This past Friday, September 22nd, The Bryant Library hosted an open mic poetry reading in the Gerry Park gazebo. Organized by librarians Wendy Roque of the Reference Department and Ariel Morabito of the Local History Collection, the event was a great success and drew an impressive lineup of local poets and spectators.
Special guests included Christina M. Rau, who served as Poet-in-Residence at Cedarmere (the home of William Cullen Bryant), and Paula Curci, the Poet Laureate of Nassau County who read a poem about the estate's recently restored mill.
This reading is the first in a series of poetry open mics which we hope to make a permanent fixture within our library's robust programming schedule. The next event will take place on Friday, November 3rd in honor of William Cullen Bryant's birthday and will be held at 6 PM in the library's Helen Glannon Room. The aesthetic for this reading will be a "Greenwich Village coffeehouse" vibe as a nod to the Beat Generation of poets. We hope that you will be able to join us, and we look forward to hearing more wonderful poetic works from our gifted local community.