Norfolk Library Poetry Café

Date: 08/21/2024
Time: 6:00 pm-6:45 pm

Join us for our mid-month Poetry Café in the Great Hall. Bring a poem to read (either one you’ve read or written), or come ready to listen to and enjoy poetry. There will not be an academic discussion on the pieces, rather time to celebrate and share the poetry that we love.

Each month will feature a different theme, and August’s theme is “walls”. This could be an ode to the many majestic stone walls of New England, or a meditation on the walls we put up in our personal lives. There are the metaphorical walls we climb and challenges we overcome and the boundaries we hold, all of them poem worthy.  Please register below.

There is some debate on the origin of the phrase “Poetry Café.” Some argue it refers to the Modernists (Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, TS Eliot, etc.) sharing their work in the cafés in Europe. As spoken word poetry has gained traction and the genre of slam poetry has evolved, some trace the phrase to the Nuyorican Poets Café in Manhattan. The café was founded in 1973 by Rutgers professor Miguel Algarín and gave Puerto Rican New York poets a place to meet and share their work. Although the café was closed for several years in the 1980’s, it continues to serve as an arts center for the Nuyorican community.

 

Registration: