ENTROPY: THE POETEXPO

What is poetry if not the distillation of utter chaos into beauty?

Entropy: THE POETEXPO is a celebration of the chaotic loveliness of all things poetry. Browse books from regional presses, participate in a workshop with Papercraft Miracles, and hear the work of some of Buffalo’s most stellar poets.

FEATURING: Matthew Bosque, Rachel Robles, Marina Blitshteyn, & Ten Thousand (Marquis Burton).

With readings by Just Buffalo Writing Center Young Writers.

EVENT SCHEDULE
Entropy: THE POETEXPO runs from 1 - 6 pm.
Vendor tables will be open throughout the event.

1:30pm: Panel Discussion with featured readers (topic forthcoming)

2:30pm: Just Buffalo Writing Center Young Writers Showcase

2:30-3:30 Papercraft Miracles Mini-Workshop

3:30pm: Featured Readers

Vendors to include: Peach Mag, Blazevox, Sunnyoutside Press, Papercraft Miracles, Pure Ink Poetry, Burning Books, Los Artistas del Barrio: A Latinx/Hispanic Arts Collaborative, Poetic Cafe, Cornelia, Variety Pack, Hostile Books, Black Ocean, and more.

Bianca McGraw will be in attendance with her journal bar where attendees can make unique custom journals from upcycled materials.

Elements of the Mind Tarot w/ Jeci Sky Walker will be doing 3 card spreads for a nominal fee

Photographer Rylea Cammarano will be offering "author" headshots from 1:30-3:30pm for a nominal fee. 

This event is free with gallery admission.

Featured Reader Bios:

Born in the Soviet Union, Marina Blitshteyn and her family fled to the US in 1991 as refugees and settled in Buffalo, NY. She studied English at SUNY Buffalo, where she edited the longstanding annual Name poetry journal, and Creative Writing at Columbia University, where she also served as a University Writing Fellow and consultant. She is the author of Two Hunters, her first full-length collection, published by Argos Books in 2019 with a CLMP Face-Out grant. Prior chapbooks include Russian for Lovers (Argos Books), $kill$ (dancing girl press), Nothing Personal (Bone Bouquet Books), and most recently Sheet Music with Buffalo's own Sunnyoutside Press. Her work has been anthologized in the new Brooklyn Poets Anthology, The &Now Awards 3: The Best Innovative Writing, Why I Am Not a Painter, and My Next Heart: New Buffalo Poetry. She teaches Composition and Rhetoric and experimental nonfiction, and occasionally runs The Loose Literary Canons, a feminist reading group in NYC.

Rachel Robles Saeger is originally from Brooklyn N.Y. and is a longtime resident of Buffalo. She is a former youth counselor with a degree in psychology and holds a certification in creative writing from the University at Buffalo. Rachel is an educational rights advocate for children with developmental disabilities. She is the proud mother of an inspirational little girl named Elyse who has autism. Rachel's poetry is psychological, somewhat bilingual, and largely female-centric. Her work is concerned with the complexity of relations between Latino identity, gender, culture, and historical process. Rachel is the author of three chapbooks of poetry: Canciones de Asilo (Songs of Asylum). Invocaciones (Invocations), and Hero's Departure. She’s currently working in her full-length book, with the working title My Sister Asylum. She is the recipient of the Academy of American Poet’s prize, 2017, the Scribbler’s Prize, & the Albert Cook, Mack Hammond and John Logan Prizes for Poetry. Her most recent publications can be found in the Buffalo News, the Iconoclast, Ghost City press, and in the anthology My Next Heart: New Buffalo Poetry. Rachel is currently curating the 4th Friday Reading Series at Dogs Ears Bookstore & Cafe, and is elated at the opportunity to feature emerging talent.

Matthew Bosque is a poet, student, friend and letter writer from Buffalo NY. A proud Puerto Rican writes the search for home into the spaces around him, looking for places where the voices of his people can be heard and celebrated. recently, Matthew has found the world of letter writing as a means for this searching, finding a home in the intimacy of correspondence while losing it again by its possible violence. As a member of Los Artistas Del Barrio, he works together with other talented latinx artists  to represent and celebrate latinx art in the city. As the writer of the group Matthew hopes to build platforms of exposure for other latinx writers of all backgrounds and disciplines, recently curating the En las Sombras event, an all latinx reading at the Albright Knox, a trend he wishes to continue with the coming year.  His work can be read in My Next Heart: New Buffalo Poetry, The Pretty Cool Poetry Thing and will soon be found in the En La Luna Anthology. On rare occasions he can be found in your local comic book store or in a Smash Bros arena, giving other poets the business. His most recent letters have all been addressed to Hugo from the 6 season hit television series Lost and he desperately hopes that one day he will read them.  

Marquis “Ten Thousand” Burton is a decorated spoken-word poet, visual artist, writer and educator. Ten Thousand has been an important part of Buffalo's artistic community for the past 15 years and has partnered with Shea’s Performing Arts, and other non-profit and educational institutions to teach young adults & children how to not only discover their voices but also the power within themselves. He has coached the Buffalo poetry teams at the National Poetry Slams to top-10 finishes for 2 out of 4 years of coaching. Marquis has also held the position of curator for poetry talent for the Music Is Art Festival for the past 6 years. Since 2016, he has partnered with artist Tara Sasiadek to create visual & immersive art installations that engage all the senses and encourage people to reconnect with their inner self.

Meghann Boltz is a poet from Buffalo, NY.  She is the author of the chapbook rebel/blonde (Bottlecap Press, 2018). Her work has appeared in Cosmonauts Avenue, glitterMOB, Lor, Peach Mag, The Buffalo News, the anthology My Next Heart: New Buffalo Poetry, and elsewhere. She received her MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia and was shortlisted for the 2018 Metatron Prize for Rising Authors. She has work forthcoming in Erase the Patriarchy, an anthology of erasure poems edited by Isobel O’Hare (University of Hell Press). Her second chapbook, True Romance, will be out in 2020 from dancing girl press.