for the ARTS record
The South will rise on Nantucket The South isn't great just because it has the best conference in college football (Go Gators!), but also because bands like The Peacheaters can bring so much of what is good about Southern rock to the stage (a.k.a The Allman Brothers), and you know before you even get in the door that you will have a good time. When: Saturday, Nov. 11, 10 p.m. Where: Chicken Box, 14 Dave Street For more on the band, go to www.peacheaters.com.

Poetry Slam for kids and a reading by Sou MacMillan Sometimes, it seems to me that contradictions are the only things that make life interesting - the irony of vegetarians in leather shoes, or class dunces growing up to be millionaires, or punk rock feminist poets writing babysoft poems for unborn sons while pregnant. Coming to Nantucket this Sunday to read her poetry as a guest of the Nantucket Poetry Slam, Sou MacMillan is attached to that last example. You - wish discovered so wanted arrived finally & blush of new wide round eyes raku-glazed, maybe brown, bright, indescribably bright

eyes, closed &

dreaming in 2 weeks of lashes

Something of a walking Tori Amos song, MacMillan is an artist of many talents - visual, musical, verbal. Living in Worcester with her husband and son, Liberty, she founded the Worcester's Shakti Womens' Writing Pact and played with "girl-tantrum band" Pet Ufo.

In MacMillan's bio, she is described as "... a musician, artist and writer who thinks of poetry as a much underestimated form of music." She believes "in the spirituality of art" and considers performance poetry to be "the canvas for the fusion of the body and the things we can't always see or touch."

Occasionally, when not wrapped up in this Technicolor dreamcoat of righteous babeness, she also reads Martha Stewart Living.

She's written eight chapbooks and two novels. Oh, and she's been in competitions (like the National Poetry Slam, with 1997's finalist Worcester team) and won things, too (the 2004 Jacob Knight Award for Poetry). The world of her poetry is nonsensical while making perfect sense. States like Wisconsin get stuck in your teeth. Women win the lottery, pay off their bills and then set fire to the neighborhood. In the world of Sou, a person can break into another person's chest with "felted hammers."

Put the hammers on hold for a second and let's get back to doting on children. Just before MacMillan reads, the adorable gang of children poets that's growing on this island will take over the microphone for their own poetry slam, in which they explain to the adults what acrostic poems are. (The youth slam is open to poets ages 19 and under, with prices for first, second and third places. For contest rules and information, please call the Weezie Library at 508-228- 1110.) When: Sunday, Nov. 12, 2-4 p.m. Where: Atheneum (Great Hall), 1 India Street Cost: Free, but Nantucket Poetry Slam passes

the hat before the feature.

For more information, call 228-1110.

Habitat for Candy: Gingerbread Houses It was once a childhood dream of mine to have a gingerbread house, and I think this is proof that I might have been a normal child, despite anything my teachers

might have said. So, it is in your own children's interests that I recommend you take them to build Gingerbread Houses at the NHA's Historic 1800 House this holiday season. Imagine the spicywarm smell of fresh gingerbread commingled with the perfumes of peppermint candies, gumdrops, M&Ms and thick, white frosting. Don't think you have an architectural bone in your sweet tooth? Don't worry - the Gingerbread House Class will be taught by artist Nina Taylor and her son, Cullen. You can bring a most beloved and cherished child, or a relative, spouse, loved one, Arts Editor. Whatever. It may be the first time your children ever beg you to go to class. Register now, because I may cajole someone into taking me - and that's one less spot already. When: Saturday, Nov. 18, 9 a.m. - noon Where: 1800 House, 4 Mill Street Cost: $50 (members); $65 (nonmembers);

cost covers materials

For more information, contact Betsey Braun or Mary Emery Lacoursiere at 228-1894, ext. 128.

The Egan Maritime Foundation is "looking for a few good women" In May 2007, the Egan Maritime Foundation will open an exhibition on the lives of Nantucket women of the past. The exhibition will "discuss the various elements that encouraged and supported the independence and work of women on Nantucket through the examples of other island women of her time and today, all of whom have contributed not only to the community of Nantucket, but also to the national and global communities." As it did with the "Life on the Line" exhibit, the Egan Foundation is soliciting input from islanders - stories, artifacts, anything. Jascin Leonardo Finger, curator of the Egan Maritime Foundation, is your contact at 228-2505, jfinger@eganmaritime.org or 4 Winter Street, Nantucket, MA 02554. The deadline for suggestions and contributions is Nov. 15.

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