Libraries host talks on poetry

SOUTHERN VERMONT - On Wednesday, February 2, at 7 pm, the Brooks Memorial Library is hosting the free public talk “Boneyarn: New York Slavery Poems” with actor and poet David Mills, as part of Vermont Humanities First Wednesdays’ series.
The oldest and largest slave cemetery in the United States is located in the shadow of Wall Street. Mills will read from and discuss his award-winning poetry collection  “Boneyarn,” featuring groundbreaking poems about a topic rarely addressed: slavery in New York City.
On the same day and time, the Manchester Community Library will host another First Wednesday public talk “Walt Whitman: American Poet,” with UVM professor emeritus Huck Gutman.
Whitman was a great poetic innovator, the poet who best sums up what it is to be an American, and his “Song of Myself” is the most majestic poem written in the nation. And yet, for all this, Gutman finds Whitman to be wonderfully approachable. A PDF of the selections from “Song of Myself” that Huck Gutman will discuss can be found at www.vermonthumanities.org.
Note that due to the COVID-19 pandemic talks will only be offered online via Zoom. Advance registration is required. Find out more and register at www.vermonthumanities.org.