Stone Soup Issue #2


Editors
Chad Parenteau
Lynne Sticklor


Consulting Editors
Margaret Nairn
Jack Powers

Contributing Artists
Debra Cash

Vincent Ciaccio

James Conant

Edward S. Gault
Bill Perrault

Andy Schattner
Cindy Williams

Mike Amado is a performance poet, a percussionist and drummer who does lyrical, rhythm-based tomes attuned to the social and semi-political. His first volume of verse is Poems: Unearthed from Ashes (2006). He is the host at three poetry venues in Massachusetts. He has been performing for ten years and has featured numerous times in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He has been published in the Wilderness House Literary Review, the Bagelbards Anthology 1&2, Apt magazine #12, and Down in the Dirt. To quote the author: "I don't Slam, I rock!"

William J. Barnum is a mime, actor and performance poet who has been part of the Boston poetry scene for decades. His publication credits include Out of The Blue Writers Unite and his collection of poetry, Of Rare Design.

Yonit Bousany is a junior at Brandeis University, majoring in Linguistics and Anthropology. Her poetry can also be found in the Brandeis literary journal, where the children play (Fall 2006).

Debra Cash, a well-known arts writer in the Boston area, is Patricia Fillingham's daughter-in-law. Patricia lived with Debra and her son David for the last three and a half years of her life.

Vincent Ciaccio is a research assistant at the Schepens Eye Research Institute in Boston. He is also a spokesperson for No Kidding!, an international social club.

James Conant has been living in Cambridge since 1991. He was given a slice of clay to keep himself busy when his work slowed down due to the unfortunate events of 9/11. Today, his sculptures are currently available at the Out of the Blue Art Gallery.

Thade Correa was born January 17, 1983 and grew up in Hammond, Indiana. He attended Indiana University Bloomington where he studied literature, piano, and music composition. His work has appeared in Modern Haiku, the Somerville News column "Lyrical Somerville," and Ibbetson Street. His prominent influences include Whitman, Rilke, Neruda, Ginsberg, Stevens, and Ashbery.

Sarah N. Dipity is a personification of the concept Serendipity. You can find this moniker of “you know who” on MySpace spreading the love on the Blogs. This poem is from her Visual Journal. When thoughts & expressions of her mind need to use more than language to express what happens in her life: Stickers, Art & Markers are the tools. This poem is about a boy who Sarah thought she lost to another woman. The typical “what does she have that I don’t have” lament. Read it down to up & as a whole.

Patricia Fillingham (May 4, 1924 to December 3, 2007) ran two poetry series in West Orange, New Jersey and New York City for 35 years. She also published poetry for 28 years with her Wart Hog Press imprint, first publishing the work of Cornelius Eady. Recieving degrees in electrical engineering and sociology, she and her husband were active members of the ACLU and early members of Amnesty International. "Drink Up" is from her most recent collection, Existential Blues. A posthumous collection of her poetry is currently in the works.

Edward S. Gault has been active in Stone Soup Poetry, Open Bark, and Tapestry of Voices poetry events.

Nathan Graziano lives in Manchester, New Hampshire with his wife and two children. He is the author of Teaching Metaphors (sunnyoutside, 2007), Not So Profound (Green Bean Press, 2004), Frostbite (GBP, 2002) and seven chapbooks of poetry and fiction.

Doug Holder is the founder of the Ibbetson St. Press. He recently was the guest of the Voices Israel organization, and he gave readings and ran workshops in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem, and Netanya. His work has appeared in the new renaissance, the Voices Israel anthology, The League of Laboring Poets, Caesura, Home Planet News, Autumn Sky, Cherry Blossom Review, and others.

Coleen T. Houlihan is a novelist and poet who studied writing at Wellesley College . She has featured at Stone Soup, Best Sellers, Borders, the Sherman Cafe and Walden Poetry Series and published poetry in The Alewife, Wilderness House Literary Review, Ibbetson Street Press, Spare Change and abroad. Her poetry is diverse. She has written in the perspective of a child, a killer, a mother, animals and men. Her most recent chapbook This Human Heart is a collection of eight poems spanning several years and is full of the light and dark of life.

Laurel Lambert is an Out of The Blue artist and participant in the gallery's open mikes. Her work is available for sale at the gallery.

John Landry is poet laureate of New Bedford. He first read at Stone Soup's Sunday night series with John Wieners, Charley Shively, and Arlene Stone in the mid-1970's at the Cambridge site in Boston. His poems have appeared in Beatitude, Sliding Uteri, Xcp, North Coast Review, New College Review, onedit, Lights&Mirrors, Citizen 32, and others. In 1986, he read at the Library of Congress at the invitation of then Poetry Consultant/Laureate Gwendolyn Brooks.

Gordon Marshall is a 43-year-old poet who combines the romantic with the surreal. He draws his rhythms from jazz and from the psychedelic rock of the sixties, purifying his voice through these sounds. He finds their embryonic spirit in the poetry of the great romantic revolutionary Percy Bysshe Shelley, on whom he did his Master’s thesis in 2005. He is a jazz poet.

Margaret Nairn was born in Pennsylvania and raised on the Island of Guernsey in the British Channel Islands. Having lived in the Boston area for 21 years, she is now involved in furthering the cause of general health. She is part of the Collaborative Artworks group in Lynn, proud to be both a member and the president, amongst artists who struggle to overcome "difficulties" by making and selling art together. She lives in Watertown and has two cats.

Chad Parenteau was recently published in the anthology French Connections: A Gathering of Franco-American Poets. His Chapbook, Discarded: Poems for My Apartment, will be published by Cervena Barva Press later this year.

Bill Perrault went to the Universities of New England and Maine and wrote a graduate thesis on the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire. He has published poems in Mothwing, Boston Poet, Stone Soup Anthology 2003, and Out Of The Blue Writers Unite. He reads his poetry throughout New England and has featured at the Lizard Lounge, Gypsypashn's venue, and Stone Soup. He was recently named Producer of the Year for LTC Channel 8 in Lowell for his weekly production of the Stone Soup Poetry TV series as well as other programs.

In September 2007, to mark his 70th birthday, Stone Soup founder Jack Powers received a proclamation from the City of Boston for his contribution to the arts. His poem in this issue is reprinted from issue #20 of Stone Soup Poetry, a journal he put out through his Stone Soup Press.

Deborah M. Priestly runs the Out of the Blue Art Gallery located in Cambridge, Mass at 106 Prospect Street with Tom Tipton, (founder, owner). She runs the Open Bark Poetry reading every Saturday night at the gallery. Her publication credits include Ibbetson Street, Spare Change, Poesy, Fresh!, Boston Poet, The Boston Herald, The Boston Girl Guide and Out of the Blue Writers Unite (which she also co-edited). She is the author of The Woman Has A Voice from Ibbetson Street Press, an eclectic combination of healing poetry and images of women in transition.

Christopher Robbins describes his poem for this issue as "a dada-revival poem that demonstrates how confusing the human world can be to autistic people."

Andy Schattner is Simon Schattner's brother. His photo depicts 125th street, the subject of Simon's poem in this issue.

Simon Schattner (June 14, 1957 to July, 2006) was born in New York City, in Manhattan. After moving to Montclair, N.J. and graduating from high school, he moved to Boston. He received a Bachelors Degree in English at the age of 29 and later earned a Masters Degree in Rehabilitation. In the years before his death, the most important goal of his life was the affirmation of his Jewish identity and the continuation of his musical and poetic creativity. He used his creative energy by performing music and poetry, while finding supportive artists with whom he connected. Much of his poetry reflects tension between city/suburban life--the rhythms, and aspirations.

Lynne Sticklor, The Prize Lady, is a Performance & Visual Artist, Editor and Text & Graphics Designer Artist. She is the sole creator of The Prize Lady Experience: a one-on-one performance art piece and a grand poetic theatrical show with chances to earn “Fabulous Prizes." She is on-staff as an Editor and Designer in the book division of Ibbetson Street Press, with oodles of book credits under her belt.

James Van Looy became involved with Stone Soup in the mid-70's when he lived on Beacon Hill, seeing performers such as Bill Barnum and Brother Blue. He studied mime for eight years with the Mirage Movement Theatre, eventually becoming a member of the troupe. He is currently the co-Artistic Director of Cosmic Spelunker Theatre.

Cindy Williams is a 1985 graduate of the Art Institute of Houston. She has had her photography published in Pettycoat Relaxer and High Horse.