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RIVERWOOD POETRY SERIES
at Wood Memorial Library
Past Events
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Kate Rushin
and
Donald Gardner
 Kate
Rushin
is the author of The Black Back-Ups (Firebrand Books). Her
“The Bridge Poem” appears in This Bridge Called My Back:
Writings by Radical Women of Color, a ground-breaking
feminist anthology edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa.
Her work is widely anthologized and has been published in such
journals as Callaloo. A Connecticut resident,
Kate currently teaches creative writing at the
Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts.
Previously, she taught at Wesleyan University as
Associate Professor and Visiting Poet. She
has read and presented workshops at HillStead
Museum’s
Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, and has led
workshops for the
Omega Institute for Holistic Studies and
Cave Canem Foundation. She has served as a
judge for the Connecticut State University-IMPAC
Young Writers Award, the Connecticut Poetry
Circuit Student Poetry Contest, and the NEA’s/Poetry
Foundation’s
Poetry Out Loud. Kate received her B.A. from
Oberlin College and her M.F.A. from Brown
University. She is a former Fellow of The Fine
Arts Work Center in Provincetown and a graduate
fellow of Cave Canem Foundation.
 British-born
Donald Gardner has lived in Holland since
1979 and earns his living as a translator. His
debut as a performance poet was in the 1960s in
New York where he lived for three years, taking
part, for instance, in the legendary 1967
reading at the East Village Theater. He is a
translator of poetry, notably of work by Octavio
Paz and Ernesto Cardenal. In the 1960s his work
was published in many small magazines in New
York and London. Back in London, he founded a
group of street poets, Guerilla Poets in 1968.
In the 1970s he was a street actor with the
London group of the Living Theater, playing in
London, Yorkshire and Belfast. Since moving to
Holland, besides writing poetry, he has made a
number of one-man performances of his poetry.
One of these, "Oedipus on Ice" (1982) was
remarkable in that it was an entirely new
performance every time he presented it. In 1987
he presented his monologue, "Chicken with
Madness", directed by Italian choreographer,
Patrizia Filia. It was one of three poetry
performances selected for Amsterdam's year as
Cultural Capital of Europe (1988). Besides
performing it 50 times in Holland, he has also
played it in New York - at Dixon Place and the
Poetry Project (Saint Marks Church).
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Kate Rushin
and
Donald Gardner
Kate
Rushin
is the author of The Black Back-Ups (Firebrand Books). Her
“The Bridge Poem” appears in This Bridge Called My Back:
Writings by Radical Women of Color, a ground-breaking
feminist anthology edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa.
Her work is widely anthologized and has been published in such
journals as Callaloo. A Connecticut resident,
Kate currently teaches creative writing at the
Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts.
Previously, she taught at Wesleyan University as
Associate Professor and Visiting Poet. She
has read and presented workshops at HillStead
Museum’s
Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, and has led
workshops for the
Omega Institute for Holistic Studies and
Cave Canem Foundation. She has served as a
judge for the Connecticut State University-IMPAC
Young Writers Award, the Connecticut Poetry
Circuit Student Poetry Contest, and the NEA’s/Poetry
Foundation’s
Poetry Out Loud. Kate received her B.A. from
Oberlin College and her M.F.A. from Brown
University. She is a former Fellow of The Fine
Arts Work Center in Provincetown and a graduate
fellow of Cave Canem Foundation.
British-born
Donald Gardner has lived in Holland since
1979 and earns his living as a translator. His
debut as a performance poet was in the 1960s in
New York where he lived for three years, taking
part, for instance, in the legendary 1967
reading at the East Village Theater. He is a
translator of poetry, notably of work by Octavio
Paz and Ernesto Cardenal. In the 1960s his work
was published in many small magazines in New
York and London. Back in London, he founded a
group of street poets, Guerilla Poets in 1968.
In the 1970s he was a street actor with the
London group of the Living Theater, playing in
London, Yorkshire and Belfast. Since moving to
Holland, besides writing poetry, he has made a
number of one-man performances of his poetry.
One of these, "Oedipus on Ice" (1982) was
remarkable in that it was an entirely new
performance every time he presented it. In 1987
he presented his monologue, "Chicken with
Madness", directed by Italian choreographer,
Patrizia Filia. It was one of three poetry
performances selected for Amsterdam's year as
Cultural Capital of Europe (1988). Besides
performing it 50 times in Holland, he has also
played it in New York - at Dixon Place and the
Poetry Project (Saint Marks Church).
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 Elizabeth Thomas
is a widely published poet, performer and teacher.
The author of three poetry collections, she has read her work throughout the
United States . Much of her energy is devoted to designing and teaching
writing programs for schools and organizations throughout the country. These
programs promote literacy and the power of written and spoken word. She is
the founder of UpWords Poetry, a company dedicated to promoting programs for
young writers and educators, based on the belief that poetry is meant to be
heard out loud and in person. She hosts a website at
www.upwordspoetry.com. |
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Susan and James Finnegan
 Susan Bogle Finnegan earned her
MFA in Painting from Hartford Art School
at University of Hartford. She is
currently teaching art and painting at
the Hartford Art School. She is a member
of the Brickwalk Poets and her
poetry has won a Lila Wallace Writer's
Voice Award.
 James
Finnegan’s poems have appeared in
Ploughshares, Poetry East, The
Southern Review, The Virginia Quarterly
Review & other literary magazines.
With Dennis Barone he edited
Visiting Wallace: Poems Inspired by the
Life and Work of Wallace Stevens
(U. of Iowa Press, 2009). Finnegan
founded an internet discussion listserv
called the NewPoetry List and he blogs
aphoristic ars poetica at
usrprache.
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Tavern Night
DINNER~ENTERTAINMENT~DOOR PRIZES
Appetizer ~ green salad ~gourmet chicken /salmon ~ dessert
includes one
glass of wine; additional by donation
Pub
fun ~ Raffle ~ Bring a poem with food as theme or ingredient
Special appearance by singer Julia Kiley and pianist Joe Ganci
Tickets $30 (Seating is limited; buy now!)
Contact: riverwoodpoetry@yahoo.com or
Julia @ (860) 729-8861 or Kathryn @ (860) 748-3225
This
is a fundraiser to support the 3rd annual
Riverwood Poetry Festival to be held June, 2010
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Susie Allison and Tony Fusco
Susan Allison lives in Middletown,
Connecticut with her husband, Stephan,
and son, John. Born in Derby,
Connecticut and raised in Louisville,
Kentucky, she calls poetry and
wanderlust the two main constants in her
life. After mountain-climbing and
hitch-hiking through East Africa, she
returned to Wesleyan University to earn
a BA in African Studies in 1985. Shortly
after graduation, she discovered used
and rare bookstores, which became new
destination points for her wanderlust
until she opened her own, Ibis Books &
Gallery, in 1989. The bookstore was
transformed in 1991 into NEAR, Inc./The
Buttonwood Tree, an arts and cultural
performance space on Main Street in
Middletown, Connecticut.
 Tony
Fusco
is President of the CT Poetry Society and has a
Masters Degree in Creative Writing from Southern
Connecticut State University. He is the editor
of
Caduceus,
the anthology of the Yale Medical Group Art
Place and past editor of
The Connecticut River Review,
and
Long River Run,
journals of the Connecticut Poetry Society. He
has been editor of the
Southern News
and the poetry anthologies
High Tide
and
Sounds and Waves of West Haven.
His work as appeared in many publications
including
the Connecticut Review, Louisiana Literature,
the Red Rock Review, The South Carolina Review,
Lips,
Paddlefish and
The Paterson Review.
He is the author of
Droplines
published in 2009 by Grayson Books and of
Jessie’s Garden
published in 2004 by Negative Capability Press
and three Chapbooks. His poetry has won prizes
in several contests including: The Sunken Garden
Poetry Prize. He is a member of the New England
Poetry Club. Tony has produced
West Shore Poets
a television poetry series at CTV and is
web-master for several web sites including the
CT Poetry Society. His poem
“Harvest”
was nominated for a Pushcart Award.
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Featured reader
 Geri
Radacsi’s
third poetry collection,
Tightrope Walker,
is based on worksof art. These new poems are
intensely personal and impressionistic, not
bound by the confines of their sources, although
they also throw new light on a wide variety of
artwork. Ms. Radacsi has been a journalist,
English teacher, communication/media specialist,
and freelance writer. Currently, she is
Associate Director of University Relations,
Emerita, at Central Connecticut State
University. Her prize-winning chapbook,
Ancient Music,
was published in 2000; and her full-length
poetry collection,
Trapped in Amber,
appeared in 2005. Her awards include the 2003
Connecticut River Review Poetry Prize, a
Pushcart Prize nomination, and several awards
from the Connecticut Poetry Society. In 2004 she
was a finalist in the
Comstock Review,
Blue Light Press and Owl Creek poetry contests.
 Alexandrina
Sergio’s
new collection,
My Daughter Is Drummer in the Rock ’n Roll
Band
offers a rich variety of moods: the sad poems
contain moments of wry wit, and the overtly
humorous or raucous poems contain deeper
undercurrents. Ms. Sergio traces her passion for
poetry to her mother’s habit of mixing the works
of Celtic poets into bedtime tales. As an
English teacher, Sandy coached prizewinning
student poets. Subsequent careers in mental
health and philanthropy consulting encroached on
writing time, but retirement has allowed broader
opportunities. Her work has been published in a
number of journals and anthologies and has twice
been performed by a professional stage company.
Her awards include first place in the 2007
Connecticut Senior Poetry Contest and second
place in the 2008 Dorman John Grace Contest.
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"Celebrating New Publications"
featuring Christine Beck and Lori
Desrosiers. OPEN MIC TO FOLLOW
 Christine
Beck is the President of the Connecticut
Poetry Society and the Contest Chairperson of
the National Federation of State Poetry
Societies. Her poems have been published in the
anthology, Proposing on the Brooklyn Bridge,
Grayson Press, 2003,J Journal, John Jay School
of Criminal Justice; Passager, Connecticut River
Review, Connecticut Poetry Society; Long River
Run, and Caduceus, Yale Art Place. Her poems
have also won contests in the Connecticut River
Review and the National Federation of State
Poetry Societies. She is an attorney and
instructor of legal studies at the University of
Hartford. Her textbook, Forensic Evidence in
Court: A Case Study Approach, was published in
2008 by Carolina Academic Press.
 Lori
Desrosiers grew up on the banks of the
Hudson River in NY, but now calls Westfield,
Massachusetts her home. Her chapbook Three
Vanities is published by Pudding House
Press. Her poetry has been published in
BigCityLit, The Equinox, Blue Fifth Review,
Ballard Street Poetry Journal, November 3rd
Club, Common Ground Review, Gold Wake
Press’ five-poem mini-chapbook series and
Silkworm. She is the Editor of Naugatuck
River Review, a journal of modern narrative
poetry, and also publishes Poetry News, an
online newsletter of poetry-related events in
the CT/Mass. region. She teaches English
Composition at Westfield State College. Lori
earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing/Poetry
from New England College
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Women
Composers Festival Event
Download a copy of the flyerOur usual
venue is last Thursday of each month at Wood
Memorial Library
HOWEVER, March is a venue change to:
Unitarian Meeting House
50 Bloomfield Avenue
Hartford, CT 06105
This event is a collaboration
between Riverwood Poetry Series and the Women
Composers Festival.
Readers will be sharing poems of women and/or
music.
It will be a multi-media interpretation through
music and poetry, celebrating the diverse
contributions of women artists.
Invited readers:
- Christine Beck
- Colin Haskins
- Kathryn Kelly
- Dolores Lawlor
- Julia Paul
- Victoria Rivas
- Beverly Titus
- Minta White
Read their bios on the
Board of Directors
page.
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Upcoming Readings
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WE WILL BE BACK IN SEPTEMBER!
Past Events
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This
is a writer of poetry and prose whose works have
appeared in numerous publications across the
Northeast. Perennials marks her fourth
collection of poetry. Her previous books include
Messy on the Inside and Rain - Dark as Water in
Winter, both published by Ye Olde Font Shoppe
Press. In 2003, she produced On the Edge, a
recitation of poems on CD. Additionally, she has
penned several plays, two novels and is now
working on a compilation of fictional short
stories. She’s earned a BFA in Theatre from
Central Connecticut State University where she
is currently finishing her graduate thesis
project towards an MA in English. In 2005,
Eileen left a twelve-year award-winning career
as a radio news host and broadcast journalist to
pursue a life of writing and teaching. She was
awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship from the
Greater Hartford Arts Council in 2003 and again
in 2008. She has taught creative writing in
several colleges and cultural institutions as
well as the York Correctional Institute,
Connecticut’s only maximum security prison for
women. For nearly two decades, Eileen and her
husband, Wayne Horgan, have co-owned Heroes &
Hitters, a comic book store in Rocky Hill,
Connecticut. The two live in Central Connecticut
with their cats, Buddy and Trouble.
Pat Hale has written poetry and
stories since she was a little girl. Certified
as an Amherst Writers and Artists (AWA) workshop
leader, she leads a writing group in West
Hartford, and believes that writing is an art
that belongs to everyone. In recent years, her
poetry has appeared in CALYX, Owen Wister
Review, Sow’s Ear, Long River Run, Dogwood,
Connecticut River Review, and Long River Run II.
Her awards include CALYX’s 2005 Lois Cranston
Memorial Poetry Prize and first prize in the
Connecticut Poetry Society’s 2007 Al Savard
Poetry Competition. She lives in West Hartford,
and makes her living as an information
technology consultant and occasional freelance
reference book editor specializing in small
island nations of the South Pacific. She says
the Riverwood Poetry Series is the best thing
going, and Wood Memorial, the best venue in
town. She has been awarded a writing
residency at Hedgebrook, the women's writing
retreat on Whidbey Island, Washington. She will
be there most of October 2009.
