Earth Poets group photo taken in advance of the very first Earth Poets performance. This was the original group selected by the event’s organizer, Jeff Poniewaz. The photo was taken in the red oak grove on the wild side of Riverside Park just west of the bike trail in April 1988. Left to right, standing in front of the tree: Jeff Poniewaz, Suzanne Rosenblatt, Angela Peckenpaugh. In the tree: Rick Ollman, Ann Megisikwe Filemyr, Craig Kowalkowski, Cristina Herrera, Louisa Loveridge-Gallas, Sue Silvermarie, Harvey Taylor. Antler performed with the group for its first few years, but was doing readings on the East Coast when this photo was taken.

20TH ANNIVERSARY PERFORMANCES of the EARTH POETS and MUSICIANS, April 18 and 19th

For their 20th Anniversary Performances, four of the original poets, Jeff Poniewaz, Louisa Loveridge-Gallas, Suzanne Rosenblatt, and Harvey Taylor, and the two musician members of the group, Jahmes Finlayson and Holly Haebig, will continue to transform inconvenient truths into conscientious action.
The performances will also feature a special guest, activist and poet James Godsil (Peddlers Poems).

Earth Musician Holly Haebig

FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2008
7 P.M. Interactive Poetry and Music for the Whole Family
8 P.M. Earth Poets and Musicians
Jahmes Finlayson, Louisa Loveridge-Gallas, Holly Haebig, Jeff Poniewaz, Suzanne Rosenblatt, Harvey Taylor, and SPECIAL GUEST: James Godsil
URBAN ECOLOGY CENTER
1500 E. Park Place
$5.00 Per Person, $10.00 Per Family, UEC Members Free
www.urbanecologycenter.org/

SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 2008
8 P.M. (same performers)
THE COFFEE HOUSE
631 N. 19th Street (Just South of Wisconsin Ave)
www.the-coffee-house.com/
Donation: $5.00: Proceeds to benefit the Earth Poets and Musicians Outreach Project and website on milwaukeerenaissance.com
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The Earth Poets on the wild side of Riverside Park in early April 2008: (l-r) Jeff Poniewaz, Louisa Loveridge-Gallas, Harvey Taylor, Suzanne Rosenblatt and 2008 guest poet James Godsil.

Poems and Lyrics

Videos

Bios and Photos

Related links

Introducing the Earth Poets & Musicians

Poet and eco-activist Jeff Poniewaz organized Milwaukee’s first annual Earth Day Poetry Celebration in April 1988 out of concern that, after eight years of the anti-environmental Reagan presidency, not much was being done to observe Earth Day in Milwaukee. He had lived in the San Francisco area from mid-1978 to early 1983, enjoying the camaraderie of poets like himself among whom nature and the environment figured prominently. A meeting place of those eco ardent poets was a storefront in the Mission District over the door to which was a sign that said “Cloud House” and “Walt Whitman Breathes Here.” Cloud House’s custodian was a dynamic street poet who went by the name of Kush.

After he returned to his native Milwaukee, Poniewaz was happy to see that a number of emerging Milwaukee poets were eloquently articulating environmental concerns as part of their poetic output. He thought: “How exciting if these poets, with their wonderfully various styles of writing and performance presentation, could be brought together in a kaleidoscopic way, with each having ten minutes to sound out their most powerful work in that vein.” He personally selected and invited each of the participating poets. The result was the first Earth Poets & Musicians Performance—or Earth Day Poetry Celebration as it was called when it was entirely spoken word and hadn’t yet acquired its music dimension.

Antler was part of this Earth Poets group for its first six years but now during April is busy performing at Earth Day events around the country. Kush, on a visit from San Francisco, opened the very first Earth Poets event with two of his street chants. Jeff was proud of this eco bunch of Milwaukee poets and glad Kush could witness how well they compared to their counterparts in San Francisco.

Of the original line-up of ten Milwaukee poets, four continue to get together each April for the annual Earth Poetry celebration. Poniewaz, author of Dolphin Leaping in the Milky Way, teaches “Literature of Ecological Vision” at the Urban Ecology Center via UWM’s off-campus program. Longshoreman Harvey Taylor has published a chapbook of his poems at the end of each year and in recent years has issued several CDs of his songs and poems. Suzanne Rosenblatt is a visual artist besides being a chanter of her unique incantations. Louisa Loveridge-Gallas, who has performed with singer Claudia Schmidt, published an outstanding collection of her work titled Revelations on Longing Street in 1998. Among Milwaukee’s best poets, these four are also dynamic performers of their poems. Other members of the original line-up were Angela Peckenpaugh, Ann Filemyr, Sue Silvermarie, Cristina Herrera and Craig Kowalkowski (now known as Craig Stone). Jahmes Finlayson, Holly Haebig, Suzanne Rosenblatt, and Harvey Taylor, plus KT Rusch, are featured in the 20th Annual concert dvd: contact any of them, if interested, and/or insert their names in the www.youtube.com search engine to access their performances. The dvd is also available at the Village Bazaar (Farwell, south of North Ave), & Woodland Pattern (Locust & Fratney).

Each year a guest poet is invited to perform with the group. Guest poets have been Rick Ollman, Daniel Grego, Peggy Hong, Mathibela Sebathoma, Eric Hansen, and KT Rusch. Claudia Schmidt performed with the group one year. In recent years, musician/singers Jahmes Finlayson and Holly Haebig have joined the group, adding the magic of music to the magic of words.

Jahmes Tony Finlayson
handswithheart@aol.com

Holly Haebig
hhaebig@gmail.com

Louisa Loveridge-Gallas
Rivlake@aol.com

Jeff Poniewaz
poniewaz@uwm.edu

Suzanne Rosenblatt
adsz@csd.uwm.edu
http://www.rosenblattgallery.com/suzanne/index.shtml

Harvey Taylor
htaylor@wi.rr.com
www.harveytaylor.net

Recent ‘special guests’:

Peggy Hong
peggyhong@sbcglobal.net

KT Rusch
Krusch@wi.rr.com
www.ktruschmusic.net
www.milwaukeerenaissance.com/KtRusch/HomePage
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