From Poets in the Garden, 8-9-25

Toni Bee up front with the band.

 

Summertime Toni

Awesome to see Toni Bee hosting Poets in the Garden yesterday. 

This Saturday: Poets In The Garden at the Longfellow House in Cambridge

Hosted by Toni Bee and featuring Justice Brooks, Linda Carney-Goodrich, Charles Coe, Parker-Vincent Alva. Click here for more information. 

This Afternoon: Poets in the Garden with Dexter Roberts and Tom Daley

Hosted by Toni Bee. Click here for more information.

Tomorrow: Poets in the Garden with Dexter Roberts and Tom Daley

Hosted by Toni Bee. Click here for more information.

Poets in the Garden with Dexter Roberts and Tom Daley

Hosted by Toni Bee. Click here for more information.

Next Saturday, June 10: Poets in the Garden with Dexter Roberts and Toni Bee

 Poetry and art by two great features. Hope to see you there next week.

After the Show

Post-Poets in the Garden posing.

The Grand Finale

Toni Bee rightly ended Poets in the Garden with music from Jusitce Isaiah. Appropriate for the young voice closing out after the older voices had their say. Check out his singing on my Instagram or Facebook.

Good to See You Again, Deta!

During the pandemic, poet, artist and 50th Anniversary Stone Soup Feature Deta Galloway did not stop. It was good to witness her energy live once again at Saturday's Poets in the Garden.

More from the Weekend

Tom Daley reading from his new chapbook Far Cry at Poets in the Garden.

Technical Difficulties

As the event was underway, someone turned the sprinklers on. 

Pressing Through the Heat

Thanks to Anjalequa Birkett, Boston's Youth Poet Laureate, for braving Saturday's heat for Poets in the Garden.

Great Run, Toni

Thank you, Toni Bee, for letting me be part of your last ever Poets in the Garden event. Thanks to you, I got to read in front of a live group of friends for the first time in over two years. Looking forward to being a part of whatever your next venture is, wherever you do it, watching you earn many more titles on top of Poet Populist. 

Stone Soup is Sponsoring Poets in the Garden on May 21

Proud to be supporting another of Toni Bee's events. Be there this Saturday at Squirrel Brand Park on 268 Broadway Street in Cambridge for this spring celebration with open mic, music by James Isaiah from CRLS and a feature performance by Anjalequa Birkett, Boston's second Youth Poet Laureate. It's a free event, but anyone who wants to donate can do so via Toni Bee's CashApp at $toekneebee.

The One Thing I Did Right in 2021: The Cambridge Poetry MashUp

Toni Bee was supposed to host her first Cambridge Poetry MashUp in April of 2020. It didn't happen due to COVID-19. She wasn't going to let the pandemic stop her creation for a second year in a row.

I was just a facilitator. It was one of those kind of poetry events when a facilitator is needed but there are very few to go around. Everybody wants to be in the spotlight. It's why the Cantab had a basketball team's worth of open mic hosts for years. I'm glad I could fill that role for Toni.

I created and hosted the Zoom calls for Day One on April 10 and the Poets in the Garden segment on April 24. I was worried about the Garden show, as the first one I helped Toni organize was fraught with connection issues. 

Surprise. Problems were minimal. Both lineups were immense and went better than most of my Stone Soup Zoom calls. The internet was kind that day. Everyone was on point. Everyone wanted this event to succeed. 

This is arguably the best thing I was part of this year. Probably because I barely had to open my mouth at all. Can't wait for MashUp 2022.

Poets and Gardeners Vs. Karens

The story behind Toni Bee's recent Poets in the Garden event has now been extensively covered in The Cambridge Day.

Thanks, Mark Levy, for all your work. 

Loving Cambridge

Thanks to Mark Levy and the Cambridge Day for covering Toni Bee's Poets in the Garden event. Thanks to everyone who came to event both in Cambridge and online.

Poets in the Garden with Toni Bee

Scenes from the Cambridge Event on October 24, 2020.