2023 NMSPS Fall Poets Festival
Calling All Members of the New Mexico State Poetry Society!
Bring the kids/grandkids for a day of Family Fun.
Celebrate/Volunteer/Donate/Participate at the first annual . . .
NMSPS FALL FUN(D) FESTIVAL
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21 10:00 -5:00
South Valley Multi-Purpose Senior Center
2008 Larrazolo Rd SW
(Just off Atrisco Drive, less than half a mile north of Bridge Blvd)
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC—COME SEE WHAT NMSPS IS ABOUT
Admission is free, but bring that cash, card, or checkbook to support our fundraiser. Or, donate $15 and an hour of service to receive an NMSPS “forever” tee shirt.
9:00-10:00 Setup for events and Board Meeting (members welcome to observe)
10:00 –3:30 Main Bldg or outdoors in the park (look for signs)
Book and CD Sales by our entertainers (Russellers, Independence Creek Band, Nathan Brown)
DIY Book Sales (contact markfleisher111@gmail for booth information)
Bake Sales (bring your donations of baked goods to the Bake Sale table)
Glissando! anthologies for sale at NMSPS member discount price of $15
“Full STEAM Ahead” tee shirts at member price of $20
Limerick and Haiku Slams (Entry fee $5, winner gets half the pot)
RAFFLE tickets for various items and the 50/50 Raffle
10:15 President’s Welcome and Coffee (indoors)
11:00 The Russellers perform Cowboy Poetry and Music indoors
Noon-1:00 Picnic and stroll-and-shop, Food Truck or Bring Your Own Basket
1:00-2:30 Featured performer Nathan Brown inside or outdoors (TBD by weather)
3:15 Raffle drawings
3:30 Independence Creek Band
The Entertainers
Featured Act: Nathan Brown
Author, songwriter, and award-winning poet Nathan Brown is based in Wimberley, Texas, but he travels fulltime performing readings, concerts, and workshops and speaking on creativity, poetry, and songwriting. He holds a PhD in English and Journalism from the University of Oklahoma, where he’s taught for over 20 years. He was Poet Laureate for Oklahoma in 2013-14 and is currently an at large member of NMSPS.
Nathan has published over 20 books. Recent titles include In the Days of Our Seclusion, the first in a series known as the Pandemic Poems Project, which deals with the Covid pandemic, and a new travel memoir titled Just Another Honeymoon in France: A Vagabond at Large. His 2012 book, Karma Crisis: New and Selected Poems, was a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize as well as the Oklahoma Book Award, which he won in 2009 with Two Tables Over.
The Russellers
Cowboy poet and songwriter-singer Dennis Russell teams up with vocalist and multi-instrumentalist (renowned for her musical saw) Beverly Gray Russell. The couple performs original music and poetry depicting ranch life on Southern Colorado’s beautiful Huerfano River. Their repertoire also includes traditional stories and songs gleaned from gatherings, campfires, and concerts in Arizona, Texas, Colorado, and New Mexico.
Dennis is past president of the NM chapter of the International Western Music Association and founder of the Cimarron, NM, Cowboy Music and Poetry Gathering. Beverly keeps her FaceBook friends in stitches with hilarious stories of life on a cattle ranch near Red Wing, CO, and conducts impromptu workshops for audience members entranced by her magical saw.
Independence Creek Band
Independence Creek is a New Mexico based band playing a variety of music, both old and new. Based in bluegrass, the band emphasizes three-part vocal harmonies in its renditions of folk tunes, spirituals, singer-songwriter favorites, and many of leader Sally Wisely’s original songs. Recent performances include a feature at the Arizona Folklore Preserve near Tucson, a showcase at the NM State Fair for the International Western Music Association, and a DAR Wreaths Across America charity event in Salida, Colorado.
Band members are songwriter Sally Wisely on lead guitar and vocals; Louis Blackwell on mandolin, fiddle and vocals; and Tim Hankins on banjo, 12-string guitar, and vocals.
Last updated on October 11, 2023