It’s been an atypically social week here. I met my former bookshop co-workers at one’s Amherst apartment for lunch, and on two separate evenings heard 6 different poets read:
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- Tim Mayo — not for the first time, he’s a great friend, but I so enjoy hearing him;
- Jan Freeman — this publisher of Paris Press is a talented poet in her own right, and it was a treat to hear her newer work;
- Patricia Fargnoli — she read some of my favorite poems from Then, Something, and ended with the astonishing gift of a new poem;
- Penelope Scambly Schott — I wasn’t familiar with her work, but what a soft-spoken dynamo!
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And of course the Collected Poets Series reading with
- Kate Greenstreet — she seems to have memorized all of her poems, so that her book is almost a prop, and her reading more like a monologue, utterly captivating;
- and Mary Koncel — sly, funny, joyful, a great match-up with Kate.
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How invigorating these nights of poetry are! I’m bushed, but jazzed. And so grateful.
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As I mentioned two posts ago, Laura Didyk and a compatriot are working on a new project, In the Eyes of Everyone: A Project for Everyday Visionaries. My contribution, and Jessica Atcheson’s, are now posted on Laura’s blog. Go check them out, and maybe it will inspire you to try it yourself. If you do, don’t forget to send your photos to Laura — there’s no time limit on making stuff!
Marie Gauthier 
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