Update: Picnic IRL

Once again Picnic slouches towards Mountainair to be born Saturday August 28, high noon at the Shaffer Hotel garden and more or less concurrent with the annual Sunflower Festival. I posted early basics some time back. Updates were twittered @PWPicnic as they dribbled in. The flyer is out (posted below) ~ a recap wouldn't hurt. 

click to view larger version to print or download

Kenneth Gurney and Dale Harris will emcee again this year. Kenneth sent me a splendid collection of links to his poems that will go in a separate post just about him. I requested an updated bio + links, poetry sample, etc. from Dale and refuse to run the same old that I've been running since 


The presumably complete list of 2010 featured individual readers runs as follows:Tani Arness, Gary Brower, Greg Candela, Wayne Crawford, Donald Levering, Miriam Sagan, Cirrelda Snyder-Bryan, Mitch Rayes, Sirena Rayes and Charles Usmar.  


Every reader who submits "bio +" (bio, picture, link/s, sample poem) gets a separate post ~ a separate page with its own link. I already have "bio +"  from Tani, Gary, Wayne, Donald (already posted) and Miriam (including neat teacherly stuff for her workshop bio). I prefer not to recycle bios on past readers unless they have been living in a coffin since their last picnic appearance. 

photo by Robin des Jardins

There will also be open mic and live music (a group, guitar accompaniment for some readers and unscheduled free form jamming). Open mic readers who are reasonably sure they will attend are also invited to send information for a readers' page


Traditionally, Picnic lineup includes a group: this year we are honored to be featuring New Mexico slam champions, the ABQ UNIDOS Youth Poetry Slam Team. [see also Duke City Youth Poetry Collective]. For a YouTube preview: clips of ABQ Unidos performing at the Church of Beethoven

• Miguel Figueroa, Reed Adair, Khalid Binsunni and Olivia Gatwwod 
• Reed Adair and Olivia Gatwood 
• Miguel Figueroa and Khalid Binsunreni 

The accompanying Sunflower Writing Workshop (link to old, pre-blog page) runs August 26-28, Thursday afternoon through Saturday morning. The 2010 brochure will be blogged as soon as I have a copy of the file, which will also be linked. There's more about recently added blog pages just for Picnic and the Workshop ~ see tabs at the top of the page ~ that I'll also blog separately. FYI ~ 2009 Workshop brochure and 2008 Workshop brochure


The New Mexico Celtic Singers are the scheduled music group. I sincerely hope they have added authentic Welsh pieces to their repertoire. With this blogwyr at the helm, English folk songs denigrating the Welsh don't count except against them.

Cyrmu am byth! Y Ddraig Goch ddyry gychwyn! Twll dîn pob Sais!