Nexus Poets of New Bern will host its March open mic, on line, with Lynne Schmidt, an award-winning Maine poet. To sign up to receive the Zoom link, or to read your original poem after the featured poet’s reading, email Nexus Poets at nexus [at] nexuspoets.com.
Anyone who has been saved by the companionship of dogs will see themselves in the pages of Schmidt’s book Dead Dog Poems from Finishing Line Press.
Schmidt (preferred pronoun they) is also the author of Gravity (Nightingale and Sparrow Press) which was listed as one of the 17 Best Breakup Books to Read in 2020, and On Becoming a Role Model (Thirty West), which was featured on The Wardrobe’s Best Dressed for PTSD Awareness Week. They are the winner of the 2020 New Women’s Voices Contest and author of the chapbooks, Sexy Time, the winner of The Poetry Question Chapbook Award.
Their work has received the Maine Nonfiction Award, Editor’s Choice Award, and was a 2018 and 2019 Pacific Northwest Writers Association finalist for memoir and poetry respectively. Schmidt started the project “Abortion Chat,” which aims to lessen the stigma around abortion.
Ruth Awad, author of Set to Music a Wildfire, says of Schmidt’s book Dead Dog Poems, “Through the lens of her relationship with her pack, Lynne Schmidt examines family, trauma, abuse, and loss, recognizing her love for her rescue dogs, survivors themselves, as a constant in an otherwise chaotic and cruel world. This collection is a reminder of what a gift it is to belong to each other, even briefly.”
Schmidt, the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, is a mental health professional with a focus in trauma and healing. Schmidt lives in Maine with three dogs and one cat.
The open mic event is sponsored by Nexus Poets, a collective which has promoted poets and poetry in Eastern North Carolina since 2014. All listeners and poets at all levels of experience are welcome.
Contact Same Love for more information. Sam[at]samlovedotnet
Future Nexus Poets “First Tuesday” open mic Featured Poets
April 4 –Chris Abbate, author of Words for Flying
May 2 – Regina Yvette Carter Garcia, author of The Firetalker’s Daughter
June 6 – Kathy Ackerman, author of Repeat After Me