Neighbor News
National Book Award-winning poet Martín Espada, Joan Kwon Glass & Brazilian jazz
The second in a series of free "Poetry in the Garden: Voices from Marginalized America" events at Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center
On Monday, July 14 at 7:00, "Poetry in the Garden: Voices from Marginalized America" welcomes poets Martín Espada and Joan Kwon Glass to the walled gardens of Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center. The evening will also include a performance of Brazilian jazz by vibraphonist Arthur Lipner and vocalist/guitarist Dinho beginning at 6:45.
This free event is the second in a series of readings and performances in which award-winning poets share works that give voice to marginalized Americans: Indigenous people (July 7), immigrants (uly 14), the LGBTQ+ community (July 21), and Black Americans (July 28). The events also include music, dance, or other entertainment linked to the evening's theme.
Espada, who won the National Book Award in 2021 for Floaters, will read from his newest collection Jailbreak of Sparrows. His other works include Vivas to Those Who Have Failed, The Republic of Poetry, and Alabanza. Espada has received numerous awards and fellowships, including an Academy of American Poets Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship. A former tenant lawyer, Espada is a professor of English at UMass-Amherst.
Joan Kwon Glass, a diasporic Korean American poet, is the author of Daughter of Three Gone Kingdoms, winner of the 2025 Eric Hoffer Book Award for Poetry, the Paterson Poetry Prize, and the Perugia Press Poetry Prize.
Books on the Common will have the poets' books available for purchase and signing.
Guest are asked to bring a lawn chair or blanket to enjoy the readings, held in KTM&HC’s beautiful walled garden. In the event of inclement weather, the reading will move inside the Garden House.
There is ample parking on-site, and the venue is fully accessible.
Poetry in the Garden 2025 is generously supported by Ridgefield Library, The Fountain Inn, Books on the Common, A.C.T. of Connecticut, 068 Magazine, Manhattanville University MFA in Creative Writing, and the Estate of Ray Lee West.
