Five poets laureate discuss the books of poet Billy Collins as a lead up to Collins’ free appearance at West Hartford Town Hall this fall.

Submitted

Billy Collins, “America’s favorite poet,” will visit West Hartford this fall for West Hartford READS. Book discussions, led by five West Hartford poets laureate, have been scheduled for the months leading up to Billy Collins’ free appearance at West Hartford Town Hall on Oct. 4.

The book discussions are led by four previous West Hartford poets laureate, Maria Sassi, Ginny Lowe Connors, Jim Finnegan, Christine Beck, as well as the current poet laureate, Julie Choffel. Each discussion will focus on one of Billy Collins’ books. The first discussion, on “The Art of Drowning,” already took place on Thursday, June 21, land was led by Ginny Lowe Connors.

Future discussions will be held on the following dates and feature the books listed below:

• July 19   “Questions About Angels” with Christine Beck & Maria Sassi
• Aug. 16 “Picnic, Lightning” with Julie Choffel
• Sept. 6  “Nine Horses” with Jim Finnegan 

Register for the book discussions by visiting http://bit.ly/billycollins4oct.

Collins, who has written 12 books of poetry, was United States Poet Laureate from 2001-2003, and was also named New York State Poet Laureate 2004-2006. He is a former Distinguished Professor of English at Lehman College of the City University of New York. In 2016 he was elected a member of the American Academy of Arts & Letters.

West Hartford READS, established in 2016, is a town-wide initiative which encourages everyone to read the selected books of one notable author. Previous West Hartford READS authors are Richard Russo, Anna Quindlen, and Luis Alberto Urrea.

All book discussions are held in the Noah Webster Library, 20 South Main St., West Hartford. Seating is limited. Please call the library at 860-561-6990 for more information.

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