Word Girls Convene in Chestertown for an Evening of "Full Frontal Poetry"

CHESTERTOWN—It’s something called Full Frontal Poetry, and it’s being billed as a one-night show for “adults only (exceptional children excepted).” What it will deliver is a reading by The Word Girls, three nationally recognized—and eminently respectable—poets and friends with strong connections to Chestertown. The Compleat Bookseller, 301 High Street, is hosting this literary event from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Friday, April 29th, the last Friday of National Poetry Month.

Appearing as “The Word Girls,” each reading from a newly published book of verse, are:


Jehanne Dubrow, author of three poetry collections, most recently Stateside (Northwestern University Press, 2010). Her work has appeared in The New Republic, Poetry, Ploughshares, and The New England Review. She is an assistant professor of English and Creative Writing at Washington College.
Website: www.jehannedubrow.com


Meredith Davies Hadaway, author of two collections of poetry, The River is a Reason (Word Press, 2011) and Fishing Secrets of the Dead. She is a frequent contributor of book reviews to Poetry International and serves as poetry editor for The Summerset Review. Hadaway is currently Vice President for College Relations & Marketing at Washington College. Website: http://mdh.washcoll.edu


Erin Murphy, author of four books of poetry, most recently Word Problems (Word Press, 2011), and co-editor of Making Poems: Forty Poems with Commentary by the Poets. Her poems and essays have been featured in numerous journals and anthologies and on Garrison Keillor's "The Writer's Almanac." A 1990 graduate of Washington College who taught English at her alma mater for several years, she is now an associate professor of English and Creative Writing at Penn State Altoona. Website: www.erin-murphy.com

For more information, contact the Compleat Bookseller at 410-778-1480.

Washington College Joins Arts Council to Present Annual Kent County Poetry Festival

CHESTERTOWN, MD — Washington College and the Kent County Arts Council will present the fourth annual “Kent County Poetry Festival: A Day of Public Poetry in Celebration of National Poetry Month” at the Book Plate, 112 South Cross Street, on Friday, April 8, from 4 to 7 p.m.

People from throughout the county will gather to read aloud their favorite lines from the world of verse—a reminder that poetry, rather than being some rarefied specimen, is in fact a vital, living art with widespread appeal.

The public is welcome to simply drop by during the event to listen. Those who want to share a poem should register in advance by sending an email to poetry@washcoll.edu or by filling out one of the festival sign-up sheets posted throughout the county.

“This program is in the spirit of the ‘Favorite Poem Project’ pioneered by Robert Pinsky when he was Poet Laureate of the United States,” said Christopher Ames, Provost and Dean of Washington College. “The goal is to bring together diverse peoples in our community around the poetry people know and love to share and, in doing so, debunk the idea that poetry is just something for academics to study. During National Poetry Month, we want to illustrate the role that poetry can have in enriching our everyday lives.”

The organizer of the festival is Robert Earl Price, a poet and playwright who is lecturer and writer in residence in the Drama Department at Washington College. This year’s featured poet, Mark Nowak, the Director of the Rose O’Neill Literary House at the College, will read a brief selection from his works. Nowak’s most recent book is Coal Mountain Elementary and he has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to support the development of his next work. The rest of the program will be devoted to community members reading their favorite poems.

For more information about the Poetry Festival, contact Leslie Prince Raimond at the Kent County Arts Council (kentcountyartscouncil@verizon.net) or Tom Martin at the Book Plate (bookplate@verizon.net).

Photo: Poet Mark Nowak, director of the Rose O'Neil Literary House, is the featured poet at this year's festival.