Coffee House to Feature Poetry, Live Music, Free Food, Drawings for Prizes

Liberal, Kans.— Original poetry and live music are on tap for the sixth annual Poetry Coffee House set for 7 p.m. Wednesday April 29 at Seward County Community College/Area Technical School.

The event will feature SCCC/ATS students reading their original poetry, live music, and readings by the winners of two poetry contests.

A couple of prize giveaways are also planned for audience members, including a drawing for an autographed copy of the contest judge’s latest book.

The Coffee House offers a relaxed atmosphere where people can enjoy hot and iced coffee, lemonade, and gourmet finger foods while listening to poetry and music.

Several SCCC/ATS students whose poems are slated for publication in this year’s Telolith will read their work, and live music will be provided by SCCC/ATS students Nate Lee, Ben Knight, and Alyssa Fisher.

The English Department has sponsored a poetry contest in conjunction with the Coffee House for several years, and the response this year was great.

“We had 105 entries this time around, which is just five short of our record last year,” said Janice Northerns, SCCC/ATS English instructor.

Contest winners will be announced Wednesday evening and will read their poetry. The judge for this year’s contest was Kansas Poet Laureate Wyatt Townley.

A nationally known poet and fourth-generation Kansan, Townley’s work has been read by Garrison Keillor on NPR, featured in Ted Kooser’s “American Life in Poetry,” and published in journals ranging from The Paris Review to Newsweek. Her books include three collections of poetry: The Breathing Field, Perfectly Normal, and The Afterlives of Trees, a Kansas Notable Book and winner of the Nelson Award.

The public is invited and admission is free to the Poetry Coffee House, which is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 29 in the music wing/band hall (Room H148) of the Shank Humanities Building at Seward County Community College/Area Technical School, 1801 N. Kansas, in Liberal.

For more information, contact Janice Northerns at 620-417-1456 or [email protected], or CONTACT _Con-3B7FF19B3 Bill McGlothing at 620-417-1457 or [email protected].