Tired of schlepping downtown for every last event? Bessy Reyna has curated the Hartford Loves Poetry reading series in April for National Poetry Month. This means that over two weeks, each of the ten Hartford Public Library branches will be hosting a poetry reading and workshop.
The event will kick off on April 7th with Jose B. Gonzalez at the Park Branch (744 Park Street). The Goodwin Branch (460 New Britain Avenue) will host Marianela Medrano on April 8th; Leslie McGrath will appear at the Dwight Branch (7 New Park Avenue). Pit Pinegar will be reading at the Camp Field Branch (30 Campfield Avenue) on April 9th and John Stanizzi will be at the Albany Branch (1250 Albany Ave) on April 12th. Also on April 12th, the Barbour Branch (281 Barbour Street) will host Ernie Blue. Joyce Ashuntantang will read at the Mark Twain Branch (55 Forest Street) on April 14th. The Blue Hills Branch (649 Blue Hills Avenue) will host Antoinette Brim on April 15. Poet Kate Rushin will be reading at the Ropkins Branch (1750 Main Street) on April 16th. Weekday readings are scheduled for 5:30-7:15pm; Saturday readings will go from 3-5pm.
The series closes on April 19th with a Grand Finale at the Downtown Branch, 1-4pm. Reyna said that community presenters will be reading poems in their own languages at this celebration:
Ahalya Desikan (Tamil); Alisa Dzanavoic (Bosnian); An-MingTruxes (Chinese); Bettina Viereck (German); Brenda Liz Cotto (Spanish); Carmen Hernandez (Spanish); Donna Fleischer (English); Esther McCune (Portuguese); Francesco Martini (Italian); Georgia Stathoulas (Greek); Isabel Calione (Spanish); Jesse Marie Kavumpurath (Malayalam); Maha Darawsha (Arabic); Maria Cristina Cuerda (Spanish); Nilofer Haider (Urdu); Noeet Bachar (Hebrew); Rachna Ramya Agrawal (Hindi); Regina G. Chatel (Polish); and Stephanie Fielding (Mohegan).
Events hosted by the library are free and open to the public.