Two area poets will launch their new books at Barnes & Noble, 1 Royce Circle, Storrs, CT on October 13th at 7 p.m. A reading and reception with light refreshments will follow. This event is free to the public, recommended for ages 14 and up. Sharing the stage will be Karen Warinsky, retired from careers in media and teaching, and former UCONN Creative Writing Instructor Pegi Deitz Shea.
“Karen Warinsky’s Sunrise Ruby is an unwavering window into a wise mother’s heart, a fierce interrogation of humanity’s toxic exploits and a poetic reprieve in the resonating movement of spirit and hope,” says Kai Coggin, poet and recipient of the 2021 Arkansas Governor’s Award. Warinsky began publishing poetry in 2011 and was named as a finalist for her poem “Legacy” in the Montreal International Poetry Contest in 2013. Her work appears in several anthologies including Nuclear Impact: Broken Atoms in Our Hands, the 2019 Mizmor Anthology, and lit mags including Blue Heron, Circumference and Consilience. Her books, Gold in Autumn (2020), and Sunrise Ruby (2022), are from Human Error Publishing. Warinsky’s work centers on mid-life, relationships, politics, and the search for spiritual connection through nature. She currently coordinates poetry readings under the name Poets at Large in CT and MA. Learn more at karenwarinskypoetry.wordpress.com; contact: karen.warinsky@gmail.com.
Deitz Shea’s The Weight of Kindling (Grayson Books) examines her roots of inspiration including her grandmother’s history, her own world travels, and the family she helped create. Regina Barreca, UCONN Board of Directors’ Distinguished Professor of English, says: “The Weight of Kindling demands to be read for strength and with courage. Each poem does its own hard work, whether its job is to lighten the heart or eviscerate the innards, without forsaking clarity or precision.” Deitz Shea, a two-time winner of the CT Book Award, taught Children’s Literature and Creative Writing from 2007-2020 at UCONN. She is the author of more than 450 published articles, essays, poems for adult readers and 16 books for young readers. She was the inaugural Poet Laureate of Vernon, and directs Poetry Rocks, a quarterly reading series she founded in 2017. Learn more at www.pegideitzshea.com; contact: pegideitzshea@gmail.com.
For more information, contact: UConn B&N at 860-486-8525