2021 Philly Loves Poetry Interview and Readings Series: Charles S. Carr talks with Mike Cohen, Writer, and Connie

Watch the live broadcast at Comcast Cable 66/966HD/967 | Verizon FIOS 29/30 in Philadelphia | PhillyCAM TV: https://phillycam.org/watch

In the beginning, Mike Cohen started on his complete works, which remain a work-in-progress. Along the way, he discovered the wisdom of youth and its foolishness. He discovered the wisdom of age and its foolishness. He discovered young love and its foolishness. He discovered true love. He has meandered and stumbled and lurched and found no answers, but many, many satisfying ways to phrase the questions. Mike Cohen hosts Poetry Aloud and Alive at Philadelphia’s Big Blue Marble Book Store. His articles on sculpture regularly appear in the Schuylkill Valley Journal in which he is a contributing editor.

His colleague in these endeavors is also his constant companion, cohabitant, cohort, and confidante, Connie, who keeps Mike and his writing from going off-kilter.  Mike’s wry writing has appeared in the Mad Poets Review, Fox Chase Review, and other journals. His poetic presentations feature humor and drama against a philosophical backdrop. Mike likes to bring poetry and audiences to life in cafes, libraries, book stores and venues including Princeton’s Café Improv, the Pen and Pencil Club, the Hedgerow Theatre, Fergie’s Pub, Harlem’s Apollo Theater, and neither least nor last, Philadelphia’s Laurel Hill Cemetery.

People often ask about a poet’s process. Connie is integral to my process. My first reader, primary audience, she gives me invaluable feedback and insight on the potential reaction to my writing. She took an interest in poetry for my benefit. She attends the Philadelphia Writers Conference, she says, so she can better help me with my poems. She writes sparingly, but when I entered one of her poems in a contest at the conference, Connie won first prize in poetry. Her poem was not a humorous one, but poetry is a funny thing.

Charles S. Carr, Host