Poetry fan? Head on over to Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, Virginia (about a half hour north of Staunton, VA, where I live) where the Bridgewater international Poetry Festival is happening right now!
The festival, which is the brainchild of poet Stan Galloway, happens every other year and features dozens of poets from all over the world. It’s a four-day event, with simultaneous readings happening each day (which means, you can’t hear everyone, even if you wanted to).
I attended on opening day because I had some friends reading and because I also wanted to hear Stephen Corey, Editor of the Georgia Review, and Pamela Uschuk, Editor of Cutthroat and also one of the family of Editors at Press 53. They were both terrific and I was able to get a copy of Pam’s new book, Blood Flower, and some free copies of the Georgia Review (with a new subscription). And besides hearing my friends Mai-linh Hong and Jeff Schwaner read their wonderful work, I also heard a few other visiting poets.
Many more of my friends are reading over the next few days, and regrettably I wont be able to get there to hear them. Check out the schedule!
