More than a decade and still going strong

Lolita Harper

The raw, rustic atmosphere at the Newport Beach coffee house lends

itself perfectly to the insightful poetry that has been performed on

its stage for more than a decade.

On Wednesday, Alta Coffee House will host the 11th anniversary of

Poetry at Alta, showcasing “Riffs, Kisses and Roads,” produced by Lee

Mallory.

The poetry performances attract people from all walks of life.

From the spiky-haired punk rocker to the grandfather in his Pendleton

shirt and polyester slacks, he said. Poetry transcends traditional

boundaries and touches the most unlikely audience member, he

said.”This is relevant stuff,” Mallory said. “The audience looks up

and you can see it in their faces, they have made a connection.”

Tony Wilson, who owned the coffee shop when the readings first

started and now manages it, said the readings have been a wonderful

attraction.

“Sometimes it is really, really intriguing, other times it can be

quite shocking. But it is always interesting,” Wilson said.

The number of years the performance has been at Alta is a matter

of debate. Wilson swears it has been more than 11 years since the

readings started. Mallory said he can’t be sure, but will go with the

conservative estimate of 11.

“I’m pretty positive it is at least 13, but if he wants to say 11,

then he can,” Wilson said.

Regardless of the number of years, the influence on the area is

irrefutable.

Mallory, 57, has a long history of poetry readings in Orange

County, which started in Santa Ana where Mallory is a writing

professor. They have since moved around the region from Tustin to

Costa Mesa. His is the longest running poetry reading in the area, he

said.

On the second Wednesday of each month, there is a reading at Alta

Coffee House. Various other shows are performed throughout the

county, including a consistent performance at Gypsy Den in Costa

Mesa.

“I have been working for more than a decade and a half to put

poetry on the map,” he said.

Mallory brought his readings to Newport because he felt his

hometown could learn a lot from poetry.

“Newport Beach really needs their eyes opened,” Mallory said. “It

is politically insular and certainly affluent. You just get this

image of Lido Island ladies dripping in gold jewelry, with their

Mercedes and Jags parked in Cannery Village. We need something home

grown right here to wake people up and titillate ... and shatter the

stereotype that poetry is kind of boring, irrelevant stuff that all

sounds like moon, tune, June.”

Poetry has been ruined by bad teachers who force students to

memorize 100 lines of hexameter, without inspiring true creativity

and thought process, Mallory said. Much of the poetry incorporated in

traditional curriculum is overly personal or so abstract, it simply

fails to peak the interest of young people.

“Newport Beach needs the color of say, a strong, black poet coming

down from the inner city or a beat poet from San Francisco or a

cowboy poet from Nevada,” Mallory said. “Something to shake things

up.”

Wednesday’s anniversary performance will feature Mallory, the

“blunt, sensual and idealistic” Season Cole and the music of Courtney

Montgomery.

“Poetry and baring it all: Lee made me do it,” Cole said.

“Riffs, Kisses and Roads” will “strike at ground zero of the

heart,” Mallory said. Performers will “weave a tapestry of loss,

search, sensuality and eventual triumph.”