An Evening with Pawtucket Poets
An Evening with Pawtucket Poets, Thursday, May 4 with a reception at 6:00 and readings begin at 6:30: Suggested donation of $10 per person. The Pawtucket Foundation is pleased to host an evening with the poets from Pawtucket. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Galway Kinnell and Norah Pollard, recipient of the Academy of American Poets Prize, both called Pawtucket home in their youth. On Thursday, May 4, 2006. They will appear at the Blackstone Valley Visitor Center to read selections of their work; after the readings the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions. The poets will later be available to sign their books. To reserve your ticket for this unique area appearance, please call Stephanie Fortunato at 401-729-8300 or respond to this email. Space is limited so tickets will be issued on a first come, first served basis.Galway Kinnell grew up in Pawtucket. At an early age, he was influenced by the work of Edgar Allen Poe whose use of language allowed him to appreciate the lyrical possibilities obscured by the “charming and loveable accent” of his hometown. He studied at Princeton University and the University of Rochester. Mr. Kinnell is a former MacArthur Fellow and has been the state poet of Vermont. He has traveled throughout Europe and the Middle East and went to Paris on a Fulbright Fellowship. His work has been published extensively. His volumes of poetry include A New Selected Poems (Houghton Mifflin, 2000), a finalist for the National Book Award; Selected Poems (1980), for which he received both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award; The Book of Nightmares (1971); Body Rags (1968); and What a Kingdom It Was (1960). He was the Erich Maria Remarque Professor of Creative Writing at New York University and a Chancellor of The Academy of American Poets. Mr. Kinnell is retired and now lives in Vermont.
Norah Pollard’s first book, Leaning In, has been described as “work of singular radianc, an elegant, truthful, resonant collection. It should be read, re-read, and remembered” by the author of Seabiscuit – An American Legend (http://www.seabiscuitonline.com/) . In her second volume of poems, Report from the Banana Hospital, Ms. Pollard tells of her despairs, delights, and famous father, Red Pollard, Seabiscuit’s jockey. His love of wild things, the poems proclaim, is much like his daughter the poet’s. Directly and indirectly, these new poems draw on the wonderfully varied experiences Ms. Pollard has had during a many-faceted life: she has been a folk singer, seam-stitcher, nanny, teacher, solderer, and print shop calligrapher. As poet, she was one of the first readers in the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival. While studying with Dick Allen at the University of Bridgeport, she received the Academy of American Poets Prize, and for several years she was editor of The Connecticut River Review. Norah Pollard lives in Stratford, CT.Space is limited, so contact Stephanie Fortunato at spf@pawtucketfoundation.org_ or 401.729.8300 by April 24 to reserve your seat.
