On Thursday, April 19, at 7:30pm The Third Thursday Poetry & Jazz Reading Series at 215 Main in Point Arena will feature Elk poet Michael McCullough. The reading will begin with live improv jazz and an open mic with jazz improv; the reading will conclude with more live improv jazz.
Hands stained purple, Michael McCullough is known as a wayfaring winemaking poet. Born in Austin Texas, bred in Britain, and bolstered by California’s bluffs, McCullough has achieved an unusual rhythmical style and command of the English language compared to “lyrical gymnastics” and even Gerard Manly Hopkins - too high a claim, he says.
First finding poetry through performance, McCullough was a professional Shakespeare actor in San Jose before turning his focus to wine. With a B.S. in Wine & Viticulture from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. McCullough has spent the last decade seeking out the world’s most renown wine regions and has worked in New Zealand, Oregon, and most recently the unparalleled Elk, California to name a few. His poetry reflects the landscapes traveled with a particular emphasis on space and time but it’s the moments of spontaneity, like that of a wild ferment, that brings the most intimate parts of his work to light.
McCullough hopes to revive the great oratory tradition of poetry and will provide a performance packed full of memorized pieces. With such an emphasis on phonetics, rhythm and delivery he believes his work is best served listened to rather than read. Having just performed at the Poetry Cafe in London, McCullough eagerly awaits his return to see the friends, faces and family made while living on the Mendocino Coast last year.
Third Thursday Poetry & Jazz is supported by The Third Thursday Poetry Group, many anonymous donors, and Poets & Writers, Inc. through a grant it has received from The James Irvine Foundation.
