Poets in the Park celebrates 35 years of bringing poetry in July to the Robert Burns statue in Washington Park, Albany, NY. The series was started in 1989 by the late Tom Nattell and is now run by Albany poet and photographer Dan Wilcox. This year the readings will be on Saturdays July 13, 20, and 27; the readings start at 7:00 PM and are free and open to the public; donations are accepted. In case of rain, the reading will be held at the Social Justice Center, 33 Central Ave., Albany.
The 2024 readers are:
- July 13: Albany High School winners of the Tom Nattell Peace Poetry Prize & Joseph Bruchac
- July 20: Richard Levine & Gail Nixon
- July 27: Jackie Craven & Tom Bonville
The Robert Burns statue is located near where Henry Johnson Blvd. passes through Washington Park and crosses Hudson Ave. Please bring your chairs or blankets to sit on. This program is sponsored and funded by The Poetry Motel Foundation and the Hudson Valley Writers Guild.
For more information about this event, contact Dan Wilcox at dwlcx46@gmail.com or call 518-482-0262.
Bios:
Joseph Bruchac, an award-winning author of over 180 books, is a poet, traditional storyteller, and musician. In 2023 he was named the Poet Laureate of his hometown of Saratoga Springs, NY and awarded a major fellowship by the Academy of American Poets.
Richard Levine, author of Now in Contest, Selected Poems, Contiguous States, and five chapbooks, is an Advisory Editor of BigCityLit.com. Recipient of the 2021 Connecticut Poetry Society Award, he co-edited Invasion of Ukraine 2022: Poems.
Jackie Craven writes about time warps, cyborgs, and talking furniture. Her newest book, WHISH, won this year’s poetry award from Press 53.
