A New Season for Poetry
With the end of September rapidly approaching we New Yorkers can feel the oncoming fall blowing in gently (or like a tornado, as the past weeks have shown us). School has started for college students, high schoolers and kindergartners alike. Boots and coats are being showcased in storefronts. Along with the arrival of cold air and crunchy fallen leaves also comes a new calendar of events at Poets House.
Our new schedule includes readings and conversations with Marie Howe, W. S. Merwin and Gerald Stern, as well as many others. These evening events cover topics from “The Art of Losing” to “Radical Poets and Secular Jewish Culture,” from “The Lost Poetry of World War II” to “Poetry for Children.” Poets and poetry lovers are welcome to come to any and all events and we frequently invite our guests to participate with the authors, providing a Socratic feel, rather than a lecture or traditional reading.
We also have a series of open-enrollment six-week seminars to help writers explore their craft in new ways. You’ll have the opportunity to learn such things as finding the deep core of a poem with Neil Shepard and ways to refresh your style with Patricia Spears Jones.
In addition to these events our library is still open as usual with new books coming in every day and the 2010 showcase collection displayed near the main collection. We also have rotating poetry-related art exhibits throughout the library and in our Cheney Chapel floating exhibition space.
-Sophie Bloomfield
