(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Seth Rogovoy is the featured reader at yBar on Tuesday, May 22, 2012, at 8 pm (291 North St.) in Pittsfield as part of the Tuesday Night Writers Room series, a project of the WordXWord Festival hosted by Emily Pulfer-Terino and Gabriel Squailia. Best known for his award-winning writing about music and his books about Bob Dylan and klezmer, Rogovoy will shift gears for his yBar appearance and read from “How Many Great-Grandparents’ Divorce Saved My Life,” a work-in-progress about his family, mostly focusing on the life and times of his recently deceased grandmother, most of whose relatives were murdered in the Holocaust. He may also read a few poems he wrote for the recent April 30/30 Poetry Challenge, and something about the role that height – or lack of such – plays in the E Street Band.
Seth Rogovoy is the author of Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet, a full-length analysis of Bob Dylan’s life and work, and The Essential Klezmer: A Music Lover’s Guide to Jewish Roots and Soul Music, the all-time bestselling guide to klezmer music. Seth is editor and publisher of The Rogovoy Report – an online magazine of cultural and critical news and observations — and BerkshireDaily – an e-newsletter aggregating news, features, and commentary from around the corner and around the globe. His weekly cultural commentary is heard on WAMC Northeast Public Radio Network.
On the first Tuesday of each month, host Gabriel Squailia reads from his novel, Dead Boys. On the second Tuesday of each month, yBar hosts an open mic for poetry, prose or creative non-fiction. The third Tuesday of each month is OPP – other people’s prose or poetry night. On the fourth Tuesday of each month, yBar features guest readers, curated by the Writers Room hosts. Previous readers in the series have included poet Marie-Elizabeth Mali, cultural journalist Jeremy D. Goodwin, and poet/essayist Leigh Strimbeck.