Joan Murray to Read From “The Pushcart Book of Poetry”

Our friends over at The Arts Center in Troy are having a reading from poet adn editor Joan Murray on Monday, April 27.  Joan will be reading from a new book that she edited highlighting 30 years of the Pushcart Prize for poetry.

Poet and anthologist Joan Murray, a Columbia County resident, will offer up what amounts to a retrospective of some of the most important and influential poetry of the past three decades in a free and public reading on Monday, April 27, at The Arts Center of the Capital Region, 265 River St. in downtown Troy.

In the program, which will begin at 7 p.m., Murray will read a selection of poems from “The Pushcart Book of Poetry: The Best Poems from 30 Years of the Pushcart Prize.”

The anthology, published last year by The Pushcart Press and recently released in a paperback edition, was edited by Murray, who selected the poems from among thousands collected in the annual Pushcart Prize volumes through the years. Each year since 1976, The Pushcart Press has published “The Pushcart Prize – Best of the Small Presses” series, drawing from writing published in the nation’s small but influential literary presses.

Among the poets represented in “The Pushcart Book of Poetry: The Best Poems from 30 Years of the Pushcart Prize.” are such well-known figures as Adrienne Rich, John Ashbery, Seamus Heaney, Derek Walcott, Mary Oliver, Gerald Stern, Lucille Clifton and Billy Collins, along with many lesser-known writers. The works range from the socially-conscious poems of the 1970s to technically ambitious selections from recent years, offering a historical glimpse into the evolving concerns of poetry over the 30 years it spans.

A noted poet herself, Murray is a National Poetry Series Winner, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship Winner; a Wesleyan New Poets Series Winner, and Winner of Poetry Society of America's Gordon Barber Award. She is the author of eight books, including five volumes of poetry, most recently Dancing on the Edge, and is editor of the anthology, Poems to Live By in Troubling Times as well as the Pushcart Book of Poetry.

She has been a repeat guest on NPR's Morning Edition and PRI's To the Best of our Knowledge, and has contributed to such publications as The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, The Nation, The New York Times, and The Best American Poetry.

For more information about her reading at The Arts Center, call 518-273-0552 or visit www.artscenteronline.org.