Pour a cup of tea, or a glass of wine, or just sit back and reflect on experiences from the last two years as local contributors to this rich anthology read from their work at an online event sponsored by Brooks Memorial Library at 7 pm on Wednesday, September 8.
Throughout history and across all cultures, stories have helped people cope during challenging times. "A 21st Century Plague: Poetry from a Pandemic," is a collection of 70 poems by 52 diverse poets who capture the global experience of the pandemic as well as the individual emotions and struggles that are unique and at the same time universal.
"Editor Elayne Clift has gathered a community of poets whose words are haunting, moving, charming, surprising and, finally, comforting. Reading this anthology, you might find yourself saying, 'Yes, yes, I understand – I've felt that way too. I am not alone'," says nurse-poet Cortney Davis. "Open this anthology and browse these poems. There is balm here."
"The Covid-19 pandemic will be dissected by epidemiologists, sociologists, politicians, and historians. Now it is time for the poets. The pandemic struck every sliver of society, so it's only fitting that Elayne Clift has gathered poems from all walks of life. These writings will make you stop and think, which is perhaps the very prescription we need to help move us forward," adds physician writer Danielle Ofri
Contributors to the anthology, many of whom are award-winning writers, are wide-ranging. From well-known writer Marge Piercy to Brother Richard Hendricks, an Irish Franciscan brother, to a prison inmate, a nurse, artists and educators, the poetry in this anthology speaks to a time in which people have had to find their strengths and forgive their foibles.
"It falls to poets and writers to capture the life, and death, experiences of a wide range of humanity, reflecting in words well-chosen, what others feel but cannot express," says Editor Elayne Clift. "This anthology offers a sanctuary of carefully crafted language that provides comfort and solidarity with others. The works bear witness and give universal meaning to shared experience. In that way these stories in verse create word monuments that quiet and comfort us. They become quietly healing while recording for future generations what it was like during the 21st century pandemic."
Join the event via Zoom at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86797355964?pwd=a1ZZVm1LQ2lyOVMzanlhK1ZKN0tXZz09
Meeting ID: 867 9735 5964. Passcode: 780605
For more information, contact Brooks Memorial Library at 802.254.5290 or visit
www.brookslibraryvt.org.
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