Walt Whitman

Sign-up and Celebrate Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman

Poets and other citizens will gather on Thursday, May 31, 2018, at 6:00 PM at the Robert Burns statue in Washington Park in Albany, NY to celebrate the birthday of the quintessential American poet, Walt Whitman, with a reading of his poem “Song of Myself”. The Robert Burns statue is located in Albany’s Washington Park, along the park road that parallels Willett St. & the intersection of Hudson Ave. The reading will take place rain or shine; it is suggested that the public brings chairs or blankets to sit on.

The event is sponsored by the Poetry Motel Foundation and the Hudson Valley Writers Guild.  It is free & open to the public.  Volunteers are needed to read sections of Whitman’s poem & you can sign up to read at the event.

In past years some folks have requested specific sections of “Song of Myself” that they would like to read, and as much as possible, host Dan Wilcox tried to accommodate them.  This year, he’s offering the opportunity to sign up for your favorite section before the night of the reading; of course, everyone attending will be offered chances to read more than one section as needed to complete the reading.
So if there is a section of “Song of Myself” that you really want to read, please email Dan at dwlcx@earthlink.net and he will put your name down for that section.  There is no deadline other than the night of the reading (Thursday, May 31), but if you get your name in first, you’ve got it.  Please, just one favorite section per reader.

For more information on this great annual event can be found here.