Local Poetry Showcase

Nancy Manning, William Moorhead, and Karen J. Ciosek are three poets who wish to share their poetry with the Branford community. Nancy will read selections from her most recent poetry books, Amethyst Garden, The Unspoken of Our Days, and newly released What Glues Us Together. Bill will read a variety of poetry with themes of playing baseball, humor, and science. Karen will read selections from her chapbook, Navigating the Poet’s Sky, a collection of bird poems, as well as poetry from her next book.

Nancy Manning holds an MFA in poetry from Southern Connecticut State University.  Her work has appeared in an eclectic mix of publications, most recently Humans of the World, Noctua Review and Unmagnolia.  Her poetry collections are entitled Amethyst Garden, The Unspoken of Our Days, and newly released What Glues Us Together; her novel Undertow of Silence won the TAG publishing award.  She has given readings throughout New England.  An avid reader, she participates in two book clubs and two writing workshops.  She also teaches high school English classes.

Bill Moorhead’s first job was radio DJ in 1964 in French in Biarritz, France. As an undergraduate at Harvard he was the first person in the history of the university to earn academic credit (in 1970) for studying the history of rock ‘n roll. He later earned two graduate degrees and worked in the legal and management world and on a special committee for preservation (including poets’ papers) at the Library of Congress. Holt Rinehart published his first book in 1982, a highly researched but quirky history of Watergate. He has been published in a few poetry journals, two other journals on esoteric risk management that used an early form of AI in 2008.

Karen J. Ciosek is a retired Connecticut teacher and lifetime bird watcher. In her book, Navigating the Poet’s Sky, all the bird poems are written about permanent feathered residents and seasonal visitors of New England.  She holds an MFA in poetry from Southern Connecticut State University. She leads a poetry group, Saturday Mornings with Poetry, at the Wallingford Public Library. She is an avid flower gardener and raises blueberries and raspberries. Her other passion is travel.  She has visited Canada, Mexico, Asia, Australia, Europe, and has traveled cross-country in the U.S. Her next trip is to Morocco.

Registration is required to attend this IN PERSON event.