Lakewood Public Library will present the following 2018 National Poetry Month programs at their Main Library, located at 15425 Detroit Avenue, Lakewood Ohio,
44107.
Poetry Workshops
Tuesdays: April 3, April 10, April 17, April 24 at 7:00 p.m. in the Main Library Multipurpose Room
Writing
poetry is about the journey, not the destination. Part of that journey
is seeing what you’ll discover, surprising yourself and enjoying the
bumps in the road. Leanne Hoppe will be your poet tour guide on this
adventure—all abilities and experience levels are welcome. Hoppe, who
teaches at Lorain County Community College, received her master’s degree
in creative writing from Boston University, and her work appears or is
forthcoming in Bayou Magazine, Gravel and Driftwood Press. Her
translations of the Italian poet Michela Zanarella were published in
2017 by Bordighera Press. More details.
Coast Line: April Reading
Wednesday, April 4 at 7:00 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium
Coast
Line: Poetry Reading Series is Lakewood Public Library's showcase of
our community's poetic talent. Readings by Robert Miltner, D.L. Ware and
Catherine Wing. More details.
Documentary: Louder than a Bomb
Tuesday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium
Every
year, students across Chicago compete in the largest youth poetry slam
in the world. From junior high to college age, this event showcases
voices from all walks of life in their most honest form. The tournament
features an individual poem from each team member and then a group piece
performed by four students. Follow the teams and individuals as they
prepare and perform original pieces, and tell their stories drawn from
experience and hardship. Their poems reveal perspectives to the audience
and each other that might otherwise never be heard. This annual event
allows young people from all over Chicago to share themselves through
spoken art. More details.
Meet the Author: Clouds Pile Up in the North: New & Selected Poems by Major 'Maj' Ragain
Thursday, April 12 at 7:00 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium
Maj Ragain is the author of seven chapbooks of poetry and five
book-length collections, all of which contribute to Clouds Pile Up in
the North: New & Selected Poems. Lisa Coffman, author of Less
Obvious Gods says, “These poems hold so lightly what can’t be held—old
queen asleep in her milkweed chamber, the full Hunter’s moon, Secondhand
Rose and February dusk, the dragon’s egg nestled against the
breastbone, the lost silver earring among the flowers. You will find in
this book thirst and burning air, songs in the key of High Lonesome,
truths maybe we were afraid to want, and a top-down fast-ride in the
convertible of Delight. Friend, Fellow Traveler, if you wished to know
whether there was a place set for you at the banquet, let me point you
toward Maj Ragain’s poems. They are sustenance. They are sweet mortal
joy.” Ragain has served for more than thirty years as host to open
poetry readings, currently at Last Exit Books. Books will be available
for sale and signing at this event.
WordStage: d.a. levy
Sunday, April 15 at 2:00 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium
In 1960s Cleveland, poets haunted coffee shops, printed zines with
mimeographs and frequently ran into trouble with the law. There were
many talented yet troubled writers in Cleveland, but none more infamous
than d.a. levy. Though charged with distributing obscene writing in
1966, levy was a strong believer in Buddhism and a champion of justice.
levy continued to document Cleveland’s gritty charm and rough interior
through his poetry, founding Cleveland’s first underground newspaper,
the Buddhist Third-Class Junkmail Oracle. Through that medium, he
published scores of powerful poetic voices of the decade. He was a force
to be reckoned with in the creative community of the time, and
continues to inspire artists from Northeast Ohio and beyond. WordStage
is a chamber music reader’s theater, dedicated to the presentation of
works with special literary, historical and musical merit.
