Poets find haven at Angel Falls in Akron

The travelling poetry reading known as Saturday Night with the Poet’s Haven landed once again at Angel Falls Coffee Company (792 W. Market St., Akron) this past Saturday.

The cozy coffee house in the center of the Highland Square district not only offers a broad coffee and tea menu—even including some vegan pastry options—but also a poetry-friendly staff and clientele. Poet’s Haven shows frequently attract large audiences, but every Angel Falls show has been in front of a standing-room-only crowd.

Vertigo Xi’an Xavier, host of the ubiquitous reading series which began about two years ago, started hosting his readings in Canton, and has since taken his poetry-and-music-showcase-plus-open-mic to coffee houses, bars, and even record stores throughout Northeast Ohio.

Unlike most open mic hosts, Vertigo (or simply, “V.X.”, as many pronounce his stage name) adamantly declares that he isn’t a poet himself, but he takes pride in his work as an emcee, promoter, and publisher of poetry. He started publishing poetry online, first at an AOL-hosted site before moving to poetshaven.com in 1997, which now hosts thousands of pages of poetry. He has since become recognizable around Northeast Ohio in his trademark fedora as a poetry emcee.

Oh, and did we mention that he records his readings as free, downloadable PodCasts?  That means that the performers at his shows not only reach the live audience in the room, but also a Podcast audience averaging 700 members.

Saturday night’s co-features, Gina Tabasso and Terry Provost, neatly complemented each other’s styles. Tabasso gave a classic performance while taking the audience on a brief, chronological tour of her emotion-laden work, reading from several chapbooks. (Her most recent is Front Lines, available at Pudding House Press.) Provost gave a characteristically energetic performance of sometimes humorous, sometimes profane, sometimes political, and always provocative pieces.

Vertigo also varies his content (with a rating system) to be more accessible to wider audiences. Some months he specifically hosts moderated readings—no explicit language or content—to encourage parents to bring their young, budding poets to perform alongside seasoned professionals.

In addition to his norm of two featured poets, Vertigo also often books featured musicians for his shows, emphasizing his philosophy of “Rock-and-roll is poetry is rock-and-roll”.

Although the schedule has some variations, readings usually take place on the third Saturday of the month, with even-numbered months floating to locations in or around Cleveland. The odd numbered months, however, have found a happy home at Angel Falls.  Keep in touch with the Poet's Haven at their website, MySpace, or FaceBook for upcoming info.