Best Poetry Reading
The Mad Hennessy's Tea Party at the Writers Place
Mark Hennessy, former frontman for Lawrence's '90s grunge band Paw, recently returned to Kansas City as a poet, but he's no less a performer. At his late-August Writers Place reading, an event dubbed Mad Hennessy's Tea Party, the guest of honor showed up in full Mad Hatter garb: suit, polka-dot bow tie, top hat and wild grin. Along with fellow poet Ed Tato, Hennessy read recent works, occasionally backed by a band in the corner; afterward, as the wine flowed, he took the stage as a rocker for a turn with the Diamond Heart Club. Off to the side, a mysterious Lawrencian posing as the White Rabbit drank from a teacup, and audience members spilled onto the front porch for cigarettes and shots of tequila. We didn't fall down any hole in the ground to get there -- in fact, we drove -- but it was a Wonderland indeed.
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