After too much of everything on New Year’s Eve (drinking, eating, being with friends who are not friends, forcing yourself to stay awake until the ball drops), where do you belong on the first day of the year? Or as it was this year, the first day of the decade?
The answer: at the Creative Alliance’s First Day, with poets and musicians, who provide free—and inspirational—entertainment. At First Day, I found myself in a dark and soothing room, with opportunities to observe or jump into the art-full moments.
This series was put together by Christine Stewart, writer, instructor, and program director for arts in education, literary arts, and children’s events with the Maryland State Arts Council. Each part of First Day was curated by a different writer or collective, demonstrating (as if we ever doubted it) that writers are a very important part of Baltimore’s art-full life. Curators included Julie Fisher of Poetry in Baltimore, Gregg Wilhelm of CityLit Project, Stephen Reichert of Smartish Pace, Justin Sirois, the Creative Alliance’s Open Minds, and Linda Joy Burke.
Charlie Clark and Stephen Reichert of Smartish Pace
I caught Justin Sirois’s segment and I loved it. It was casual and unpredictable. During it, Lauren Bender read poems she wrote that day. They were her New Year’s resolutions, but we in the audience got to vote on her choices for the year ahead—from alternatives like compiling an illustrated timeline about the Middle Ages or imagining what to do with an L. Ron Hubbard implant. Adam Trice, lead guitar and vocals in his “graveyard country rock band” Red Sammy, presented his Christmas wish list, both hilarious and touching. Jamie Gaughran-Perez of Narrow House, at work on tales about a super heroine, delivered the funniest line I’ve heard in a while: “I’m not gay, I’m from the future.”
If you’d like to hear some poetry, or raise the profile of literature among your New Year’s resolutions:
•Stop by the Cyclops Book Store, formerly Baltimore Chop, in Station North Arts & Entertainment District at 30 West North Avenue. You’ll often encounter a performance or reading there.
•Join a poetry discussion group. The Maryland Writers Association, Baltimore hosts theirs the first Saturday of every month. Professional freelancers, published authors, and aspiring writers gather for it and other MWAB events throughout the month.
•Wander through the stacks at the Enoch Pratt Free Library branch nearest you—or venture over to Central, where there’s always something fascinating—and free!
Filed in: Creative Alliance.
Doreen Bolger is always on the move because she can’t stop seeing, supporting, and writing about the arts in and around Baltimore City. Her lengthy love affair for the arts began in Long Island when her father, an executive in the textile industry, brought home breathtaking fabrics every night from the heart of the garment district. 
Of course that amazing line, \I’m not gay, I’m from the future,\ was me reading a poem of Chris Nealon’s. And I think that’s the best opening line of the last decade!
Thank you so much, Doreen!
Thanks so much for this wonderful post and for your support of the event. I’m so glad you had a great time. It’s a wonderful day and gets better every year!