Hickory – July 11 will mark the 196th Poetry Hickory reading. Previous readings have featured a variety of local, state, regional, and national poets, including numerous NC Poet Laureates and other award winning authors.
The July 11 reading will feature Winston-Salem’s Sam Barbee, former president of the NC Poetry Society and founder of Poetry in Plain Sight (PIPS), an 11-year-old poetry initiative that features NC poets on broadside posters displayed in shop windows across the state. In Hickory, the PIPS poems can be seen each month at Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse, Hickory Wine Shop, Hickory Community Theater, and Patrick Beaver Library. July’s selections are by Pat Riviere-Seel of Burnsville, Michael Gaspenny of Greensboro, Paul Jones of Chapel Hill, and Lucinda Trew of Weddington.
Barbee is the author of “Apertures of Voluptuous Force” and 3 other collections of poetry. His poems have appeared recently in “Poetry South,” “Salvation South,” and “Cave Wall,” among others. He was awarded an “Emerging Artist’s Grant”; received the 59th Poet Laureate Award from the North Carolina Poetry Society for his poem “The Blood Watch”; and is a two-time Pushcart nominee.
Barbee’s reading will be followed by an Open Mic. For more information or to register to read in the Open Mic, contact Scott Owens at 828-234-4266 or at [email protected]
