So let’s say you happen to find yourself in Iceland on July 8th around 8pm, and lets’ say, for a moment, that you are looking for an out-of-the-ordinary night featuring poetry and artwork including, maybe, our latest, special Icelandic edition of The Café Review. If this was to be you then I have great news, because we are celebrating with the Poetry Brothel Reykjavík on July 8pm. Join our chief editor Steve as we launch our Icelandic edition in Iceland! Featuring 34 Icelandic poets, 5 artists, and 8 translators, this issue is not to be missed and is only possible thanks to the amazing work/editing/translating of Meg Matich in collaboration with Magnús Sigurðsson.

So now the only question left is: “What are you going to wear?”

Here is a link to the facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1245538135577685/

and the complete text about the event:

“Say yes to a bit of bacchanalia.
But what are you going to wear?

On July 8, 2018, The Poetry Brothel Reykjavík will become the stage for a true celebration of the Golden Age of Poetry, the apex of Icelandic writers emerging and established, when it launches the Café Review’s Icelandic Edition, translated and curated by Meg Matich in collaboration with Magnús Sigurðsson, featuring 34 Icelandic poets, 5 artists, and 8 translators.

Join us for a night of big, brassy poems. Mingle with the stars of Icelandic poetry. Slip into the skin of the translator, while enjoying an exclusive gallery of artwork from an array of artists. The House will come alive with our usual residents – and some unusual newcomers. Have your favorite poem from the literary magazine scrawled on your body, or your portrait drawn to commemorate the night.

Soak in the magic that artwork makes.

And to top it off, the evening is a celebration of the closing night of the Reykjavik Fringe Festival. Imagine it. A room full of actors, playwrights, poets, dancers, comedians. A night to remember.

A night made of gold.

The poets included in The Cafe Review are:

Aðalsteinn Ásberg
Bragi Ólafsson
Dagur Hjartarson
Einar Már Guðmundsson
Elías Knörr
Fríða Ísberg
Gerður Kristný
Gyrðir Elíasson
Hlín Leifsdóttir
Hrafnhildur Þórhallsdóttir
Ingibjörg Haraldsdóttir
Ingunn Lára
Ingunn Snædal
Kristín Eiríksdóttir
Kristín Svava
Kristín Ómarsdóttir
Kári Tulinius
Kött Grá Pjé
Linda Vilhjálmsdóttir
Lommi
Magnús Sigurðsson
Ragnar Helgi Ólafsson
Ragnheiður Erla Björnsdóttir
Sigurbjörg Þrastardóttir
Sigurlín Bjarney
Sigurður Pálsson
Sjón
Soffía Bjarnadóttir
Þorvaldur Sigurbjörn Helgason
Vilborg Dagbjartsdóttir
Ísak Harðarson
Óskar Árni Óskarsson

The artists:
Þrándur Þórarinsson
Helga Thoroddsen
Ragnar Jónsson
Michelle Bird
Elín Elísabet Einarsdóttir

See: www.thecafereview.com for more information on the magazine and its history.”

We, the staff and volunteers of the Café Review, would like to invite you to join us for some live music, delicious food and craft cocktails on May 31 from 6-8pm at  Maine Craft Distilling on 123 Washington Avenue, Portland, Maine. We (some of the staff) will be doing some select readings from our past special Irish issue and the Kevins, an Irish sessions band, will be playing live music.

There will be a cash bar and complimentary hors d’oeuvres. Signed broadsides from Robert Creeley, Donald Hall and Franz Wright will be raffled and select back issues not available online will also be available for purchase. Proceeds from this event will be used to help us differ costs for our upcoming Icelandic Issue (coming out in July), help fund special events for our 30th year anniversary coming up next year and help us ensure the Review continues for another 30 years.

Come out and celebrate with us next Thursday, May 31 (the Thursday AFTER Memorial Day)! Can’t wait to grab a cocktail, toast to another 30 years of great poetry, and celebrate with all of you!

See you there!

Our very own Steve Luttrell will be reading at UPEI on May 25. Come by and say hello. Below is the complete UPEI press release about his upcoming visit:

“Portland Poet & Publisher To Read

Friday, May 25, UPEI Faculty Lounge, 7:30 p.m.

Steve Luttrell is an internationally recognized poet and a former Poet Laureate of Portland, Maine. He has recently read his poetry in Ireland and Scotland and will be reading his work in Iceland this summer (2018). He is the founding editor and publisher of The Café Review (www.thecafereview.com), an award-winning art and poetry journal, published in Portland since 1989. He is also the author of five published collections of poetry. A new title is due out late this year (2018). The latest title, Plumb Line, was published by North Atlantic Books (Berkeley, Ca.) in 2015.

Steve is looking forward to reading on the Island, birthplace of his paternal grandparents, where has not been since a boy. He invites anyone in the Pineau, Luttrell, Kinch, Poirier (Perry), and DesRoches families to come to talk with him after the reading to help him in his quest to find P.E.I. relatives of his paternal grandparents.

Steve Luttrell will read in UPEI’s Faculty Lounge, Main Building, first floor, on Friday, May 25, 7:30 p.m. The reading is free. Refreshments provided.                   Contact: Deirdre Kessler <kessler@upei.ca>.”