Poetry Read-in

On Friday, May 18 at 7 p.m. the public is invited to hear well-known poets Brad Davis and Ginny Lowe Connors lead an evening of poetry at the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society.  Maria Sassi, West Hartford poet laureate emeritus will host the evening’s festivities, including an open mic portion.

Brad Davis, literary editor for Hill-Stead Museum, teaches poetry writing at the College of the Holy Cross. His most recent books of poetry are SELF PORTRAIT w/ DISPOSABLE CAMERA (2012) and OPENING KING DAVID (2011). For the museum, Davis edits the new online poetry journal Theodate (theodate.org) and has overseen publication of the anthology, SUNKEN GARDEN POETRY: 1992-2012 (Wesleyan University Press, June 2012), in celebration of the 20th anniversary season of Hill-Stead's Sunken Garden Poetry Festival.

Ginny Lowe Connors is the author of the poetry collection Barbarians in the Kitchen and a chapbook  Under the Porch, which won the 2010 Sunken Garden Poetry Prize. She’s edited several poetry anthologies, including Proposing on the Brooklyn Bridge and the recent Where Flowers Bloom. She earned an MFA in poetry from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

Maria Sassi, the host of Webster’s Read-Ins, is a prize-winning poet and playwright and served as the first Poet Laureate of West Hartford from 2005-2009. Her book of poems, Rooted in Stars, is in its second editions, the first is in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University.

Poets are encouraged to read their own works during the open mic portion of the evening. Light refreshments will be served. The event is free to the public, but donations will be gratefully accepted.