Join Erika Nichols-Frazer for a delightful evening of poetry from her recent collection "Staring Too Closely" at the Waterbury Public Library.

From "Mother's Day 2013"
"I've dumped the water from the vases
in my passenger seat to keep them from
spilling. She's given me three today.

She refuses the hospital food then claims
they're starving her, so I've taken to bringing
her favorite foods- guacamole, chevre
with chives, pizza, dark chocolate.

The flowers keep coming, expensive and
colorful arrangements with ribbons,
and cards from clients, colleagues,
family, even my office and writing group.

She's sure the nurses are stealing
them, so she keeps giving me
vases to bring home to my apartment.

Which is cluttered with them and the
sickly-sweet smell of hospital."

Erika is real, is truthful and paints a vivid picture with her words. The listener is taken on a journey, sometimes one of pain and suffering, other times full of joy and transcendence. Join Erika at the Waterbury Public Library Tuesday evening, April 16th in honor of National Poetry Month, for readings from her collection exploring themes of healing. Q & A at the end and a discussion of poetry from Erika's perspective of both poet and editor.

Nichols-Frazer is the author of the memoir Feed Me: A Story of Food, Love and Mental Illness (Casper Press, 2022), a story about a young woman's journey to save herself; a story about sustenance and the ways in which we feed ourselves and each other.

Tuesday evening, April 16th at 6:30 PM in the SAL Room of the Waterbury Public Library.

May 8, 2024, 9 to 11:30 AM

May 9, 2024, 7 to 8:30 AM

May 9, 2024, 6:30 to 8 PM