Toadstool Bookshops and “Smoky Quartz,” journal of the Monadnock Writers’ Group, are sponsoring readings by New Hampshire poets to celebrate the start of National Poetry Month.
The event will be Saturday, April 1, at 11 a.m. at the Peterborough Toadstool Bookshop, 12 Depot Square. Five poets will read their work from the recently published “Smoky Quartz Tenth Anniversary Anthology”: former New Hampshire Poet Laureate Alice Fogel, writer, editor and New England College professor Maura MacNeil, Rodger Martin, literary collaborator with Shanghai University, professor at Keene State University and founding member of Monadnock Writers’ Group; Denise Ginzler, writer and community volunteer; and Pushcart Prize-nominated poet Jennifer Edwards.
National Poetry Month celebrates the role of poetry in the culture. Established by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month includes events scheduled throughout April by governments, schools, publishers, organizations, bookstores and more.
“Smoky Quartz,” founded in 2012, is an online journal of literature and art. In late 2022, its editors published a special print edition to recognize a decade of promoting writers associated with New Hampshire.
The “Smoky Quartz Tenth Anniversary Anthology” features a selection of work from its first 10 years plus new original work. Copies of the anthology can be purchased from Toadstool Bookshops, at Monadnock Writers’ Group meetings or by sending email to mwgsmokyquartz@gmail.com. For information about Smoky Quartz and Monadnock Writers’ Group, visit smokyquartz.org and monadnockwriters.org.
Everyone is welcome to this free event. For information on the event, contact Toadstool Bookshops at books@ptoad.com or 603-924-3543.