Will Nixon to read at Poetry on the Loose

Middletown — Will Nixon will read at the next program in the performance series for Poetry on the Loose. The event will be held at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 7, at the Unitarian Universalist Church on the corner of Orchard and Main Streets in Middletown. An open reading will follow at which poets and other writers are welcome to perform original work on any theme. Nixon has published two chapbooks, “When I Had It Made” with Pudding House Publications, and “The Fish Are Laughing” with Pavement Saw Press. His poems have appeared in many national and regional publications, including Chronogram, Prima Materia, and The Country and Abroad. Last fall, the Mohonk Mountain Stage Company of New Paltz presented an evening of his poetry and prose, which were inspired by his experiences living in the Catskills and included the poem, “My Mother as a Ruffed Grouse.” Nixon is now working on two major projects: “Lyndon Baines Takes a Fare to the Palace of Wisdom: An Epic Poem of the Future” and a series of poems inspired by the movie “Night of the Living Dead.” He lives in Woodstock. On Saturday, Feb. 4, Michele Battiste, author of “Mapping the Spaces Between,” will be reading. Admission is by donation. Poetry on the Loose, guided by Whitman’s vision of America and the central importance of America’s poetry, is a non-academic, grassroots, community-based organization. The performance series is supported this year with funding from Orange Arts, Orange County Tourism and the County of Orange. For further information, call 294-8085 or write to seaton@frontiernet.net.