Three Stellar Poets Kick-Off National Poetry Month on April 1st

Poets Lee McCormack, Arnie Reisman and Rose Styron will present their work at the Vineyard Haven Public Library on Wednesday, April 1st at 7 pm, in a reading to kick off National Poetry Month. After the readings, the library will host a reception with refreshments and an opportunity to meet, greet and mingle with these three stellar poets. It will be an evening to remember.

Lee McCormack, the first Martha’s Vineyard Poet Laureate whose work has reached out to large audiences not only at Pathways, but also on Facebook, is a very well-known poet on Martha’s Vineyard, where he has lived for over forty years. Mr. McCormack has worked with such poets as Thomas Lux, Galway Kinnell, Charles Simic, Robert Pinsky, Sharon Olds, and others in what he terms “his criminal pursuit of poetry.”

Arnie Reisman, columnist, radio personality, and the current Island Poet Laureate and director of the Vineyard Playhouse poetry reading series, is nationally known, although perhaps not as well-known yet for his poetry. Mr. Reisman moved to the Vineyard four years ago with Paula Lyons, his wife and co-panelist on the weekly comedy quiz program "Says You!" – now in its 19th year. His new play "Not Constantinople" will premiere this June at the Vineyard Playhouse.

Rose Styron, poet and international human rights activist, has published three books of poetry – (From Summer to Summer – Viking, 1965; Thieves’ Afternoon – Viking, 1973, By Vineyard Light – Rizzoli, 1995)  collaborated on translations of two books of Russian poetry – (Poets on Street Corners, 1968 and Modern Russian Poetry – Viking, 1972). Ms. Styron’s work has appeared in Harper’s, the Yale Review, the Hopkins Review, and American Poetry Review among other distinguished periodicals. In 2009 and 2010 Ms. Styron was a resident fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics and its Carr Center for Human Rights. She has chaired PEN’s Freedom To Write Committee and the RFK Human Rights Award, and currently serves on the board of the American Academy of Poets.

The Vineyard Haven Public Library hosts a wide range of cultural and literary events, but this one will be a singular opportunity to hear the work of three brilliant, imaginative and very different poets. Their styles reach across a wide spectrum, but their impact on audiences is always unforgettable.