Poetry reading set for tonight to showcase eclectic group

 

By: Yuri Smishkewych | Published April 7, 2016

Her poems about television are anything but static: Dr. Susanna Rich is known to break a sweat at her poetry performances.

“Poetry was always connected to music,” said Dr. Rich, “so I like to perform it.”

Fast-forward to tonight at Kean University and Dr. Rich, a professor in the School of English Studies, will be part of a free poetry reading event titled, “Don’t Touch that Remote!” where she and eight fellow artists will read—and perform—their poetic homages to the small screen.

The poems are selections from “Rabbit Ears: TV Poems,” an anthology that had its debut last year and features over 130 poets.

Dr. Rich’s poem from the anthology, titled “The Thing: My Crazy Family,” and works by the book’s editor Joel Allegretti, Diane Lockwood, Charlie Bondhus, Josh Humphery, David Messino, John J. Trause, David Vincenti and George Witte— will read at tonight’s event.

Rich promises, “this is going to be a hot group.”

With a current repertoire of audience-engaging poetry experiences whose muses range from The Bard’s female characters in “Shakespeare’s *itches: The Musical” to the 15-minutes-of-fame bachelors seen on primetime in “Television Daddy,” Rich’s work melds the boundaries between the poet and the thespian, and, for audience members, the observer and the performer.

A recipient of the Presidential Excellence Award for Distinguished teaching, Dr. Rich’s poems have received numerous accolades and prizes—including an Emmy nomination for “Cobb Field” in 2009—over a career that spans more than three decades.

The reading begins at 7 p.m. in Room 106 at Kean University’s Center for Academic Success (CAS) building. All are welcome.

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