April is National Poetry Month and Berks County-based poetry group Berks Bards is once again marking the occasion with their signature BardFest, a celebration of written and spoken word poetry on air and online. During this daily feature poem readings are aired on television and streamed online by Berks Community Television (BCTV) and also archived on YouTube for easy viewing and sharing with new videos being added throughout the month.
Marilyn LT Klimcho is the organizer of the Poem A Day project and is a Berks Bards member as well as producer of the programs Poets’ Pause and Pub Date with an Author on BCTV. Klimcho noted, “Berks Community Television has partnered with Berks Bards on the One-Minute Poetry Project every April since Ann Sheehan was bold enough to suggest it sometime in the 2000s. It’s a wonderful opportunity for local poets to become accustomed to a quality television studio and to reach a wider audience as well. I’m proud to have introduced so many people to BCTV.”
Who are the Berks Bards? According to their website they are “a grassroots poetry group with the aim of encouraging the lively art of poetry in Berks County.
- We are poets who love helping other poets find their voice, with monthly readings and open mics at the GoggleWorks.
- We celebrate Poetry Month each April with a BardFest.
- We provide free workshops and other activities for Berks County poets of all ages and experience.
To the Celts, a bard is a poet-minstrel, a teller of tales, a keeper of history. For more than a quarter-century, Berks Bards have thrived and survived, bringing opportunities for local poets and those from other parts of the country to share their work with each other and with the community at large.”
The group will be hosting its monthly First Thursday Poetry Reading and poetry open mic on Thursday, April 2, at 6 p.m., at the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts, 201 Washington St., Reading. The event will feature award-winning author and poet Steven Concert.
Please visit berksbards.com for more information and events.
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