Date:  March 21, 2008

Contact: 
Susan Annett
Principal Librarian, Public & Branch Services
(310) 458-8640

Santa Monica Public Library Celebrates National Poetry Month

Santa Monica, California – The Santa Monica Public Library celebrates National Poetry Month with a free series of poetry readings and other activities for youth in April.  Poets Judith Pacht, Holaday Mason, and Jeanette Clough will each present original works on Saturday, April 5 at 2 p.m. at the Ocean Park Branch Library, 2601 Main Street. For more information, call the Ocean Park Branch at (310) 392-3804.

The Poetry Society of America celebrates the tenth anniversary of Poetry in Motion®, a program that places poetry on buses and subways, with readings by Molly Bendall, Eloise Klein Healy, and David St. John on Thursday, April 10 at 7 p.m. in the Main Library’s Martin Luther King Jr. Auditorium, 601 Santa Monica Boulevard. For information call the Main Library at (310) 458-8600; or visit the Poetry Society of America’s website www.poetrysociety.org.

Friends and Poets, a local poetry writing group, celebrates the art of poetry with new works read by John Harris, Rachel Fretz, Bettye Barclay, Diane Manning, Ruth Gooley, Heather Aymie, Laurel Gord, JoAnn Taylor, Nancy Fuller and Marlene Saile. Celebrating the Art of Poetry takes place on Saturday, April 12 at 3 p.m. at the Fairview Branch Library, 2101 Ocean Park Boulevard. For more information, call the Fairview Branch at (310) 450-0443.

Creative Kids’ Club celebrates National Poetry Month and Earth Day with poems, songs, stories, activities, and a craft to take home. “A Poem Lovely as a Tree” welcomes children in kindergarten through fourth grade on Wednesday, April 23 at 3:45 p.m. in the Main Library’s Children’s Activity Room.

The Teen Poetry Café invites teens to snack and share their favorite poetry on Monday, April 28 at 6 p.m. in the Main Library’s Multipurpose Room.

For more information on these and other free programs at the Santa Monica Public Library visit our website www.smpl.org or call (310) 458-8600.