Saint Paul Poet Laureate
Carol Connolly
Hosts
Readings by Writers
Sponsored by Public Art Saint Paul
WEDNESDAY MARCH 16, 2011
25TH Annual SAINT PATRICK’S DAY Reading
7:30 PERFORMANCE
All programs are free and open to the public
at the historic University Club Saint Paul
420 Summit Avenue
The Bar is open and serves throughout the evening.
5:00 Dinner not connected to the performance. Reservations 651-222-1751
Not a member? Simply say you are attending Poetry Night
Readers will be: Carol Connolly, Tom Cassidy, Kevin Fitzpatrick, Ethna McKiernan, Jeri Reilly and Brian Laidlaw
Readings last one hour. The writers will have books to sell and sign.
The Carol Connolly Readings by Writers series celebrates the rich diversity of emerging and established writers and poets in the Twin Cities literary community.
CAROL CONNOLLY, Saint Paul’s first Poet Laureate, appointed by Mayor Chris Coleman, will host, as well as read from her new book All This and More Nodin Press. She writes Hearsay for Minnesota Lawyer.
TOM CASSIDY, artist and poet, whose work has appeared worldwide, and has been acquired by LA County Art Museum and The Getty. His books include From the Scenic Outlook, Green Bean Press; ONDA, visual poetry collaborations with John Bennett, Lost & Found Press; and Casino Stories, Musical Comedy MN. Tom performs at colleges, art festivals, high schools, and co-founded the Portland, Oregon performance troupe reunited by the Oregon Heritage Commission The Impossibilists,. He serves on the boards of Patrick’s Cabaret and Cheap Theatre, which hosts ten yearly Black Forest reading events.
KEVIN FITZPATRICK, poet, author of Down on the Corner and Rush Hour, Midwest Villages & Voices, and Greatest Hits 1975 to 2000, from Pudding House Press, Johnstown, Ohio. He is a founder and editor of the Lake Street Review, a highly regarded literary magazine, now extinct. Widely published in literary magazines and anthologies, his poems have been read by Garrison Keillor on MPR’S The Writer’s Almanac.
ETHNA McKIERNAN, poet, whose book The One Who Swears You Can’t Start Over, from Salmon Publishing in Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, Ireland, follows Minnesota Books Award Nominee Caravan, Midwest Villages and Voices. Her work is widely published in anthologies here and in Ireland, and her new Sky Thick with Fireflies, also from Salmon, will be released in October.
JERI REILLY, poet, whose poem Valentines has been stamped into the sidewalks of Saint Paul, has also been published in Dust & Fire; The Sun Magazine; and Voices for the Land, MHS Press. . Jeri sometimes lives in Ireland, where she is a member of Pig Executive; a group of writers who meet in County Leitrim.
BRIAN LAIDLAW, poet, folksinger, from San Francisco, whose poems are forthcoming in New American Writing, FIELD, Quarter After Eight, Iowa Review, soon to be released artist book from Deer Let Loose Press, and his lyrics appeared in American Songwriter Magazine. The recipient of many awards:: 2009 Gesell Award for Poetry; 2011 Intermedia Arts SASE Jerome; the inaugural University of Minnesota Book Arts Fellowship; he is a Loft Mentor Series finalist, and is completing an MFA in poetry at the U of M. He teaches songwriting at McNally Smith College of MusicMore info? University Club 651-222-1751 or publicartstpaul.org.
Public Art Saint Paul sponsors the Readings in celebration of the public art project Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk by Saint Paul City Artist in Residence Marcus Young and city poets.
