A Road Well Traveled

Please visit our new book review site : North of Oxford

FCR has enjoyed a great run, publishing 21 issues of The Fox Chase Review , an international review of poetry and fiction  over seven years. Presented hundreds of poets and writers at our featured reading series, open mic and outdoor poetry events. Thanks to our poetry editor and Broadside publisher, Diane Sahms-Guarnieri. Fiction editors Russell Reece, Robert Hambling Davis, Sandra Davidson, T.G. Davidson, O.L. Barnes. Creative non-fiction editor MM Wittle. Our  occasional reading series hosts, F. Omar Telan, Bruce Kramer, Rodger Lowenthal and Mel Brake.  Thanks to our web editors, Katie Reutter and Sandra Davidson who made the review possible on line.

Our blog has been widely read, full of  book reviews, essays, poetry and literary news, interviews of poets and writers as well as area news. . We thank all those who contributed to the blog. The main focus of the review, reading series and blog has always been to promote poets and writers and we believe we have achieved this goal.

We now look forward to new challenges and goals, using more of our time to create and explore the craft.

To view past issues of The Fox Chase Review please click on the links under the Masthead.

Thanks to all the poets and writers who contributed, the great editorial staff, and occasional hosts of the readings series who kept FCR going.

The Fox Chase Review

The Fox Chase Reading Series Venues

Featured Reading Series @ 3 Sisters Corner Cafe

 

Featured Reading Series @ Ryerss Museum and Library

2nd Tuesdays Open Mic @ The Blue Ox Bistro and Hop Angel Brauhaus

2nd Tuesdays Open Mic @ The Red Rooster Inn

Poets In The Park – Lions Park

Poets on the Porch @ Ryerss Museum and Library

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poets @ Pennypack Park

We leave you with these wise words for all poets and writers to follow:

“Be what you are. Give what is yours to give. Have style. Dare.” – Stanley Kunitz

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Report from Poets on the Porch 2015

Diane Sahms-Guarnieri by F Omar Telan at Poets on the Porch 2015

The Fox Chase Reading Series has concluded its run with Poets on the Porch 2015. It was a beautiful afternoon on the porch of Ryerss Museum and Library atop the hill at Burholme Park in Philadelphia, Pa. The crowd enjoyed a great reading of poetry under cover of the porch on a warm July day. Thanks to all the poets who shared their work, our hosts, F Omar Telan and Bruce Kramer and our book table monitor Nancy Sahms.

First Set Host F Omar Telan

The first set was hosted by F Omar Telan and energized the crowd. Poets reading in the first set were:

Poet Diane Sahms-Guarnieri

Poet Emari DiGiorgio

Poet Maria Keane

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Poet Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon

 

 

 

 

Poet Gene Halus

Poet Russell Reece

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Poet Ben Heins

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Poet g emil reutter

 

 

 

 

 

 

Host of Second Set Bruce Kramer

The second set was hosted by Bruce Kramer breezing to a beautiful conclusion. Poets reading in the second set were:

Poet Alice Wootson

Poet Mel Brake

Poet Dave Worrell

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Poet Wendy Schermer

Poet Charles Carr

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More photographs of Poets on the Porch 2015 can be viewed at our Flickr at this link:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/12065560@N04/sets/72157624536350361

Make a Day of it at Ryerss Museum and Library and Burholme Park

“Cortez taking Prisoner Montezuma” by R.H. Schnider, 1856, hangs over the doorway in the 2nd Floor Gallery at Ryerss.

Ryerss Museum and Library

Tours of the Ryerss Museum and Library are free and open to the public Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Museum galleries are located on the first and second floors. Also of interest is the family gallery on the first floor.  For book and history lovers you can make an appointment to visit the archives and view Robert Ryerss private collection of books dating back two centuries.

Library at Ryerss

The library is located on the second floor and offers a eclectic collection of books for lending and has an outstanding children’s section.  There is ample parking and Ryerss and Burholme Park are only a few blocks from the Ryers Station on the Fox Chase Line and the SEPTA 24 bus stops nearby. To learn more about the Ryerss family and their impact on Philadelphia and the world please read: Robert W. Ryerss – The Legacy

POETS ON THE PORCH – 2015  Festival will be held on July 11^th @ 1 p.m.

You can view more photographs of Ryerss Museum and Library at this link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/12065560@N04/sets/72157646510301296

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Make a day of it at Burholme Park while visiting Ryerss Museum and Library with the kids at the playground, a lazy afternoon picnic or hiking the West Woodlands. In addition there is a great miniature golf course, batting cages and arcade at the foot of Burholme hill.

You can view more photographs of Burholme Park, Ryerss Museum and the West Woodlands at these links:

Burholme Park: https://www.flickr.com/photos/12065560@N04/sets/72157602669224015 and https://www.flickr.com/photos/12065560@N04/sets/72157649581429746

West Woodlands: https://www.flickr.com/photos/12065560@N04/sets/72157646118096500

-g emil reutter lives and writes in the Fox Chase neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pa. You can find him at:

About g emil reutter

Sahms-Guarnieri, DiGiorgio and Keane @ Poets on the Porch 2015

This is the seventh in a series highlighting poets reading at Poets on the Porch 2015 to be held on July 11^th @ 1 p.m. at Ryerss Museum and Library, 7370 Central Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. 19111. Ryerss sits atop the hill at Burholme Park.

Diane Sahms-Guarnieri, a native Philadelphian, is the author of two full-length poetry collections: Images of Being (Stone Garden Publishing, 2011) and Night Sweat (Red Dashboard Press, forthcoming in January, 2016). She has been published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, Pennsylvania Literary Journal, Many Mountains Moving, Philadelphia Stories, Blue Collar Review, and Wilderness House Literary Review, among others. Awarded a grant in poetry from the AEV Foundation in 2013, she currently serves as Poet in Residence at Ryerss Museum and Library and as Poetry Editor of the Fox Chase Review. More about Diane can be found at http://www.dianesahms-guarnieri.com/   & https://dianesahmsguarnieri.wordpress.com/

Emari DiGiorgio makes a mean arugula quesadilla and has split-boarded the emariTasman Glacier. She teaches at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and is a Poet-in-the-Schools through the state arts council and the Dodge Poetry Foundation. Recent poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Arsenic Lobster, Mead, the Raleigh Review, Smartish Pace, and Verse. You can read the poetry of Emari DiGiorgio in The Fox Chase Review at this link: http://www.thefoxchasereview.org/a14edigiorgio.html

Maria J. Keane is a visual artist, educator and published poet.  She received her B.A. from Hunter College, N.Y.C. and a Master in Art History from the University of Delaware (Phi Kappa Phi). She is an Arts and Letters member of the National League of American Pen Women and an artist member of the historic Howard Pyle Studio in Wilmington, Delaware. She served as an Adjunct Professor of Fine Arts and Art History at Wilmington University (New Castle Campus, from 1984 to 2009.) You can read the poetry of Maria Keane in the Autumn 2012 and Autumn 2013 editions of The Fox Chase Review in our archives at this link: http://www.thefoxchasereview.org/archives.html

Williams and Halus @ Poets on the Porch 2015

This is the sixth in a series highlighting poets reading at Poets on the Porch 2015 to be held on July 11^th @ 1 p.m. at Ryerss Museum and Library, 7370 Central Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. 19111. Ryerss sits atop the hill at Burholme Park.

Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon, PhD  (Cultural Anthropology), M.A. kimmika(Anthropology), MFA (Theater), Graduate Certificate) Women’s Studies, B.A. (Journalism); is an Associate Professor of Urban Theater and Community Engagement in the Theater Department at Temple University. The author of Through Smiles and Tears: The History of African American Theater (From Kemet to the Americas) (Lambert Academic Publishing, 2011); The Secret Messages in African American Theater: Hidden Meaning Embedded in Public Discourse” (Edwin Mellen Publishing, 2006) She is a recipient of the 2013 Associate Provosts Arts Grant; 2008 Seed Grant, 2003 Provost’s Arts Grant; 2001 Independence Foundation Grant, the 2000 PEW fellowship, and1999, Daimler-Chrysler National Poetry Competition. Williams-Witherspoon is a contributing poet to 26 anthologies and recipient of a host of awards and citations. You can read the poetry of Kimmika Williams-Witherspoon in The Fox Chase Review at this link: http://www.thefoxchasereview.org/s14-kwilliamswitherspoon.html

Gene Halus, A native of the Lawndale neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pa., He is an Associate Professor of Politics at Immaculata University. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from LaSalle University, he graduated with a double major from the department of History and Political Science, his Masters of Art and his Ph.D., from the Department of Politics of the Catholic University of America. Halus has been a community/social activist in the United States and Ireland. He has written several op-ed pieces for various newspapers including the Souderton Independent and the Lancaster Eagle Gazette. He has written articles on topics such as German-Americans of Northeast Philadelphia and Resurgent Ethnicity: Reconsidering Ethnicity, Whiteness, and Assimilation; At Frankford We Stand!: The Mobilization of Euro-American Ethnic Consciousness in Philadelphia Neighborhoods and Changes in City Government; and Fair Housing/Fair Lending. Halus is working on a new poetry collection titled Perkiomen using the Perkiomen Creek as the focus of the cycle of poems. His most recent book is Irish Americans: The History and Culture of a People, co-authored with William E. Watson released in November of 2014. You can read the poetry of Gene Halus in The Fox Chase Review at this link: http://www.thefoxchasereview.org/w15ghalus.html

Coming this July- The 21st Edition of The Fox Chase Review

Trail at Pennypack Nature Sanctuary

The Summer 2015 Edition of The Fox Chase Review our 21st, is in production and will appear on line this July.

Poetry by: Simon Anton Diego Baena, Kevin Brophy, Michael DeMarco, Gil Fagianella, Ananya S Guha, Michelle Grottola, Maria Keane, Adrian Manning, David P. Miller, Michelle Myers, Carlos Reyes and Laura Madeline Wiseman.

Fiction by: Sterling Brown, Joseph Crossen, Jean Davis, and Nancy Sherman.

http://www.thefoxchasereview.org/

New Youth Poet Laureate Named in Philadelphia

From the Mayors Office

Mayor Michael A. Nutter, Helen Haynes, Chief Cultural Officer, and Poet Laureate Frank Sherlock, announced David Jones as the City’s third Youth Poet Laureate during a ceremony at City Hall. Mr. Jones’ term will begin immediately and run through May 2016.

“The City recognizes the impact that poetry can have on the positive development of young people. Poetry can foster a life-long love of reading, make our students better writers and improve their ability to find deeper meaning and think critically,” said Mayor Michael A. Nutter. “It is important that we get our children interested in art and culture at an early age, and the youth poet laureate can play an important inspirational role in reaching that goal.”

The role of Youth Poet Laureate was established by Mayor Nutter in 2013 under the direction of the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (OACCE) to complement the City’s Poet Laureate program, and to give a young person an opportunity to develop and showcase his or her talents in poetry with the guidance of an experienced poet.

After a nomination process, the Poet Laureate Governing Committee selected three finalists: David Jones (West Philadelphia High School), Jada Elder-Wilkerson (Girls’ High School of Philadelphia) and Shirmina Smith (Academy at Palumbo). The members of the Poet Laureate Governing Committee and Poet Laureate Frank Sherlock worked together to make the final selection.

The Youth Poet Laureate will be mentored by Poet Laureate Frank Sherlock, as well as his successor, whose term will start in January 2016. In his newly appointed position, Mr. Jones said he hopes to receive guidance not just on the structure of his poetry, but how to further incorporate life experiences into his work. He will encourage his peers to react to the local, regional and national events that affect the city’s youth using poetry.

“We were pleased to see the caliber of talent displayed by the applicants for the position and look forward to helping David grow as a poet while inspiring his fellow youth,” stated Helen Haynes. “As the City’s first male Youth Poet Laureate, we are excited for the new perspective – and much needed voice – that he will bring to the position. We hope that Jada and Sabrina will continue to be part of the City’s efforts to increase the visibility of poetry in the city”

Myers and Vilayphonh @ Asian Arts Initiative – June 19

From The Asian Arts Initiative

Michelle Myers and Catzie Vilayphonh of Yellow Rage

Please join us for a very special Family Style Performance Showcase & Open Mic to celebrate the end of our 5th Anniversary Season!

Family Style Performance Showcase & Open Mic

Friday, June 19

Doors open at 7pm

Show starts at 7:45pm

$5-$10 Sliding Scale Admission at the Door

Asian Arts Initiative – 1219 Vine Street – Philadelphia, PA 19107

On the web:

http://asianartsinitiative.org/

 

 

 

Reece and Heins @ Poets on the Porch 2015

This is the fifth in a series highlighting poets reading at Poets on the Porch 2015 to be held on July 11^th @ 1 p.m. at Ryerss Museum and Library, 7370 Central Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. 19111. Ryerss sits atop the hill at Burholme Park.

Russell Reece has had stories and essays published in Memoir (and), Crimespree Magazine, The Fox Chase Review and many other print and on-line journals. His work has appeared several anthologies most recently Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors, released in 2012. All That Glitters, released in 2013 and Someone Wicked released in 2013. He has received two Best of the Net nominations and was a finalist in the 2012 William Faulkner/ William Wisdom Creative Writing Contest.  He placed first in the Delaware Press Association Annual Communications award in poetry and a 2015 fellowship from The Delaware Division of the Arts. Russ is a University of Delaware alumnus and a co-host of 2nd Saturday Poets in Wilmington, Delaware. He lives in Bethel, Delaware in rural Sussex County along the beautiful Broad Creek. You can read the poetry of Russell Reece in The Fox Chase Review at this link: http://www.thefoxchasereview.org/w14rreece.html

Ben Heins is the author of two chapbooks of poetry: Cut Me Free (Crisis Chronicles Press, 2014) and Greatest Hits & B-Sides (Vagabondage Press, 2012). In addition to teaching first-year writing at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and Rowan University, he is an active member of the South Jersey Poets Collective. You can read the poetry of Ben Heins in The Fox Chase Review at this link: http://www.thefoxchasereview.org/a14bheins.html

Wootson and Milby @ Poets on the Porch 2015

This is the fourth in a series highlighting poets reading at Poets on the Porch 2015 to be held on July 11^th @ 1 p.m. at Ryerss Museum and Library, 7370 Central Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa. 19111. Ryerss sits atop the hill at Burholme Park.

Alice Greenhowe Wootson grew up in a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She attended Cheyney University and earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Elementary Education. After graduating, she married and remained in the Philadelphia area. She earned a Masters Degree in Education and Reading Specialist Certification and taught in the public schools. Alice is the award-winning author of ten romance novels and an award-winning poet; she has taught writing workshops for numerous groups. She is also a board member of the Philadelphia Writers Conference. Alice Wootson is an active member of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church of Philadelphia. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband, Isaiah. You can read the poetry and fiction of Alice Wootson in the 2008 Winter, 2010 Summer and 2013 Winter Editions of The Fox Chase Review in our archives at this link: http://www.thefoxchasereview.org/archives.html

Robert Milby , of Florida, NY has been reading his poetry in public since March, 1995.   He is the author of 6 chapbooks, most recently: Dickens’ Pet Raven (Fierce Grace Press, Wilmington, DE, 2014).  His first book of poetry is Ophelia’s Offspring (Foothills Publishing, Kanona, NY, 2007).  Second book: Victorian House:  Ghosts and Gothic Poems will be published by Black Bed Sheet Books, Antelope, CA in 2014.   Robert hosts 3 Hudson Valley, NY poetry readings and has read his work in NY, NYC, NJ, PA and New England.  He is a listed poet with Poets & Writers, Inc. of NYC.  He writes for the arts magazine, Heyday Magazine and the arts newspaper, The Delaware and Hudson CANVAS. You can read the poetry of Robert Milby in The Fox Chase Review at this link:  http://www.thefoxchasereview.org/a14rmilby.html