Urban Epiphany 2007 now available online

If you happened to miss part or all of Urban Epiphany 2007, the sixth annual installment of Buffalo's most inclusive literary community gathering and marathon-style reading on April 29th at the Unitarian Universalist Church on Elmwood Avenue, extensive sound files of the event are now available online courtesy of Buffalo area poet Robb Nesbitt (who recorded and served as sound engineer of the project) for local media activist Richard Wicka's new internet radio community thinktwiceradio.com.

Seventy two of the eighty one poets who (by my count) read at the five hour event on the last Sunday afternoon of National Poetry Month can be heard here (just click on each name), reading in the (approximately) two minute segment format that has proven so successful in making Urban Epiphany democratic and accessible in its appeal to both established community voices and talented newcomers alike.  A gallery of 75 photos of particpating writers Nesbitt took at the reading is also available at the same site.

If one single event on the calendar each year can be said to best represent the open-minded, participatory spirit of the Buffalo area literary community, Urban Epiphany is it.  Much credit must go to event co-founder and host Celia White, a young woman who has parlayed her organizational skills and the community's goodwill into what is quickly becoming a Buffalo area institution.

Speaking of Ms. White, her new collection of poems Letter was published earlier this month by Ambient Press.  A book launch reading and reception in conjunction with the release is planned from 3 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 27th at Rust Belt Books, 202 Allen Street.