Alchemy's History

• Elizabeth Baines - the prizewinning author read from her new novel Too Many Magpies (February 1st, 2010)

• David E. Oprava - David is back to celebrate his second book, recently released on American Mettle Books (January 4th, 2010)

• Povetron - Prague based rock band (December 7th, 2009)

• Carrie Etter - poet and lecturer in creative writing at Bath Spa University. (November 2nd, 2009)

• Holly Tavel - writer and artist whose fiction has appeared in numerous magazines, holder of the Innovative Fiction Award in 2007. (October 5th, 2009)

• Sophie Cooke - Berlin-based Scottish short story writer and novelist, author of The Glass House read from her recent novel Under the Mountain. (September 7th, 2009)

• Peter Le Couteur - Peter moved to Prague to work on his portfolio for an MA in Sculpture. He started writing songs about four years ago and we enjoyed his fun performance. (June 1st, 2009)

• Richard C. Pizey - London-born but well travelled author and sound engineer read from his novel Ripples. (May 4th, 2009)

• Alistair Noon - British author living in Berlin, read from his recently published book of poems At the Emptying of Dustbins and other works (April 6th, 2009)

• Gail Whitmore - originally trained as an opera singer but having memorized over 1000 songs of all genres, Gail gave us a sample from her Human Jukebox show (March 2nd, 2009)

• David E. Oprava - Czech-American writer read from his book of poems, VS., released in October 2008 (February 2nd, 2009)

• Rob Shearman - award winning author of over 20 stage plays as well as radio and television shows and two short-story collections and Adama Marek, author of a brand new collection of short stories (January 5th, 2009)

• Flanna Sheridan - singer, songwriter and an excellent keyboardist from ... well, from Prague! (December 1st, 2008)

• Jaya Savige - poet, critic and editor from Australia, and a 2008/9 Gates Scholar at Cambridge University (Christ's).(November 3rd, 2008)

• Annie Clarkson - poet and short story writer from Manchester, UK, read from her new collection of poems. (October 6th, 2008)

• Jeremy Saxon - after living and performing in Prague, bluesman Jeremy Saxon is headed to the Cajun country. His performance at Alchemy brought us a little taste of Lousiana. (September 1st, 2008)

• Charles Webel - professor of social science and philosophy read from his most recent book, written along with David P. Barash - Peace and Conflict Studies. (July 7th, 2008)

• Peter Orner - the author of the novel, The Second Coming of Mavala Shikongo (2006), and the story collection, Esther Stories (2001). (June 2nd, 2008)

• Susie Asado - this Susie Asado is Josepha Conrad. She is not a poem although she likes to write them. She also likes Gertrude Stein. So much is apparent. Josepha writes songs and she sings them for you. Happily. (May 5th, 2008)

• Julian Gough - the author of the critically acclaimed Juno & Juliet and the lead singer of Toasted Heretic, read from his new novel Jude: Level 1. (April 7, 2008)

• Anthony Marais - Anthony's writing focuses on culture, alchemy and the tendency of people to follow delusions. He read from this new novel, The Cure, accompanied by Ludmila Sovadinová on viola. (March 3, 2008)

• Dutchess - amazing vocalist Angela Alsop (aka. Dutchess from the band Dutchess and Her Kittens) perfromed at Alchemy accompanied by guitar impresario Preston Safeway (February 4, 2008)

• Labyrinth (Association of English-Language Poets in Vienna) presents a performance of erotic and other poetry in English and German, with music, featuring Hugh Donohue, Evelyn Holloway, Susanne Toth, Peter Waugh and Janus Zeitstein. (January 7, 2008)

• Lewis Crofts - read from his recently published novel The Pornographer of Vienna. The Pornographer of Vienna tells the life story of Egon Schiele, the infamous Austrian painter famed for his sexually explicit portraits of the underbelly of Viennese life in the dying years of the Habsburg empire. (December 3rd, 2007)

• Carrie Etter - Originally from Normal, Illinois, Carrie Etter has lived in England since 2001 and is a lecturer in creative writing at Bath Spa University. (November 5th, 2007)

• Clare Wigfall Alchemy celebrated the publication of her book “The Loudest Sound and Nothing” (October 1, 2007)

• Carole Glasser Langille is the author of three books of poetry and two children's books. (July 4th, 2005)

• Katerina Rudcenkova In 2003 Katerina Rudcenková was awarded the Hubert Burda Prize for young Eastern European poets. (June 20th, 2005)

• Blue Valentines, Aileen Loy, Chudacek and Andru Davis of kicked off their first European tour from the stage of Alchemy. (May 16th, 2005)

• Ali Langston was a no-show and we bravely went on with the open-mic evening. (May 2nd, 2005)

• Alexis Levitin has published 22 books of translations, mostly Portuguese poetry, including Portugal’s best known and most popular living poet, Eugenio de Andrade. (April 18, 2005)

• Vera Chase, graduate of the Faculty of Arts at Charles University, her writing has appeared in various magazines and newspapers. (April 4th, 2005)

• XX Chromosomes: A Night of Women of Wit and Wisdom - all female evening of music, poetry and prose (March 21st, 2005)

• Alistair Noon, Berlin based poet and performer (March 7th, 2005)

• The Bear English Theatre's Improv Team was started in May 2004 and has been training since September with Marc Cram an experienced professional improviser from the Dad's Garage Theatre in Atlanta. Marc performed together with theatre founder David Fisher, Chris Crawford, Stephan Evonuk and Noelle Trkulja.

• Richard Katrovas, author of five books of poetry, a memoir, a collection of short stories and a novel. Also featurng Sweden's Oklahomo Trio (February 7th, 2005)

• Taylor Mali, Four time National Poetry Slam champion. (2005-01-17)

• Ken Nash, writer, cartoonist, graphic artist, designer and the founder of Alchemy as a feature - an evening of music and short stories and very good humor (2005-01-03)

• Christmas Party at Alchemy - an all night open reading and festivities...(2004-12-20)

• Howard Hunt, the author of two novels, The Bishop (Random House, 1999) and Young Men On Fire (Scribner, 2003), currently working on a series of short stories in Prague. (2004-12-06)

• Double feature night: American novelist and word artist Simone Felice read performed his songs, poems and read a excerpt from his novel in progress. Donna Stonecipher, author of poetry collection The Reservoir, lived and worked in Prague in the 90's, now is based in Berlin. (2004-11-15)

• Louis Armand is an artist and writer who has lived and worked in Prague since 1994. His work has appeared internationally. He's read from his current works. (2004-11-1)

• Canadian author Soren A. Gauger currently living in Krakow, Poland, working as an essayist and translator for two art magazines, a freelance editor/translator, and a lecturer. His book "Hymns for Millionaires" has just been published by Twisted Spoon Press. (2004-10-18)

• The Cafe Irreal International Imagination Since it first went online in 1998, the Internet journal The Cafe Irreal has published stories by over 130 different authors from 18 different countries. G.S. Evans, Cafe Irreal coeditor, read works of contemporary Czech including Marian Palla, Ewald Murrer, Vit Erban, Josef Janda, J. Valoch, V. Chase, and Jiri Kratochvil. (2004-10-4)

• Jeremiah Palecek blending gangsta rap, folk music, experimental noise, and boy band exploitation as King Vitamin - and - Australia’s only conceptual art rock and roll band, The Histrionics with their show of classic rock and roll played to their own original lyrics, lyrics that "take the piss out of the art world." (2004-09-20)

• Marc Marcel is a consummate artist, his talents range from a wide selection of artistic gifts. A dynamic poet, writer, speaker, and actor from Baltimore. (2004-09-06)

• Chelley McClear is a performance poet, born in England and now lives in Belfast, Ireland. She is part of the poetry group the Democratic Poetry Party (2004-07-19)

• Jorn Ake - His second book of poetry, The Circle Line, will be published by Red Hen Press in 2005. He currently resides temporarily in Prague, Czech Republic.
  Citizen One is a Singer, Songwriter, and Storyteller. Start tossing around words like Performance Artist, Voicetrumentalist, and One-man-band and you will see the dilemma of categorizing this Post-Post-Modern Troubadour. (2004-07-05)

• " Night of the Living Rhyme" an evening of eloquent and terse rhyming verse. Featuring local rhymsters that we like and a spectacular open mic. (2004-06-07)

• Prague Poetry Festival at Alchemy Featuring: Gaby Bila-Gunther (Berlin), Munayem Mayenin (UK), Øystein Hauge (Norway) (2004-05-17)

• Attila The Stockbroker Sharp-tongued, high energy, social surrealist rebel poet and songwriter. (2004-05-03)

• Keith Armstrong & Katrina Porteous - Another comeback to Alchemy! Keith Armstrong, who performed at Alchemy in September with Paul Summers, will brought us a new voice from UK - Katrina Porteous. (2004-04-19)

• Gerogia Scott, a Boston poet, has read and signed copies of her latest collection The Penny Bride (Poetry Salzburg, 2004). (2004-04-05)

• Open reading - the planned performer was stopped at the border, so the evening became a festivity for local writers and performers (2004-03-15)

• Jane Kirwan read from her excellent poetry collection, alternately with Czech translations of her poetry (2004-03-01)

• Open Reading Night - a chance for local writers and performers (2004-02-16)

• Jim Freeman participated in the creation of Alchemy and has often contributed with his poetry during the open mic segments, this reading was a sample from his novels (2004-02-02)

• Democracy Extravaganza - Alchemy has merged forces with American Voices Abroad to create a program no one should miss. (2004-01-19)

• New Year Welcome Open Reading - Use your free time during holidays to write something special...(2004-01-05)

• Alchemy Holiday Party - Poetry, Prose, Holiday cheer. Gifts, Music and, of course, beer. (2003-12-15)

• Singer/Songwriter Simona Markova (CZ) performed songs in English and French, accompanied by her husband Honza. As an unexpected second feature, actor and stand-up comedian Dave O'Kelly (UK) performed a few sketches from his current work. (2003-12-01)

• Joe Sherman, the autor of In the Rings of Saturn, Fast Lane on a Dirt Road and numerous articles, read from the manuscript of GASP: The Book of Air (to be published in late 2004).(2003-11-17)

• Barry Wallenstein, the author of five collections of poetry and four recordings of his poetry with jazz collaboration, performed from most recent work Tony's Blues. (2003-11-03)

• Drift - Patrick Sequin at the mic and Jan Horkl on a guitar ... and we were drifting...(2003-10-20)

• G.S. Evans has read a sampling of the stories that have been published in The Cafe Irreal, of which he is a coeditor. (2003-10-06)

• Poets and literary activists Keith Armstrong and Paul Summers visited from North-East England (2003-09-15)

• A prize winning poet Thomas Draper, the autor of "Traveler in an Asphalt Land" and currently the editor of the "Prague poets" anthology has read from his recent work. (2003-09-01)

• "Baltic Evening" - Wolfgang Gortschacher read from the Anthology of Contemporary Lithuaninan Poetry he edited and Georgia Scott brought us some sand and inspiration from the beaches of Gdansk (2003-07-21)

• Corey Frost is a writer and performer, rooted in Montreal but currently living in New York City on his first performance in Prague (2003-07-07)

• Alan Levy, the editor-in-chief of The Prague Post, has read from the 3dr edition of his book "Nazi Hunter: The Wiesenthal File". (2003-06-16)

• Gaby Bila-Gunther a Berlin based writer and spoken word performer and M.L. Leibler, an internationally known and widely traveled populist poet, performance poet, workshop facilitator and arts activist. (2003-06-02)

• Bardroom Reading and Performance Series Night: Canadian poet Heather Hermant, Hungarian poet Kalman Farago and British poet David Hill - three of Budapest's active poetry performers. (2003-05-19)

• Twisted Spoon Press Night: three of the Twisted Spoon's latest books by: Robert Gal, Andrzej Stasiuk & Nichita Danilov (2003-05-05)

• "The Resurrection Reading" -The theme of the night:Rise up and read! An all open reading night on Easter Monday (2003-04-23)

• Naropa Students - Writing Students from Naropa University's study abroad program read their latest work. (2003-04-07)

• Myla Goldberg, author of the novel, Bee Season, read one of her recent short stories.(2003-03-17)

• Gwendolyn Albert read from her collection of poetry. Her work has recently been anthologized in "Short Fuse - The global anthology of new fusion poetry". (2003-03-03)

• Lucien Zell read from his first collection of poetry, The Sad Cliffs of Light and performed along with unusual musical accompaniment (2003-02-17).

• Gene Deitch, the author of "For the Love of Prague", his spicy, funny memoir - the true love story of the only free American in Prague during 30 years of communism. (2003-02-03)

• Ryan Mergen -performance poet from California and the host of Poetry in the Twilight celebrated with us the release of his third self-published Chapbook, "Rhymes Per Minute". (2003-01-20)

• Unusually musical night with Klezmatron (Sam Finley - guitar and Becky Whitcombe - wild violin) and singer-guitarist-songwriter Katus Young (2003-01-06)

• Holiday party with three-piece Moravian folk-jazz band Jull Dajen and special feature writers Thor Garcia and Vincent Farnsworth along with holiday cheer and a grab-bag gift exchange (2002-12-16)

• Czech Surrealist poet and artist Katerina Pinosova (2002-12-02)

• Special "Poetry Week" celebration, featuring many great local poets reading their work. (2002-11-18)

• Guest night: Simon Safranek and Vikki Shock from Berlin, Peter Orner from Rome (2002-11-11)

• Jeri Theriault, read from her poetry chapbooks: Corn Dance, East of Monhegan and the latest - Catholic. (2002-11-04)

• Christopher Cook, author of the novel Robbers and the collection of short stories Screendoor Jesus (2002-10-21)

• Phil Shoenfelt, musician, lyricist and novelist read from his novels and performed together with Pavel Cingl (violin) from Southern Cross' new CD (2002-10-07)

• Arata Kitamura, Artistic Director of Tokyo's Theatre Annees Folles and her group (2002-09-16)