Poetry at Highland Park Public Library
THANK YOU to The Friends of The Library for sponsoring poetry events!
See more New Jersey poetry events or read a daily poem.
Upcoming Poetry Readings:
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Poetry Writing WorkshopWith Poet Maxine SusmanTuesday, February 28, 7:00-8:30 PMPoet and English professor Maxine Susman will conduct a poetry workshop. Each participant will produce a poem and have the opportunity to read it to the group. Maxine Susman, formerly a literature and writing professor at Caldwell College, has published in several dozen journals and anthologies, including Paterson Literary Review, CHEST, Runes, Earth’s Daughters, US 1 Worksheets, Home Planet News, and Poet Lore. Maxine has published four poetry collections: Gogama (2006) is about her father, a young Jewish doctor in remote Northern Ontario during the Great Depression. Wartime Address (2009) tells of a young woman trapped in Occupied Paris in World War 2 before escaping to Free France and Tunis. Familiar (2009) focuses on family life, place, and shifting states of mind and body. Creamery Road, due out summer of 2011, tells stories of rural New York State and Maine. Please register at the front desk or call the library at 732-572-2750. -
Friends Poetry Night SeriesMaxine SusmanTuesday, March 27, 7:30 PMOpen mike follows the featured reader. Maxine Susman, formerly a literature and writing professor at Caldwell College, has published in several dozen journals and anthologies, including Paterson Literary Review, CHEST, Runes, Earth’s Daughters, US 1 Worksheets, Home Planet News, and Poet Lore. Maxine has published four poetry collections: Gogama (2006) is about her father, a young Jewish doctor in remote Northern Ontario during the Great Depression. Wartime Address (2009) tells of a young woman trapped in Occupied Paris in World War 2 before escaping to Free France and Tunis. Familiar (2009) focuses on family life, place, and shifting states of mind and body. Creamery Road, due out summer of 2011, tells stories of rural New York State and Maine.
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Friends Poetry Night SeriesDiane LockwardTuesday, April 24, 7:30 PMDiane Lockward is the author of four collections of poetry, most recently, Temptation by Water (Wind Publications, 2010). Her earlier books are What Feeds Us, which received the Quentin R. Howard Poetry Prize; Eve’s Red Dress; and a chapbook, Against Perfection. Her poems have been published in several anthologies, including Poetry Daily: 366 Poems from the World’s Most Popular Poetry Website, Garrison Keillor's Good Poems for Hard Times, and The Poet's Cookbook. Her poems have also appeared in such journals as Beloit Poetry Journal, Spoon River Poetry Review, Harvard Review, Poet Lore, and Prairie Schooner. An open mike will follow the reading. -
Friends Poetry Night SeriesLauren SchmidtTuesday, May 29, 7:30 PMFeatured reader will be followed by an open mike. Lauren Schmidt’s poems have been published or are forthcoming in The Progressive, Alaska Quarterly Review, New York Quarterly, Rattle, Nimrod, Fifth Wednesday Journal, Ekphrasis Journal, Wicked Alice and other journals. Her poems have been selected as finalists for the 2008 and 2009 Janet B. McCabe Poetry Prize, the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry, Intro to Journals Project, and the Dancing Girl Press Chapbook Contest. Her awards include the 2009 So to Speak Poetry Prize, the 2011 Neil Postman Prize for Metaphor, and the 2012 Bellevue Literary Review’s Marica and Jan Vilcek Prize for Poetry. Her chapbook, The Voodoo Doll Parade (Main Street Rag), was selected as part of the 2011 Author’s Choice Chapbooks Series. Her first full-length collection, Psalms of The Dining Room (Wipf & Stock) is forthcoming. -
Poetry Writing Workshopwith Laura BossThursday, December 15, 7:00 PMLaura Boss will lead a poetry workshop with discussion of poems, prompts and participants will leave with a first draft of a poem. Laura Boss has received many poetry awards including a first place in Poetry Society of America's Gordon Barber Poetry Contest and three fellowships from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. In 1998, her manuscript Arms was a finalist for the Poetry Society of America's Alice Di Castagnola Award. Her newiest book, Flashlight, was published in 2010. -
Poetry Night SeriesJane McKinleyTuesday, November 29, 7:30 PMJane McKinley won the 2011 Walt McDonald First-Book Prize and was published as "Vanitas" in February 2011 by Texas Tech University Press. Her work has appeared in The Georgia Review and was featured on their website last fall. Her sonnet "Mud Season" won the 2008 Patricia Dobler Award and McKinley was recently awarded the 2011 Rachel Wetzsteon Memorial Prize from the Unterberg Poetry Center at the 92nd Street Y.
She is also is a professional musician who specializes in performing music of the 17th and 18th centuries on period instruments. Open mike follows the reading. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library. -
Poetry Night SeriesRobert RosenbloomTuesday, October 25, 7:30 PMRobert Rosenbloom's chapbook, Reunion was published in 2010 by Finishing Line Press. His poetry has appeared in the Paterson Literary Review, The Edison Literary Review, The Village Voice, Response, a Journal of Jewish Affairs, Big Hammer, and an e-zine, identity theory, US 1 Worksheets, and other magazines. He's co-director of the Somerset Poetry Group, which meets at the Bridgewater Public Library. His reading will be followed by an open mike.He is a civil trial lawyer and has an MA in Creative Writing from CCNY. He sold six jokes to Joan Rivers.
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Poet Laurie GranieriPoetry Night SeriesTuesday, September 27, 7:30 PMLaurie Granieri and Tammy Paolino are the featured readers. Granieri is an award winning journalist and poet who has performed all over the state. Her writing has been broadcast on national Public Radio and was published in the 2011 essay collection "This I Believe: On Fatherhood".
She is now the director of public relations for Rutgers University's Mason Gross School of the Arts.Tammy Paolino is an award winning poet and journalist living in Collingswood, NJ. She has studied with Saul Williams, Stephen Dunn, and Sonia Sanchez. Her poems have appeared in Paterson Literary Review, Mad Poets Review and other publications. She conducts workshops for young people.
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Poet Tammy PaolinoPoetry Night SeriesTuesday, September 27, 7:30 PMLaurie Granieri and Tammy Paolino are the featured poets. Tammy Paolino is an award winning poet and journalist living in Collingswood, NJ. She has studied with Saul Williams, Stephen Dunn, and Sonia Sanchez. Her poems have appeared in Paterson Literary Review and other publications. She conducts workshops for young people. An open mike will follow. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library. -
Poetry Writing WorkshopPoet Laurie GranieriTuesday, July 5, 7:00 PMDiscuss a poem, receive a promt, and write the first draft of a poem. Laurie Granieri is an award winning journalist and poet who has performed all over the state. Her writing has been broadcast on national Public Radio and was published in the 2011 essay collection "This I Believe: On Fatherhood". Laurie will do a reading at the library with poet Tammy Paolino on September 27 at 7:30PM.
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Poetry Night SeriesMaria Mazziotti GillanTuesday, May 24, 7:30 PMMaria Mazziotti Gillan is a recipient of the 2011 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award from Poets & Writers, and the 2008 American Book Award for her book, All That Lies Between Us (Guernica Editions). Her latest book is What We Pass On: Collected Poems 1980-2009 (Guernica Editions, 2010). She is the Founder /Executive Director of the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College in Paterson, NJ, and editor of the Paterson Literary Review. She is also Director of the Creative Writing Program and Professor of Poetry at Binghamton University-SUNY. She has published twelve books of poetry, including The Weather of Old Seasons (Cross-Cultural Communications), and Where I Come From, Things My Mother Told Me, and Italian Women in Black Dresses (Guernica Editions). With her daughter Jennifer, she is co-editor of four anthologies: Unsettling America, Identity Lessons, and Growing Up Ethnic in America (Penguin/Putnam) and Italian-American Writers on New Jersey (Rutgers). -
Poetry Night SeriesLaura BossTuesday, April 26, 7:30 PMLaura Boss has received many poetry awards including a first place in Poetry Society of America's Gordon Barber Poetry Contest and three fellowships from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. In 1998, her manuscript Arms was a finalist for the Poetry Society of America's Alice Di Castagnola Award. Her newiest book, Flashlight, was published in 2010.
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Poetry Writing WorkshopWriting HaikuThursday, April 21, 7:00 - 8:30 PMJoin a poetry writing workshop that will meet informerly each month. Rick Black, a poet and journalist will lead this workshop that will highlight Haiku writing. While in Israel as a reporter, Rick wrote, Peace and War: a collection of Haiku from Israel. Rick will bring in examples of Haiku poems, give a promt, and allow time for writing and reading for each participant. If you ever wanted to put pen to paper this is the group for you. To find out more about Rick's work go to http://www.turtlelightpress.com/ -
Poetry Writing WorkshopWrite A Poem TonightThursday, March 24, 7:30 PMColeen Tyler, an educator, artist and writer will lead an informal poetry writing workshop with prompts, poems, and time to write and read a poem. If you ever wanted to put your hand to paper and pen please come. To register call 732-572-2750 or visit the front desk.
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Poetry Night SeriesJuditha Dowd, Susanna RichTuesday, March 22, 7:30 PMJuditha Dowd's poetry was recently featured on Poetry Daily and has appeared in many journals and anthologies, including The Florida Review,Kaleidoscope, Relief and The Barefoot Muse. Her chapbooks, The Weathermancer and What Remains, were published by Finishing Line Press. A member of the Cool Women performance ensemble, she's working on a full-length collection.Susanna Rich is a 2009 Mid-America Emmy Nominee for her poetry in Craig Lindvahl's Cobb Field: A Day at the Ballpark; author of two Finishing Line Press poetry collections~The Drive Home (2009) and Television Daddy (2008); the recipient of the first joint Fulbright and Collegium Budapest Fellowship in Creative Writing; and a Pushcart Prize nominee. Susanna is Professor of English at Kean University in New Jersey.
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Teen Poetry Writing CafeOpen MikeMonday, March 7, 7:00 PMTeens are invited to come share their poetry, short stories, essays, and short writing at our cafe. Enjoy an open mike. Refreshments too. -
Poetry Writing WorkshopPoet Maxine SusmanThursday, December 9, 7:00 - 8:30 PMMaxine Susman, a poet and an English professor at Caldwell College, is conducting a second consecutive poetry workshop. We will discuss a poem by a well know poet, receive a prompt and write a first draft of a poem. Please register by calling 732-572-2750 or visit the front desk.
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Poetry Writing WorkshopPoet Maxine SusmanThursday, December 2, 7:00 - 8:30 PMMaxine Susman, poet and English professor at Caldwell College will conduct two poetry writing workshops in December on consecutive Thursday evenings. We will read discuss a poem by a well known poet, receive prompts, and complete a first draft. Please register at the front desk or call the library at 732-572-2750.
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Paul MuldoonPoetry Night SeriesTuesday, November 23, 7:30 PMPaul Muldoon, author of more than 30 collections of poetry, is a Pulitzer Prize winner, Poetry Editor at the New Yorker and at Princeton University. He is both the Howard G. B. Clark '21 professor in the Humanities and chair of the Lewis Center for the Arts. Muldoon is an internationally recognized scholar, author and poet. He is indeed a friend to the poetry community. President of the Poetry Society, he also founded his own rock band, Rackett. -
BJ WardPoetry Night SeriesTuesday, October 26, 7:30 PMBJ Ward is a recipient of the Pushcart Prize for poetry and two Distinguished Artist Fellowships from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. His three recent volumes of poetry are Gravedigger's Birthday (2002), 17 Love Poems with No Despair (1997), and Landing in New Jersey with Soft hands (1994). Bj Ward is an educator and is an Assistant Professor of English at Warren County Community College. he has served as University Distinguished Fellow at Syracuse University. -
Alicia OstrikerPoetry Night SeriesTuesday, September 28, 7:30 PMAward winning poet Alicia Ostriker, scholar and Rutgers University professor emeritis and legend will kick off the Fall Poetry Night Series. She recently published two poetry collections The Book of Seventy in 2009 and No Heaven in 2005. Her literary critical works, Stealing The Language (1986), examines the origins and meanings of contemporary women's poetry, and Nakedness of the Fathers, is a feminest treatment of the Hebrew Bible. Her poetry bites, is right on target and is always fresh. After the reading there will be an open mike and reception. Sponsored by the Friends of the Library. -
Poetry Night SeriesEd RomondMonday, May 10, 7:30 PMThe Friends of the Library Poetry Night Series is in its sixth year and after the featured poet there will be an open mike and refreshments.The poet's awards include fellowships from the New Jersey and Pennsylvania State Arts Councils and from the National Endowment for the Arts. He won second place in the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Competition, third place in the Rainmaker's Awards at Austin Peay State University, and his work was selected for the "Anthology of Magazine Verse" and "Yearbook of American Poetry".
Romond is the author of "Home Fire" (Belle Mead Press, 1993), "Dream Teaching" (Grayson Books, 2005) and two chapbooks: "Macaroon" (1997) and "Blue Mountain Time: New and Selected Poems about Baseball" (2002). His poems have appeared in such journals as The Sun, Rockhurst Review, Poet Lore, English Journal, Barrow Street, Spitball, Lake Effect, Zone 3, New Letters, Coal City Review and many others. -
Poetry Night SeriesCool WomenTuesday, April 27, 7:30 PMThe Friends of the Library Poetry Night Series is in its sixth year and has brought more than 40 outstanding poets to Central New Jersey to read from their work at the Library. After each reading poets are invited to the open mike.Cool Women are a group of 8 poets who have been performing together for 8 years. They are artists of the spoken word and they explore the arc of women's lives with depth and humor. Lois Marie Harrod, Betty Lies, Carolyn Foote Edelman, Maxine Susman and others will be performing.
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Poetry Night SeriesAdele KennyTuesday, March 23, 7:30 PMThe Friends of the Library Poetry Night Series is in its sixth year and has brought more than 40 outstanding poets to Central new Jersey to read at the library. After the featured reader there will be an open mike and refreshments.Adele Kenny has published 23 books and is poetry editor of Tiferet Journal. Her books of poetry include The Kite and Other Poems From Childhood 2008 from Finishing Line Press, Chosen Ghosts (2001), and Castles and Dragons (1990), both from Muse-Pie Press. Kenny is also director of the Carriage House Poetry Reading series in Fanwood and has published 700 articles and poems in magazines and journals. She has won numerous poetry awards including the 2007 Merton Poetry of the Sacred Prize, Allen Ginsberg Awards, and Pushcard Prize nominations.
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Speak Your HeartTeen Poetry WritingTuesday, March 16, 4:00 PM- 5:15 PMPandora Scooter will run the workshop on writing and sharing spoken word pieces that come right from the heart. No experience is necessary. The experience will open students up to the freedom of self expression and help them feel great about themselves.Pandora Scooter is a spoken word/performance artist who has entertained at Universities, Pride and Women's Festivals and other events. She has an annual show that she curates and hosts at New Jersey Performing Arts Center called Hip Hop: Out, Loud and Proud. Her website is www.pandorascooter.com
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Poetry Writing WorkshopWith Poet Maxine SusmanThursday, March 4, 7:00 - 8:30 PMPoet and English professor Maxine Susman will conduct a workshop,Write About Now. All participants will produce a poem and have a chance to read it to the group. We will meet in the Teen Room. Please register for the workshop at the front desk or call the Library at 732-572-2750.
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Poetry Night SeriesGail F.GerwinTuesday, November 3, 7:30 PMFor the first time, the Poetry Night Series will have two featured poets reading. Sondra Gash published Silk Elegy, (2002), a collection of poems about immigrant sweatshop labors in Patterson, New Jersey. Her poems have appeared in The New York Times, Calyx, The Patterson Literary review, and US1 Worksheets.
Gail Fishman Gerwin's poetry and fiction have appeared in Calyx, Lips, Thema, new Millennium Writings, and Paterson Literary review, where she earned an Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award honorable mention. she is author of the forthcoming poetic memoir, Sugar and Sand. An open mike will follow the two readings. Sponsored by The Friends of the Library. -
Poetry Night SeriesSondra Gash - Gail F.GerwinTuesday, November 3, 7:30 PMFor the first time, the Poetry Night Series will have two featured poets reading. Sondra Gash published Silk Elegy, (2002), a collection of poems about immigrant sweatshop labors in Patterson, New Jersey. Her poems have appeared in The New York Times, Calyx, The Patterson Literary review, and US1 Worksheets.
Gail Fishman Gerwin's poetry and fiction have appeared in Calyx, Lips, Thema, new Millennium Writings, and Paterson Literary review, where she earned an Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award honorable mention. she is author of the forthcoming poetic memoir, Sugar and Sand. An open mike will follow the two readings. Sponsored by The Friends of the Library. -
Poetry Night SeriesPoet Nancy ScottTuesday, October 27, 7:30 PMJoin us for an evening of poetry. Nancy Scott has published two poetry collections including One Stands Guard, The Other Sleeps this year and Down To The Quick in 2007. A new chapbook, A Siege of Raptors will be published in January 2010. She is managing editor of U.S. 1 Worksheets and is a recipient of a Ragdale Residency. Sponsored by The Friends of The Library, the reading will be followed by an open mike and refreshments. -
Poetry Night SeriesPoet Joan Cusack HandlerTuesday, September 22, 7:30 PMJoan Cusack Handler has published two volumes of poetry, Glorious and The Red Canoe: Love In The Making. She has won numerous prizes including five nominations for the Pushcart Prize. Her poems have been published in Agni, The Boston Review, Poetry East, Southern Humanities Review, and The New York Times. She cofounded CavenKerry Press with her husband and has published more than 40 books. -
Act Out A PoemWriting and Acting for KidsThursday, July 30, 7:00 PMParticipants will bring a poem to life using their imaginations. Everyone will write a group poem and act it out. Ana Kalat, a Youth Stages representative will lead the group. For grade school children Reistration is required. -
Friends Poetry NightGeorge WitteTuesday, May 26, 7:30 PMGeorge Witte is the author of two collections of poems, Deniability (Orchises, 2009) and The Apparitioners (Three Rail Press, 2005. One of his poems was selected for Best American Poetry 2007. His poems have been published The Atlantic, Boulevard, Gettysburg Review, Kenyon Review, and others. He has also been an editor for St. Martin's Press for 24 years. -
Poetry Writing WorkshopWith Poet Maxine SusmanThursday, May 21, 7:00-8:30 PMThe workshop will be in the Young Adult Room and will include writing prompts, time to write a poem and a discussion of poems. Maxine Susman, a literature and writing professor at Claldwell College, has published in several dozen journals and anthologies, including Paterson Literary Review, CHEST, Runes, Earth’s Daughters, US 1 Worksheets, Home Planet News, and Poet Lore. She has won citations from a number of poetry competitions for her poems and chapbooks, including twice from the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Awards and most recently from Dogwood Journal, and the Black Lawrence Chapbook Contest. Her book Gogama (Sheltering Pines Press, 2006) tells the story of her father, a young Jewish doctor in remote Northern Ontario during the Great Depression. Wartime Address (coming soon) is the true story of a British woman caught in Occupied France. A third collection will be published this fall.
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Friends Poetry NightRick BlackTuesday, April 28, 7:30 PMRick Black, an International prize winning poet, including the James W. Hackett award, sponsored by the British Haiku Society, will read poems in English and Hebrew. Black is also a journalist, book artist, and founder of Turtle Light Press. From 1989-1991 he worked as a reporter in the Jerusalem bureau of The New York Times. -
Friends Poetry NightMaxine SusmanTuesday, March 24, 7:30 PMMaxine Susman has published over five dozen poems in many journals and anthologies in New Jersey and nationally, including Paterson Literary Review, US 1 Worksheets, Exit 13, Edison Literary Review, Journal of New Jersey Poets, Ekphrasis, Earth’s Daughters, and Home Planet News. She has won citations from a number of poetry contests, most recently the Allen Ginsberg Contest, Dogwood Journal, and the Black Lawrence Chapbook Competition.
Her chapbook Gogama (Sheltering Pines Press) is about her father, a young Jewish doctor in remote Northern Ontario during the Great Depression. Wartime Address (Pudding House Press) tells the true story of a young Englishwoman living in Occupied Paris during World War 2 before escaping to Marseilles. Her current work centers on family, travel, and personal history. -
Poetry Writing WorkshopPoet Maxine SusmanThursday, November 20Maxine Susman, poet and professor of English at Caldwell College, will be conducting three writing workshops this Fall. The author, of "Gogama," an award winning collection of poems, will give prompts and discuss editing techniques, for anyone interested in the writing of poetry. The first session's theme is rebirth. Please register at the front desk or call the library at 732-572-2750.
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Friends Poetry NightPoet Richard TaysonThursday, November 6, 7:30 PMRichard Tayson is author of two books of poetry published by Kent State Press, The World Underneath and The Apprentice of Fever. He is a Chancellor's Fellow at the City University of New York's Graduate Center and is currently working on a dissertation concerning William Blake's influence on American popular culture. -
Friends Poetry NightPoet Enriqueta CarringtonTuesday, October 28, 7:30 PMEnriqueta Carrington, a Mexican-English writer-mathematician, is the translator of the anthology Treasury of Mexican Love Poems, Quotations & Proverbs and the poem collection Samandar, Book of Travels, by Lourdes Vazquez. Her poetry in has appeared in Pedestal Magazine, Carnelian, and US1 Worksheets in Spanish and English. The Highland Park resident is an associate professor in the Mathematics Department at Rutgers University. -
Poetry Writing WorkshopPoet Maxine SusmanThursday, October 23, 7:00 - 8:30 PMMaxine Susman, poet and professor of English at Caldwell College, will be conducting three writing workshops this Fall. The author, of "Gogama," an award winning collection of poems, will give prompts and discuss editing techniques for anyone interested in the writing of poetry. Please register at the front desk or call the library at 732-572-2750.
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Friends Poetry NightPoet Penny HarterTuesday, September 23, 7:30 PMPoet Penny Harter, who just published Night Marsh and is a teaching artist for the New Jersey Writers Project will read. She has published eight books of poetry and also essays on teaching writing. An open mike and refreshments will follow. -
Poetry Writing WorkshopFor AdultsThursday, September 18, 7:00 - 8:30 PMMaxine Susman, poet and professor of English at Caldwell College, will be conducting three writing workshops this Fall. The author, of "Gogama," an award winning collection of poems, will give prompts and discuss editing techniques, for anyone interested in the writing of poetry. Please register at the front desk or call the library at 732-572-2750.
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Poet Jessica de KoninckOpen ReadingTuesday, May 27, 7:30 PMThe featured poet is Jessica de Koninck. Refreshments and an open mike follow the reading.Jessica de Koninck published "Repairs," a collection of poems about loss and healing, by Finishing Line Press in 2006. It was a finalist in the Ledge 2005 poetry competition, a semifinalist in the 2005 Black River Chapbook Contest, and won Honorable Mention in the 2005 Juniper Tree Chapbook contest.
De Koninck is director of Legislative Services for the New Jersey Department of Education and a former two-term Montclair councilwoman.
Her poems have been published in "The Jewish Women's Literary Annual," "Edison Literary Review," "Exit 13," and "Bridges." They have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. -
Poet Daniel ZimmermanOpen ReadingTuesday, April 22, 7:30 PMThe featured poet is Daniel Zimmerman. Refreshments and an open mike follow the reading.Daniel Zimmerman, chairperson of the English Department at Middlesex County College, is author of the poetry collection "Post-Avant," published by Pavement Saw Press 2001, with an introduction by the poet Robert Creeley. Has he been editor of the single issue journals, "The Western Gate" and "Brittannia" and has served as associate editor of "Anonym," which first published Ezra Pound's last canto.
His work is included in the anthology "The Poets of New Jersey" and the journals Chain, Tinfish, Chelsea, New York Quarterly, Rubber Chicken and many others. -
Poet Kathleen GraberOpen ReadingTuesday, March 25, 7:30 PMThe featured poet is Kathleen Graber. Refreshments and an open mike follow the reading.Kathleen Graber, currently a Hodder Fellow at Princeton University, is author of the poetry collection "Correspondence," which is winner of the 2005 Saturnalia Books Poetry prize.
A graduate of New York University's Creative Writing Program, she also has taught writing at NYU. Graber is the recipient of fellowships from the Rona Jaffe Foundation and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts. Her work has appeared in "The New Yorker," "Ploughshares," "The American Poetry Review," "The Georgia Review," "The Hudson Review," "Washington Square," "Bucks County Review," "Tiferet," "Arts" and "Dragonfire."
"'Correspondence' is a fresh accomplishment, swift with feeling and intelligence, the work of a restless critical mind mapping its way toward a means to bear the weight of love," said poet Mark Doty.
The poet will be the Amy Lowell Traveling Scholar for 2008-2009 and will join the faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University as an assistant professor of English in the Graduate Creative Writing Program. -
Poetry Writing WorkshopMaxine SusmanThursday, February 21, 7:00 - 8:30 PMAward winning poet Maxine Susman will conduct a poetry workshop for serious poets and those returning to writing poetry. Please register by calling the library at (732) 572-2750.An associate professor of English at Caldwell College, Susman will give prompts to encourage fresh poems from the group and give editing suggestions. The poet is author of "Gogama", a chapbook about her father's life in a depression-era logging town in rural Canada. She is currently working on the life of a British friend who lived through World War II.
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Poetry ReadingNancy ScottTuesday, November 27, 7:30 PMFeatured poet Nancy Scott will read at 7:30 PM, followed by an open mike and refreshments.
Nancy Scott, an advocate for foster and adoptive children, the homeless and the mentally ill, recently published "Down to the Quick," a collection of poetry that gives voice to the victimized. she is the current managing editor of U.S. 1 Worksheets and a recipient of a Ragdale Residency. The poet's work has appeared in Witness, Slant, the Journal of New Jersey Poets and U.S. 1 Worksheets.
"From the battles for civil rights and equal right, to war and its aftermath, to the enduring tragedies of drugs, racism, poverty and disease that play out daily in American cities, to the interior dramas of her life, Nancy Scott opens our eyes through the compassionate lens of her poetry," said Sander Zulauf, editor of Journal of New Jersey Poets. (Library Journal's Top Ten Poetry Picks for 2006).Hear poems by Nancy Scott at http://pplpoetpodcast.wordpress.com/2007/04/16/nancy-scott/
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Poetry ReadingStuart GreenhouseTuesday, October 23, 7:30 PMFeatured poet Stuart Greenhouse will read at 7:30, followed by an open mike and refreshments.Stuart Greenhouse, author of "What Remains," a chapbook published in 2005 by the Poetry Society of America, is known as a lyrical poet. His poems have appeared in Antioch Review, Bellingham Review, Fence, Paris Review and Ploughshares. He received his M.F.A. from New York University.
"It is edgy and wise, personal and social, strange and intimate," poet Brenda Hillman said in the introduction of "What Remains." "Neither easy nor safe, it renders experience in a way that shows a shimmering, versatile engagement with the daily world and with current exploratory idioms."Visit the poet's blog at http://stuartgreenhouse.blogspot.com/
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Poetry ReadingWanda PraisnerTuesday, September 25, 7:30 PMFeatured poet Wanda Praisner will read at 7:30 PM, followed by an open mike and refreshments.Wanda Praisner's latest two collections of poetry are "On the Bittersweet Avenues of Pomona" (2005, winner of the Spire Press Poetry Chapbook Completion), and "A Fine and Bitter Snow" (2003). A retired educator, Praisner is currently a Poet in Residence for the New Jersey State Council of the Arts. She has been nominated three times for a Pushcart prize and has received the Kudzu Prize, the Maryland Review Egan Award and First Prize in Poetry at The College of New Jersey Writers' Conference. Her poems have appeared in the Atlanta Review, Journal of New Jersey Poets, Lullwater Review, Margi, New York Magazine and Slant. Praisner is a recipient of poetry fellowships from the New Jersey State Council of the Arts, and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
"Wanda Praisner's poems in "On the Bittersweet Avenues of Pomona remind us how delicately tangled are the roots of family and individual identity," poet Maria Mazziotti Gillan said. "She takes us into the rich and often frightening country of coming of age."For more information on this poet, go to http://www.spirepress.org/praisner.html
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Alicia Suskin OstrikerPoetry ReadingTuesday, May 15, 7:30 PMAlicia Suskin Ostriker is the featured poet.
Following the reading, there will be a book signing, open mike and refreshments.
FREE! Sponsored by The Friends of the Library.Alicia Suskin Ostriker is a major American poet and critic who was twice nominated for a National Book Award for "The Crack in Everything" and "The Little Space: Poems Selected and New." She is the author of eleven volumes of poetry including her most recent "No Heaven" (2005), "The Volcano Sequence" (2002) and "The Imaginary Lover" (1986), winner of the William Carlos Williams Award. As a critic, she is the author of two volumes on women's poetry, "Writing Like a Woman" and "Stealing the Language: The Emergence of Women's Poetry in America." Her books on the Bible include "Feminist Revision and the Bible" and "The Nakedness of the Fathers: Biblical Visions and Revisions."
Visit Ms. Ostriker's website at http://www.rci.rutgers.edu/~ostriker/home.htm
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Christopher BurskPoetry ReadingThursday, April 12, 7:30 PMChristopher Bursk is the featured poet.
Following the reading, there will be a book signing, open mike and refreshments.
FREE! Sponsored by The Friends of the Library.Christopher Bursk's most recent collections of poetry include, "The First Inhabitants of Arcadia" (2006), "Improbable Swervings of Atoms" (2004), "Ovid at Fifteen" (2003) and "Cell Count" (1997). The poet is a recipient of National Endowment of the Arts, Guggenheim and Pew fellowships. Bursk is the winner of the 2004 Donald Hall Prize in Poetry. He is a professor of English at Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania and has been recognized for his work with prisoners, the homeless, food banks and women's shelters. His poems follow his own development as a child, a reader and a poet.
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Therese HalscheidPoetry ReadingTuesday, March 27, 7:30 PMTherese Halscheid is the featured poet.
Following the reading, there will be a book signing, open mike and refreshments.
FREE! Sponsored by The Friends of the Library.Therese Halscheid is the author of three poetry collections: "Powertalk" (1995); "Without Home" (2001); and "Uncommon Geography" (2006).
Halscheid, an award-winning poet and artist in residence for the Camden county Cultural & Heritage Commission, was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She is author of three poetry collections, "Powertalk" (1995), "Without Home" (2001) and "Uncommon Geography" (2006). She has given up many of her earthly possessions to become a full time writer and says she wouldn't call her nomadic lifestyle a sacrifice. Also awarded the 2005 Dodge Fellowship to the Vermont Studio Center, Halscheid became a full time house-sitter in 1993 so that she could travel the country and experience diverse environments. She has written in rugged swamps in Florida, an elk farm in Pennsylvania, a log cabin in the NJ Pine Barrens and an adobe home in New Mexico. Some of her poems depict her time in Andrew Wyeth's home and the Brandywine Museum.
The poet has also been an artist in residence at Acadia National Park in Maine, and while house-sitting at the New Jersey shore she facilitated writing workshops at the Ocean City Art Center and Atlantic Cape Community College. Before giving up her apartment and most possessions in Haddon Township to write full time, she was a teacher for thirteen years in the Franklin and Haddon school systems. -
Maxine Susman, PoetOpen Reading (2/1/2007)Thursday, February 1, 7:30 PMPoetry reading, held on 2/1/07.
FREE! Sponsored by the Friends of the Library.
Poetry reading by Maxine Susman of Highland Park. An open mike, book signing and refreshments followed the reading.Maxine Susman of Highland Park recently published the chapbook "Gogama", about her father. Ben Susman traveled to a French Canadian logging community during the Great Depression to live and work as a doctor.
In understated but powerful language, the book describes her father's trial by fire in a rural backwoods. The poet, in her mind's eye, watches her father as a young man, honing his life saving skills in the most difficult of places.
Published by Sheltering Pines Press, "Gogama" was a finalist in the 2005 First Annual Chapbook Competition.
Susman teaches writing and literature at Caldwell College. -
Ed Romond, PoetOpen Reading (11/28/2006)Tuesday, November 28, 7:30 PMHeld on Tuesday, 11/28/2006 at 7:30 PM.
FREE! Sponsored by The Friends of the Library.
Poetry reading by Ed Romond. An open mike, book signing and refreshments followed the reading.The poet's awards include fellowships from the New Jersey and Pennsylvania State Arts Councils and from the National Endowment for the Arts. He won second place in the Allen Ginsberg Poetry Competition, third place in the Rainmaker's Awards at Austin Peay State University, and his work was selected for the "Anthology of Magazine Verse" and "Yearbook of American Poetry".
Romond is the author of "Home Fire" (Belle Mead Press, 1993), "Dream Teaching" (Grayson Books, 2005) and two chapbooks: "Macaroon" (1997) and "Blue Mountain Time: New and Selected Poems about Baseball" (2002). His poems have appeared in such journals as The Sun, Rockhurst Review, Poet Lore, English Journal, Barrow Street, Spitball, Lake Effect, Zone 3, New Letters, Coal City Review and many others.
Recent Poetry Readings at the Library:
Highland Park Public Library, 31 North 5th Ave. Highland Park, NJ 08904 (732) 572-2750