Princeton Makes, a regional artist cooperative, and Ragged Sky Press, a regional publisher focused on poetry, will host a Second Sunday Poetry Reading on Sunday, April 9, at 4 p.m.
The free readings will take place at the Princeton Makes store in the Princeton Shopping Center and feature poetry by Rhinold Ponder and Ellen Foos.
Rhinold Ponder, an artist, writer, lawyer-activist, resides in Princeton. His journey as a poet began in 7th grade in the Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC), a leader in the Black Arts Movement, in Chicago. Under the tutelage of Illinois Poet Laureate Angela Jackson, he won a poetry competition judged by Gwendolyn Brooks. While at Princeton University, he studied under U.S. Poet Laureate Stanley Kunitz and Caribbean writer John Hearne at the University of West Indies. For his first significant reading of his poetry in three decades, he will share work from his unpublished, recent manuscript “Inheritance of the Dispossessed.”
Ellen Foos is the founder and publisher of Ragged Sky Press and was the recipient of a fellowship to MacDowell and the Vermont Studio Center. Her first collection of poems, “Little Knitted Sister,” was published in 2006 and her poetry has appeared in U.S.1 Worksheets, Contemporary American Voices, Edison Literary Review, and the Curator. Her most recent collection, “The Remaining Ingredients,” won honorable mention in the 2015 Rachel Wetzsteon Chapbook Contest.
The following is an example of their work:
– Rhinold Ponder
– Ellen Foos
The Princeton-based Ragged Sky is a small, cooperative press. That has historically focused on mature voices, overlooked poets, and women’s perspectives.
Princeton Makes, a cooperative comprised of 34 multi-disciplined artists, is located in the Princeton Shopping Center, next to Metropolis Hair Salon.
The reading takes place Sunday, April 9, at 4 p.m. An open mic available to up to 10 audience members interested in reading their original poetry will follow.
For more information on Ragged Sky Press, visit raggedsky.com. For more information on Princeton Makes events, go to www.princetonmakes.com.
