Hemingway's Poetry Series
May 29, 2018
Featured Readers
Standing L-R: Jimmy Cvetic, Sheila Carter-Jones, Kathleen Trew Swazuk & Joan Bauer
Seated L-R: William Rock, Matthew Borczon & Samuel Hazo
William Rock - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download
Kathleen Trew Swazuk was 19 years old and a junior in nursing school when she joined the Army Student Nurse Program. Two years later she was an Army nurse at the 93rd EVAC Hospital in Long Binh during her 1969-70 tour of duty in Vietnam. She hid the memories and her pain of that time in the poems closed in a drawer. Joining Art and Inspiration International she began to unearth the poems of her past. They were published in a book called Wartorn Heart: Poems and Art Inspired by the Vietnam War (2014). Kathie retired from the VA as a Nurse Practitioner taking care of the veterans she loved.
Kathleen Trew Swazuk - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download
Sheila Carter-Jones has been described by Herbert Woodward Martin as one who writes with "immediacy of tone, voice and language." Much of her work to date charts in images and music the lived experiences of a small-town girl brought up in a house across from the boney dump of Republic Steel Coal Mines outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has been published in Pennsylvania Review, Pittsburgh Quarterly, Tri-State Anthology, Blair Mountain Press and Flights. Grace Cavalieri, producer and host of "The Poet and the Poem from the Library of Congress" says that Sheila's recent book Blackberry Cobbler Song premiers a narrative poet in the greatest tradition of American storytellers. She is currently working on a new poetry manuscript and a memoir.
Samuel Hazo is the author of poetry, fiction, essays, various works of translation and four plays. Governor Robert Casey named him Pennsylvania’s first State Poet 1993. He served until 2003. From his first book, through the National Book Award finalist Once for the Last Bandit, to his newest poems, he explores themes of mortality and love, passion and art, courage and grace in a style that is unmistakably his own. As the founder and Director/President of the International Poetry Forum, Dr. Hazo brought more than 800 poets and performers to Pittsburgh. Dr. Hazo is a former captain in the Marine Corps and the McAnulty Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Duquesne University. He has received twelve honorary degrees, is an honorary Phi Beta Kappa member, and has been awarded the Hazlett Award for Excellence in Literature from the Governor of Pennsylvania, the Forbes Medal, the Elizabeth Kray Award for Outstanding Service to Poetry from New York University, and the Griffin Award from the University of Notre Dame. His book, Just Once, received the Maurice English Poetry Prize.
Open Mic
Jimmy Cvetic has been writing and performing poetry all his life. A retired county police officer and often described as 'Bukowski with a badge,' Jimmy for many years was director of the Western Pennsylvania Police Athletic League, and is founder and director of the Summer Poetry Series at Hemingway's Cafe in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. His poems have appeared in the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, City Paper and other publications. He appears in the film, Warrior, and in 2012, he read his poetry at Beyond Baroque in Venice, CA with his actor-friend and poet, Nick Nolte. In 2010, Jimmy's book of poetry, The Secret Society of Dog was published by Awesome Books/Lascaux Editions, and a second volume, Dog Unleashed, was also published by Awesome Books in 2012. Jimmy, his boxing gym and trainers were recently featured in the Esquire cable TV show, “White Collar Brawlers.” His most recent book of poetry, Dog is a Love from Hell, was published in 2017 by Lascaux Editions.
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Seated L-R: William Rock, Matthew Borczon & Samuel Hazo
Jimmy Cvetic Opens the Show
Jimmy Cvetic - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download
Matthew Borczon is a poet and Navy sailor from Erie, Pa. He served in the busiest combat hospital in Afghanistan from 2010-11. He writes about war and his struggles with PTSD. His book A Clock of Human Bones won the Yellow Chair Review chapbook contest in 2015. In 2016, his book Battle Lines was published by Epic Rites Press. His book Ghost Train was published by Weasel Press in 2017. He continues to publish widely in the small press. When he is not writing, Matthew is a nurse to adults with developmental disabilities. He has a wife and four children.
Matthew Borczon - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download
William Rock taught himself to sculpt and paint by visiting museums around the world. He has had the opportunity to study, as well as teach with, Tibetan and Chinese monks as well as artists, writers, and poets of the various spiritual and philosophical disciplines. His art has been exhibited within the USA, as well as internationally, where he has spoken and taught extensively on the nature of creativity, mysticism and art. Rock is the founder of Art and Inspiration International, a non-profit organization that promotes the arts, creativity, education, dialogue and cross-cultural collaboration.
Jimmy Cvetic - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download
Matthew Borczon is a poet and Navy sailor from Erie, Pa. He served in the busiest combat hospital in Afghanistan from 2010-11. He writes about war and his struggles with PTSD. His book A Clock of Human Bones won the Yellow Chair Review chapbook contest in 2015. In 2016, his book Battle Lines was published by Epic Rites Press. His book Ghost Train was published by Weasel Press in 2017. He continues to publish widely in the small press. When he is not writing, Matthew is a nurse to adults with developmental disabilities. He has a wife and four children.
Matthew Borczon - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download
William Rock taught himself to sculpt and paint by visiting museums around the world. He has had the opportunity to study, as well as teach with, Tibetan and Chinese monks as well as artists, writers, and poets of the various spiritual and philosophical disciplines. His art has been exhibited within the USA, as well as internationally, where he has spoken and taught extensively on the nature of creativity, mysticism and art. Rock is the founder of Art and Inspiration International, a non-profit organization that promotes the arts, creativity, education, dialogue and cross-cultural collaboration.
William Rock - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download
Kathleen Trew Swazuk was 19 years old and a junior in nursing school when she joined the Army Student Nurse Program. Two years later she was an Army nurse at the 93rd EVAC Hospital in Long Binh during her 1969-70 tour of duty in Vietnam. She hid the memories and her pain of that time in the poems closed in a drawer. Joining Art and Inspiration International she began to unearth the poems of her past. They were published in a book called Wartorn Heart: Poems and Art Inspired by the Vietnam War (2014). Kathie retired from the VA as a Nurse Practitioner taking care of the veterans she loved.
Kathleen Trew Swazuk - Click to Play (Right-Click to Download
Sheila Carter-Jones has been described by Herbert Woodward Martin as one who writes with "immediacy of tone, voice and language." Much of her work to date charts in images and music the lived experiences of a small-town girl brought up in a house across from the boney dump of Republic Steel Coal Mines outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has been published in Pennsylvania Review, Pittsburgh Quarterly, Tri-State Anthology, Blair Mountain Press and Flights. Grace Cavalieri, producer and host of "The Poet and the Poem from the Library of Congress" says that Sheila's recent book Blackberry Cobbler Song premiers a narrative poet in the greatest tradition of American storytellers. She is currently working on a new poetry manuscript and a memoir.
Samuel Hazo is the author of poetry, fiction, essays, various works of translation and four plays. Governor Robert Casey named him Pennsylvania’s first State Poet 1993. He served until 2003. From his first book, through the National Book Award finalist Once for the Last Bandit, to his newest poems, he explores themes of mortality and love, passion and art, courage and grace in a style that is unmistakably his own. As the founder and Director/President of the International Poetry Forum, Dr. Hazo brought more than 800 poets and performers to Pittsburgh. Dr. Hazo is a former captain in the Marine Corps and the McAnulty Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Duquesne University. He has received twelve honorary degrees, is an honorary Phi Beta Kappa member, and has been awarded the Hazlett Award for Excellence in Literature from the Governor of Pennsylvania, the Forbes Medal, the Elizabeth Kray Award for Outstanding Service to Poetry from New York University, and the Griffin Award from the University of Notre Dame. His book, Just Once, received the Maurice English Poetry Prize.
Open Mic
Jimmy Cvetic has been writing and performing poetry all his life. A retired county police officer and often described as 'Bukowski with a badge,' Jimmy for many years was director of the Western Pennsylvania Police Athletic League, and is founder and director of the Summer Poetry Series at Hemingway's Cafe in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. His poems have appeared in the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, City Paper and other publications. He appears in the film, Warrior, and in 2012, he read his poetry at Beyond Baroque in Venice, CA with his actor-friend and poet, Nick Nolte. In 2010, Jimmy's book of poetry, The Secret Society of Dog was published by Awesome Books/Lascaux Editions, and a second volume, Dog Unleashed, was also published by Awesome Books in 2012. Jimmy, his boxing gym and trainers were recently featured in the Esquire cable TV show, “White Collar Brawlers.” His most recent book of poetry, Dog is a Love from Hell, was published in 2017 by Lascaux Editions.
Mac users who lack a 2-button mouse may press Control-Click on the appropriate links to enable downloads.
