Poetry in the Garden

Poetry in the Garden (formerly “A Garden of Verse”) is back for another summer season! The series, produced by Ridgefield Poet Laureate Emerita Barb Jennes, will feature some of the nation’s leading poets. Join us in KTM&HC’s beautiful historic walled garden for weekly readings throughout the month of July. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and readings begin at 7 p.m.

Please bring a lawn chair or blanket. Readings are FREE, but tax-deductible donations are gratefully accepted. In the event of rain or a heat emergency, the reading will move inside the Garden House.

The first event of the season will feature Sophie Cabot Black and Patricia Spears Jones:
Sophie Cabot Black is the author of Geometry of the Restless Herd (Copper Canyon Press, 2024); The Exchange (Graywolf Press, 2013); The Descent (Graywolf Press, 2004), winner of the Connecticut Book Award; and The Misunderstanding of Nature (Graywolf Press, 1994), winner of the Poetry Society of America’s Norma Farber First Book Award.

Patricia Spears Jones is a poet, playwright, anthologist, educator, and cultural activist. She is the winner of the 2017 Jackson Poetry Prize from Poets & Writers and is the current New York State Poet Laureate. Her most recent book is The Beloved Community (Copper Canyon, 2023). She is also the author of A Lucent Fire: New and Selected Poems.

Upcoming Poetry in the Garden events:

July 8: Jared Harel and Emily Hockaday
Emily Hockaday’s most recent collection is “In a Body.” Jared Harel will share from his new collection, “Let Our Bodies Change the Subject.” Please bring a lawn chair or blanket. In the event of rain or extreme heat, the reading will move inside the Garden House.

July 15: Tina Cane and Cynthia Manick
Tina Cane is Poet Laureate Emertia of Rhode Island and author of “Year of the Murder Hornet.” Cynthia Manick’s collection “No Sweet Without Brine” was named a New York Public Library Best Book of 2023. Please bring a lawn chair or blanket. Readings are FREE but tax-deductible donations are gratefully accepted. In the event of rain or extreme heat, the reading will move inside the Garden House.

July 22: Marie Howe
Join us for a much-anticipated reading by acclaimed poet Marie Howe, author of five volumes of poetry, including “New and Selected Poems”; “Magdalene: Poems”; “The Kingdom of Ordinary Time”; “The Good Thief”; and “What the Living Do.” In 2015, she received the Academy of American Poets Poetry Fellowship which recognizes distinguished poetic achievement. From 2012-2014, she served as the Poet Laureate of New York State.

Also appearing on this special evening: composer/music director Andrew Levine with an ensemble of musicians and singers who will perform poems by Emily Dickinson, William Blake, Jane Hirshfield, and Marie Howe set to original music.

July 29: Oliver de la Paz and Nathan McClain
Nathan McClain is an editor and educator whose most recent collection is “Previously Owned.” Oliver de laz Paz – Poet Laureate of Worcester, MA – is the author of seven poetry collections, including “The Diaspora Sonnets.”

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