Fred Arroyo and Barbara Young
I’m dubbing this month “show up September” for literary and spoken word events. Whether you prefer daytime or evening, and whether you like poetry, comedy, fiction, playwriting or songwriting, this month in Murfreesboro has something to offer you.
First of all, plan to visit the Greenway Arts Festival on Saturday, Sept. 21, where Poetry in the Boro, the Bloom Stage and Under 1 Roof will have booths and an activity for writers of any age.
If you have late Thursday afternoons available, don’t miss the In Process series, curated by Claudia Barnett of the MTSU English department. Offered weekly in MTSU’s MT Center from 4:30 to 5:45 p.m., the September lineup includes songwriter Nathan Bell on Sept. 5, poet John Hoppenthaler on Sept. 12, and fiction writer Cary Holladay on Sept. 19. The MT Center is located in the Sam H. Ingram Building at the corner of Middle Tennessee Boulevard and East Lytle Street, and it has its own parking lot; it’s an easy place to visit.
Sept. 8 – Poetry in the Boro
Sunday evening, Sept. 8, Poetry in the Boro presents poets Fred Arroyo and Barbara Young as featured readers. An hour of open mic follows; all styles of poetry and spoken word are welcome. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the features begin at 7. Held at the Walnut House, 116 N. Walnut St., the event is free and sponsored in part by MTSU Write. Water, soda, beer and cider will be available for purchase from the Walnut House. Street parking in the area on Sunday evening is plentiful.
Arroyo is the author of several books, including the forthcoming Sown in Earth: Essays of Memory and Belonging. His writing is a part of the Library of Congress series “Spotlight on U.S. Hispanic Writers” and appears in The Colors of Nature: Essays on Culture, Identity and the Natural World, among other publications. The MTSU English professor will be reading from his poetry collection in progress, Before Birches Blue, which is largely influenced by his time in nature along the northern U.S. border, especially Ontario.
Young is the author of two chapbooks published in 2018: Testify, which was awarded the Peter Meinke Prize from YellowJacket Press, and Like a Movie Star, Like a Mary Sue, from dancing girl press & studio. A longtime Middle Tennessee resident, Young in recent years returned to her early love of poetry with zeal; during one recent month she responded to four poem-a-day challenges for a total of 134 drafts (“a bad idea,” she quips). Young also has MTSU connections, having honed some of her manuscripts through participation in MTSU Write.
For more details, including a word challenge writing prompt, see Poetry in the Boro on Facebook.
Sept. 27 – Under 1 Roof
It’s time for another round of “Under 1 Roof,” a quarterly 21-and-up event that blends comedy, poetry, art and live music. Producer and spoken word poet Christopher “C.A.” Williams says the show prides itself on “diversity, creativity and talent.” Scheduled entertainers include host Matt Taylor, singer-songwriter Krystal King, spoken word poet Mo Christo, comedian Chloe Stillwell and many more. Held at The Warehouse, the event will include food and a cash-only bar. Tickets will be sold on EventBrite for $12, or $16 at the door. Find more details on Facebook.
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“24” is a poem by Barbara E. Young, reprinted from her book Testify (YellowJacket Press) with author permission.
24
by Barbara E. Young
the blackbird said
it was dark inside
and smelled of fire and lard
too tightly packed to move
they pretended it was night
inside the casket of crust
the knife that freed them passed
between two feathers of his wing
and damaged one barb
there was noise then
brightness and confusion
I asked him did you sing
we escaped, he said
we did not sing
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