The weekend events at Wordsmiths were not just for a good cause (the survival of the bookstore) - they were also a great way to spend the weekend.

Friday night featured Jack Pendarvis reading from “the good part” of his novel Awesome, faking improv, digressing on wild tangents, recommending other books, performing Olympic-caliber self deprecation, and other neat tricks. Sealions performed a nice set of live music. A local art collective was cranking out robot drawings for donations, and the buzz of a silent auction kept everyone hanging around. It was a remarkable reading. Normally I’d insert a few pictures to support my recap, but my camera was in Atlantic City with my wife and daughter. Instead, you can read other accounts of the evening here and here.

I was expecting Friday night to be excellent, but Saturday’s excellent performances by Poetry Atlanta surprised me. The event was the second poetry reading that I’ve ever attended, which I’ll admit is my own shortcoming. (The first is a hilarious story in its own right that I’ll have to tell you over a beer sometime.) I clearly need to add more poetry to my day-to-day.

Each of the poets that presented their work had a unique style, and I enjoyed hearing each of them read. However, I’ll confess to having two favorites from the day. The first was Jon Goode, who has appeared on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam and - apparently - gets flown around the country to perform. Goode presented three pieces and told the most hilarious funeral story that you’ve ever heard. I found one of the pieces that he performed Saturday online (although the video is from a performance somewhere else):

The second was poet/troubadour/wildman Kodac Harrison. Unfortunately I was not able to find his heart-warming opening duet, Got Laid Last Night, on the YouTubes. Here’s Harrison doing Angel of Mercy:

Both events were very well attended, and I hope that translated into good news for Wordsmiths.