Burning Desires: An Afternoon of Love Poetry (Erotic and Otherwise) takes the stage for the 18th year at Studio 1210 in Lansing’s Old Town. Doors at Studio 1210 (1210 Turner St.) open at noon; words begin at 1:00 pm. $5 donation at the door.
The purpose: to turn up the St. Valentine’s Day heat in Lansing. Bringing together some of the best poets and performance artists in mid-Michigan since 1992, Burning Desires is once again gearing up to deliver hot words, music and performance to the stage.
Performers this year include:
- Ruelaine Stokes, host of the longest-running open poetry mic in the Lansing area, currently at the Creole Gallery
- Joseph Harris, aka LogicthePoet, MC of the monthly Spitfire Poetry series at East Lansing’s (SCENE)Metrospace
- Tiya Kunaiyi, alumna of MSU’s Black Poets Society and long-time member of the NuPoet Collective
- Robert Rentschler, East Lansing’s unacknowledged poet laureate for the past 50 years
- Dixon, the renowned experimental and improvisational electric violinist (www.dixonsviolin.com)
- Tommye Blount, Detroit native, Cave Canem fellow and recently published in the Cave Canem XI Anthology
- Zachary Jean Chartkoff, part of the “4 Against the Wall” syndicate and huckster of sonnets
- A new puppet show performance written and produced by Fred Englegau, long-time Lansing artist
- Plus: surprise guests!
MC d’Amor Sal Paradise will once again kick off the afternoon’s festivities by reading the Burning Desires Safety Guidelines and distributing Love Rags to the audience.
Burning Desires: it’s sometimes wet, often wild, always hot. Refreshments provided. Sponsored by the Old Town Business and Art Development Association (OTBADA)/Michigan Institute of Contemporary Art (MICA).
