Words in the Woods: A Poetry Reading Featuring Margaret Gibson and Frederick-Douglass Knowles, II.

Walktober is almost here! The Last Green Valley’s fabulously successful annual series of activities starts in September, and Avalonia’s four offerings go right through the whole season! Registration is required for all Avalonia Walktober programs. (If an event is rescheduled because of weather, you’ll want to know.) Service animals only, please, at these events. Saturday, September 19, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM Listen to two accomplished poets in the exquisite outdoor classroom of Bulkeley Hill Preserve in Colchester. About the concept of the reading, Fred says: “Margaret will bring us into the woods and I will take us out.” (In the event of inclement weather, the reading will be held the same day, same time in Colchester’s Cragin Memorial Library. Registrants will be notified of a change of venue.) Books will be available for purchase. REGISTER HERE Accessibility Note Packed earth/gravel parking lot. No designated accessible parking. Path to Outdoor Classroom begins in parking lot. Path is about three feet wide, surfaced with gravel and dirt, with some foliage and roots and limited room to maneuver around these barriers. Bench seating in class area has spaces for wheelchairs. First half of path is flat; second half has a slope that ranges from 1:12 to about 1:8. Sign language interpretation and amplification may be available upon request. Cragin Memorial Library address: 8 Linwood Ave., Colchester, CT Accessibility Note The library offers many accessible features. Accessible parking is near the main entrance, which is at the rear of the building. The entry door is automated. The room for the reading is directly to the left after entering. An accessible bathroom is nearby. Sign language interpretation and amplification may be available upon request. For more information about the accessibility of this event, contact Avalonia at [email protected] or 860-884-8500. About the Poets Margaret Gibson Preston resident Margaret Gibson is a nationally and internationally known poet whose work often focuses, with acute sensitivity, on the living world around her. A former professor at UConn and a previous Connecticut Poet Laureate, she was the recipient of a National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship and a Pushcart Prize. In her words: “Writing poetry is an act of attention and receptivity. You study whatever it is that strikes your attention – whether a scarlet tanager, river, field, or forest, whether mother, daughter, alcoholic, photographer, lover. You take what’s given into that part of the self that inquires, tests, embraces, and embodies. Outer and inner coalesce and fuse.” Of her many books, the most recent is “Draw Me Without Boundaries,” LSU Press (2024). For two videos of Margaret reading, visit: https://poets.org/dear-margaret-gibson-2021 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqukC6XlVL0 Frederick Douglass Knowles II Norwich native and Hartford resident Frederick-Douglass Knowles, II writes poetry that ranges from playful to poignant, from sober to searing. His frequent readings are known for their energy, empathy, and expressiveness. A former Hartford Poet Laureate, Fred teaches at CT State Community College (Three Rivers Campus). Fred has received the Nutmeg Poetry Award, a CT Office of the Arts Artistic Excellence Grant for Poetry/Creative Fiction, and three Pushcart Prize nominations. He is the author of Blackrosecity (2011) and the new “Sinking in Moonlight Alone” (2026). His poem “Without Sunglasses” appears in Margaret Gibson’s poetry anthology “Waking Up to the Earth: Connecticut Poets in a Time of Global Climate Crisis” (2021). For videos of his interviews and readings, visit: https://www.freddydouglass.com/