GF&CO ART SALON 2018

Following the tradition of poets Stanley Kunitz, Elizabeth Bishop, and Frank O’Hara, James B. Nicola moved from his native Worcester, Massachusetts, to New York City where he makes his home. His poems (almost 800 to date) have appeared stateside in such publications as the Antioch, Southwest and Atlanta Reviews, Rattle, Tar River, and Poetry East, and in many journals in Europe and Canada. His poetry collections are Manhattan Plaza (2014), Stage to Page: Poems from the Theater (2016), Wind in the Cave (2017), and the upcoming Out of Nothing: Poems of Art and Artists (2018). His poems have received a Dana Literary Award, a Willow Review award, four Pushcart Prize nominations, and a People's Choice award from Storyteller magazine. He is the featured poet in the current issue of Westward Quarterly (Winter 2018), an honor he has also received from The New Formalist. His nonfiction book Playing the Audience won a Choice magazine award. A Yale graduate cum laude and with distinction, Nicola is also a director, composer, lyricist, and playwright. His children’s musical Chimes: A Christmas Vaudeville premiered in Fairbanks, Alaska, where Santa Claus was rumored to be in the audience on opening night. Lately Nicola has been conducting both poetry and theater workshops at libraries, literary festivals, schools, and community centers all over the country, most notably the Kennedy Center/American College Theater Festival. He is also available for interviews, guest appearances, and readings of his work https://sites.google.com/site/jamesbnicola/poetry

Bistro Award Winner, Performance and Recording Artist David Vernon is true to his passion and instinct. Called "Other Worldly" by his critics, David casts his spell upon a wide diversity of listeners. Whether performing art songs, showtunes, jazz, or the great American songbook, David embodies each genre with a keen sense of original musical interpretation, focus and deliberation. David has been twice nominated by Broadway World for "Best Male Vocalist" and nominated by MAC for "Best Show" with "LOVE... The Concert". His performances have been lauded at The Algonquin Hotel, Metropolitan Room, Birdland, Don't Tell Mama and Laurie Beechman Theater in NYC. David has created and produced unique conceptual concerts including "Compositions" and " LOVE...The Concert." www.iamartiam.com | www.reverbnation.com/davidvernon