Romancing the Poem

Every Valentine’s Day, happy couples snuggle by roaring fires while sipping champagne. Lucky sons of bitches. The rest of us wear black and get blitzed on PBR alone at home. Sigh.

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More About

• Bob Nelson
• Sharon Skinner
• Tom Tuerff
• Lauren Perry
• Valentine's Day

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Thankfully, there’s a better option: the Valentine's Day Massicree.

Don't let the name scare you. These guys aren't actually butchering anything, except maybe a few lines of prose. The Massicree, a fundraiser for local literary nonprofit Anthology, Inc., features love- and anti-love-inspired performances from singers Michael O’Mara and Tom Tuerff, Trish JusTrish, and poets such as Bakeem Lloyd and Lauren Perry. The show is co-hosted by Bob Nelson and Louie the Love Lobster, a giant plush toy voiced by a local poet.

Why include the love-less in a V-Day celebration? "In the same way that Christmas spurs a certain anti-consumerism movement, Valentine's Day spurs a backlash of people who disparage the focus on romance and love,” says Anthology co-founder Sharon Skinner. “It only seemed fair to give them a voice."