August 16th reading with Collins, Johnson, and Sasanov

The First and Last Word Poetry Series, curated by Harris Gardner and Gloria Mindock, is hosting a reading on August 16th -- 6:30 PM., at The Center for the Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, Mass. Admission: $4. There will be an open mic, following the featured readers:

Martha Collins is the author of the book-length poem Blue Front (Graywolf, 2006), which won an Anisfield-Wolf Award, as well as four earlier collections of poems and two collections of co-translated Vietnamese poetry. Other awards include NEA, Bunting, Merrill, Witter Bynner, and Lannan Foundation grants. Two new collections of poems are forthcoming: White Papers (Pittsburgh,2012) and Day Unto Day (Milkweed, 2014). Collins is currently editor-at-large for FIELD magazine.

Robert K. Johnson was born in New York City and later lived on Long Island. He obtained a B.A. from Hofstra College (now University); and earned graduate degrees from Cornell University and Denver University. Now retired, he was a university professor of English, mostly at Suffolk University in Boston, for many years. He is currently submissions editor of Ibbetson Street. Many of his poems have appeared individually in a wide variety of magazines and newspapers. Five full-length collections of his poetry, the most recent being From Mist To Shadow, have been published, plus two chapbooks.

Catherine Sasanov's Had Slaves (Sentence Book Award, Firewheel Editions) was recently named a 2011 Must Read by the Massachusetts Center for the Book. She is also the author of Traditions of Bread and Violence, All the Blood Tethers, and the theater work, Las Horas de Belen: A Book of Hours, commissioned by Mabou Mines. Her current work, funded in part by the Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, explores what rushes in to fill the void when evidence of slavery's past has been eradicated from the landscapes on which it once thrived.

The Center for the Arts is located between Davis Square and Union Square. Parking is located behind the armory at the rear of the building. Arts at the Armory is approximately a 15 minute walk from Davis Square which is on the MTBA Red Line. To get there by bus, take either the 88 or the 90, from Lechmere or Davis Square. Get off at the Highland Avenue and Lowell Street stop. The Center is also close to Sullivan Square (Orange Line), accessible by the 90 bus at the Highland Avenue and Benton Road stop.

This event has been added to the Boston Poetry meetup calendar. If you wish to "go with a group", you can RSVP at the BP event page.