Opportunities to hear live poetry in the Twin Ports seem as pervasive as good views of the lake from Skyline Drive these days. This comes as no surprise to those following this subset of literary arts as a number of nationally recognized names have connections here, including Barton Sutter, Louis Jenkins, Jim Northrup and internationally honored lyricist/bard Bob Dylan.

Even a casual observer would begin to recognize that the poetry scene here has become increasingly integrated with the avant garde arts scene. 2013 gave ample opportunities to experience this first hand.

Adeline’s Salon hosted a poetry event in July with four featured poets followed by an “open mic” involving other poets present. Pineapple Arts on 1st Street drew a large crowd of all ages to a poetry event in June.  Double Dutch, the relatively short lived business at the intersection of Lake and Superior, hosted several art and poetry events in conjunction with the Second Friday art crawls. Poets Lewis Mundt and Bob Monohan were among those who gave readings there.

Dylan Days this year incorporated an afternoon to poetry featuring many of our more familiar local names sharing poetry inspired by Bob Dylan’s music and poetry. Former Duluth poet laureate Sheila Packa served as moderator of the event that took place in the Zeitgeist Atrium.

Twin Cities poets have also found a warm welcome from our local literary arts scene which is a-swirl with the energy of youth. Award-winning Minneapolis poet Dobby Gibson shared his work at a well-attended evening at the PRØVE Gallery where several other poetry readings have taken place in conjunction with the art and music of their Second Friday openings. (Special thanks to Kathleen Roberts for championing the poetry action there.) And Sierra DeMulder, 2-time National Poetry Slam champion, gave us a piece of her heart at one of our newest arts venues, The Underground, formerly the Duluth Art Institute Children’s Museum space.

The poetry highlight of 2013 for me personally was veteran poet Al Hunter’s Beautiful Razor: love poems and other lies at Trepanier Hall in March. What made the reading compelling was the accompaniment by a set of guest musicians that included Kathy McTavish, Frank Montana, Michael “Waabi” Furo, Jake Vainio, and Larissa Desrosiers. The eclectic instrumentation – cello, flute, guitars, keyboard – produced a wonderful backdrop of sound that served to amplify the sometimes haunting, sometime melancholic emotion in the readings. It was a night to remember.