Saturday, June 30, 2007

Vermont to California: Poetry Readings in St J, Summer Wednesday Evenings


The St. Johnsbury Athenaeum crafts a four-part poetry series each summer, and this year's roster of poets extends from East Coast to West. On Main Street at the top of the downtown, the 19th century art and architectural glories of the Athenaeum provide a striking backdrop to what is likely to be a far more modern set of poetics than its founders could have visualized. Caution: The building's not air-conditioned, and the turnout is sometimes huge, so dress for summer's heat, and arrive early to claim the best seats.

July 18, 7:30 P.M.: Ellen Dudley & F. D. Reeve

Vermont resident F.D. Reeve was once a Hudson River longshoreman and has spent years traveling the world from Mendocino to Moscow. He is the founding editor of Poetry Review and has received awards from The American Academy of Arts and Letters and the New England Poetry Society. His newest book of poems, The Toy Soldier, comes out in 2007.

Ellen Dudley is the founding editor of The Marlboro Review. Her poems have appeared in Agni Review, The Massachusetts Review, The Poetry Miscellany, Provincetown Arts, TriQuarterly, and other periodicals. Her most recent book of poems is The Geographic Cure (Four Way Books, 2007)

July 25, 7:30 P.M.: David Budbill & Jody Gladding

David Budbill is the author of seven books of poems, eight plays, a novel, a collection of short stories and several books for young adults. His Zen-scented collection While We’ve Still Got Feet was published by Copper Canyon Press in 2005. Budbill also performs with jazz musicians in a collaborative program of poetry and music. He lives in Wolcott, Vermont, with his wife, artist Lois Eby.

Jody Gladding is a professor, poet, and translator, and author of Stone Crop (1993; Yale Younger Poets Award) and The Moon Rose (2006; fine press work from Chester Creek Press). Gladding is the 2007 Poet-in-Residence at the Frost Place in Franconia, NH this summer.

August 1, 7:30 P.M.: Michael Collier & Ellen Bryant Voigt

Michael Collier is the director of the Bread Loaf Witers Conference. His five books of poetry includes most recently Dark Wild Realm (Houghton Mifflin, 2006), and his translation of Medea (Oxford) appeared in 2006. A collection of essays, Make Us Wave Back (Michigan), will be published in 2007.

Ellen Bryant Voigt is the author of several collections of poetry, most recently Messenger: New and Selected Poems 1976-2006 (W.W. Norton & Co., 2007), Shadow of Heaven (2002), which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and Kyrie (1995), a finalist for the National Book Critic's Circle Award. Voigt served as the Vermont State Poet from 1999 to 2003, when she was elected Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets. With a residence in Vermont, she also commits mentoring time at Warren Wilson College, where she cofounded the noted limited-residency MFA program in poetry.

August 15, 7:30 P.M.: Jane Hirshfield

Californian Jane Hirshfield is the author of six award-winning collections of poetry. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Nation, and The American Poetry Review. In fall 2004, Hirshfield was awarded the 70th Academy Fellowship for distinguished poetic achievement by The Academy of American Poets, an honor held by such poets as Robert Frost, Elizabeth Bishop, and William Carlos Williams.

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