Sunday, April, 18 2021 at 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST
Corona: An Anthology Of Poems Virtual Poetry Reading
WWBA is delighted to host a live poetry reading to celebrate the release of “Corona: An Anthology of Poems” edited by Gayl Teller, the Nassau County Poet Laureate for 2009-11 and the 2016 Walt Whitman Birthplace Poet of the Year. This luminous collaboration of 98 poets, including many poets laureate from the US and abroad, evinces a kaleidoscope of perspectives and experiences during our historic and traumatic time of pandemic and racial strife. Celebrate Poetry Month with us on Zoom during a live reading with a diverse group of poets sharing their reflections on the quarantine, social distancing, masks, and other aspects of the global pandemic.
This event is free with a $5 suggested donation. Open to the public.
Register in advance for this event:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYrde6ppjMtE91xE98xamrszDQx4km45alq
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
$5 suggested donation
Though we are now open for site tours, we are suffering the effects of a March – August closing with a severe loss of tourist and event revenue. Your online contributions have never been more vital to sustaining our efforts. We can only keep our weekly online programs and community engagement going with the support of individuals like you. Contributions in any amount are greatly appreciated! To donate please click the link. Thank you!
https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2197152
This creative Anthology is now available for $18.00 (plus tax) at the Walt Whitman Birthplace Museum Gift Shop located at: 246 Old Walt Whitman Road Huntington, NY 11746
Or purchase online with shipping included in the price:
Purchase 1 copy: https://www.waltwhitman.org/product/corona_1/
Purchase 2 copies: https://www.waltwhitman.org/product/corona_2/
Purchase 3 copies: https://www.waltwhitman.org/product/corona_3/
“If you want to know the year 2020, come listen to its poets who are ably represented in this valuable and diverse collection. It is they who have understood that to know the present, we must examine the small manifestations, not only the great. These poets serve as harbingers and witness to the essential truths of our time; their poems serve as snapshots we need to commit to memory.” –George Wallace
Writer-In-Residence, Walt Whitman Birthplace Association
Sunday, April 25, 2021 at 2 PM – 4 PM EST
Long Island Poet of the Year Ceremony and Reading Online
The Long Island Poet of the Year Award is an annual award given by Walt Whitman Birthplace Association (WWBA) to honor a notable and distinguished local poet who actively promotes poetry on Long Island. This year Cliff Bleidner was nominated and selected as WWBA LI Poet of the Year. WWBA Executive Director Cynthia Shor will welcome attendees, Trustee President Jack Coulehan, MD, will present Board salutations, WWBA 2019 LI Poet of the Year J R Turek will offer personal remarks, and Trustee Richard Bronson, MD, will introduce Honoree Cliff Bleidner who will offer a poetry reading. All are welcome to attend this free and joyful annual event.
Register in advance for this event:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYrdOGrqzojHN1vTDdBWlbr1MPvYoOMKMWv
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
This event has a $5 suggested donation:
https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2197152
Cliff Bleidner writes haiku poetry and has received recognition among local writers as a distinguished poet and organizer in the Long island poetry community. He was a cofounder and coordinator of the Performance Poets Association (PPA), Long Island’s largest poetry organization. He also manages the annual PPA poetry contest, now in its 25th year. He has co-hosted PPA poetry events at more than a dozen different locations across Long Island. Due to his dedication for the PPA, it has been a successful outlet for the many Long Island poets. Cliff also assembles the PPA Literary Review manuscript from the judge’s decisions of submissions; the most recent publication in 2020, its 24th consecutive year. Cliff Bleidner has presented lectures on Dante and has held Haiku workshops, and formalist poet seminars. Cliff’s poems have been published in, 24 issues of the PPA Literary Review, The Haiku Calendar, Long Island Sounds, Paumanok I: Poems and Pictures of Long island, Paumanok II: Interwove and Writing Outside the Lines, among many others.
Wednesday, April, 28 2021 at 3:30 PM – 5:00 PM EST
Pioneers of Poetry & Paint, Pollock, Krasner, and Whitman: Virtual Tours and Poetry Writing
This special live virtual event takes Zoom visitors on a tour through the homes of Long Island’s world famous creative pioneers, poet Walt Whitman and painters Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner. Virtual doors open to the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center in East Hampton and then to the Walt Whitman Birthplace Museum in South Huntington. Your tour guides will discuss innovative approaches to creativity, such as tapping into one’s stream-of-consciousness for inspiration and exploring abstraction, physicality, rhythm, metaphor, and free verse. Following the virtual tours, participants will be prompted to write Whitmanesque free verse poetry inspired by Pollock’s painting. Have a pen and paper ready!
The Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center tour guide is Education Coordinator, Joyce Raimondo. Leading the tour through Walt Whitman Birthplace is Docent Guide Supervisor Iris Jumper. The poetry workshop leader is Christina M. Rau, poet and professor.
Free! Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0pfu2gpz4rG9ZE2N6EjcXH9wvrx_r0x4Zk
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
For more information about these historic sites and your tour leaders, please click here: https://www.waltwhitman.org/pioneers-of-poetry-paint-pollock-krasner-and-whitman-virtual-tours-and-poetry-writing/
Thursday, April 29, 2021 at 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM EST
Live Virtual Poetry Reading with Poet John L. Wright, MD
WWBA is delighted to present a live poetry reading with Physician and Poet John L. Wright. His poetry explores humanity’s relationship and place among the fauna and flora of the natural world. Singer-Songwriter Linda Sussman will perform her original songs live. Join us in celebrating Poetry Month on Zoom!
Pre-register for this event:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwod-2srTwiHtzj4SacZB-TQkpMRWw9P2gU
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
John L. Wright, MD practiced internal medicine and endocrinology at the Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, Washington from 1964 to 1989, during this time he was also Associate Medical Director with responsibilities for, among other duties, the residency training programs and the continuing education conferences presented by the medical staff. From 1989 to 1994 he served as Vice President for Medical Staff Affairs. He is a Clinical Professor Emeritus in Medicine at the University of Washington, and a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.
This event has a $5 suggested donation:
https://www.paypal.com/us/fundraiser/charity/2197152
For more information about this talented poet, please click here.
Saturday, May 1, 2021 at 10 AM – 3 PM
I Love My Park Day 2021
Walt Whitman Birthplace Association is delighted to host volunteers at Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site as part of more than 100 cleanup, improvement, and beautification events happening statewide.
Those interested in volunteering in the project at Walt Whitman State Historic Site can register to volunteer by visiting www.ptny.org/ilovemypark or by calling (631) 427-5240.
I Love My Park Day is an exciting statewide event to improve and enhance New York’s state parks and historic sites and bring visibility to the entire state park system and its needs. Volunteers from across the state will participate in cleanup, improvement, and beautification events at New York State parks and historic sites. Volunteers will celebrate New York’s state park system by cleaning up park lands and beaches, planting trees and gardens, restoring trails and wildlife habitat, removing invasive species, and working on various site improvement projects.
Rain date: May 8, 2021
For more details about what to bring, what you’ll be doing, and what to wear, please click here.
Monday, May 31, 2021 at TBA
Marathon Reading of Leaves of Grass and a Walt Whitman-Themed Art Exhibition
Join us in celebrating Walt Whitman’s 202nd Birthday from anywhere in the world! WWBA is hosting a virtual world-wide Marathon Reading of “Leaves of Grass” and Whitman-Themed Art Exhibition via a live Zoom presentation event on May 31st, 2021.
Link to follow soon.
You can submit artwork and videos for this event before May 7th. Click here for information!
Saturday, June 12, 2021 — Two Events with WWBA 2021 Poet in Residence Forrest Gander
Live Virtual Poetry Workshop: 2:00 – 4:oo PM EST
Live Virtual Poetry Reading: 6:30 PM EST
WWBA is delighted to share the distinguished the voice of Pulitzer Prize-winning Forrest Gander. He is a poet, writer, translator, and editor of several anthologies of writing from Spain and Mexico. He is the author of more than a dozen books, including collaborations with notable artists and photographers. Gander is celebrated for the richness of his language and his undaunted lyric passion.
Virtual Poetry Workshop
Purchase tickets in Advance Here: https://www.waltwhitman.org/zoom-upcoming-and-past-events/
FREE Evening Poetry Reading
Pre-Register in Advance Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0tc-qrqzkuHtNcEvMV-OqOAFxiWhs3VCfE
Read more about Gander here: https://www.waltwhitman.org/2021forrestgander/
This event is made possible with funds from the Decentralization Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and is administered by The Huntington Arts Council, Inc.
We need your donations more urgently than ever before! Please take a moment consider what you can give to 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
Walking With Whitman Poetry in Performance series featuring Larry Beckett and 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.
