Poet Charles Bernstein reads at the Queens Museum on Dec. 7. He will be one of three poets to read from their work at the Queens Tavern in Ridgewood on Saturday. Photo by Joel Kuszai
“I’m very pleased to be a part of this. The people reading are mostly in their 20s or 30s,” the 63-year-old said. “There is going to be a big age gap and that is always very nice to see.”
Some of the work already under Bernstein’s belt include such books as “Recalculating,” “Attack of the Difficult Poems: Essays and Inventions,” and others. He has also worked as a professor at the University of Pennsylvania for years.
The first Sacred Wood Series reading is slated for Saturday, Jan. 25 at 8 p.m. at the Queens Tavern on Fresh Pond Road with three poets from very different backgrounds. Josef Kaplan, author of “Kill List” and “Democracy is Not for People” will kick it all off, followed by Jennifer Tamayo, author of poems like “Poems are the Only Real Bodies,” before Bernstein himself takes the spotlight.
Emcee Benjamin Tripp said ownership at The Queens Tavern has become more interested in bringing art and music events to the 6869 Fresh Pond Rd. pub from the local level. And as a Ridgewood resident, he said this was a great opportunity to make a mark on the changing arts scene in the borough.
“I’ve been wanting to start a reading series for some time, but for one reason or another, I hadn’t found the right space or collaborators,” Tripp said. “I guess the idea is just to present what we see as the cutting edge in contemporary poetry in an informal atmosphere.”
The bar has already hosted a slew of other art-centric events like “bring your own vinyl” nights since it was transformed from Caskey’s Tavern in September. The poetry reading, however, will be the first of its kind, Tripp said.
Bernstein spent most of his life as a denizen of the Upper West Side but recently moved to Brooklyn just near the border of Ridgewood. Part of why he left, he said, was to follow the arts as it migrated eastward.
“I am very much interested in the way the activists in poetry have moved to Brooklyn and Queens as well as the entire visual arts scene,” Bernstein said. “I think it’s great to have a reading like this out in Queens and moving that area more to the center of things.”
Admission to hear the three poets speak comes with a $5 donation as well as special looks at their new work, Tripp said. For more information, the bar can be reached at (718) 821-9337.
