The oldest and largest slave cemetery in the United States is located in the shadow of Wall Street. Actor and poet David Mills reads from and discusses his award-winning poetry collection, Boneyarn, featuring groundbreaking poems about slavery in New York City, a topic rarely addressed. The First Wednesday lecture series, a collaboration between the Vermont Humanities Council and Vermont public libraries will be delivered via ZOOM at 7pm Wednesday, February 2nd. Register for the event, which includes an opportunity for questions by attendees, at https://www.vermonthumanities.org/event/digital-boneyarn-new-york-slavery-poems/.

David Mills holds MFAs from New York University and Warren Wilson College and is a cum laude graduate of Yale University. He's published two full-length poetry collections in addition to Boneyarn: The Dream Detective and The Sudden Country, a book prize finalist. Mr. Mills is a favorite VHC presenter at Brooks Memorial Library, where has enthralled audiences with his portrayals of Langston Hughes and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Vermont Humanities Council is also offering free 90-minute creative writing workshop with David Mills via Zoom on Friday, February 11 at 7:00 pm EST. The workshop will use prompts about slavery in New York City to encourage participants to write their own poems on the subject registration is available at the link above.

The First Wednesdays series is held in nine communities statewide, featuring speakers of national and regional renown. The statewide underwriter for the 2021-2022 series is the Institute of Museum & Library Services through the Vermont Department of Libraries. Brattleboro programs are sponsored by the Friends of Brooks Memorial Library. For more information, call 802.254.5290 or visit www.brookslibraryvt.org.

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