Wordsmiths of Bucks County forge together at reading series
Bucks County Community College is falling into reading this autumn with the school’s annual Wordsmith Reading Series that features live authors and their work.
The college’s Wordsmith Reading Series will feature events throughout the school year and kicked off on Oct. 9.
On Nov. 5, the series will showcase live readings from Pulitzer Prize winning author Madeleine Blais and former Bucks County Poet Laureate Hayden Saunier.
The free event takes place at 7 p.m. at the fireside lounge on Bucks County Community College’s Newtown Campus.
Madeline Blais, author of “The Heart is an Instrument,” “Uphill Walkers” and “In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle” will read from selected works, and local poet Hayden Saunier will read from her new book “Tips for Domestic Travel.”
The reading series, which began at the college as a celebration of writing in the 1970s, features emerging and famous writers each year for students and the local community. Bucks County Community College English professors Christopher Bursk and Elizabeth Luciano are co-coordinators of the series.
At last year’s reading series, Bursk estimated about 75 to 100 people attended each event.
“We want to make living writers available to students and the community to remind them that writing is an ongoing process and to get a firsthand look at contemporary authors,” Bursk said.
Bursk thinks the series compliments what he calls an active poetry community in Bucks County and is happy that his students, who study both classic and contemporary writers through their coursework, have the opportunity to attend.
“The readings celebrate national writers and the local active writing community in Bucks County. This is just carrying on the tradition of the arts in Bucks County,” Bursk said.
Bursk said the college tries to incorporate writers in the series that will make each reading a different literary experience for attendees.
“We try to bring in memoir, nonfiction, poetry and fiction writers that will appeal to students. Usually, we look for writers whose work will pull listeners in and help them appreciate literature even more,” he said.
Saunier, who thinks poetry should be accessible to readers, wrote her poems about a range of emotions. She plans to explain how sections of her work came about at the reading and read excerpts of her new book. Though this is the first time the poet is reading at the Wordsmith Reading Series, she has attended in previous years as an audience member.
“I think people will find that it is a very interesting group of writers who vary in style and content. It’s always a very illuminating and enjoyable experience,” Saunier said.
Saunier’s new book “Tips For Domestic Travel” is a collection of poems about daily life and a finalist for the St. Lawrence Book Award.
“I am honored to participate, because it’s a great series, and Bucks County is a home territory for me. The writing community in this area is not only excellent, but is also wonderfully supportive of one another,” she said.
Saunier, of Doylestown, won the Robert Fraser Poetry Award in 2005 and was the poet laureate of Bucks County in 1991. The poet, also a classically trained actress, has appeared in theatrical roles in New York and Philadelphia and on film and television in “The Sixth Sense,” “Philadelphia Diary,” and “Hack.”
Blais, a journalist, earned a Massachusetts Book Award for “Uphill Walkers,” a memoir, and won a Pulitzer Prize for her work on a feature story that appeared in the Miami Herald.
For more information, call 215-968-8156 or 215-968-8159.
The college’s Wordsmith Reading Series will feature events throughout the school year and kicked off on Oct. 9.
On Nov. 5, the series will showcase live readings from Pulitzer Prize winning author Madeleine Blais and former Bucks County Poet Laureate Hayden Saunier.
The free event takes place at 7 p.m. at the fireside lounge on Bucks County Community College’s Newtown Campus.
Madeline Blais, author of “The Heart is an Instrument,” “Uphill Walkers” and “In These Girls, Hope is a Muscle” will read from selected works, and local poet Hayden Saunier will read from her new book “Tips for Domestic Travel.”
The reading series, which began at the college as a celebration of writing in the 1970s, features emerging and famous writers each year for students and the local community. Bucks County Community College English professors Christopher Bursk and Elizabeth Luciano are co-coordinators of the series.
At last year’s reading series, Bursk estimated about 75 to 100 people attended each event.
“We want to make living writers available to students and the community to remind them that writing is an ongoing process and to get a firsthand look at contemporary authors,” Bursk said.
Bursk thinks the series compliments what he calls an active poetry community in Bucks County and is happy that his students, who study both classic and contemporary writers through their coursework, have the opportunity to attend.
“The readings celebrate national writers and the local active writing community in Bucks County. This is just carrying on the tradition of the arts in Bucks County,” Bursk said.
Bursk said the college tries to incorporate writers in the series that will make each reading a different literary experience for attendees.
“We try to bring in memoir, nonfiction, poetry and fiction writers that will appeal to students. Usually, we look for writers whose work will pull listeners in and help them appreciate literature even more,” he said.
Saunier, who thinks poetry should be accessible to readers, wrote her poems about a range of emotions. She plans to explain how sections of her work came about at the reading and read excerpts of her new book. Though this is the first time the poet is reading at the Wordsmith Reading Series, she has attended in previous years as an audience member.
“I think people will find that it is a very interesting group of writers who vary in style and content. It’s always a very illuminating and enjoyable experience,” Saunier said.
Saunier’s new book “Tips For Domestic Travel” is a collection of poems about daily life and a finalist for the St. Lawrence Book Award.
“I am honored to participate, because it’s a great series, and Bucks County is a home territory for me. The writing community in this area is not only excellent, but is also wonderfully supportive of one another,” she said.
Saunier, of Doylestown, won the Robert Fraser Poetry Award in 2005 and was the poet laureate of Bucks County in 1991. The poet, also a classically trained actress, has appeared in theatrical roles in New York and Philadelphia and on film and television in “The Sixth Sense,” “Philadelphia Diary,” and “Hack.”
Blais, a journalist, earned a Massachusetts Book Award for “Uphill Walkers,” a memoir, and won a Pulitzer Prize for her work on a feature story that appeared in the Miami Herald.
For more information, call 215-968-8156 or 215-968-8159.
