Jeff Kass' Knuckleheads

On April 15th, I attended the Chicago release of Jeff Kass’ Knuckleheads at the Silver Room in Wicker Park. Although Knuckleheads is a short story collection, the reading included lots of poetry. Jeff Kass, a creative writing teacher and director of literary arts programs for youth in Ann Arbor Michigan, released his debut collection of stories in April. He also has a chapbook of poems Invisible Staircase, a chapbook of essays From the Front of the Room, and is the performer of the one-man performance poetica, Wrestle The Great Fear.

Kass’ reading was truly enjoyable. I chose to go to this both because he was my writing mentor for many years as a youth poet, and because I was excited to hear all of his new work come together in a collection. He read alongside Kevin Coval, who has two collections of poetry, (Slingshots: A Hip-Hop Poetica, and Everyday People) and Roger Bonair-Agard, who just released his collection Gully. Kass asked me to read a short poem when I arrived, so it was a really cool experience to read alongside poets that I have respected for a long time. Both Kass’ poems and stories were powerful and heartwarming.

Only about ten people attended the reading, but it was a small venue (it’s not even really a venue). It set the tone for the reading, which was a nice change from the type of performance that Kass usually gives. I don’t think this reading could have been more enjoyable -- it was the perfect length, and the writing was fantastic.

Jeff Kass’ book can be ordered here: www.dzankbooks.com