A Program of Poetry at the North Chatham Free Library

In honor of National Poetry Month, the North Chatham Free Library is pleased to present Dr. Jeannine Johnson with a program entitled: "Why Read Poems? Why Do People Write Poems?"

Jeannine Johnson graduated with a BA from Haverford College, and a PhD from Yale,  Dr.  Johnson went on to teach at Yale, Wake Forest, and Harvard.   Currently, she is  a visiting Assistant Professor in Writing and English at Wellesley Her first book, “Why Write Poetry?  Modern Poets Defending Their Art,” was published in 2007.

At the library, on Sunday, April 13,  Dr. Johnson will be talking about modern poets and why they defend the value of poetry in their own poems. This is a relatively widespread and strange  phenomenon in modern poetry, which today enjoys a popularity that is unparalleled in our country's history.  Why do poets need to defend their poetry?   Dr. Johnson will share some of her ideas about the impulse to preach to the choir, as it were, and about some of the effects of doing so on poets, poetry, and readers.

The library chose this topic especially, to encourage people who are leery of poetry.  Because Dr. Johnson has special expertise, we invited her to this series even though she is not a resident of Columbia County.  The program begins at 3:00 pm.  It is free and open to the public. For any questions, please call the library at 518-766.3211.
This series is made possible with public funds from the Decentralization Program of the NYS Council on the Arts, administered in Columbia County by the Columbia County Council on the Arts through the Twin Counties Cultural Fund.

Additional funds are provided by the Town of Chatham and donations to the library.

Any Questions?  Please contact Vicki Kurashige at 518-766-3211 or Julie Kabat, Executive/Artistic Director, Concerted Effort, Inc., PO Box 407, North Chatham, NY 12132