Poets Kate Rushin, Christine Beck, and Maria Sassi will participate in a poetry read-in at the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society.

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Kate Rushin. Submitted photo

On Sunday, May 20, 2018, at 2 p.m., the public is invited to hear poets Kate Rushin, Christine Beck, and Maria Sassi as they lead an afternoon of poetry at the Noah WebsterHouse & West Hartford Historical Society.

Kate Rushin is the author of The Black Back-Ups (Firebrand Books). Her “The Bridge Poem” appears in This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, a ground-breaking feminist anthology edited by Cherríe Moraga and Gloria E. Anzaldúa. A recipient of the Rose Low Rome Memorial Poetry Prize and the Grolier Poetry Prize, her work is widely anthologized and has been published in such journals as Callaloo.

A Connecticut resident, Rushin has read at Hill-Stead Museum’s Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, the Geraldine Dodge Poetry Festival and Smith College Poetry Center, among many other places, and has led workshops for the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies and Cave Canem Foundation. She has served as a judge for the Connecticut State University-IMPAC Young Writers Award, the Connecticut Poetry Circuit Student Poetry Contest, and the NEA’s/Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Out Loud.

Rushin received her B.A. from Oberlin College and her M.F.A. from Brown University. She is a former Fellow of The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and a graduate fellow of Cave Canem Foundation.

Christine Beck. Submitted photo

Christine Beck holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Southern Connecticut State University and is the author of Blinding Light  (Grayson Books 2013), I’m Dating Myself, (Dancing Girl Press 2015) and Stirred, Not Shaken (Five Oaks Press 2016). She is the poetry editor of The Perch, a journal of The Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health.

Beck teaches poetry, creative writing and literature at The University of Hartford and in private workshops. She is a former president of the Connecticut Poetry Society and currently directs its monthly series at the Hartford Public Library at which poets moderate a discussion about a well-known poet.

Beck was poet laureate of the town of West Hartford, CT from 2015-17. More information about her many activities is on her website www.ChristineBeck.net.

Maria Sassi. Submitted photo

Maria Sassi is a prize-winning poet and playwright and served as the first poet laureate of West Hartford. Her book of poems, Rooted in Stars, is in its second edition, the first is in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. Her work has been published in numerous poetry journals. She taught poetry at the University of Hartford’s Hartford College for Women for over 10 years.

For more than 10 years, Sassi has welcomed the public to enjoy afternoons of poetry at the Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society through its Poetry Read-In series. Most recently, she has received grants from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and the Connecticut Commission for the Arts for her poetry.

Poets are encouraged to read their own works during the open mic portion of the afternoon. Sign-up sheets will be available at 1:45 p.m. Light refreshments will be served. The event is free to the public, but donations will be gratefully accepted.

The museum would like to thank the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and the Greater Hartford Arts Council for their continued support.

The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society is a cultural destination where citizens can learn to understand and appreciate the past. The museum preserves the birthplace of Noah Webster, the founding father, educator, author and lexicographer who taught generations of Americans what it means to be American. This National Historic Landmark is also a repository for West Hartford’s history, the community that molded Noah Webster’s future, and is still thriving over 250 years later. The historic house and exhibit spaces are open daily from 1-4 p.m. For information on the museum’s extensive school and public programs, please visit www.noahwebsterhouse.org or call 860-521-5362.

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