Wednesday Night Poetry features poet, songwriter
Ozark poet and songwriter Willi Carlisle will be this week’s feature for Wednesday Night Poetry at Kollective Coffee+Tea, 110 Central Ave. The regular open mic session for all poets begins at 6:30 p.m. and Carlisle will perform at 7 p.m., followed by another round of open mic. Admission is free and open to all ages.
Carlisle got his Bachelor of Arts degree from Illinois’ Knox College in creative writing/performance studies and a Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry from the University of Arkansas where he was a Walton Fellow. He currently calls northwest Arkansas home and is accomplished at playing the guitar, fiddle, banjo and dulcimer. He has been labeled as an “Ozark renaissance folklorist” by Sing Out! Magazine. “But I see myself more as a poet, folk singer and theater artist,” Carlisle said in a news release.
His poetry has appeared in the literary publications Prelude, Hot Metal Bridge, Journal of Missouri Folklore and Journal of American Folklore. He also co-authored and performed a play for The Artist’s Laboratory Theater. Carlisle is a co-leader of the Fayetteville Old Time Music and Dance Society and has performed at Fayetteville Underground, Fayetteville Roots Festival, KUAF Radio and Crystal Bridges Museum. His oneman operetta “There Ain’t No More” will be on tour this summer at a variety of fringe-theater festivals across the nation.
“I don’t like to perform where the audience wants you to play covers by the Eagles or somebody else,” Carlisle said. “I want them to hear what I’ve got to say. That’s what I like about Wednesday Night Poetry. People come to hear what you’ve got to say. My grandfather once said, ‘the jukebox ruins everything.’”
Email budonfoot@yahoo.com for more information about Wednesday Night Poetry.