Tempe kicks off annual Poetry series Presented by Wal-Mart

Celebrated poet Chase Twichell highlights the 2005 season of Poetry in April, a series of free poetry readings followed by moderated discussions with poet and artist Catherine Hammond. Readings are scheduled from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on consecutive Tuesdays from April 5 to 26 at the Tempe Public Library Program Room, 3500 S. Rural Road.

April 5 - James Masao Mitsui is a Seattle poet who has recently moved to Sun City Grand. He received an M.A. in English at the University of Washington, where he studied under William Stafford and Richard Hugo. His graduate advisor was David Wagoner. The latest of his four books, From a Three-Cornered World, was published by the University of Washington Press in 1997. Jim, a 1976 recipient of a N.E.A. Fellowship, writes about his family, Japanese-American relocation, landscape, travel and love. He currently teaches a poetry writing class at Arizona State University West. His favorite poets are James Wright and Pablo Neruda.

April 12 - Nadine Kachur has taught English since 1988, most recently at Phoenix and Cochise colleges. She was a staff writer with Sun Tennis Magazine, a copywriter in radio and an editor for everything from marketing research to metaphysical manuscripts. Kachur earned graduate degrees in English and in counseling from Arizona State University. In June 2003 and 2004, she received scholarships from Sarah Lawrence College (Bronxville, N.Y.) to study with Thomas Lux. Her poems appear regularly in many southwest publications and she is currently on an editorial board compiling a regional anthology of women's poetry.

April 19 - Cynthia Schwartzberg Edlow's poetry has appeared in The American Poetry Review, ACM (Another Chicago Magazine), Chelsea, Full Circle Journal, Jewish Women's Literary Annual - New York, Square Lake and the Emily Dickinson Awards Anthology (Universities West Press). She was a past prizewinner to the National Poetry Competition and a finalist in Inkwell Magazine's 2002 Poetry Competition. She was first place prizewinner of the 2002 Arizona State Poetry Society's 32nd Annual Poetry Competition. She has new poetry appearing in Barrow Street and The Chiron Review and poetry forthcoming from The Litchfield Review and Willow Review, from whom she was awarded the 2004 Willow Review Prize for Poetry.

April 26 - Chase Twichell quit her teaching job at Princeton University in 1999 to found Ausable Press, which publishes contemporary poetry. She is the author of five books of poems and co-editor of "The Practice of Poetry: Writing Exercises From Poets Who Teach." Her poems have appeared in many journals and magazines, including Antaeus, The Nation, The New Yorker, The Paris Review, Ploughshares and Poetry.

Moderator - Catherine Hammond has poetry anthologized in Fever Dreams: Contemporary Arizona Poetry and in Yellow Silk II. Her poems have appeared in Chicago, North American, Laurel, and Hayden's Ferry reviews. She has been a runner-up for Discovery/The Nation four times and has two Pushcart nominations. As a visual artist, Hammond has had work accepted at Artlink's Juried Exhibition 2003, at Vision Gallery, and at Shemer Art Center and Museum, where she is also an Artist in Residence.

Presented by: Wal-Mart. Sponsored by Tempe Cultural Services and the Tempe Public Library. Refreshments provided by The Wildflower Bread Company.

Written examples of all the poets' work are available in anthology form during the event and online at www.tempe.gov/arts/events/TempePoets.htm