Madness is the theme, poetry the vehicle, enjoyment the promise when the Grolier Poetry Book Shop inaugurates its new poetry room above the Bloc 11 Café in Union Square, Somerville. Billed as a “wild concoction of poetry, mixed media and twisted genius”, “Madness” is a celebration of the borderlands where madness brushes against artistic genius, as evidenced most notably in the community of famous poets—Anne Sexton, Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell and John Berryman—whose lives and writings cycled tortuously through McLean Hospital in Belmont.

Not an ordinary fundraiser, nor an ordinary poetry reading, “Madness at the Grolier,” is a kickoff fundraiser for the Grolier Poetry room, a fledgling satellite of The Grolier Book Shop, an all-poetry book store that has become a Harvard Square literary landmark. “Madness at the Grolier” will be the first of an ongoing series of thematic poetry events.
Well-known local poets and writers who will read from the works of the McLean poets, as well as their own, include Doug Holder, himself a counselor and poetry workshop leader at McLean for almost thirty years, poet and singer Lo Galluccio, novelist Paul Steven Stone and Alice Weiss. Robert Clawson, manager of Anne Sexton’s band will present poetry and anecdotes, Kathleen Spivack will share her memories of Robert Lowell, soon to be published in memoir form, and Lois Ames who wrote the introduction to Plath’s “Bell Jar,” will talk about her friendship with Plath and Sexton.
Last but far from least, local poet and performer Michael Mack will offer powerful vignettes from his wrenching one-man show chronicling the pain of growing up with a schizophrenic mother.
“Madness at the Grolier” is a joint presentation of the Grolier Book Shop, Ibbetson Street Press and Blind Elephant Press. Like madness itself, it promises to be both dramatic and unforgettable.

MADNESS AT THE GROLIER
UPSTAIRS AT BLOC 11
11 Bow Street, Somerville
November 6, 2011 at 3:30 p.m.
For further information contact Doug Holder at  ibbetsonpress@msn.com or (617) 710-0163