Friday, April 23rd, at 7:00 p.m. EST
Since the fall, we’ve been offering a Book Club for Grown-ups with New Hampshire and Vermont authors who write for kids and adults. It’s a chance for grown-ups to connect with local authors and discuss a good book. We’ve talked to Sarah Stewart Taylor, Rajnii Eddins, Dan Brown, and Chris Tebbetts. You can find videos of all of these sessions here.
In April, for National Poetry Month, we’re doing something a little different.
Renowned poet Verandah Porche will lead an interactive poetry workshop, which we’re calling “Poetry Without Tears.”
“Poetry Without Tears” will be a safe space to write a first poem or sharpen skills. Verandah will share her own work and we’ll talk about finding beauty in our own language. Then we will create a collaborative poem where participants each add a few lines. We will choose a prompt and write for five or ten minutes. Those who wish to can share.
Verandah Porche works as a poet-in-residence, performer, and writing partner. Based in rural Vermont on the notable commune Total Loss Farm, since 1968, she has published Sudden Eden (Verdant Books), The Body’s Symmetry (Harper and Row) and Glancing Off (See Through Books). She has read her work on NPR stations, in the Vermont State House and at the John Simon Guggenheim Museum.
Verandah developed a practice called ‘told poetry’ or ‘shared narrative’ to create personal literature with people who need a writing partner. She has run collaborative residencies in hospitals, factories, nursing homes, senior centers, a 200 year-old Vermont tavern, and an urban working class neighborhood. Listening Out Loud documents her residency with Real Art Ways in Hartford, CT.
Verandah began working as a poet in the schools in the 1970s. She initiated—and for almost 30 years taught—the poetry program at Vermont’s Governor’s Institute on the Arts. The Vermont Arts Council presented her with its Award of Merit, and its first Ellen McCollough-Lovell Award. Marlboro College gave her an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters in 2012. Verandah was featured in “Freedom and Unity: The Vermont Movie.” Her project, “Shedding Light on the Working Forest,” exploring the lives of people who work in the woods, a collaboration with visual artist Kathleen Kolb, has toured New England. “Broad Brook Anthology,” a play for voices, honors the lives of elders in Guilford, Vermont.
Her current projects, “Faces of Home,” is a series of self-portraits in words narrated by residents of Great River Terrace, a community for people who had experienced homelessness, with portraits painted by River Gallery artists.
Verandah writes and performs songs with Patty Carpenter. They post songs and poems on a Patreon site: https://www.patreon.com/pattyandverandah
In addition, Verandah serves on the Guilford Selectboard, exploring the poetry of civic life.
Learn more and read Verandah’s work at verandahporche.com.
Whether you’re a seasoned poet or a novice, join us for a fun evening of poetry and collaboration!
