Welcome to my website, a place where you can read some of my poems, listen to some of my music, and find out what readings and musical events are on the horizon, as well as other news.
You will also find here some links I think you might find interesting or important.
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MUSIC NEWS
I am very pleased to introduce my new quartet, John O’Connor and his Fellow Travelers. These very fine musicians accompany me in performing my repertoire of original songs and old and new favorites of mine. Tom Ives on double bass, Quentin Lewis on lead guitar and Robin Seletsky on clarinet.
Upcoming engagements:
August 9 – John O’Connor and his Fellow Travelers – Richfield Springs, NY – 7PM – Meadow Links Pavillion (476 Co Rd 27, Richfield Springs)
Recent engagements:
January 21, 2021: Thank You For Your Service: Songs of Miners, their Families and Loved Ones. 8PM EDT. A streamed concert on https://www.facebook.com/MusicPerformanceTrustFund. Sponsored by MPTF and the Yager Museum at Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY.
February 1 – Cafe Veritas – Rochester, NY – 8PM – opening for Joe Jencks – http://www.cafeveritas.org/
February 7 – Poetry Reading at the Roost – New Paltz, NY – 7:30PM with fellow poet, Jan Schmidt – https://www.callingallpoets.net/
October 16 – Sunnyside Singers Club, Woodside, NY – 8pm.
October 20 – Walton Theater Coffeehouse – Walton, NY – 6pm.
October 23 – B Side Ballroom – Oneonta, NY – 7pm. – John O’Connor and his Fellow Travelers.
September 10 – Cooperstown Farmers Market – Cooperstown, NY – 5pm. John O’Connor and his Fellow Travelers.
September 15 – Franklin Farmers Market – Franklin, NY – 11am.
September 15 – Bound For Glory live radio show – Cornell University Anabel Taylor Hall, Ithaca, NY – 8pm. John O’Connor and his Fellow Travelers.
September 27 – Empire House, Gilbertsville, NY – – 7pm – 10pm.
Watch this page for more details.
For more information contact tojohnoconnor@gmail.com.
My new album, Rare Songs, my first in more than, 20 years, is now available. The album was recorded in Brooklyn at Mighty Toad Studios and features some of the finest musicians in New York City. Many songs are recorded with horns; clarinet, trumpet, saxophone, trombone. Not your typical folk artists album, to be sure, but the production pays homage to the traditional styles for which my songs are known. It features 15 songs and more than an hour’s worth of music.
You may order a CD copy of Rare Songs by sending a check payable to me for $15. (4999 East Handsome Brook Rd, Franklin, NY 13775.) Please indicate the album you are interested in and information as to where to send the CD. I pay the postage. (My other CDs are also available. Songs For Our Times, Unravelin’, We Ain’t Gonna Give It Back and High Weather.
Rare Songs is available digitally from Itunes and Apple Music, as is Songs for Our Times and We Ain’t Gonna Give It Back.
Videos from a recent concert:
POETRY NEWS
Here is an interview Sheila Bender conducted with me several months ago for KPTZ Radio in Port Townsend, WA. https://kptz.org/in-conversation-john-oconnor/
You can read my work in a recent issue of the online literary journal, Adelaide Magazine at http://adelaidemagazine.org/2018/01/18/my-gretel-by-john-oconnor/.
My poem, The Fall was featured as Rattle’s weekly “Poets Respond” page the week after Trump’s election. You can hear me read the poem at http://www.rattle.com/the-fall-by-john-paul-oconnor/.
I have also won the 2015 Violet Reed Haas Prize for Poetry with the entry of my poetry collection, Half the Truth. The prize included a cash award of $1,000 and publication of my poetry collection by Snake Nation Press.
Order the book here:
http://www.snakenationpress.org/product/half-the-truth/
Or by sending $16 to John O’Connor, 4999 East Handsome Brook Rd, Franklin, NY 13775.
I have also been a semi-finalist in the 2013 Philip Levine Poetry Book Prize contest. Other honors include his shortlistings for the Patricia Bibby and Gerald Cable book awards. I was a semi-finalist in 2014 for Waywiser Press’s Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize. My poem, Beans, which appeared in the 2010 winter issue of Rattle as a recipient of an Honorable Mention in their annual award contest, was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. You can hear me read my poems, Beans, Breakfast and The Fall at the Rattle website, www.rattle.com.
Here is Woodstock (Vermont) Public Television’s production of a reading by me given at the Norman Williams Library in April 2016.
http://wctv8.com/index.php/2016/04/half-of-the-truth-poet-john-oconnor/
For more information contact tojohnoconnor@gmail.com.
John Paul O'Connor 