Words and Images event at the North Star

Undergrad poets and fiction writers will join featured poets Melissa Crowe and Layla Carroll (billed as "a recent graduate of the prestigious Warren Wilson MFA program") for a night of "words and love" with Words & Images, the undergraduate lit journal at USM. After everyone reads, there'll be an open mic.

Which reminds me, a local open-mic king, Gil Helmick (who I wrote about last year), will play a CD-release party with the rest of his ensemble, snomonks, at SPACE next Friday night. The band, which includes Mark Tipton on trumpet, pianist Jesse Lynch, Wayne Smith on the cello, percussionist Patrick Barter, and poetry by Helmick, will release the debut album, "Crimes Against Humanity," on the Old Port Records label. The event starts at 8pm and tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door.