Event
Riverwood Poetry Series
The series takes place in person on the second Wednesday of the month from September 2024 through May 2025. Each night begins with a poetry reading featuring regionally or nationally known poets, followed by an open mic featuring readers with one poem (one page).
Authors’ books will be available to buy for book signing and conversation. Food and drinks will be available for purchase.
This monthly event is free of charge. Ample parking is available via the 56 Arbor parking lot.
September’s readers:
John L. Stanizzi is the author of Ecstasy Among Ghosts, Sleepwalking, Dance Against the Wall, After the Bell, Hallelujah Time!, High Tide – Ebb Tide, Four Bits, Chants, Sundowning, POND, The Tree That Lights The Way Home, Feathers and Bones, Viper Brain, and SEE. His poems have appeared widely in Italy with profound gratitude to his translator and dear friend, Angela D’Ambra. He has read at venues all over New England, including the Mystic Arts Café, the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, and Hartford Stage. He coordinated the Fresh Voices Poetry Competition for Young Poets at Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, Connecticut, was a “teaching artist” for the national poetry recitation contest, Poetry Out Loud. Former Wesleyan University Etherington Scholar, New England Poet of the Year, and Poet-in-Residence at Manchester Community College, John received a Fellowship in Creative Writing – Non-Fiction, by the Connecticut Office of the Arts, Culture, and Diversity for his memoir, Bless Me, Father, for I Have Sinned. He lives in Coventry with his wife, Carol.
T’challa Williams is an award-winning creative advocate, poet, actress, and bestselling author from Hartford, Connecticut. As the Executive Co-Founder of Hartford’s L.I.T., now in its sixth year of hosting the Hartford Book Festival, and a board member of the Greater Hartford Arts Council, T’challa consistently advocates for her community. Recognized with the 2021 100 Women of Color Award, the 2023 Hartford Public Schools Impact Award, and the 2024 I Am Woman Award, T’challa is known for her dedication to craft and culture. T’challa also has a deep passion for nurturing bonds among Black women, which is evident in her work featured in the anthology Heavy is the Crown, a collaboration with A Queen’s Narrative. It also shines through in her recent poetry collection, Captured Thoughts, dedicated to her grandmother, which highlights her powerful voice and heartfelt dedication. She passionately inspires future writers, poets, and performers, embodying her moniker, “The Lover & The Revolutionary!”
About Riverwood Poetry Series
The Riverwood Poetry Series, Inc. is a non-profit arts organization committed to the promotion and appreciation of poetry in Connecticut. RPS, Inc. is invested in providing entertaining and thought-provoking programming, while responding to the needs of our neighbors through community outreach and collaboration. From their Facebook page: “The Riverwood Poetry Series has innovated many programs since our inception, all free to the public. We provide entertaining and thought-provoking poetry in a relaxed atmosphere.”
