Category Archives: video

Poetry Out Loud 2012: Jordan Smith

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Jordan Smith of Harlan, Kentucky recently won first place on the ninth season of The Voice, an American singing competition reality TV program. The above video is from the 2012 State finals in Frankfort, Kentucky where Smith is representing Harlan County High School. The winner of the that year’s competition was Curtlyn Kramer of Gatton Academy.

Smith read the following poems during his performance:

Poetry Out Loud is a national competition that teaches high school children about poetry by having them memorize and recite poems in front of an audience. Classrooms select students to compete in school-wide competitions. The winners of the school competitions go to the state competition, and those winners go to the national competition in Washington, DC. It is a partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation.

The Kentucky Arts Council is a state agency that creates “opportunities to foster environments to find value in the arts, participate in the arts and benefit from the arts through programs, grants and services.” (source)

As of December 2015, Jordan Smith is the highest-selling The Voice artist, whose covers of “Great is Thy Faithfulness” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” both reached the iTunes No. 1 spot, beating out “Hello” by Adele.

Bigger Than They Appear Reading summary (Part 3)

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In 2012, the Lexington Public Library recorded and produced a reading held at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. This event featured readings from Bigger Than They Appear: Anthology of Very Short Poems.

For the full list of videos, click here.

The poets were asked to read one of their poems as well as someone else’s. Below are the poets, the time stamp where they appear in the video, and the poems they read. The emcee is Katerina Stoykova-Klemer. Continue reading →

Bianca Spriggs Reads at East Tennessee State University

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At East Tennessee State University, Bianca Spriggs reads from How Swallowtails Become Dragons (Accents Publishing) as well as a poem from Still: The Journal. The reading was a part of Amethyst Phillips’ Master’s presentation on Creativity in Appalachia.

The reading was on October 29th, 2014, and took place at the Willow Tree Coffeehouse and Music Room in Johnson City, Tennessee.

Circe's Lament edited by Bianca Spriggs and Katerina Stoykova-KlemerDon’t forget to check out Bianca Spriggs in our newest anthology, Circe’s Lament: Anthology of Wild Women Poetry.

Bigger Than They Appear Reading summary (Part 4)

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In 2012, the Lexington Public Library recorded and produced a reading held at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. This event featured readings from Bigger Than They Appear: Anthology of Very Short Poems.

For the full list of videos, click here.

The poets were asked to read one of their poems as well as someone else’s. Below are the poets, the time stamp where they appear in the video, and the poems they read. Katerina Stoykova-Klemer is the emcee between poets.

Bigger Than They Appear Reading summary (Part 2)

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In 2012, the Lexington Public Library recorded and produced a reading held at the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. This event featured readings from Bigger Than They Appear: Anthology of Very Short Poems.

For the full list of videos, click here.

The poets were asked to read one of their poems as well as someone else’s. Below are the poets, the time stamp where they appear in the video, and the poems they read. Katerina Stoykova-Klemer is the emcee between poets.

Interview with Eric Scott Sutherland about the Holler Poets Series

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Eric Scott Sutherland speaks about what the Holler Poets Series is and what it’s meant to him. He describes it as a place where “the poet can be the rock star for the night.” He also says that it’s all about empowering everyone who comes out, poet and audience.

“The beauty of Holler is that we’ve had people who’ve never thought they’d get onstage and open their mouths and share something. That almost brings more pleasure to me than someone trying to get a writing career, publish a book, which are great things.”

The Holler Poets Series is the last Wednesday of every month at Al’s Bar in Lexington, Kentucky.

The above video was created by Brandon Turner of Unsung Hero Media.

Cave Canem Poetry Reading: Sandra Lim, Saretta Morgan, Frank X Walker

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The New School in New York City hosted a reading sponsored by Cave Canem on March 17, 2015.

Video Timeline:

  • 00:00 – 2:36
    • Introduction
  • 2:40 – 4:52
    • Saretta Morgan reads
  • 4:57 – 29:08
    • Sandra Lim reads
  • 29:11 – 45:23
    • Frank X Walker Reads
  • 45:27 – End
    • Panel Discussion

Sandra Lim is from Seoul, Korea and is winner of the Kore Press First Book Award for Poetry for her book Loveliest Grotesque (Kore Press). 

Saretta Morgan is from Kentucky, raised in Virginia, and was stationed with the US Military for four years in Germany. She joined the inaugural class of the Graduate Program in Writing at Pratt Institute in 2014.

Frank X. Walker is from Danville, Kentucky. He’s a former Kentucky poet laureate and author of one of Accents Publishing’s newest books, About Flight.

The Cave Canem Foundation is dedicated to “cultivating the artistic and professional growth of African American poets” (source).

“Letter” by Ivo Rafailov

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Writer and publisher Jason Sizemore reads “Letter” by Ivo Rafailov. This poem was translated from Bulgarian by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer.

Clip from the North American Premiere of The Season of Delicate Hunger: Anthology of Contemporary Bulgarian Poetry at the Morris Book Shop on January 4th, 2014.

Ivo RafailovIvo Rafailov was born on February 25th, 1977 in Bourgas. He holds a degree in cultural studies from St. Kliment Ohridski University in Sofia. He works as a graphic designer. Ivo is the author of two books of poetry, most recently Countable Temptations (2013), and he has received awards for both photography and poetry. Ivo is the co-founder of Frost Press, which has published collections of contemporary American poets in Bulgarian, including Billy Collins, Ted Kooser and Carl Dennis. He lives and works in Sofia.

Born the son of an unemployed coal miner in a tiny Kentucky Appalachian villa named Big Creek (population 400), Jason Sizemore fought his way out of the hills to the big city of Lexington. He attended Transylvania University (real school with its own vampire) and received a degree in computer science. Since 2004, he has owned and operated Apex Publications. He is the editor of five anthologies, a Hugo and Stoker Award loser, an occasional writer, and usually can be found wondering the halls of hotel conventions seeking friends and free food.

Katerina Reading from The Porcupine of Mind

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This is from the release of Katerina’s The Porcupine of Mind (Broadstone Books, 2012). The introduction is from Broadstone’s Larry Moore. This took place at the Carnegie Center in Lexington, Kentucky on May 24, 2012.

Katerina is the founder and Senior Editor of Accents Publishing. Originally from Burgas, Bulgaria, Katerina first stepped foot in the United States country 20 years ago. She recently celebrated this landmark with a reading at the Lexington Public Library’s Farish Theater.

“This poem is dedicated to” by Rossen Karamfilov

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James Pfeiffer, poet and former Accents intern, reads “This poem is dedicated to” by Rossen Karamfilov, translated from the Bulgarian by Katerina Stoykova-Klemer. This poem can be found in The Season of Delicate Hunger: Anthology of Contemporary Bulgarian Poetry. This video is from the book’s release at the Morris book shop in Lexington, Kentucky.

Rossen KaramfilovRossen Karamfilov was born on November 20th, 1992 in Sofia. He is the author of two poetry collections—The Eagle and the Child (2011) and Stereo Silence, which was released in 2013. Rossen currently lives in Plovdiv, where he is studying applied linguistics (German and English) at Paisii Hilendarski University.