Tea and Conversation with Anne Marie Macari

On Sunday, March 24, I attended a poetry conversation and reading at the Bernardsville Public Library. This twice yearly program, Tea and Conversation, is hosted by its creator, Julie Maloney. The program includes both prose writers and poets. This time Julie hosted New Jersey poet Anne Marie Macari.

Julie began the event with an interview. She's a terrific interviewer who makes sure she's very familiar with her guest's work and has her questions mapped out but is flexible enough to alter them or add to them as seems appropriate. She first asked Anne Marie how she came to poetry. Anne Marie told us that one day her high school English teacher, who hadn't been doing poetry with her students, was absent. Another teacher, one who wrote her own poetry, covered the class and simply read Whitman aloud to the class. And that lit the fire. English teachers, please pay attention to that! No one came in and did a brilliant analysis of Whitman; someone came in and simply read him aloud.

Julie asked Anne Marie what gave her the courage to delve into dark places in her poetry. Anne Marie paid tribute to her predecessors: Sylvia Plath, Ann Sexton, Lucille Clifton. She said, "We don't write in a vacuum. We're part of a legacy."

Julie asked Anne Marie what she hoped people would take away from her work: Guts, the courage to face things, to do what you're afraid to do, to love.

When asked about her future plans, Anne Marie said she doesn't make plans. "The artist moves into the unknown." And she has no fear of that unknown.

We then moved to the reading part of the afternoon. Anne Marie read from Gloryland and She Heads into the Wilderness. She also read some poems from her forthcoming Red Deer, due out from Persea Books in 2015. The reading was followed by a Q&A with the audience asking the questions.

Thanks to Julie for bringing so many programs to writers. She runs a group called Women Reading Aloud. That program includes workshops, poetry with yoga, writing retreats to Spring Lake in NJ, and even a week-long retreat on an island off Greece. Check out Julie's website for more information.

Julie Maloney and Anne Marie Macari

Anne Marie meeting and greeting people as they arrived

Julie interviews Anne Marie

Julie and the library provide cookies, coffee, and tea

Anne Marie Macari Reads

Julie Maloney: A Model of Giving to the Community of Writers

Julie Maloney

Back in 2003 Julie Maloney had a dream. It involved bringing women together to further their love of writing. She set about making that dream come true. The result was Women Reading Aloud, which Julie describes as "an organization dedicated to the power of the writer’s voice. WRA believes in providing space for artistic growth. Founded in New Jersey in 2003, it offers writing workshops modeled after the Amherst Writers and Artists Method, the Author Series and Work-in-Progress Series, Writing and Yoga Program, conferences and retreats where women writers can explore their 'authentic' voices. Founded on the 3-in-1 principle, Women Reading Aloud focuses on the equal value of the writer, the reader, and the listener. All genres are welcome. WRA encourages writers to cherish their own voices, as well as the voices of others, as they travel the writer’s journey."

Over the years Julie's dream has only grown. She now runs a variety of programs, all listed and described at the WRA Website. Most recently, she's added a summer retreat to a Greek island.

On Saturday, September 10, Julie hosted "Tea and Conversation," as part of her Author Series. This program is held in conjunction with the Bernardsville Public Library in Bernardsville, NJ. The program was free and open to the public. The room was filled with poetry lovers who'd come to hear Dorianne Laux talk about and read from her new book, The Book of Men, and her earlier books.

The program began with Julie asking Dorianne a series of questions. Dorianne did not have the questions ahead of time so the conversation was spontaneous and natural—and wonderful! Dorianne then read from her books. She did the reading almost entirely by audience requests—an approach I'd never seen before. It was fascinating to see which poems the audience would request and then how comfortably Dorianne read them. She ended with new work.

Then came an audience Q&A and finally a book signing. How nice it was to see people waiting in a long line, all anxious to buy the new book and get it signed. This was a wonderful program. I salute Dorianne for coming all the way from North Carolina. And I salute Julie Maloney for having a dream that involved bringing writing and reading into the wider community. I hope she will serve as inspiration to others.

Madeline English introduces the program

Julie and Dorianne

Dorianne reading