UPCOMING EVENTS:
Youth Speaks for Social Justice
Saturday, October 1, 2022
1PM-3PM
Suffolk County Teen Poet Laureate Ella O’Connor invites students to participate in “Youth Speaks for Social Justice, a spoken-word performance competition focused on social justice issues. The event is a fundraiser to help address systemic inequalities and will be held at the Walt Whitman Birthplace on Saturday, October 1, 2022, 1PM – 3PM. Proceeds will be donated to a charity of the winner’s choosing. This is an in person event taking place at WWBA .
$10.00 per person (applies to performers and attendees) : https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=FT8WD95NJYDRS
For more information: https://www.waltwhitman.org/youth-speaks-for-social-justice
To participate email: suffolkyouthpoetlaureate@gmail.com
Walking With Whitman – Live Poetry ReadingFriday, October 7, 20227PM – 8:30PM
Walt Whitman Birthplace Association (WWBA) presents Poetry in Performance: Walking With Whitman, hosted by Writer-in-Residence George Wallace. The signature series, now in its 12th season, continues to bring the most intriguing figures in contemporary literature on the national scene paired with local poets on the Walt Whitman Stage. Friday, October 7th Walking With Whitman will feature Robert Gibbons author of Close to the Tree (Three Rooms Press, 2012) and Flight (Poets Wear Prada, 2019) and Doreen (Dd.) Spungin author of Tomorrow Smells Invisible (Words With Wings Press, 2020). Join us for this exciting event!
No registration is required, there is a $10 entry fee for this event that will be collected at the door.
Refreshments will be served.
For more information: https://www.waltwhitman.org/walking-with-whitman-october-7th-with-robert-gibbons-and-dd-spungin
Make a meaningful gift to support our poetry programs: https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2197152
This program is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and is administered by The Huntington Arts Council, Inc., Poets and Writers, and New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
African American Voices for Democracy: Intersection of Community and Literary Voices
Sunday, October 16, 2022
1:30PM-3:30 PM
As part of our Intersections: African American Voices of Democracy Series, WWBA reprises the successful Favorite Poem Project created by US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky. Community members of all ages are invited to bring and read their favorite African American poetry.
Submit your favorite African American poem: Poems will be randomly selected at the event and you may have the opportunity to read your poem. 15 poems will be selected, you must be here in person to do a reading. Submissions due October 3, 2022.
Submit your poem: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1J6w2GUSgk5IUHFl1SAG_Md-I6nOc7bYHrHWfJLb1YYY/edit
Register to come to the event: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1n7wV5F-wQdsNfbhPRwNaX57xrX8C8iBzWU0_Ms-FDoU/edit
Zoom link to view event: Coming Soon!
This event has a $5 suggested donation:
https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2197152
For more information: https://www.waltwhitman.org/african-american-voices-for-democracy-intersection-of-community-and-literary-voices
Sponsored by HNY SHARP Action Grant and Poets & Writers
African American Voices for Democracy: Intersection of Contemporary African American Poetry and Hip Hop
Saturday, November 12, 2022
6PM – 8PM
As part of WWBA’s Intersections: African American Voices of Democracy Series, New York City-based performance poet Malik Work will offer an introduction to hip hop and perform his own works.
Register to come to the event: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1GYWV_IejXCGFCgb_Y7bNIORZbdcft_c1R21WM6HKlJk/edit
Zoom link to view event: Coming Soon!
This event has a $5 suggested donation:
https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2197152
For more information: https://www.waltwhitman.org/african-american-voices-for-democracy-intersection-of-contemporary-african-american-poetry-and-hip-hop
Sponsored by HNY SHARP Action Grant and Poets & Writers
PAST EVENTS:
Walking With Whitman – September 2nd with Bruce Johnson and Nicholas Samaras
Friday, September 2, 2022
7PM – 8:30PM
Friday September 2nd, Walking With Whitman will feature Nicholas Samaras, the author of “Hands of the Saddlemaker” (Yale University Press, 1992) and Bruce Johnson author of “Borderlands and Dreams.”
The series was founded by WWBA Writer-in-Residence George Wallace in 2010. Walking with Whitman (WWW) spotlights distinguished poets from around the world and allows attendees a chance to interact with the poets in an intimate setting.
No registration is required, there is a $10 entry fee for this event that will be collected at the door.
Refreshments will be served.
Click here for more information
Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site Time Capsule
Friday, August 5, 2022
Ceremony on site: 1PM EST
Walt Whitman Birthplace Association will be burying a Time Capsule at the Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site. The ceremony will also commemorate William T. Walter, Ph.D. (1931-2020) for his long-time leadership and lasting contributions to WWBA as Trustee, Officer, and Member (1981-2020). The Time Capsule will contain Whitman memorabilia, related artifacts, written historic texts and books. We will include newspaper articles of the current times reflecting a significant economic, political, or social news event.
The ceremony will take place under a tent with refreshments served. No registration is required, all are welcome.
Click here for more information
Make a Meaningful Gift to Support Walt Whitman Birthplace: https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2197152
Poetry Reading with Nancy Keating & Deborah Hauser, featuring open mic night
Wednesday, July 27, 2022
7PM – 8:30PM EST
Open Mic – Registration at the door, first come, first serve basis.
A fellow poet has written: “Nancy has worked tirelessly to promote poetry in Babylon Village. Her poetry reflects her life, her surroundings on Long Island and many life lessons as seen through the her eyes. Like Walt Whitman, Nancy’s poems are accessible to any listener.”
Click here for more information
This event has a $5 suggested donation: https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2197152
Announcing Hua Xi as “Poets To Come” Scholar
Thursday, June 23, 2022
Award Ceremony Virtual Zoom Event: 7PM – 8PM EST
The Gwenn A. Nusbaum / WWBA Poets To Come Scholarship Committee has selected Hua Xi (they/she) as the 2022 Scholarship recipient. Walt Whitman Birthplace Association (WWBA) founded the Gwenn A. Nusbaum / WWBA “Poets To Come” Scholarship Award. This $1500 scholarship is offered in the spirit of Walt Whitman’s poem, “Poets to Come: POETS to come! / Not to-day is to justify me and answer what I am for,/ But you, a new brood…/Leaving it to you to prove and define it,/Expecting the main things from you.”
During the scholarship year, Hua plans to publish a first chapbook of poetry and finish a first poetry book manuscript. Hua is interested in the mind and its internal languages, and writes about ways “we internally process the pain of the world. The interior world can be as vast as the actual one, a place where things happen both forwards and backwards, simultaneously and years apart, where everything is true but nothing is real.”
This event has a $5 suggested donation: https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2197152
YouTube Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3YqbyyANSM&ab_channel=WaltWhitman
Intersection of Poet Jupiter Hammon & Long Island History
Sunday, June 12, 2022
Discussion and Q&A: 1:30PM – 3:30PM EST
WWBA collaborates with community members to interpret Jupiter Hammon’s poetry in historical contexts. Hammon (1711-ca. 1806) is known as a founder of African-American literature. Born into slavery, Hammon published his first poem, “An Evening Thought. Salvation by Christ with Penitential Cries,” at 50 years of age. He gained wide circulation and used his Christian biblical foundation to criticize the institution of slavery. Robert Hughes, Huntington Town Historian, discusses his book “Slavery in Huntington and its Abolition.” Lauren Brincat, Curator of Preservation Long Island (PLI), discusses their major initiative to interpret Hammon’s life while enslaved at the Joseph Lloyd Manor house in Lloyd Harbor. Poet David Mills discusses Jupiter Hammon, the man and the poet, and reads his own poetry.
This event has a $5 suggested donation: https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2197152
YouTube Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqqIsi9kwZY&ab_channel=WaltWhitman
| Help the “Leaves of Grass” grow! Roll up your sleeves and participate in outdoor spring cleanup of the Walt Whitman Birthplace, as part of a statewide initiative to maintain parks. Walk-ins welcome. Rain date: May 21st. Bring your own gardening tools. Lunch, Birthplace tours, and free t-shirt provided. |
Click here to register:
https://forms.gle/YxbiuDak7cX4t6oYA
Intersections of the Harlem Renaissance and Langston Hughes
Sunday, May 22, 2022
1:30-3:30 PM EST online
As part of our Intersections: African American Voices of Democracy Series, WWBA welcomes creative scholars to discuss the poetry, life, and legacy of Langston Hughes and connections to poetry by Walt Whitman. Presenters include educator, dancer, and singer Peter Brooks and educator and author Ivy Wilson.
This event has a $5 suggested donation:
https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2197152
ZOOM Registration link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcqceyprjIpG9aAlT2knXscWJ8VDJd6yqKh
Sponsored by HNY SHARP Action Grant
For more information about this event, please click here: https://www.waltwhitman.org/intersections-of-the-harlem-renaissance-and-langston-hughes/
Reasons & Seasons of Food
6 Week Reading and Discussion Series Exploring Serious and Fun Aspects of Food
Thursdays June 2 – July 7
1:30 P.M.. – 3:30 P.M EST
“Reasons & Seasons of Food” is a 6 week in-person discussion series designed to educate our participants through engaging discussions about the many aspects of food – spiritual, physical, emotional, political, and cultural. The Facilitator for this Series, Laurie Rozakis PhD, is a cook, teacher, mother, and consumer. She aims to explore both the serious and fun aspects of food for the healthy benefit of all participants. Over six weeks, participants will read literature that explores topics such as fad diets, food corporations’ relationship to politics, and food trends throughout history.
Week 1: The Jungle by Upton Sinclair.
Week 2: Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health by Marion Nestle.
Week 3: The Road to Wellville by T. Coraghessan Boyle.
Week 4: Diet Cults: The Surprising Fallacy at the Core of Nutrition Fads and a Guide to Healthy Eating for the Rest of Us by Matt Fitzgerald.
Week 5: In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan.
Week 6: A cookbook of each participant’s choice. Participants share their favorite cookbooks and recipes. If Covid restrictions allow, we will end the program with a potluck meal.
There is a $10 registration fee that covers 6 meetings.
To pay, click here: https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2197152
To Register, click here: https://forms.gle/TvZHzHnZoo4kDZja9
For more information and download the books, Click here: https://www.waltwhitman.org/reasons-and-seasons-of-food/
African American Voices of Democracy Program Series
Intersection of Poet Jupiter Hammon and Long Island History
Sunday, June 12, 2022
1:30-3:30 PM
As part of our Intersections: African American Voices of Democracy Series, WWBA collaborates with Preservation Long Island who launched a major initiative to interpret poet Jupiter’s Hammon’s life a the Joseph Manor Home. Speakers include Preservation Long Island curator Lauren Brincat, Huntington Town Historian and author of Slavery in Huntington and Its Abolition Robert Hughes, and poet David Mills.
This event has a $5 suggested donation:
https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2197152
Registration link on the way
Sponsored by HNY SHARP Action Grant
For more details about this event, please click here: https://www.waltwhitman.org/intersection-of-jupiter-hammon-and-long-island-history/
Please take a moment to consider what you can give to help us sustain the important work we do for literacy, education, history, the performing arts, writers, scholars, and researchers. Please visit our donation page to make a donation in any amount and join us for the fun and engaging programs below. Your support means multitudes to us!! To Donate Click Here
2022 Poet In Residence Natasha Trethewey: Discussion and Poetry Reading
Saturday, May 14, 2022
For more about this event and poet, please click here: https://www.waltwhitman.org/poets-poetry/2022-poet-in-residence-natasha-trethewey/
2022 Student Poetry Awards
Sunday, May 15, 2022
12:00 – 2:00 PM
Walt Whitman Birthplace Association is delighted to announce our 36th annual Student Poetry Contest. 2022 Poet-In-Residence Natasha Trethewey will officiate the afternoon.
GRAND CHAMPIONS 2022
| Category | Name | Poem | School |
| Category A | Riya Golia | “The Joy Flower” | The Laurel Hill School |
| Category B | Alicia DiGiambattista | “Realization & Renewal” | Great Hollow Middle School |
| Category C | Charlotte Huang | “Amongst the Fire” | W.T. Clarke Middle School |
| Category D | Chloe Lin | “Lessons in Farming” | Herricks High School |
| Category E | Thisbe Wu | “Shrooms” | Saint Anne’s School |
| Category F | Ruby Standfast | “A New Leaf” | Dogwood Elementary School |
| Category G | Mrs. Miolan | “A New Chapter” | Centre Avenue Elementary School |
| Category H | Mrs. C. Loiacono | “New Season, New Beginnings, New Hope” | HB Mattlin Middle School |
| Category I | Mrs. Prymaczek | “Poems of Renewal” | Hillside Grade School |
| Category J | Mrs. Wallace | “A Time for Renewal Vol. 3 gr 8 pd 6” | Mt. Sinai Middle School |
| Category K | Mr. Graham Otton | “Once Again” | New Hyde Park High School |
| Category L | Dr. Deirdre Faughey | “Wonder Once Hiding Within” | Oyster Bay High School |
| Category M | Violet LeClaire, Emily Gorecki, Jordan Logue | “Phoenix” | Walt Whitman High School |
Friday May 6th, Walking WIth Whitman will feature publisher Diane Frank of Blue Light Press and the new anthology NYC FROM THE INSIDE, featuring 179 poets and 360 pages of poetry. The anthology has been called a landmark collection for American poetry in the 21rst century, includes numerous winners of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Guggenheim Fellowship and other major awards, and was edited by Walt Whitman writer in residence George Wallace.
Student composers from Adelphi visited the Birthplace to “Meet” Whitman. Watch here!
Poets Building Bridges is a series of poetry readings featuring international poets. Writer-In-Residence George Wallace curated this series and hosted this event. Watch Here!
Walking With Whitman featuring Vicki Iorio, Denise Duhamel, and Josie Bello. Watch Here!
Composers Meet Whitman featured Daron Hagen, H. Paul Moon, George Mallis, and Gilda Lyons. WWBA is proud to introduce our Walt Whitman Music Archive. Watch here!
Art and Poetry Virtual Workshop: Exploring the Relationship between Images & Words with Karen De Mauro and Caitlyn Shea. Watch it here!
Walt Whitman’s 202nd Birthday Celebration. Watch it here!
Walking With Whitman Poetry in Performance series featuring Larry Beckettand Ed Luhrs with music by Bryan Gallo. Now in its 11th season! Click here to watch.
Memoir writing class with Barbara Field: Writing Life Stories.
Book Release: Professor Kenneth M. Price, PhD presents Whitman in Washington: Becoming the National Poet in the Federal City. Click here to watch!
Virtual poetry and music open mic: Diverse voices from Vermont, Canada, the UK, and New York. Click here to watch.
Jack Coulehan, MD discusses The Talking Cure, his latest book publication. Click to watch here!
Jayne’s Hill Hike with Andrew Rimby: a guided hike to the highest point on Long Island to see the hike Walt Whitman took when visiting his childhood home in Long Island, New York. Click here to watch!
Virtual Open Mic Night. Featuring: Mary Makofske, Maggie Bloomfield,Bill Ratner, Emily-Sue Sloane, J R Turek Click here to Watch!
James P. Wagner (Ishwa) was recently named the United States Beat Poet Laureate 2020-2021. He is also the president of Long Island’s Bards Initiative, founder and operator of Bards Against Hunger and publisher for Local Gems Press. Click Here to Watch!
Walking With Whitman: Poetry in Performance Featuring Bertha Rogers and Evelyn Kandel! With Musical Performance by Bryan Gallo. Click Here to Watch!
Poetry Reading with Distinguished Poet Matt Pasca.
