Writing the Land: Windblown I, Book Launch, Art Reception Nov. 13

BRANFORD, CT — Celebrate the launch of Writing the Land: Windblown I, a national anthology featuring the work of poets writing about conserved lands for 11 land trusts across the country, in a reception set for Nov. 13.

A Creative Project from the Branford Land Trust and the Branford Arts and Cultural Alliance, the Book Launch and Art Reception, free and open to the public, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m will be held at the Branford Arts and Cultural Alliance gallery, 1004 Main St., Branford. Light refreshments will be served and masks are encouraged.

Poet Laurel Peterson, of Branford and Norwalk, will read a selection of her poems about Branford’s Beacon Hill Preserve, and the book’s featured artwork by BLT and BACA members will be on display.

Peterson, a professor of English at Norwalk Community College, has had her poetry published in many small literary journals. She has two poetry chapbooks: That’s the Way the Music Sounds and Talking to the Mirror. She co-edited a collection of essays on women’s justice titled (Re)Interpretations: The Shapes of Justice in Women’s Experience, wrote the mystery novel, Shadow Notes, and published a full-length collection of poetry, Do You Expect Your Art to Answer You?

She served as poet laureate of Norwalk from April 2016 to April 2019.

About Writing the Land: Windblown I

Writing the Land: Windblown I, published by NatureCulture LLC, is a creative collaboration between BACA and the BLT. It features four poems by Peterson, and artwork by local artists including: Tricia Bohan, Lauren Brown, Gerry Casanova, Jan Doyle, Silvia Drewery, Barbara Dwyer, Sharon Hart, Lisa Hesselgrave, Carol Cable Hurst, Trish Kater, Jeanette Mobeck, Sylvia Ohlrich, Gaile Ramey, Dierdre Baker Schiffer, Maria Stockmal, Robert Thomas, and Patricia Towle.

The book was made possible by funding from the Deirdre Baker Schiffer Fund to the Land Trust.

A special thanks to BACA volunteers for jurying the art submissions. Proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit the conservation efforts of the Branford Land Trust.

Editor Lis McLoughlin noted that, “Writing the Land is an attempt to honor nature and our relationship with it in a way that is as equitable and transparent as it is deep and entangled."

“We intend to be as inclusive — to humans and places — as we hope the mantle of protection that land trusts offer can be," she said. "Our work will never be complete but gains strength, depth, beauty, and energy in a multitude of voices.”

About the Branford Land Trust

The Branford Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, accredited by the Land Trust Alliance, established in 1967 to protect Branford’s open space and natural resources.

Run by volunteers and supported by member families and businesses, the Land Trust manages and protects over 1,000 acres in more than 130 parcels and holds conservation easements on another 400 acres in Branford.

About the Branford Arts and Cultural Alliance

The Branford Arts and Cultural Alliance, BACA, is a local nonprofit organization founded in 2014, whose mission is to support the arts in Branford.

They do this by presenting public art displays, and through the Gallery which they operate at 1004 Main Street, where the work of over 50 artists are displayed. Our mission is simple: to enhance the quality of life in Branford through the arts.

How to purchase Writing the Land: Windblown I

Writing the Land: Windblown I is available for $20 online here and at BACA Gallery.

For more information, please visit www.branfordarts.org or www.branfordlandtrust.org.