readings

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Gallery of Readers Invites You to a Reading 4 pm November 19 at Northampton Friends Hall

Gallery of Readers presents:
Eileen P. Kennedy  and Barbara A. Rouillard reading from their work
Sunday, November 19 at 4 p.m.Northampton Friends Meeting Hall 
43 Center Street, Suite 202 Northampton, MA.
Come join us, all are welcome!
For those how can’t or prefer not to attend in person, the Zoom link below is available from 3.45 p.m. EDT on the day of the reading.(Be aware no admittance after 4.05 p.m. for security purposes.) Contact me for the link if you want to zoom.

Eileen P. Kennedy is the author of two collections of poetry: Banshees (Flutter Press, 2015), which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize and won Second Prize in Poetry from the Wordwrite Book Awards, andTouch My Head Softly (Finishing Line Press, 2021) which Literary Titan has described as “emotionally-charged poetry that explores life with observant poems that will appeal to anyone who loves inspired poetry.” It was a finalist for the International Book Awards in General Poetry. She lives in Amherst, MA with the ghost of Emily Dickinson. More at EileenPKennedy.com.

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Barbara A. Rouillard, of Springfield, Massachusetts, has over eighty-five publishing credits to her name and was the recipient of both a NEH Fellowship and a Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant. She received her MA in English in 2007. She was a special education teacher at West Springfield High School for thirty-two years. In her retirement, she studies French, writes, and travels with her husband William. 

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Gallery of Readers Invites Listeners to a Reading in Person or on Zoom on Sunday, November 19

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Gallery of Readers, one of Western Massachusetts prime publishers and leader of writing workshops, will sponsor a reading on Sunday, November 19 at 4 pm at the Friends Meeting House of Northampton, 43 Center Street. The reading is available in person or on zoom.

Barbara A. Rouillard will read from her memoir, I Don’t Mind Waiting for You. Barbara is an award-winning writer with 85 publishing credits and the recipient of an NEH Fellowship and a Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant.

Eileen P. Kennedy will be reading from her two poetry collections, Banshees (Flutter Press, 2016) Touch My Head Softly (Finishing Line Press, 2021) and her new eco-poetry manuscript Dreadful Splendor: Paintings and Poems for a New Planet which she collaborated on with the Norwegian Artist, Irene Christensen.

If you want the zoom link, contact me here. Follow me here. I blog on Thursdays.

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Ekphrastic Reading September 14 at Moonlit Sea Prints Gallery in Easthampton Massachusetts

The Easthampton Art Walk will feature works by several galleries, but Moonlit Sea Prints in Eastworks will sponsor a reading in conjunction with their Japanese Woodblock Print Show “Stories With Shotei.”

The Moonlit Sea Prints Gallery features prints by many Japanese artists, including Hiroaki Takahashi (Shotei,) Kiyoharu (Ginnosuke)Yokouchi, and Hiroshi Yoshida. The Moonlit Sea Prints Gallery curates Japanese woodblock prints that touch the soul and imagination.

I will be reading a poem about a Shotei print, “Coming Ships,” along with many other poets, like Jennifer Delozier, who will be reading about “Two Ladies Catching Fireflies.” The reading will take place at 5 pm on Thursday, September 14 at Eastworks, Moonlit Sea Prints Gallery at 116 Pleasant Street, Suite #226. It’s on the second floor, and there will be a flag signaling the gallery in the hallway. A QR code next to the prints will allow you to read the poems on your smart phone.

Hiroaki Takahashi Shotei was a Japanese woodblock print artist of the early 20th century in the shin-hanga art movement whose work generally focused around beautiful landscapes and scenes of everyday life. Many of his works are beautiful vignettes, many easily leading the viewer to imagine the stories transpiring within the images. Moonlit Sea Prints of Easthampton MA will be presenting this exhibit, “Stories with Shotei,” showcasing the works of Hiroaki Takahashi Shotei paired with short stories

The show will continue for a two-month period at Moonlit Sea Prints Gallery. I will continue to blog on Thursdays. If you have any readings coming up, let me know. I’ll blog them here.

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Anton Chekhov on Description

“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” – Anton ChekhovIMG_0187

To vividly describing a place, person, or thing is to imagine it in your mind’s eye. If it exists you may prefer to look at it or a photograph. Either way, you’ll start with some scene before you without dividing it into objects or attaching any words to it. Just form an impression of the colors, textures, shapes, and feeling.

Most importantly, refrain from your impulse to name them. Just picture and observe.

Then, be careful to select the right words to convey the place. If the words that come to mind don’t seem adequate, look in a dictionary, ask around, or do some research. Be sure to keep searching until you have the closest match possible between observation and language. While it’s okay to stop short of perfection, since words and thought inevitably fail to capture perception, keep revising until you can’t think of any way to improve your description further.

Instead of allowing the meaning you want to express to decide the words, you can be seduced by alliteration, rhythm and other sonic features, or fail to escape from customary phrasing, and allow language itself to decide what it is you want to say. This is for description in fiction or nonfiction. Poetry, of course, calls out for those sonic features.

In this way your description will serve you well in your writing.

I will blog on Thursdays. Follow me here.

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Reading September 3 at 6:30 pm

This reading is Arts Night Out for the Emily Dickinson Museum, September 3 at 6:30 pm. I will read with two other excellent writers, Cheryl J. Fish and Kathryn Holzman.  I think I’m up third.

 

The Facebook event is here:

 

https://www.facebook.com/events/309599143564557?acontext=%7B%22action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surface%22%3A%22page%22%2C%22mechanism%22%3A%22page_admin_bar%22%2C%22extra_data%22%3A%22%7B%5C%22page_id%5C%22%3A131680596860548%7D%22%7D%2C%7B%22surface%22%3A%22events_admin_tool%22%2C%22mechanism%22%3A%22events_admin_tool%22%2C%22extra_data%22%3A%22[]%22%7D]%2C%22has_source%22%3Atrue%7D

 

 

Here’s the link to my new book, Touch My Head Softly

red framed eyeglasses on newspapers

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

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https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/touch-my-head-softly-by-eileen-kennedy/

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Virtual Reading Sponsored by the Quabbin Quills and the Athol Library Wednesday at 6 pm

On June 24, Quabbin Quills and the Athol Library will sponsor a virtual reading by Marie Eclair, Michael Young, Eileen P. Kennedy and Diana Norman.

https://www.facebook.com/events/811618845914455/

Tune in at 6 pm.

red framed eyeglasses on newspapers

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com

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Straw Dog Writers Guild Publishes My Poem “Current Times”

On June 13th, Straw Dog Writers Guild Will Publish My Poem “Current Times” on their Pandemic Project website.  Take a look:
https://www.strawdogwriters.org/pandemicprojectred framed eyeglasses on newspapers
Photo by Suzy Hazelwood on Pexels.com