Huge THANK YOU to everyone who came out to my poetry reading last night as part of the LiterarY Dinner to raise money for the Arts Branch of the Syracuse YMCA in support of all the amazing and necessary work they do in the community. Thank you again to Joe and Mary for hosting us and to Phil Memmer for inviting me to read and for cooking such amazing Indian food (Sarah sends thanks for her “carry out” 🙂 ) And thank you to Meredith and Nancy for the photos! What a warm and wonderful evening!
Dear friends. I’m giving a poetry reading next Saturday, February 17 as part of a LiterarY Dinner in support of the Syracuse YMCA Arts Branch and The Downtown Writer’s Center and all of the amazing and valuable work they do in the community. The cost for attending is $50. I’ll be reading my poetry for ten minutes. The evening will also include a prose reading by novelist Cheryl Reed. There’ll be music. There’ll be food. There’ll be great fun.
If you’re interested please RSVPÂ the hosts. Complete info below. Feel free to share with anyone you think might be interested.
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•Hosts: Neva & Dick Pilgrim, Charles Martin & Johanna Keller 917-584-1878
•Date: SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17 AT 6:00 PM
•Location: The Pilgrim Home / 438 Brookford Rd Syracuse, NY
•Featuring: Poet Christopher Citro & Novelist Cheryl Reed as well as Musical Artists!
•To Benefit YMCA Arts
DON’T YOU DESERVE A GREAT NIGHT OUT IN FEBRUARY?
Brrr, it’s cold. If you have been with us in the past, you know this is a fantastically warm party for the coldest month! If you are new to the Y programs, you’ll find it’s a terrific community of truly caring people. Please join us for the annual LiterarY Dinner in support of the YMCA Arts Branch and the Downtown Writers Center. The Y Arts Branch offers extraordinary programs that enrich our town.
The evening includes dinner, wine, entertainment and fabulous company.
For more than a decade, members of the cultural community all over Syracuse host dinners in their homes to raise money for the Y Arts Branch and its programs. All the hospitality is donated and poets and writers and musicians donate their services too.
A tax-deductible donation of $50 per person is requested (please RSVP and bring cash or a check with you on that evening made out to YMCA Syracuse). Every dollar raised goes to the Y arts programs that enrich our town and bring arts to children of our community.
So, for the cost of a dinner out, you get dinner out AND entertainment AND a whole lot more fun AND do some tax-deductible good….We hope you can join us!
Johanna Keller & Charles Martin
Neva Pilgrim & Dick Pilgrim
I’m thrilled to share the news that I’ll be teaching two eight-week creative writing workshops this winter at The Downtown Writer’s Center in sunny Syracuse, NY — a Monday night poetry workshop focusing on very contemporary poetry from literary journals and recent books and a Wednesday night workshop focusing on the lyric essay (the lyric essay course will be a repeat of the course I taught last year). Both classes begin the last week of January (see the class descriptions below). Registration is inexpensive and open to the public. To learn more about The Downtown Writer’s Center, download the spring class schedule, and register for these workshops, visit the Center’s website HERE. Feel free to share with anyone who might be interested!
In the Landscape of Contemporary Poetry with Christopher Citro. Mondays, 6:00-8:00. 8 weeks, starting January 29. “I have/enough ink to give you the sea” writes Ocean Vuong in his 2016 book, Night Sky with Exit Wounds. We’ll discuss poetry from recent books or journals, then use prompts from our readings to inspire new writing
The Lyric Essay with Christopher Citro. Wednesdays, 6:00-8:00. 8 weeks, starting January 31. “The lyric essay partakes of the poem in its density and shapeliness, its distillation of ideas and musicality of language. It partakes of the essay in its weight, in its overt desire to engage with facts” (Tall & D’Agata). Explore this exciting hybrid genre, using prompts to inspire.
