WAUKESHA – Bringing poetry out of the ethereal clouds, The Sparks, a group of performance poets, will present their version of “News, Weather, and Sports” at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha Monday, October 2, at 7:00 p.m. Appearing on the Hub stage in the Commons dining area, The Sparks will give their artistic perspective to current affairs. The presentation is open to the public at no charge.
Originally a group of poets who gathered to critique each other’s work, C. J. Muchhala, Helen Padway, Mara Ptacek, Margaret Rozga, and Phyllis Wax enjoyed their thought/word-plays and exercises in building poems. Taking their playfulness public, they formed The Sparks, who overlay the common “news” story with their insightful, poetic slant. All the poems are written in advance, critiqued by the group and revised before they are presented in public.
The Sparks performed at the Cedarburg Public Library in April to celebrate National Poetry Month and have cut a CD, The Sparks Look at News Weather & Sports. It will be available for sale at the October 2 performance.
A part of the campus Visions & Expressions series, the program was inspired by Peggy Rozga, who is a member of The Sparks and a professor of English at UW-Waukesha. A widely published poet, she was honored in September by the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters as one of the contributors to the fall issue of the Wisconsin Academy Review. |
