Nevada County Reads 2024 Kick-Off Party: Join Nevada County Poet Laureates Past and Present for a Reading on Gratitude
Nevada County Library invites the community to a special event celebrating the kick-off of Nevada County Reads 2024. A county-wide program, Nevada County Reads encourages residents to participate in a shared reading experience through one common book each year. This year's selection, “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude” by Ross Gay, is a collection of poems that explores the beauty and joy of being alive in a world which is tragically affected by the passage of time.
The Nevada County Reads Kick-off Party
Thursday, February 10, 2024 | 1-3 pm
Madelyn Helling Library, 980 Helling Way in Nevada City
The event will feature a poetry reading by former and current Nevada County Poet Laureates: Kirsten Casey, Chris Olander, and Molly Fisk. Each poet will share poems on the theme of Gratitude to highlight joy and bring mirth into the winter season. There will be time for socializing with the poets, and a Q&A during the reading. This event is free, open to the public and light refreshments will be provided.
Don’t miss this opportunity to hear some of the finest poets in Nevada County and to celebrate the power of gratitude in our lives. Kirsten Casey is the current Nevada County Poet Laureate. She is a California Poet in the Schools, and creative writing teacher. Kirsten is also the host of Nevada County Library’s monthly “Poetry Happy Hour” workshop. Her poetry collection, Ex Vivo: Out of the Living Body, published by Hip Pocket Press in 2012, is inspired by odd stories, remarkable words, and the mysteries of the human body. Her upcoming poetry collection (submitted under the title Grieving Birds) was a recent finalist in the Gunpowder Press Dryden-Vreeland book prize.
Chris Olander is a poet, teacher and bio-educator with California Poets in the Schools. He is an organizer and featured reader in the Berkeley Watershed Poetry Festival. Chris served as Artistic Director for the Nevada County Poetry Series and as editor on six poetry anthologies. He also served as a Poet Coach for the California Arts Council’s Poetry Out Loud competitions. He has written two books of poetry: River Light published by Poetic Matrix Press and Twilight Roses published by R. L. Crowes Press. He has also written four chapbooks and has seven recorded CDs of his poetry.
Molly Fisk is an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow (2019), a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow (1999), and the inaugural Poet Laureate of Nevada County, CA (2017-2019). She is a poet, essayist, and radical life coach. Molly has also worked as both a local and national radio commentor. Her latest work is “Everything but the Kitchen Skunk: Ongoing Observations from a Working Poet.” Molly is the author of four collections of poems and five compilations of essays/commentary.
Nevada County Reads, a project developed in 2005, is presented in partnership with the Nevada County Superintendent of Schools, Nevada County Arts Council, the Friends of Nevada County Libraries and made possible through the National Endowment for the Arts’ Big Read initiative. Nevada County Reads 2024 continues throughout the spring with book clubs, workshops and more. The culminating event, in partnership with the Sierra Poetry Festival, is a discussion with poet Ross Gay on Saturday, April 13, 2024. Visit nevadacountyreads.com for all the details.
Need a copy of Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude? Stop by your neighborhood library to pick up a copy! For more information about Nevada County Reads 2024 and other related events, please visit nevadacountyreads.com or call (530) 265-7050.
