This galère gathering isn’t simply about the poems, but also the poet’s muse, how the verse came to be. So, if writers write to expose themselves and actors act to hide themselves . . . poets pose as spiritual coroners—examining both the living and the dead—via self-evisceration. A psychic operation that allows the assemblage to decide if the work’s DNA is that of an archangel . . . or Frankenstein.

August's galère features Thomas Fucaloro, Martina Salisbury and J. Owen Smith.

Thomas Fucaloro is the winner of numerous grants from the Staten Island Council of the Arts, the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, NYC Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, and NYC Commission of Human Rights, to name a few. He has been on six national slam teams, holds an MFA in creative writing from the New School, and is a co-founding editor of Great Weather for Media and NYSAI Press. He is an adjunct professor at Wagner College, BMCC, and CSI, where he teaches various poetry and literature courses. 

 

 Martina Salisbury is a designer, creative director, curator, and poet. Her work often explores the histories revealed in vernacular photographs and archival materials, discovering beauty in the everyday. A daughter of poets, Martina was born in the Willamette Valley, Oregon and spent much of her youth overseas, including 8 years in Italy. She moved “temporarily” to New York in 1998 to attend the School of Visual Arts and currently lives between Brooklyn and Catskill.                                                  

 

J. Owen Smith is a spoken word poet and singer/songwriter from New York. He started out in Greenwich Village during the 70’s, took time off to help raise a family, but continued to write and create. An audio book of music and poetry “The Price of Tears” was released last February and this summer he released “Companion Pieces.” J. Owen Smith tells stories through music and words that speak of the human condition and paints pictures of a life worth living.