Wayne County Reads will kick off its 2016 “season of reading” with a talk titled “Poems to Remember Always” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5.
The speaker is Dr. Anthony Abbott, an award-winning poet and novelist and Professor Emeritus of Drama and English at Davidson College. Abbott is a 2015 recipient of the North Carolina Award for Literature, which is the highest civilian honor given by the State, and a co-winner of the 2012 Brockman-Campbell Award for the best book of poetry by a resident of North Carolina or native poet.
The presentation will be held in Moffatt Auditorium of the Wayne Learning Center with a reception following it in the building’s Atrium.
Wayne County Reads’ theme this year is “Passionate for Poetry” and the book is Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry edited by Billy Collins.
“Poetry 180” is a Web site (www.loc.gov/poetry/180) instituted by Billy Collins, U.S. Poet Laureate 2001-2003, to bring a poem every day of the approximately 180-day school year into high school classrooms. The book of the same name was inspired by this Library of Congress program. It provides an anthology of works by contemporary poets “for readers who appreciate engaging, thoughtful poems that are an immediate pleasure,” according to its publishers.
A panel discussion on “Why Poetry?,” sponsored by the Foundation of Wayne Community College, will also be held at the college. It is set for 7-8 p.m. on April 18 in Room 101 of the Walnut Building. The panel will include Paul Green Foundation Executive Director Marsha Warren, N.C. Poet Laureate Shelby Stephenson, University of Mount Olive Associate Professor Lenard D. Moore, and Jacar Press Editor Richard Krawiec.
All Wayne County Reads programs are free and open to the public.
For a complete schedule of Passionate for Poetry events, go to http://nc-waynecountylibrary.civicplus.com/278/Wayne-County-Reads.
Wayne Community College is a partner in Wayne County Reads along with the Arts Council of Wayne County, University of Mount Olive, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base Library, Wayne Community College, Wayne County Public Library System, Wayne County Public Schools, and many dedicated individuals.