see below.

Musical offerings at the restaurants will be:

Chavin: Firefly Trio from 8 to 9 pm
Copacabana: Carlos Jimenez Flute Trio from 6 to 7 pm
Pasta Per Voi: Titus Abbott collaborative from 6 to 7 and from 8 to 9 pm

Earlier in the day, original artwork, juried by the recently formed Arts Coalition by The Council of Community Services of Port Chester/Town of Rye/Rye Brook, can be viewed (and purchased) in the Abendroth Parking Lot on the Byram River, between Willett House and the CITGO station. In addition to this downtown area, shuttle buses will be available to visit the Clay Arts Center and the Art Life Center. Music and Dance will be provided by performers from six different countries on a riverfront stage.

Note: volunteers are still needed for the Port Chester Fest. For further information, please call Ann Barringer Spaeth at 914-939-8055 or send an e-mail to communitycouncil@verizon.net.

About the Poets

Myriam Acero is a Colombian poet residing in Stamford, Connecticut who has been a member of the writers' group La Tertulia for many years.

E.J. Antonio resides in Mount Vernon, NY. She was just awarded the 2008 Cave Canem Summer Fellowship. She attended the 2002 Sarah Lawrence College Summer Writers Conference and the 2006 Hurston/Wright Foundation Summer Writers Workshop. She is also a Cave Canem - NY Regional Fellow and a Pushcart Prize nominee. She has appeared as a feature reader at several venues in the Tri-state area. Her work appears online and has been published in various journals and magazines. Her first chapbook, Every Child Knows, was recently published by the Premier Poets Chapbook Series and she is one of the featured poets on the just released CD, Beauty Keeps Laying It's Sharp Knife Against Me: Brant Lyon and Friends. She is a founding member of the Poetry Caravan, which brings readings and workshops to Westchester County nursing homes, shelters and rehabilitation facilities.

Tara Betts teaches creative writing at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and with DreamYard in the Bronx. Her work has appeared in Essence, Callaloo, PMS poemsmemoirstory, OCHO, Spoken World Revlution and Gathering Ground. She has performed her writing on HBO's Def Poetry Jam, in Cuba and in England. Her work has also been adapted for the stage in Steppenwolf Theatre's "Words on Fire", Rivka Solomon's "that Takes Ovaries!" and most recently "Fingernails Across the Chalkboard.

Brenda Connor-Bey is the Poet Laureate for the Town of Greenburgh, NY, an award winning poet, writer and arts-in-education specialist. She is a co-founder of New Renaissance Writers Guild, founder of MenWem Writers Workshop, and a member of the Poetry Caravan. Recipient of the Outstanding Arts Educator Award from the Westchester Fund for Women and Girls in 2002, she is a recipient of a CAPS award for poetry, four PEN awards for non-fiction, a NYFA for fiction and is a MacDowell, YADDO and Cave Canem Regional Fellow. She is the author of a collection of prose and poetry, Thoughts of an Everyday Woman/An Unfinished Urban Folktale. Brenda is an independent writing instructor with the Neuberger Museum of Art, the Hudson Valley Writers' Center and The Kid's Short Story Connection. She was a facilitator for the Westchester Library System's literacy program. People and Stories/Gentes y Cuentos. Brenda serves on the Advisory Committee for Slapering Hol Press.

Walter Dionisio is a Salvadoran poet, actor, and theater director living in Stamford, Connecticut. He is founder of the writers' group La Tertulia and director of Teatro Raices.

Kate Gallagher is a poet, editor and teaching artist. She has studied at the University of Iowa with Jorie Graham and Marvin Bell. She has read her work at venues throughout Westchester and New York City, and is a member of the Poetry Caravan. Her poetry appears in the anthologies and has been a finalist in the Greenburgh poetry contest in 1998, 2000, and 2006. Kate teaches creative writing workshops in schools and community settings where she uses visual and sensory stimuli to approach writing from a new angle.

Carlos Mavila is a Peruvian poet living in Stamford, Connecticut. He is a teacher of philosophy and humanities, a writer, and a photographer. In 2003, he published a book of poetry Raices y disentimientos. He is also member of the writers' group, La Tertulia, as well as a member of Peruanos Unidos, and of Crisol.

T. Rasul Murray is a Brooklyn based, New York City-born and raised, poet and writer who continues to write, despite his conviction that his sons are the finest poems he will ever create. He is currently preparing a collection of his work, Rocks, Bones Fortunes and Love, to be published as both a print and CD volume. In addition, he is adapting his recently completed poem, The Procession, an historical poem of early African Manhattan and The African Burial Ground, for development as a multi-media performance piece, and later as a video presentation. A long-time student of the history of the African Diasporan New York, he is a licensed NYC tour guide who also serves as a docent at The African Burial Ground National Monument in New York, Mr. Murray regularly conducts tours of early Manhattan and its African past. His work has been featured in numerous publications in this country and abroad.

Linda O'Connor resides in Port Chester with her four children and grand-daughter. A graduate of Washington and Jefferson College and Manhattanville, she presently teaches literacy at Port Chester Middle School.

Angel Ramos is an Ecuadorian poet living in Stamford, Connecticut. He taught for many years in his country and is an active member of the writers' group La Tertulia.

Celia Reissig-Vasile resides in Port Chester with her husband and two children. She has published 2 books of poetry, Talking to Myself and Reflections/Reflecciones. She is a professor at Mercy College where she teaches creative writing, literature, and Spanish. She is also a member of the Hudson Valley Writers' Center. She is currently teaching a writing workshop in Spanish for immigrant mothers from Mexico, Ecuador, and Peru.

Anahi Rossini is an Argentine poet living in Byram, Connecticut. She is also a member of the writers' group, La Tertulia.

Rich Villar's written work appears in the journals Ocho, MiPOesias, Rattapallax 13 and Parse: Alchemy as well as the online journal RougueScholars.com. In 2004, he appeared with Team NYC-louderARTS at the National Poetry Slam; in 2005, he was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. His work was commissioned for the stage in Actors Stock NYC's production of Eve Descending. Rich is an MFA candidate in poetry at Rutgers-Newark, where he teachers English Composition. He has lectured on the topic of Latinos and Latinas in U.S. poetry, and he has led workshops and performances at a number of colleges and non-profit centers in New York and the Northeast. He is the curator of Acentos, a Bronx-based reading series and cultural organization dedicated to Latino/a poets, which celebrates its fifth anniversary in March 2008.

Spanish

Myriam Acero, poeta colombiana residente en Stamford por muchos anos. Miembro de La Tertulia.

Walter Dionisio, poeta, actor y director teatral. Fundador de La Tertulia y Director del grupo de teatro Raices.

Carlos Mavila, poeta peruano, docente de filosofia y ciencias humanas, escritor, fotografo. En 2003, publico "Raices y disentimientos" ( poemario ). Es miembro de La Tertulia, Peruanos Unidos Y de Crisol.

Linda O'Connor vive en Port Chester con sus cuatro hijos y su nieta. Se graduo de Washington y Jefferson College y de la Universidad de Manhattanville. Ahora ensena en Port Chester Middle School.

Angel Ramos, poeta ecuatoriano, ejercio el magisterio por muchos anos en su pais y miembro activo de La Tertulia.

Celia Reissig-Vasile es poeta Argentina que vive en Port Chester, New York con su marido y sus 2 hijos. Ha publicado 2 libros de poesia, Talking to Myself y Reflections/Reflecciones. Es profesora en Mercy College donde ensena literatura y espanol. Es miembra del Hudson Valley Writers' Center donde conduce talleres de escritura.

Anahi Rossini es poeta Argentina y miembro de La Tertulia.

Programs and events of The Hudson Valley Writers’ Center are made possible, in part, by grants from the Bydale Foundation, the David G. Taft Foundation, the Orchard Foundation, and the Thendara Foundation; with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and the National Endowment for the Arts; and by the Basic Program Support Grant of the Westchester Arts Council with funds from Westchester County Government.

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