Poet Benjamin Will Read at CSM Connections
The College of Southern Maryland Connections Literary Series presents American poet Rick Benjamin at a reading Nov. 4 at the CSM Leonardtown, MD, campus.
Mr. Benjamin, the former state poet of Rhode Island, believes that poetry can play a primary role in creating vibrant and connected communities. That is what draws him to Mr. Benjamin’s work, says CSM professor of Languages and Literature Neal Dwyer coordinates the literary program for the College of Southern Maryland. He says the poet will be a good fit for the series.
As poet laureate of the state of Rhode Island, Mr. Benjamin was commissioned by WRNI, Rhode Island’s National Public Radio, on the occasion of its series on Narragansett Bay. He wrote NDZ … “as in ‘no discharge zone’,” reads its opening line and leads to a cry to recognize the befouling of a precious waterway, but closes with a memory and hope. From that closing,
Some day soon I will/paddle, let current/carry me out beyond
the Sound to a state/that will remain nameless,/where fresh water circulates
in salt water a tidal/mixing, a meeting/to make this estuary,
refugio, where it’s still/possible, some moments,/light bouncing off water,
gulls slanting in air or/calling out their ancient/hungers, to feel one’s
body as a vessel keeping/what it has to itself for/once, buoyant as anything
else on this Bay without/even a single line/of horizon to see.
Mr. Benjamin will read from his work at 7:30 pm Nov. 4, 2016, at the Leonardtown Campus in Building A, Auditorium, 22950 Hollywood Road in Leonardtown.
His reading is sponsored in part by a grant from the St. Mary’s County Arts Council and the Maryland State Arts Council.
Mr. Benjamin has taught at Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, the MFA Program in Interdisciplinary Arts at Goddard College, in many schools, and in community and assisted living centers — where, he said, “I have passed good time in the company of people who range in age from 6 to 96.”
Mr. Benjamin was a Fellow at New Urban Arts, an afterschool arts mentoring program for Providence area high school students. His poems and essays have appeared in “PRØOF,” “Watershed,” The Providence Journal, “Tongue,” 350.org, “The Writer’s Circle,” “American Poets in the 21st Century: The New Poetics” (Wesleyan University Press), “Urthona: An International Buddhist Journal of the Arts, Poem, Home: An Anthology of Ars Poetica” (Paper Kite Press), and “La Petite Zine.”
“Rick is about building community and using poetry as a way to bring people together. That could be the theme for this season of Connections: Poetry’s role in bringing people together,” Mr. Dwyer said.
The spring literary series will include visits to CSM by author Michael Archer on Feb. 17, novelist Sunil Yapa on March 3 and Affrilachian poet Frank X. Walker on April 7.
Tickets for the Benjamin reading are $3 in advance at the CSM box office, $5 at the door, and $3 with a CSM student ID. For tickets, contact [email protected] or call 301-934-7828.
The Connections Magazine is soliciting submissions. The magazine is a regional literary journal published twice a year that features poems, stories, artwork, and photography of Southern Maryland residents.
To be considered for the fall 2016 issue, the deadline for submissions is Oct. 31.
A reading by contributors to the magazine will take place at 7:30 pm Dec. 2, 2016, on the La Plata Campus Center for Business and Industry (BI) Building, Rooms 103/104 at 8730 Mitchell Road in La Plata. The event is free. Another reading will be held in May.
For information on Connections, study guides, and author links, visit the CSM website. Featured books are available at any CSM College Store or online.
For more about the College of Southern Maryland, visit their Leader member page.
