Calliope Poetry Reading and Open Mic

The Cultural Center of Cape Cod is pleased to host this event organized by Calliope, the Cape Cod-based organization that seeks to foster community through a shared appreciation of poetry, featuring work by three poets—Elizabeth Bradfield, Justen Ahren, and Rich Youmans—whose books take us on journeys, both near and far.  The reading will be followed by an open mic, so poets in the audience will have an opportunity to share their work as well. The event is free, but $5 suggested donations will be appreciated. Writer/naturalist Elizabeth Bradfieldwill read selections from her fourth collection, Toward Antarctica which combines her photographs with brief, hybrid essays. Bradfield is the author of three previous poetry books, Once Removed, Approaching Ice and Interpretive Work. She is founder and editor-in-chief of Broadsided Press, and teaches creative writing at Brandeis University. Justen Ahrenis a poet, photographer, multi-media artist, performer and teacher whose latest book, A Machine for Remembering, combines poetry and photography as a document of witness to Europe’s refugee crises. A former poet laureate of Martha’s Vineyard, Ahren is founder and director of Noepe Center for the Literary Arts and the Italy Writing Workshop. Rich Youmans’s haiku, haibun, and related essays have been published internationally in various journals and anthologies, and he currently serves on the editorial team of Haibun Today and on the forthcoming anthology, From the Farther Shore: Discovering Cape Cod and the Islands Through Poetry (Bass River Press). His latest chapbook, Head-On: Haibun Stories illuminates the seemingly insignificant details that portray the unpredictability of life. We hope you’ll join us (and bring a poem of your own).