Favorite Poem Project

The Rensselaerville Library is inviting you – once again – to join them in combating the dreariness of “mud season” as well as the long pandemic year, by celebrating Community and the Human Spirit in the 16th Annual Favorite Poem Project – featuring YOU (poetry lovers), and local poets Kostas Anagnapoulas, Tom Bonville, Tom & Didi Corrado, Marea Gordett, Phyllis Hillinger, Mike Maggio, Linda Miller, Robert Miller, Mimi Moriararty, Philomena Moriarty, Sarah Nelson, Claire North, Mark O’Brien, Dianne Sefcik, and Dan Wilcox.

As part of a national movement (initiated by former Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky), this event brings communities together every April across the USA by inviting neighbors to bring their favorite poems to read aloud (or sing aloud) in a relaxed poetry celebration. As you may remember, the Favorite Poem Project in Rensselaerville has often drawn more than 50 readers (adults and children of all ages), and poems have ranged from the hilarious to the somber, from poems by children’s poet Shel Silverstein, to selections from Tennyson and Keats, to poems by 20th & 21st-century poets Billy Collins, Lucille Clifton, Tracy K Smith, Mary Oliver, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Claudia Rankine among many, many others, to song lyrics (often performed), as well as original poems written and performed by local poets.

This year’s Favorite Poem Project will take place in the comfort of your own home, thanks to Zoom technology, YouTube, and the tech experts at Conkling Hall, on Sunday, April 18 from 3:00-5:00pm.

Please go to https://www.conklinghall.org/poetry if you would like to read/sing your favorite poem and sign up for a relaxing afternoon of poetry. (Poets are welcome to read one poem of their own, and musicians are welcome to sing a poem!) Of course, you can also sign up as a Listener (via YouTube) on the same site.