Contributed by:
Tabitha Dial/YourHub.com
Article Contributed on: 2/26/2007 11:20:51 AM
A couple months ago, my friend
Jari Thymian invited myself and several other poets to take part in the 33rd annual Fine Arts Festival at
Parkview Congregational Church. Of course I was up for it.
"We are so pleased that literary works have become a more and more important part of our festival," said
Sharon Lininger, our host for the event Feb. 24.
The readings began with mystery writer
Linda Berry, who read from her book
Death and the Hubcap, the funniest mystery novel I've ever encountered.
I loved hearing poetry from everyone; being welcomed into other poets' worlds was refreshing and wonderful. Highlights, for me, include
Hilary Depolo, who wrote a book inspired by names she found in obituraries (what a creative idea!), getting to see
Wayne Gilbert perform for the first time (he's got a heart of jazz and can wail colors), getting to see
Vicki Mandell-King recite her work (always awe-inspiring) and hearing Jari read the poem that was performed at
Words of Art.
About a dozen writers shared their work at the church, surrounded by paintings. Most of us were poets and we all had five minutes to share our work (I used mine to share
Revolution and
Front Range Fish, poems inspired by
Naomi Shihab Nyeand
Aaron Abeyta, respectively).
It was a pleasure to hear everyone's work and to look at all the beautiful art work at the church. I also enjoyed meeting Aurora poets
Ilse Bryant Manche and
Margaret Walther.
Walther is a librarian in the Denver metropolitan area, a past president of Columbine Poets, Inc., and has been widely published in journals, such as
Lullwater Revew,
Fugue,
Quarterly West, and
Connecticut Review.
Bryant shared poems about cooking and borrowed dresses and is a former student of Sharon Lininger, our host for the occasion.
Aurora has a fine, well-rounded community of poets.