POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. (March 22, 2017) – Marist's celebration of National Poetry Month kicks off the week of April 3 with two special events hosted by the Department of English. On Monday the 3rd is "The Poetics of Resistance," a panel discussion, which will address the questions, Can poetry writing be an act of defiance in troubling times? and What is the role of a poet in today’s world?

“The Poetics of Resistance”
Monday, April 3, 6.30 p.m.
Henry Hudson Room, Fontaine Hall
Free and open to the public

The panel discussion brings together four award-winning poets – Marist’s own Lea Graham and Virginia Konchan, as well as Claire Hero from SUNY New Paltz and Rosebud Ben-Oni from New York City – for a provocative discussion on the power of poetry in the contemporary political climate. A Q&A session with audience members will follow the discussion. 

"Now more than ever, it seems, writers must evaluate how they can use their voice to inspire change and spark dialogue in the world we live in," said Dr. Konchan, who will moderate the discussion. "It’s especially vital for young writers like those at Marist to realize their voice is important, and that their own writing truly matters."

The following day, April 4, Hero and Ben-Oni will hold a reading of their respective works.

 Reading with Award-Winning Poets Claire Hero and Rosebud Ben-Oni
Tuesday, April 4, 7:30 p.m.
Henry Hudson Room, Fontaine Hall
Free and open to the public 

Hero is the author of the poetry collection Sing, Mongrel and the poetry chapbooks Cabinet; afterpastures (winner of the 2007 Caketrain Chapbook Competition) and Dollyland.  Her poems and stories have appeared in Boston Review, Black Warrior Review, Columbia Poetry Review, Denver Quarterly, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Pleiades, Ploughshares, and many others. She teaches writing at SUNY New Paltz.

Ben-Oni is a recipient of the 2014 NYFA Fellowship in Poetry. She is the author of SOLECISM (Virtual Artists Collective, 2013), a contributor to The Conversant and an Editorial Advisor for VIDA: Women in Literary Arts. Her work appears or is forthcoming in POETRY, The American Poetry Review, TriQuarterly, Prairie Schooner, Arts & Letters, The Journal, among others. She writes weekly for The Kenyon Review blog, and recently joined the Creative Writing faculty at UCLA Extension's Writers' Program.