Grateful Dead-Inspired Concert to celebrate MAGIC SHOW by Dean Smith

About this event

Celebrating Dean Smith’s new poetry collection, MAGIC SHOW, with a Grateful Dead-inspired concert on the Ivy’s back patio! MAGIC SHOW sets poems of personal remembrance to the landscapes of contemporary America, drawing on a rich cultural world that includes baseball, Catholicism, literature, and–notably– the Grateful Dead. We’ll hear some Dead tunes from Steve Martel, and readings by Dean Smith. We’ll have a pop-up bar from our sister store, Bird in Hand. You might hear the influences of some Baltimore poets in these poems: Moira Egan, Shirley Brewer, and Liz Hazen, among others. A true “Dean and Dead” night awaits! Books will be available for purchase at the event. RSVP here! Dean Bartoli Smith is a published poet and nonfiction author. Magic Show is his third collection of poetry following Baltimore Sons (Stillhouse Press, 2021) and American Boy (WWPH, 2000). His poetry has appeared in Smartish Pace, Poetry East, Open City, Beltway and Upstreet, among others. Born and raised in Baltimore, he is also the author of Never Easy, Never Pretty: A Fan, A City, A Championship Season (Temple, 2013). He is the director of Duke University Press. Steve Martel wrote, recorded, and produced over 7 studio albums; 100s of songs written; 20 albums of youth music recorded; wrote and produced song for ‘Mary Jane’ for Jessica Blau’s novel of the same name. Accomplished guitarist who plays in a number of Baltimore bands including Deep Blue Railroad and The Giggmohrs. He is a teacher at the McDonogh School, and the founder and director of Rock Shop, a dynamic 20 year songwriting and performance camp for youth and adults.