Poems As Portraits With Local Poets Lucia Cherciu, Raphael Kosek and Judith Saunders

Three local poets—Lucia Cherciu, Raphael Kosek, and Judith Saunders—will read
from their work, presenting a selection of lyric portraits: poems about people, whether real or imaginary, historical or fictional. Poems will focus on a wide range of characters, with all their quirks and enigmas, posing questions about individual life histories and about human nature itself: the confused passions and impassioned confusions we encounter all around us. Why did William Bradford’s wife drown herself? What sort of life did Ishmael lead after surviving the Pequod’s battle with Moby-Dick? Subjects range from Meriwether Lewis to Henry Thoreau and Nicolae Ceausescu, from parents and children to spouses, neighbors and strangers. Come hear poems about the richly varied personalities that populate our social universe.

Lucia Cherciu is a Professor of English at Dutchess Community College in Poughkeepsie, NY, and she writes both in English and in Romanian. Her books include Train Ride to Bucharest (Sheep Meadow Press, 2017), Lalelele din Paradis /Tulips in Paradise (Eikon, 2017), Edible Flowers (Main Street Rag, 2015), Altoiul Râsului/Grafted Laughter (Brumar 2010), and Lepădarea de Limbă/The Abandonment of Language (Vinea, 2009). Her poetry was nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net. Her web page is http://luciacherciu.webs.com.

Raphael Kosek lives and teaches writing in the Hudson Valley. She is a two-time recipient of Arts Mid-Hudson Poetry Fellowships and the author of two prize-winning chapbooks of poetry. Her poems have appeared in numerous literary magazines, art journals, and anthologies, including The Chattahoochee Review, Catamaran, Southern Humanities Review, Kalliope, Chronogram, Poetry East, and Big Muddy.

Judith Saunders has published poetry and humor in a wide variety of literary magazines and anthologies—The North American Review, The Christian Science Monitor, Blue Unicorn, Chiron Review, Soundings East, The Mathematical Intelligencer, POEM, Chronogram, The Art Times, and elsewhere. She is the author of two prize-winning poetry chapbooks as well as a Pushcart nominee. She also writes literary criticism for academic audiences.