Mad Poets Invade MilkBoy Acoustic Cafe

For two decades, the Mad Poets Society has been showcasing poets and writers all over the Philadelphia area, and every second Thursday of the month they bring their love of writing to MilkBoy Acoustic Cafe in Bryn Mawr.

This month featured two poets and an essayist. Poet Sarah Speth recently moved to Philly and has joined the writing community while established poet J. r. Bouchard will be leaving for Dallas to pursue teaching opportunities. The evening was a little bit of a welcoming and a farewell.

Mad Poets Society founder, Eileen M. D'Angelo and Autumn Konopka have been discovering talented writers and promoting them through this series for almost 10 years. One of the major challenges they have recently faced has been funding cuts on the arts. Several years ago Mad Poets was able to pay readers a small fee for their work, but not anymore. Despite that, artists still come out.

One of the factors that drive people to the reading series is the amount of presence the Mad Poets Society has in the area. Mad Poets runs many events throughout the Delaware Valley. Along with MilkBoy, they hold readings and events at The Big Blue Marble Bookstore, Kelly Writer's House, several local libraries and they even hold their critique circles at a law firm in Media. They also have bonfires at Ridely Creek State Park.

Speth was the first reader for the evening. By day she works as in education administration, but by night she is a poet. Her work is based on personal experiences and observations; the tone is lyrical but narrative.

Speth can pick up on easily missed intimate details like noting the "red behind his ears" when describing her husband. The descriptive nature of her visuals make her work come alive. For example, "The amethyst fits in my palm like forget-me-nots."

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