Authors / What Matters Most

Jos Charles' a Year & other poems is a door left open to form, fire, and fate

Milkweed Staff — 06/28/2023

The year is 2021, and wildfires are ravaging the West Coast. America is in lockdown, and time as we know it has come to a grinding halt.

Enter the poet Jos Charles, whose seminal collection of poems, feeld, was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist, and just recently, one of “The 25 Most Influential Works of Postwar Queer Literature” in the New York Times Style Magazine. Charles is a trans artist, and no stranger to devastation—so it comes as no surprise that their followup act, a Year & other poems, is as unprecedented as the times…

Minneapolis, MN —

In Person: Wordplay

This year’s Wordplay will be specifically curated around the Loft’s 2022/2023 theme: Narrative Power. Toni Cade Bambara said, “The job of the writer is to make the revolution irresistible.” The Loft’s programming will explore how writers exercise narrative power to lead and influence movements for social change. We are excited to feature authors in all genres whose books inspire revolution in any of the following topics:

  • Racial Justice
  • Health and Wellness
  • Climate Change
  • LGBTQIA2S+ Rights
  • Gender Equity & Equality
  • and more!

We are proud to share that three Milkweed authors – Diane…

Shelter Island, NY —

In Person: Scott Chaskey appearing at Sylvestor Manor

Join up by the Windmill at Sylvestor Manor to celebrate the publication of Soil and Spirit with a reading and conversation with author Scott Chaskey.

A pioneer of the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement, for thirty years Chaskey cultivated more than sixty crops for the Peconic Land Trust at Quail Hill Farm in Amagansett, New York, one of the original CSAs in the country. Chaskey was also a founding Board Member of Sylvester Manor.

Montreal, QC —

In Person: Claire Wahmanholm appearing at McGill University in partnership with the Montreal Poetry Prize

Join Claire Wahmanholm at McGill University for a reading and award ceremony as well as a workshop.

Workshop will run from 10-12 PM at Peterson Hall, Room 116. The workshop will focus on the art of abecedarians and is presented by the Poetry Matters initiative.

Ceremony will begin at 4:00 PM in the Arts Building, Room 160. The ceremony will be hosted by the Montreal International Poetry Prize.

Minneapolis, MN —

In person: Elizabeth Rush appearing at Mill City Museum

Join us for an evening with Elizabeth Rush, celebrating her latest book,The Quickening—an astonishing, vital work about Antarctica, climate change, and motherhood. Rush will be joined in conversation by climate activism leaders Analyah Schlaeger dos Santos and Margaret Cherne-Hendrick to discuss the power of collective storytelling in facing the climate crisis. The event will also feature a reading from The Quickening and photographs from Rush’s voyage.

Doors open at 6:30 pm, event begins at 7:00 pm. Books will be for sale, and Rush will be available for signing after the event.

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