The last time Ross Gay visited Smith College was in the fall of 2016 when he was drafting “The Book of Delights” which was published in 2019. Since then, the United States has plunged into a new political landscape and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has forever altered the world.
Posts tagged as “poetry”
On 21 March, poet Franny Choi was welcomed as a reader at the Boutelle Day Poetry Center with a large, vibrant audience as she read her poems of finding love and light in the despair of current events and generational trauma.
During her poetry reading on Oct. 18 in Weinstein Auditorium, Smith professor Arda Collins explored the themes of the underlying humor in grief and the…
The Boutelle-Day Poetry Center hosted the second guest poet of the Fall 2021 Reading Series, Jenny Johnson, a writer known for her exploration of queer identity in relation to nature and reality.
“I thought, my path is calling me, and I couldn’t refuse it,” mused Tiana Clark, on her realization that she was meant to be a poet while she worked at the Schomburg Center for Black Culture, en route to being a historian.
The Tell It Slant Poetry Festival 2021, a week-long collection of virtual events, ranging from poetry readings to workshops, raised money for The Emily Dickinson Museum and honored the Amherst local herself.
As community events shift to online platforms, Smith’s Boutelle-Day Poetry Center is finding new and creative ways of gathering virtually to celebrate the joy of writing. On Tuesday Oct. 6, the Poetry Center hosted a book launch via Zoom for the newly published book of poems “The Map of Every Lilac Leaf.” The book was published in conjunction with the Smith College Museum of Art, and all of the poems draw inspiration from pieces in Smith’s art collection.
Humans throughout history have connected and emoted through the personal expression that is art. And on Thursday Oct. 10th, Smith community members and students connected with the Smith College Museum of Art exhibit, Defiant Vision: Prints & Poetry by Munio Makuuchi, through the use of poetry.
“Wild Nights With Emily,” a dramatization of the passionate and untold love life of American poetry icon Emily Dickinson, premieres in Amherst this spring at local theaters. Initially produced as a play in 1999, the film revels in Dickinson’s unacknowledged status as an infamous gay woman.
“Banned,” a book of poems written by an anonymous poet comments and analyzes the political conditions in the U.S. and the state of the world in the most graceful way possible. Anonymous, the poet, plays around with typefaces and concrete poetry to integrate visual artwork. To read “Banned” is a visually engaging experience that will leave you nodding your head in agreement and snapping your fingers.