West Philly Community Poem in the Philadelphia Inquirer

@westphillycommunitypoem is in the Philadelphia Inquirer this morning! Along with words from Philly Youth Poet Laureate Cydney Brown and LindoYes, who joined us in the pop-up offering personalized poems for participants to walk away with.

Read the full article here: https://www.inquirer.com/…/everyday-places-barnes-west…

“Doing poetry in public, Kavanaugh’s learned, can be a ‘healing medium’ that gives people space to ‘work things through, through poetry.’

“With emotions that can be difficult to express, he explained, poetry offers a chance to find language for them. As the words reach deep within ourselves, poetry can touch without touch, he continued.”

Thank you so much to writer Cassie Owens and photographer Jose F. Moreno for taking the time to capture so much of the scene at La Pearl Beauty Emporium, and further describe the purpose of the #EverydayPlacesWestPHL Artist Partnerships presented by #BarnesWest LoLa 38 and The Barnes Foundation!

Did you miss our first pop-up? That’s okay! We have several more pop-ups through October! Our next date is on Sunday, August 29th at La Pearl Beauty Emporium on Lancaster Avenue

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Travel By Haiku is available at your local bookstore

Hey, check it out! My new poetry collection #TravelByHaiku is available at local bookstores around the country, including:

• A Novel Idea on Passyunk Philadelphia (South)
• Bindlestiff Books Philadelphia, PA (West)
• Brickbat Books Philadelphia, PA
• The Head & The Hand Philadelphia (Fishtown)
• Small World Books Venice Beach, CA
• Tomorrow Today Los Angeles, CA
• Topos Bookstore New York City (Ridgewood)

More info and places to grab a copy on my website here: https://www.marshalljameskavanaugh.com/travel-by-haiku-volumes-6-10.html

Featuring collaborative haiku by 6 different authors on three separate road trips, the story follows our hero Marshall Deerfield who ties it all together as a young poet growing wilder. Those familiar with the American Pops of #JackKerouac, the blues-infused ku of Sonia Sanchez, or the travel fiction of Basho will especially enjoy these wild rambles and where they take the reader.

In a review in Tears in the Fence, John Brantingham, poet laureate of Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, had this to say about the new book: “What struck me immediately is how this feels like the volume that might have been written by a side character in #JackKerouac’s novel Dharma Bums. There is a joy here for nature that is infectious. With the haibun, these haiku create a narrative of young people going into the new American West to find what remains to take pleasure in. Much of what we have read in older works that have the same kind of approach is gone. Times have changed and we have lost that world. Marshall Deerfield is trying to find what is there now and how to lose himself in these places.”