Kicking off Hearding Cats’ 9th season, Musetry Meld features three acclaimed St. Louis poets, Michael Castro, Travis Mossotti, and Brett Lars Underwood, and percussionist Glen “Papa” Wright. Works will be read individually and in tandem, strung together over the music of Papa Wright.
Michael Castro is Saint Louis’ first Poet Laureate and the founding editor of the literary magazine River Styx. His poetry, activist, and educational work focus on multiculturalism, injustice, and racial divides.
Travis Mossotti’s latest collection, Narcissus Americana (University of Arkansas Press, 2018), was selected by series editor Billy Collins as the winner of the 2018 Miller Williams Poetry Prize. Mossotti teaches at Webster University and works in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research for Washington University.
Brett Lars Underwood writes near a confused Ficus plant in St. Louis. His influence and meter vary. Think of free jazz, the sex calls from early-morning birds or jackhammers outside the bedroom window. His verse and riddles have been published by THE BICYCLE REVIEW, 52nd City, THE SUBTERRANEAN, BAD SHOE, Ucityreview.com and included in FLOOD STAGE: An Anthology of Saint Louis Poets. He unleashed SUNLIT INSULT, his first chapbook, in 2011 and ITS BUSH LENT SUBTLE HINTS hit the streets in October, 2013. His next book will be published by Spartan Press in 2018.
Glen “Papa” Wright is a percussionist who has been teaching and performing for over 40 years. “Papa” has accompanied local poets such as Shirley Leflore, Eugene Redmond, and Michael Castro. He recently recorded an avant-garde CD entitled “KUVUKA”, featuring Greg Mills on piano and “Papa” on drum set. His new group, Wind Spirit, features “Papa” playing twin kalimba. Currently, “Papa” travels and performs puppet shows and does storytelling with percussion with his wife, Jackie. He has also been with Springboard, as a teaching artist, for 25 years.
