ANTRIM HOUSE EVENTS, AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

(All events are free and open to the public unless otherwise listed.)


SUSAN ALLISON


 LAURA ALTSHUL

Laura Altshul will be honored at a Raise Every Voice Event on April 26, 2022, a conversation between Geraldine Brooks and Abdul-Razak Zachariah, a benefit for Horizons at Foote. Horizons at Foote advances educational equity through a robust academic and enrichment program that builds on long-term partnerships with families and communities to provide a joyful, safe, and inspiring learning environment that empowers students from New Haven Public Schools to thrive in an ever-changing world. Laura hopes you will consider joining this conversation about race, equity, and opportunity.

Laura Altshul's poem "Afterwards" has been awarded Honorable Mention for The Robbie Award from the National Federation of State Poetry Societies.

Laura will be reading at the Yale Bookstore on Saturday, November 6 at 1:00. This is an in-person event.

 


 VICTOR ALTSHUL

 


 INA ANDERSON


JAKE ANDERSON


 CAROL A. ARMSTRONG


 EMILY H. AXELROD

 


DON BARKIN


MARGE ROGERS BARRETT

See YouTube for a Friday, Nov. 4 interview of Marge Barrett in the Voices of Northeast video series.

For a fine review of CALLED, see http://collegevilleinstitute.org/bearings/called-making-unmaking-nun/.

For a stellar review of Called: the Making and Unmaking of a Nun, see http://www.midwestbookreview.com/rbw/dec_16.htm#rc.


AL BASILE


SHERRI BEDINGFIELD


CAITLIN BLACKBURN


LARY BLOOM


POLLY BRODY


BOB BROOKS

We are sad to report that Bob died on Friday, December 18, 2015. Some of you may know that he was in poor health for some time before his death. With support from hospice and his family, he was able to stay at home, and he was alert and as comfortable as they could make him until the end. If you want to send a message, you can reach Hester Brooks at hesterbrx@mac com.


MIRIAM BROOKS BUTTERWORTH


KATHARINE CARLE


MICHAEL CERVAS


KAREN J. CIOSEK


ROBERT CLAPS


GINNY LOWE CONNORS

For a witty, iconoclastic poem by Ginny on Your Daily Poem, visit http://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=2037.

Ginny's "In the Museum of Cold Ideas" is an Editor's Choice" in the Rattle Ekphrastic Challenge feature. To read this gem of a poem, visit http://www.rattle.com/in-the-museum-of-cold-ideas-by-ginny-lowe-cnnors/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rattle%2FCNOS+%28Rattle%3A+Poetry+for+the+21st+Century%29.

For Ginny Lowe Connors' engaging and illuminating review of Paul Mariani's The Whole Harmonium, a critical bioraphy of Wallace Stevens, visit http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/whole-harmonium.

See the seminar section of the Antrim House website (www.antrimhousebooks.com/seminar.html) for information on a Teacher’s Guide for Ginny Lowe Connors’ new book, Toward the Hanging Tree. Also included is a Reviewers’ Guide.

For an excellent article on Toward the Hanging Tree in West Hartford Life, visit https://view.publitas.com/p222-6222/whl_1116_layout1/page/24.

And for a Mass Poetry piece on the book, visit http://www.masspoetry.org/towardthehangingtree.

Visit http://www.versedaily.org/2016/bettyparrishearsonlyno.shtml for a Verse Daily poem selected from Toward the Hanging Tree.

The Grayson Books anthology Forgotten Women will be launched in the River Wood Poetry Series on March 9th. Connecticut contributors will be reading selections from it.

We are pleased to announce that Ginny Lowe Connors' Toward the Hanging Tree is a finalist for the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award and also the da Vinci Eye Award of the Eric Hoffer competition.

Ginny's "The Wolf in Me" has won the New Millenium Writing's Monthly Muse award.You can read it at http://newmillenniumwritings.org/the-wolf-in-me/

Poets on Poetry. The Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St., Hartford. BY ZOOM.
Saturdays, 10am-noon, Classroom 139. Saturday, October 17, 2020, 10 am: Naomi Shihab Nye, presented VIA ZOOM by Ginny Connors. : POP on
Zoom https://zoom.us/j/98901595751
Passcode: 249895

In November, the Guilford Poets Guild welcomes poet Ginny Lowe Connors for its Second Thursday Poetry Reading. The reading will take place via Zoom on Thursday, November 12 at 7PM, hosted by the Guilford Free Library. Please register on the Library's website, www.guilfordfreelibrary.org. A Zoom link will be sent to you directly.


JEANNE WESTON COOK


MELISSA CROGHAN


JANE D'ARISTA


KATHLEEN DALE


NANCY DALEY


BRAD DAVIS


CORTNEY DAVIS

Please join Cortney Davis and Wilton Library moderator Judson Scruton on October 7th at 5 p.m. as we discuss poetry and the poetic process and celebrate my new book, “I Hear Their Voices Singing: Poems New & Selected,” a casual session with time for Q&A and conversation. Registration is required.

If folks tuned in to my reading from Wilton Library, I will be reading different poems this time, and discussing various aspects of the poetic process with Judson--shaping a "new & Selected" collection, writing during a pandemic, and whatever else comes up! And there will be time for Q&A from the zoom audience.
Please join us on NOVEMBER 12, from 5-6 p.m. for a special poetry program as local poet – and nurse – Cortney Davis reads a selection of poems from her newest book I Hear Their Voices Singing. Judson Scruton will moderate the ZOOM program with commentary and Q&A.
Cortney Davis, the Poet Laureate of Bethel, is a nurse practitioner and award-winning poet whose work, including poetry, essays, book reviews and narrative non-fiction, has been published in many books, anthologies, and literary and medical journals. She’s been a Visiting Writer and seminar leader at numerous colleges and universities and has given poetry readings and workshops throughout the United States. She has read her poetry at BPL many times over the years, and her work is especially relevant today.
Judson Scruton, M.A (The Johns Hopkins University, The Writing Seminars, specializing in poetry), has taught creative writing and literature at prep schools and universities. He was an Adjunct Professor of English at Fairfield University.
A poetry reading packet will be sent to each participant. Online registration is required in order to receive the ZOOM invitation link and the readings packet.
Signed copies of Cortney’s new book also will be available for purchase in advance of the program. Please contact Amy Davenport, Programming/Outreach Librarian, for details at adavenport@bethellibrary.org. Copies are also available at Byrd's Books.
From Cortney's bio: “An early and prolonged separation from my parents and the various childhood experiences it informed gave rise to what poet Stanley Kunitz called “key images.” These recurrent ideas and themes from childhood often surface in creative writing, especially in poems. Perhaps my key images--the fear of separation from loved ones--also played a role in my choice of a caregiving profession. For me, nursing and poetry eventually merged: poems became a perfect place in which the act of caring could offer a way of keeping, and the mysteries of our world might be revealed in the sensual and vulnerable reality of physical detail.”

CONTACT: Adult Services Department 203-794-8756 adult@bethellibrary.org


CHERYL DELLA PELLE


CATHERINE DENUNZIO


ANNE MAGEE DICHELE


BARBARA DIMAURO


DANNY DOVER


JEFF DUTKO


SUSAN KÕDÕ EFIRD


CORA M. EKWURTZEL


PRISCILLA WEAR ELLSWORTH

Priscilla Ellsworth, will read selected poems via Zoom as part of the Guilford Poets Guild reading series on Thursday, September 10 at 7PM.


CHARLES B. FERGUSON


KATE FETHERSTON


CAROL GABRIELSON FINE


STEVE FOLEY


HARPER FOLLANSBEE, JR.


ANNE CARROLL FOWLER


TOM GANNON

For an enthusiastic review of Food for a Journey, see http://www.gonzomeetsthepress.com.

We are very pleased to announce that Tom Gannon's Food for a Journey has won the prestigious Book Excellence Award in Poetry.

Tom Gannon's March 16, 2016 reading is streamable on the Takoma Park (MD) local access television website.


JEN GATES


ANN MARIE GEAREN


JOHN GEAREN


BARBARA GERMIAT


JESSICA GIGOT

A Little Bit of Land is out in the world! You can get a copy online or at your local bookstore! See below for some upcoming readings and events starting with a book launch reception at Village Books in Bellingham! As a long-time volunteer, I am grateful to be part of the Skagit River Poetry Festival which is returning to La Conner, WA this October after a long hiatus. More dates and details will be added to my website as fall rolls along.

Jessica's Flood Patterns has been included in a list of new poetry from Gyroscope Review.

It is a great pleasure to announce that Jessica Gigot's Flood Patterns is a poetry finalist in the 2016 Eric Hoffer Award competition!

Jessica will be participating in the Tupelo Press 30/30 project (writing 30 poems in 30 days!).

Jessica's Tedx talk "The Poetics of Food" has been published! Visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TeXvRjNUsqI.

My second book of poetry, Feeding Hour, is being published this fall by Trail to Table Press, an imprint of Wandering Aengus Press. I am grateful for this wonderful opportunity and everyone involved. I will keep you posted on availability, future readings, and events. Stay tuned!

My essay "Resettling of the Mind" is a finalist for the Sacred Essays Contest hosted by the Center for Interfaith Relations.

It's almost here! My second poetry collection Feeding Hour will be available this fall (11/20/2020) through Trail to Table Press, an imprint of Wandering Aengus Press! I am so grateful to everyone that has helped me bring this book into the world and many thanks to Margaret Davidson for her beautiful artwork. I will have more information soon on my winter book launch event, upcoming readings, and where to purchase. Also, I still have space in my fall Hugo House class. Join me and let's write together!

I am so grateful to bring this book into the world. You can purchase at your local book store or through my publisher's website. I am also very excited to share my new website which includes info on writing, readings, and classes. Scroll down below for some exciting upcoming events! I know these are strange times, but I appreciate the opportunity to share this work with you. Thank you for your support and be well! Jessica https://jessicagigot.com/

Jessica's Feeding Hour is a finalist for the Washington State Book Award. Kudos.


JONATHAN GILLMAN

The Chinese version of My Father Humming was published as a special section in the April, 2016 issue of the Chinese journal POETRY MONTHLY, edited by Wang Mingyun.


SARAH GLAZ


NICHOLAS GIOSA

Nick Giosa's This Sliding Light of Day was a poetry finalist in the 2016 Eric Hoffer Award competition!


DICK GREENE


INGRID GRENON


LORENCE GUTTERMAN


SUSAN K. HAGEN

Shall We Dance has been named a finalist in the Religion and Nature categories of the 2021 Best Book Awards competition. Kudos!

 

FROM MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW, by Diane Donovan

https://www.amazon.com/Shall-We-Dance-Desire-Meditation/dp/1943826838

Shall We Dance? Poems of Desire and Meditation comes from a poet who has 40 years of teaching medieval literature. This background allows her to craft especially artistic reflections strongly rooted in poetic tradition and form: something the typical free-verse presentation too often eschews.

Many of these reflections stem from literary experience, as in "After Reading Hafiz." Many of these poems will benefit from a literature-savvy reader: "Herbert tried. And Donne knew the body/was kin to the spirit,/but prayed to be battered rather than beloved."

But one needs no literary background in order to appreciate the reflections on desire and gratitude embedded in many of these pieces: "In the gray of morning just before the/orange-red rising of the sun,/I put a flame to incense,/breathe gently on the ember glow,/watch bluish smoke rise,/a spiraling image of gratefulness/and supplication,/dispersing into air."

As environment, desire, and life themes coalesce, Hagen ultimately celebrates the spirit reflected in nature with lyrical works that sometimes contain a surprise twist, as in "True Subjunctive."

Each poem reflects "the difference between tourist and pilgrim." The fine lines explored here traverse human nature and contemplate interactions with the natural world.

Hagen's works also reflect her professional familiarity with the works of Rumi and Hafiz's mystical poetic styles of observation. This will especially appeal to readers already familiar with these poets and their special blend of spiritual and nature observation.

Poetry collections seeking modern works rooted in literary approaches of the past will find Shall We Dance? a fine celebratory collection.

 

READINGS

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, Birmingham, AL, Red Door Arts Schedule for Fall: Sunday, September 19 at 3:00 p.m. in the church - Kicking off the season is a reading and book signing by parishioner Susan Hagen from her new book, Shall We Dance? – subtitled Poems of Desire and Meditation. Irish poet Joan McBreen likened Hagen’s work to themes of Mary Oliver, while her publisher at Antrim House Books called the poems “a treat for the heart and the mind . . . as lush as they are philosophical.” Her reading will feature the poems as well as their backgrounds, and signed copies will be available for $17.00. A reception will follow in St. Joseph's House.

 


NICK HARRIS


MARYE GAIL HARRISON

Book launch of Emerging Views in the Seabury Library reading series, 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16.


DORIS HENDERSON


CINDY ELLEN HILL


LYNN HOFFMANN

The Canadian on-line literary magazine, Bibliosofia/Canada, has translated Lynn’s anthologized poem, “The Gift,” into Italian; the poem appears in the magazine’s latest issue at http://www.bibliosofia.net/Il_dono_The_Gift_Hoffman__1_.pdf.


JOAN HOFMANN

Sunday, October 11 at 2:00 pm, at The Mystic Museum of Art for a Green Poetry Cafe featuring Connecticut Poet Laureate Margaret Gibson, who will be joined by poets Joan Hofmann and Steve Straight, and cellist Theodore Mook.


KEVIN HOGAN

Kevin's latest Huffington Post article "How Does a Bi Marriage Really Work?" has attracted interest, and he was interviewed as part of HuffPostLive on Nov. 12, 2015 during the weekly 'Queer View' segment.

For a stellar review of My Riastrad, see http://foundcraftygreenart.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/my-riastrad-by-kevin-hogan.html.

Wednesday, Nov.18th, 9 pm-10:30 pm ET: interview on The Ann Walker Show with Scott Nevin (radio, Universal Broadcasting Network out of Hollywood, CA) as both a bi-sexual activist and a stigma expert.

The video/telecast from Kevin's appearance on The Ann Walker Show will be re-aired this coming Wednesday 11/25 from 9-10:30 pm EST. Or the audio-only podcast can be downloaded at http://ubnradio.com/randy-jones-and-kevin-hogan/. During this adult-themed 'tell it like it is' program, Ann gets Kevin to open up about a variety of timely topics, and even gets him to read "The Gender Bend" from his collection My Ríastrad.

Kevin will be a radio guest on Left of Str8 on Dec. 8th from 5-7 pm EST. It's a special show about stigma, trauma, and coping with depression before, during and after the holidays. How Kevin's writing, especially poetry, helps him stay positive and heal stigma will be discussed.

My Ríastrad will be reviewed in the upcoming Winter issue of the Journal Polymath (http://www.vraeydamedia.ca/polymath) out of Vancouver, BC.

Recently, one of Kevin's favorite poems from My Ríastrad ("A Lovelier World") was transformed into an animated video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_4bVYW01QY.

"Beginning Feb 18 at 5pm EST (and running 5pm-6pm on Thursdays Kevin Hogan will be the co-host of "Healing Stigma on Left" of Str8 Radio (www.healingstigmaradio.com) - a weekly national radio program via the Universal Broadcasting Network.

Kevin was recently interviewed by K-Town & Kim Style of "Same Sex Dialogue" out of Knoxville. They're one of the top 100 downloaded podcasts on iTunes: https://www.spreaker.com/user/samesexdialogue/nooo-im-bisexual-youre-confused-intervie. And here's the iTunes link for the show: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/nooo-im-bisexual-youre-confused/id1069677478?i=363771460&mt=2.

MassPoetry.org is now listing My Ríastrad as a hot new read amongst recently published Massachusetts Poets. See http://www.masspoetry.org/newbooks/. Kevin was recently interviewed by MassPoetry, the results of which will go live around March 7th in the series "Getting to Know."

This just in: Kevin Hogan's My Ríastrad is a Lambda Literary Finalist!

On June 6, 2016, Kevin will attend the 28th Annual Lambda Literary Awards, as My Ríastrad has been named a 2016 Lambda Finalist. The event celebrates literary achievements in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender writing for books published in 2015. The red carpet gala will be held at the NYU Skirball Center for the Performing Arts.

For a passionate Huffington Post article by Kevin (“We the People Make America Great: Viewpoint of an American Bisexual”), visit http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-hogan2/we-the-people-make-americ_b_9865388.html?utm_hp_ref=bisexual.

In the July-August 2016 number of The Gay & Lesbian Review you will find a guest editorial by Kevin Hogan on "Healing Stigma" as well as his poem "The Gender Bend." See http://www.glreview.org/article/healing-stigma-in-the-age-of-social%E2%80%88media/.

Kevin Hogan recently gave a poetry reading (“A Lovelier World” from My Ríastrad) as part of the White House Bisexual Community Briefing held at the White House on Monday, September 26th. To experience his reading, visit https://youtu.be/vNQ-UHFfen8?t=1h40m52s.

Kevin Hogan's newest blog concerns the vital necessity of reducing hate-crimes in these post-election times: http://www.healingstigma.com/single-post/2016/11/22/Healing-Stigma-and-Reducing-Hate-Crime-in-Post-Election-America.

Kevin Hogan's latest blog can be read at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/divided-we-fall_us_58c80125e4b03400023f4b4d.

Kevin Hogan's latest blog can be read at http://www.healingstigma.com/single-post/2017/08/10/Why-a-Stigmatizer-in-Chief-Benefits-No-Americans

On October 1, Kevin Hogan will be interviewed for an hour on the "Studio A" program of WKCR 89.9 FM New York. This is one of the longest running literary shows in the U.S.and emanates from Columbia University).

On Oct. 21, Kevin Hogan's most recent blog was published: "Reading Poetry and Healing Stigma on Columbia University’s WKCR Studio A.” For more information, see www.healingstigma.com.


BETSY HUGHES


DOUGLAS HYDE


SARA INGRAM

February 13, 1 pm," Poetry of the Heart," sponsored by the Mystic Paper Beasts. Virtual reading along with 10 other poets. For link: Contact Marya at mybeasts@aol.com.

Sara Ingram is performing with The Hygienic Egg Company in a theatre piece based on Emily Dickinson on March 8, 2020 at 12:30 pm. The Hygienic Galleries, Bank Street, New London.


BOB JACOB


LEE A. JACOBUS


BROOKE HERTER JAMES

Brooke Herter James is part of a group that reads from 5:00 to 7:30 PM on the first Thursday of each month at The Mont Vert Cafe, 67 Central St, Woodstock, VT.


CECELIA D. JOHNSON


JOEL F. JOHNSON

Joel Johnson's poem, "An Idea She Got from Oprah" was featured on the Rattle website as a poem of the day: http://www.rattle.com/poetry/an-idea-she-got-from-oprah-by-joel-f-johnson/

An interview with Joel Johnson as been posted on "Geosi Reads": https://geosireads.wordpress.com/2015/03/28/interview-with-joel-f-johnson-author-of-a-map-of-what-matters/.


MARILYN E. JOHNSTON

Feb. 27, East Hartford Public Library (with John Stanizzi), time TBA.

Thurs., Oct. 15, 7 pm reading with a few others in the Wintonbury Poetry Series.


ARLENE SWIFT JONES


JOAN KANTOR

Kirkus Reviews has issued a glowing review of Joan's newest book, Fading into Focus. Visit https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/joan-kantor/fading-focus/.

Joan Kantor's Fading into Focus has won First Place in the Poetry category for the Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards. Kudos!

On February 27th, 2016, Joan's poem "In Between" was featured on "Your Daily Poem."


LES KAY

We have lost a great spirit. Les Kay passed away in late September, 2016 after a lingering illness. We will miss him. He has left behind his prose poetry memoir, Kilo Co, as a lasting legacy.


PHYLLIS BECK KATZ


MARGARET KEANE - SISTER MARIE MICHAEL KEANE


JIM KELLEHER


ELIZABETH KINCAID-EHLERS


SUSAN DEBORAH KING


NANCY MATTOON KLINE


TRICIA KNOLL


ALEX KOCHKIN


JUDY KRONENFELD


JOAN KUNSCH


PAM LACKO


SUSANNAH LAWRENCE

Haystack Book Talks Festival in Norfolk, CT Announces Festival Program for October 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
,
2021 - Norfolk, CT
Haystack Book Festival will talk place in Norfolk, CT at The Norfolk Library on Friday, October 1st
,
Saturday, October 2nd, and Sunday October 3rd
.
This year’s festival will be live in-person with 60 seats available in the library and will also be live
streamed. There will be an additional 25 seats available at the Norfolk Hub for large screen viewing.
Haystack Book Festival is free and open to the public. Registration is required in advance for all events –
in-person (limited attendance) as well as live streamed.
In-person events will require COVID-19 Proof of Vaccination and masks.
Live-streaming information will follow – visit us at www.norfolkfoundation.net/book-talks
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Haystack-Book-Festival-110105677995085
Instagram @Haystackbookfestival


KENNETH LEE

Self-Portrait with Hourglass, Kenneth Lee's fourth book is now available. Information can be found at krlee900@gmail.com.


ANN MIRABILE LEES


DAVID K. LEFF

Poetry for a Greener World ~ Celebrating Earth Day

As part of an all day virtual poetry program sponsored by Connecticut Poet Laureate Margaret Gibson in celebration of Earth Day (more on that soon), there will be a live workshop via Zoom as follows.

Writing Workshop: “There Will Be No One To Remember Us: Writing Poetry of Healing and Witness for the Earth”

with Edwina Trentham

Today, one of the gravest threats facing us is the desecration of our beautiful earth, the heedless greed and irreversible damage for the sake of profit that is destroying our planet. Faced with this horror, how can we as poets draw attention to this destruction, and what can we hope to achieve? In this intensive workshop, we will read and discuss work by poets who have explored this essential topic and explore different ways of writing poetry of witness with passion and persuasiveness. The major part of the workshop will be devoted to workshopping the poems written by participants and submitted ahead of time. Writing prompts focused on the topic of healing and witness for the earth will be provided.

12:15 p.m. – 2:15 p.m., ZOOM and Facebook Live. Please follow the directions below to register as a participant in the workshop or as a viewer.

Sign-up Instructions for Poets: Register by April 1, 2021 with David K. Leff at onktaadn@comcast.net Please send postal address for receipt of materials and briefly state your experience writing nature poetry, if any. A Zoom link will be sent to you along with any further instructions prior to the workshop. Space is limited to ten.

Registration Instructions for the Public: Register at www.whitememorialcc.org. if you would like to observe via ZOOM. A link will be emailed to you the day before the workshop OR watch live on White Memorial’s Facebook Fan Page.


MARY LEONARD


SUZANNE LEONARD


MICHAEL LEPORE


GREGORY LESTAGE


SUZANNE LEVINE


REBECCA LILLY


TOM MALLOUK


SRINIVAS MANDAVILLI


NANCY MANNING

Poetry Reading (with Karen Ciosek) on Thursday, October 13 at Oxford (CT) Library, 6 PM.

 


LAURA MAZZA-DIXON


WILLIAM H. MATCHETT


LOIS MATHIEU


RENNIE McQUILKIN

For a WPKN discussion of CT Arts Day with other panelists, visit http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/listen/138066/community-programming-the-cultural-alliance-of-farfield-county

For a television interview with guests Julia Morris Paul and Rennie McQuilkin, see https://youtu.be/rzvE9hLuxsc.

For a radio interview preceding Rennie's reading at the Institute Library in New Haven, see https://soundcloud.com/new-haven-independent/at-the-moment-connecticuts-poet-laureate.

To hear Rennie discuss his new book, A Quorum of Saints, visit http://www.healingstigmaradio.com/9-1-rennie-mcquilkin.


JAMES B. MELE


NANCY FITZ-HUGH MENEELY

We are delighted to announce that Letter from Italy, 1944 has won honorable mention in the Legacy category of this year's Eric Hoffer competition, the only book of poetry recognized in that category.

Nancy is once again directing the Guilford Poetry Guild, whose monthly offerings are well worth a trip to the Guilford Free Library, where events occur. See the "Special Events" section below for listings.

Nancy's book Simple Absence has been named runner-up in the 2020 Eric Hoffer contest. Praise from a Hoffer Contest judge, in response to Simple Absence being named a runner-up for the 2020 Hoffer Award in poetry: These are intensely resonant and important poems. The sound is gorgeous, with liquid language that is never overdone. The soaring music of her work is stunning. Every word seems self-invented. Descriptions are precise, crisp, and specific. Love of poetic form is apparent and skillfully done. Every poem is like a whetstone, honing the reader. She's not afraid to start a poem with a brutal, unadorned truth and does not shrink from the absolute worst moments of being a human, then transforms them into something vital and useful. She can take a small, interior moment and build it into a masterpiece. This is a poet who is paying the most attention.

The book is also a Finalist in the 2021 Next Generation Indie Book Awards (NGIBA).


DAWN E. MORROW


SUSAN T. MOSS


FRANK MUNDO

Eleven Sundry Flowers was named a finalist for the 2022 Eric Hoffer Award for Poetry.

Eleven Sundry Flowers has been awarded a silver medal by Reader Views (the Reviewer's Choice Awards, 3021-2022).

Eleven Sundry Flowers Reviewed by Amy Lignor for Reader Views (12/27)
I’m going to begin this review by offering up a keyword that, to me, describes this collection of poems to a tee: “Beauty.” I know, this sounds like too simple of a word, or too generic to make it stand out from others. However, it’s actually spot on; and it’s the beauty of what this writer (and illustrator, who did a fantastic job, but we’ll address that later) presented that makes it stand above many I’ve read. The set-up is eleven poems, one written a day, that focus on an extremely happy time in the poet’s world that occurred during a very complex time period across the globe.
To be more specific, he writes during a time I, too, remember like it was yesterday. (I don’t think anyone forgot it, actually.) Mr. Mundo was a happy man who’d fallen in love with Nancy, the woman who would become his wife; and, at the age of thirty, he’d secured a job with an employer that offered two weeks paid vacation time. For a person who’d worked steadily for 15 years, you can certainly see why he was absolutely thrilled to be getting time off. Now, during this time – when he would pen these beautiful poems – the U.S. military, combining with those from the U.K., as well as others, invaded the country of Iraq. This campaign (“Shock and Awe”) began the war in the Middle East, coming two years after the hideous 9/11 attacks. Global watchers would sit in front of their TV’s as this played out. But for Mr. Mundo, he would wrestle with creating these 11 poems…a trial that would be quite difficult for any author, I’m sure.
I will not ruin anything by giving away these stunning works. But from poems about true love, like a “Pocket Full of Posies;” to works that made you feel enlightened and encouraged by life in general during a time period where it was difficult to feel that in, “Flower Powered,” Mr. Mundo hit upon a spectrum of words and phrases that you’ll find sticking in your memory and making you feel strength, warmth, and yes, beauty. Mundo backs up his statement that “love could muster my own voice” with the sonnets he created. Frankly, I think we should all thank his employer, because the craft and skill he used over his 11 days of vacation time produced something all readers can now enjoy.
But the words are not the only thing you will find yourself surprised, awed, or meditating over. Along with the stellar words, an illustrator by the name of Keith Draws (fitting, right?), created artwork that is simply stunning to coincide with the poetry. You can view one of the glorious drawings on the back cover of the book that will blow you away. These pictures, by the way, are not even in full color inside the book, but they don’t need to be; the beauty of them is illuminated by the illustrator and he should be commended for that as much as the poet for his collection of words.
With this striking combination, and the drawings adding to the experience ten-fold, I have to say that all readers out there who wish to follow this author’s “courtship” of his wife and delve into all this beauty, should get this one for their shelves as soon as possible!
https://readerviewsarchives.wordpress.com/2022/01/12/reviewmundoelevensundryflowers/

 

Reviewed by Bruce Arrington for Readers' Favorite
Eleven Sundry Flowers by Frank Mundo is both a picture book and an inspirational book of love poems. Though relatively short, an enormous amount of artwork and thoughts about life, love, and how the writer truly enjoys his existence fill the pages. The artwork and writing are so intertwined it is nearly impossible to separate the two. First of all, the illustrations are like nothing I have ever seen before. Each page is a carefully arranged collection of minutely detailed beautiful images. There are ancient gods, cherubs, the sun, the moon, and a myriad of planets, to name a few. It’s plain to see that a lot of work has gone into the fashioning of each page to bring about a story almost of itself. But those artful pictures do need the words, or the book becomes difficult to understand. The poems are of romance, dotted with old English, and filled with nuances, deep meanings, and bold expressions of affection. It’s clearly apparent this man is in love with his Nancy, and the carefully chosen words of closeness and desire offer a bright and positive perspective on life itself. The poetry strongly shows how falling in love with someone can completely change a person’s perspective and their enjoyment of everyday living. Eleven Sundry Flowers by Frank Mundo is a profound piece of work that expresses intensely personal thoughts of love and yet is universal. It's such a fresh and positive presentation of love that it leaves me blown away! I highly recommend this extraordinary book.

Eleven Sundry Flowers
By Frank Mundo
Antrim House, $16.00, 28 pages, Format: Trade
Star Rating: 4 / 5
Eleven Sundry Flowers by Frank Mundo is a collection of eleven beautiful love poems to his long-time best friend, and now wife, Nancy. The poems are packed with eloquent and expressive metaphors, descriptive imagery, and powerful verses. Poetry lovers, especially those who like nature and love poems, would enjoy this work.

The book begins with “Pocket Full of Posies,” which states that for eleven days, the writer has promised his “sweet Nancy…buds perfumed-soaked in spring loaded praise.” Mundo, comparing poetry to flower buds, continues this metaphor by saying that he will nurture his words by “toiling in the garden,” and if his “thumb-picked pick fails to stun, then flowery I’ll beg for her pardon.” This technique of comparing love to nature is continued throughout the entire book, and I thought that it really added a lot to the poems. I appreciated how descriptive Mundo was and how creative he got with his metaphors about his love for Nancy.

The book continues by taking the reader through the expression of Mundo’s love. After initially trying to write like famous “masters,” Mundo realizes he must write from his heart, and that he sure does! My favorite poem was “March Madness,” where Nancy has fallen ill due to March’s weather. Mundo offers chicken noodle soup, orange juice, vitamin C, and other remedies to make the love of his life well again. The poem perfectly encapsulates the nurturing side of a relationship, where one wants nothing more than to make the one they love well and happy again. I also really enjoyed “Darling Buds of May.” This poem serves as a reminder that time is fleeting; one day we will grow old and have no time left to enjoy the precious moments that make life worth living. Mundo ends this poem truthfully saying, “Hear me now, underneath the crescent moon: live today for tomorrow dies too soon.”

One of the biggest enhancers of this poetry collection is the illustrations done by Keith Draws. The detail and intricacy of each of these images is phenomenal. The illustrations themselves take up pages, with each illustration correlating with one of the eleven days of Mundo’s writing. With so many parts to each drawing, I really stopped page to page to admire Draws’ work and understand what the images were conveying. Although this definitely supplemented Mundo’s poetry, I did find some of the drawings to be a little distracting from the work itself; I spent more time trying to follow what was happening in the extensive illustrations than appreciating the poetry.
-- Theresa Kadair, San Francisco Book Review


JOHN MURO

Since the publication of John’s first volume of poems, In the Lilac Hour, in the fall of 2020, he has been twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize and, most recently, he was nominated for a Best of the Net award. Since 2020, his poetry has appeared in dozens of literary journals and anthologies, including such highly selective journals as Acumen, Barnstorm, Euphony, Grey Sparrow, MORIA, Penumbra, River Heron, and Sky Island. In 2021, John was also profiled and selected as a “featured writer” in the Freshwater Literary Journal, and, in 2022, as a “featured author” in OpenDoor Magazine. He has also been invited to provide readings of his work on behalf of various national and international poetry journals, including Agapanthus, Barnstorm, Blue Muse, Freshwater, MockingOwl Roost, Sein und Werden, Sheepshead and Writer Shed Stories. His second volume of poems, Pastoral Suite, was published in June of 2022. John’s poems have solicited praise from such nationally recognized poets as Kelli Russell Agodon and Robert Cording, as well as numerous literary journal editors. John’s books can be purchased on Amazon and you can contact him directly on Instagram @johntmuro.


VICTORIA T. MURPHY


MARILYN NELSON


PATRICIA HORN O'BRIEN


LANA ORPHANIDES


JIM PEARCE


PAUL PETRIE

It is a great pleasure to announce that Paul Petrie's COMPLETE POEMS has been named runner-up for the 2016 Eric Hoffer Award in poetry!


GARRETT PHELAN


MOLLIE PILLING


PIT PINEGAR


CURT PLASKON


NORAH POLLARD


JOHN POPIELASKI


WANDA S. PRAISNER


BRUCE PRATT


DIANA M. RAAB


ELLEN RACHLIN


GERI RADACSI

Photo of John Radacsi Rowing for BU


JAROLD RAMSEY


MARTHA READYOFF

Martha will be signing books at the Hotchkiss Library, on the Green in Sharon, CT from 5:30 to 7:30 on August 5, 2022.


KENTON WING ROBINSON


KENNETH S. ROBSON


CHIVAS SANDAGE

CHIVAS SANDAGE & WRITE LIKE A RIVER WORKSHOPS. Chivas offers women’s writing workshops on a regular basis in Collinsville, CT and Northampton, MA under the auspices of Write Like a River. She also offers services as an editor, writing consultant, and tutor. For more information, go to http://www.writelikeariver.com and contact her at writelikeariver@gmail.com.

Chivas is at work on Salt Wind Redemption: Love & Murder in South Texas, a narrative nonfiction book about the 2012 rape and double shooting of Kristene Chapa and Mollie Olgin, a young lesbian couple who were attacked while on a date in Portland, Texas. Salt Wind Redemption explores tragedy and a search for justice set against changing attitudes about sexual orientation and gender identity in the contemporary American South.

Ms. Magazine just republished Chivas' essay, "The Trouble with Confidence," on their blog at http://bit.ly/2zKwdTF.

 


JEAN SANDS

For an alternative way of purchasing Jean Sands' posthumous poetry collection Clost But Not Touching, visit http://jacksheedy.homestead.com/jean-s-book-.html.


PEGGY SAPPHIRE


MARIA SASSI

POP Lineup for Sept 2019-Dec 2019

The Hartford Public Library, 500 Main St., Hartford
Saturdays, 10am-noon, Classroom 139

Poet Moderator Date
John Keats Mark Sheridan Sept 28
Emanuel Carnevali Dennis Barone Oct 26
Jack Gilbert Matthew Mercure Nov 23

Southington Public Library, 255 Main Street, Southington
Mondays, 6:30-8:30 pm

Rumi Mark Sheridan Oct 7
Hirshfield Ginny Connors Nov 4
Neruda Luisa Caycedo-Kimura Dec 2


Avon Public Library
Thursdays, 2-4 pm
Jane Hirschfield Ginny Connors Sept 12
William Carlos Williams Mark Sheridan Oct 10
Rita Dove Maria Sassi Nov 14
Jane Kenyon Christine Beck Dec 12

Russell Library, Middletown
Thursdays, 6:30-8, 123 Broad St., Middletown, Roland Duprey

Rumi Mark Sheridan Oct 17
Gwendolyn Brooks Christine Beck Nov 7

Wallingford Public Library, Julie Rio
Wednesdays 6:30-8

Sylvia Plath Mark Sheridan Oct 16
Pablo Neruda Luisa Caycedo-Kimura Nov 13


JANE SCHAPIRO

Click here for a podcast concerning the biking adventure that led to Jane Schapiro's Let the Wind Push Us Across.


ELLEN HIRNING SCHMIDT

In-person reading Sunday, June 11, 2023 @ 2 pm at Buffalo Street Books 215 North Cayuga St Ithaca, NY 14850-4329. Phone: 607-273-8246.

Come to Buffalo Street Books on Sunday, June 11th at 2:00 p.m. for a reading and book signing by author Ellen Schmidt, seen here holding a copy of her new collection “Armed to the Teeth”. Photo provided.
“Armed to the Teeth”, a newly published poetry collection by Ithaca author Ellen Hirning Schmidt, focuses on the dichotomy of hope versus despair. Written and honed largely during the height of the pandemic, the poems reveal and illuminate Schmidt’s experience through the telling of personal stories, moments of humor and the artful use of language.

“I have been, as I think many people are, struggling with the notion of how to find hope or do we throw up our arms in despair,” Schmidt said. “I can be up and down over the course of a day, or maybe an hour. I wanted to connect with others who were experiencing a similar range of emotions. That is why I put these poems out there, to connect.”

STEP RIGHT UP & TRY YOUR LUCK

Just one bolt of lightning
fried the answering machine,
as it had two weeks earlier.
What are the chances?
It took only one train to kill my sister.
Strange hand, finger on an unknown trigger,
cocked without aim
in absurd Russian Roulette.
Somehow,
sometime,
one shoe or another will drop.
Climatic catastrophe
or dread disease
might claim victory.
Of course, there’s a chance
that an errant comet will
take care of all of us at once.
Last night the wind formed
archipelagos of slippery pine needles
with dry oak leaves
into gliding mines on the road.
This morning, picking my way
in the channels between them
in another game
of chance, I am
Armed to the Teeth
with Hope.

The poem “Step Right Up and Try Your Luck” ends with the line “Armed to the Teeth” with Hope,” yet Schmidt chose to leave off the last two words in the title.

“A friend of mine suggested that I let people guess, to allow them to fill in the blank with whatever they need to develop that is strong and sturdy,” Schmidt said. “The word ‘armed’ is provocative in this country at this point in time, but maybe my poems can offer a counterpoint to that other type of arming.”

Schmidt is well-known to many in the Ithaca area and beyond as a community educator and writing mentor. After retiring from her position with Suicide Prevention and Crisis Center, Schmidt created Writing Through the Rough Spots, a series of classes and writing circles which enable students to create clarity about challenges in their lives through writing (WritingRoomWorkshops.com).

In her workshops, Schmidt’s personal warmth and empathy for others create an environment of trust that allows participants to open up and write from the heart. These inherent traits are also evident in her poetry.

“I sometimes feel that there is very little skin between me and the rest of the world. It can be kind of a double-edged sword, but I feel it more as a gift than any downside,” Schmidt said. “Writing poems is exhilarating, so that doesn’t take a toll. Teaching is also, I feel filled from that.”

Schmidt’s keen observance of nature, both human and otherwise, not only lends texture and color to her poetry but also provides a rich source of metaphor. In “A Nest in the Country,” an ominous paper wasp nest hanging overhead threatens to split open “sending out my thousand rages.” The tree swallows in “The Thing With Feathers (a nod to Emily)” build their nest under “murderous clouds.”

Schmidt’s version of hope clearly does not depend on turning a blind eye to the reality around her. It is not naive or innocent, but almost defiant. Promotional material for the book states that many of the poems were written in response to “climate change and the social divides of our larger world.”

“I think there is a difference between optimism and hope. It takes courage for us all to have hope,” Schmidt said. “A lot of young people are inspiring to me. They get it and they are not standing by. What gives me hope also are all the stories that you don’t hear about in the media, the everyday human interactions.”

Though Schmidt has always been a writer (as by her own definition “a writer is someone who writes”), “”Armed to the Teeth”” is Schmidt’s first full-length published work. She’s led writing workshops at Cornell and Star Island, N.H., edited manuscripts and helped nursing home residents document and record their life stories. Yet it wasn’t until 2017 that Schmidt began submitting her own poems for publication.

“In the last decade I experienced an explosion of poem writing,” Schmidt said in her online bio. “I have been writing for most of my life, but at age 70, five years ago, I decided to submit some poems for the first time publicly.”

Since then, Schmidt’s works have appeared widely in journals such as Poetry Quarterly, The Avocet, Passenger and Bluff & Vine. Her chapbook “Oh, say did you know,” was published in 2020 and won the Helen Kay Chapbook Prize. In 2021, she was the Connecticut Poetry Society Award Winner.

Schmidt admits that she sometimes finds the idea of poetry competitions a bit silly, but they can be an effective way to reach a larger audience. In fact, it was the Connecticut Poetry Society award that brought Schmidt’s work to the attention of Rennie McQuilkin, the publisher with Antrim House books who worked with her to develop and publish “Armed to the Teeth”.

“In her exquisite poems, Ellen Hirning Schmidt faces life’s perils courageously,” McQuilkin said in an email correspondence. “Being armed with the powers of family, the natural world, and a strong heart full of love, she emerges victorious.”

To hear the author read select poems and get a signed copy of “”Armed to the Teeth””, come to Buffalo Street Books on Sun., Jun. 11 at 2 p.m. The event is free and all are welcome to attend. Copies of this book may be purchased at local bookstores, online from Amazon Books, or directly from the author (send checks for $17 per book plus $4 shipping to Ellen Schmidt, 8 Genung Circle, Ithaca, NY). More information is available at antrimhousebooks.com/schmidt.html.



V. JANE SCHNEELOCH


ELIZABETH SCHULTZ


VERA SCHWARCZ

For a stellar review of Ancestral Intelligence, visit http://www.worldliteraturetoday.org/blog/words-have-no-word-words-are-not-true#.VJD6Mnuvw3M.


PAUL SCOLLAN

Paul Scollan's Unacounted For has won second place in the Royal Dragonfly Book Awards for poetry.


JACK T. SCULLY

ADDITIONAL REVIEWS

Jack T. Scully is going to sit you down in the easy chair of your mind. With metric simplicity and an uncanny choice of evocative words, Scully will take you to Mianus Village—a real place for sure, and the setting for many autobiographical tales, but also a place that is emblematic of the commonalities within all of us … For those of an age, there is a universality and nostalgia to the tapestry he weaves. Whether it is fretting over the fear of “lockjaw” when you first heard about it at age six, or pounding a baseball to pieces until it trails threads like a jellyfish, Scully hits his own home run in Mianus Village, while taking us on a leisurely jog around its bases.
—Peter Shea, Outdoor writer and cartographer, author of Long Trail Trout, Collateral Trout, and the award-winning guidebook, Access America: An Atlas and Guide to the National Parks for Visitors With Disabilities.


In Mianus Village, Jack T. Scully takes us Back to the Future of his¬¬ growing-up-days, as a kid in the for-real Mianus Village—an enclave of government housing. Forty low-to-middle class “matchbox” houses; each one populated by returning GI’s, wives, children, dogs, cats, and brimming with behind-closed-doors tales. Scully has intimate knowledge of the secrets behind these doors. Young friends, it appears, have no trouble “airing laundry”— be it clean or dirty. Almost every verse conjures a vivid, new image in this well-told remembrance of the way we were in the 50s and 60s.
—J. Chris Davala, Long-time Greenwich, CT Radio Talk Show Host; President of Smart Talk Inc.

 

Mianus Village by Jack Scully

This manuscript and it’s author, Jack Scully, takes the reader on an insightful journey into a place in time that was his world inside the affluent town of Greenwich, Connecticut in the 1950’s and 1960’s. His recall of people, places, and events sheds a fascinating and colorful retrospective on a time of life that was not only formative for him, but speaks to a more simplistic period, especially measured by today’s standards. Mr. Scully’s insights into the formative years of our lives, the trials and trepidations of youth and the anxieties we all encountered, in some form, with a flair for the lighter side of those events that so unceremoniously influenced who we are as adults. His slight of the written word and tongue-in-cheek recall of his formative years, lessons learned, friendships engaged and nurtured, all contribute to a delightful and memorable read we all can easily identify with. I’ve read it several times and each time provokes a new perspective on my personal experiences of those times. An intuitive work I can highly recommend. David Fox, Retired Aflac Insurance Executive and New Hampshire Court-Appointed Child’s Advocate

 


As a scientist, I have never understood poetry. But I sure understand what Jack T Scully is saying in his melancholic woebegone memoir of life as a blue collar child in Riverside , Connecticut, on the lazy dangerous shore of the Mianus slough...in a bittersweet spot of post-war Purgatory, and which is now one of the wealthiest burgs of this country. Jack as a child appears to have missed the good fortune of this latter day capital wealth. But he clearly developed a different and deeper wealth, which he has gifted us in his moving collection of poems. For forty years, I have cried ten times. At the time mark of his penultimate lyric passage, the eleventh washed over me. Thanks, Jack Scully. —James Fallon, Emeritus Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine

 

Jack T. Scully has written one of the best books of poetry I have ever encountered, and I’m an editor, so I encounter a lot! This gem of a book is like sharing life with a friend, rewarding, warm, revealing, funny, insightful. Scully’s imagery and detail are easy to read, accessible, and yet surprising and “just the right way” to get his point across. He has a knack for telling a story [the book is a series of narrative poems about growing up in this river-side town in Connecticut some few years ago], and then he drops in a little surprise here and there, not so much about what happened, but in the way he experienced it. Delightful! For instance, talking about watching Dwight Eisenhower’s inaugural address on TV when Scully was about four-years-old [his mother wanted him to experience history], he writes: “Ike, as mother called him, / was bald and serious / and talked long enough / for me to eat a box / of animal crackers / and fall asleep.” Through the entire wonderful poem, I did not expect that, but it was perfect — I remember boxes of animal crackers and how slowly Ike spoke, and I knew immediately what that moment was like for Jack Scully. The book is full of little bits and surprises like that, some just the right word, some the image, some the long story coming to a fruitful end. Read about the neighborhood changing … you will feel something. Better yet, read the whole book.

—Pat Goudey O'Brien, a former president of the League of Vermont Writers, is a consulting editor and author.

 

 

UPCOMING READINGS

Presentation Title: Mianus Village in History and Literature
Venue: Retired Men’s Association of Greenwich (RMA)
Link: https://greenwichrma.org/speakers/future-speakers-3/
Date: October 6, 2021 at 11 AM
Place: First Presbyterian Church Hall
Location: 1 West Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT 06830
Co-Sponsors: Greenwich Library and Greenwich Historical Society

 

 

For a Mianus Village presentation before the Retired Men’s Association in Greenwich on Oct 6, 2021, please visit
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ww27pcf032ihzp8/Jack_Chris.mp4?dl=0



 



ALEXANDRINA SERGIO

Alexandrina Sergio is now editor for a monthly poetry column, “Poetry Here And Now” in the Glastonbury Citizen. The column will provide an opportunity for local poets at all levels to share their work. Current or former local residents, persons who work in town or have a regular connection with a Glastonbury organization, and students attending Glastonbury schools are invited to submit one to three poems of no more than 25 lines via E-mail to poet.laureate@glastonbury-ct.gov. Submissions must include name, phone number and a biographical line or two. Poems must have titles. Previously published work is allowed. If computer access is not available, poems may be sent or brought to the Welles Turner Memorial Library, addressed to the Glastonbury Poet Laureate.

 


MYRA SHAPIRO


RICHARD SHAW


JOAN SELIGER SIDNEY

Joan Seliger Sidney's poem "On Approaching Seventy" was read by Garrison Keillor on THE WRITER'S ALMANAC, Sunday, February 15, 2015.

Joan's Body of Diminishing Motion was a finalist in the Legacy Category of the 2015 Eric Hoffer Book Awards.


KAREN SILK


GRETCHEN SCHAFER SKELLEY


GAIL MORAN SLATER


LISA SORNBERGER


LINDA SPOCK


JOHN L. STANIZZI

Feb. 27, East Hartford Public Library (with Marilyn Johnston), time TBA.


SETH STEINZOR


MARY SULLIVAN


BERNITA WOODRUFF SUNDQUIST


JOANNE TAYLOR


ELIZABETH THOMAS


ANN ANDERSON STRANAHAN


PARKER TOWLE


EDWINA TRENTHAM


THERESA VARA


GERDA WALZ-MICHAELS


KIRSTEN WASSON


RHETT WATTS

Rhett Watts has a group of poems online in PoetryMagazine.com and one appearing in the November issue of Sojouners. N.B. Rhett is now living in Auburn, MA.

7 pm, Nov. 19 virtual reading with Michael Lepore in the Wintonbury Poetry Series. Register for a Zoom link at www.bpl.org.


ALLEN C. WEST


CHRISTIE MAX WILLIAMS

Upcoming Readings and Events

Reading of new and elected poems at the Stonington Free Library on Sunday, March 12, at 5:00 p.m.

April 30: 5:00 p.m. at Hygienic Art, at 79 Bank Street in downtown New London. It's free. And you'll get to look at swell art too. https://www.hygienic.org/events

May 5: 6:00 p.m. at Savoy Bookshop, at 10 Canal Street in downtown Westerly RI. This, too, is free. And the Savoy is the prettiest book store anywhere. https://www.banksquarebooks.com/event/savoy-christie-max-williams-wages-love-author-talk-and-q/a

Book sales and signings will follow the readings.

 

I'm writing to invite you to what promises to be a very cool occasion on September 6, at Bank Square Books, that will feature the brilliant playwright-poet-essayist Sarah Ruhl. Ms. Ruhl will read from her just-published book Love Poems in Quarantine. Her reading will be followed by a Q&A conversation, led by yours-truly. Sarah Ruhl has won a MacArthur Genius Prize and is widely regarded as one of America's best playwrights. Her historical-comedy in the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play had a long Broadway run and was nominated for a Tony Award and as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. The Clean House was likewise a Pulitzer finalist. Indeed, her many prize-winning plays have been performed on stages across the country and all over the world, and have been translated into 14 languages. She is also the author of a wonderful memoir called Smile: The Story of a Face, and the superb 100 Essays I Don't Have Time to Write. But Ruhl has always maintained that she is first and foremost a poet, which makes the upcoming evening at Bank Square Books something special. Here's what you need to know:

Where: Bank Square Books (on Main Street in Mystic)
Date: Tuesday, September 6
Time: 6:00 p.m.

And it's free! Here's a link: https://www.banksquarebooks.com/event/sarah-ruhl-love-poems-quarantine


MAME WILLEY


BARRY L. ZARET

Barry Zaret is now an invited blogger with the Huffington Press. For his blogs, visit http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barry-l-zaret-md/a-doctorpatient-special-a_b_8221124.html. His first essay was posted in early October.

Dr. Zaret's most recent blog is a beautiful tribute to the life-saving power of writing. To read it, visit http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barry-l-zaret-md/healing-and-curing_b_8758746.html.

Barry's latest Huffington Post blog can be read at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barry-l-zaret-md/a-patient-a-swastika-a-decision_b_9087738.html.

An even more recent blog by Barry is at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barry-l-zaret-md/i-will-still-be-your-doct_b_10116878.html.


GERALDINE ZETZEL

Geraldine Zetzel has been posting a monthly poem on her website, www.geraldinezetzel.com. Check out the latest one; its full of zest.


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