Upcoming Zoom Reading with Poet Ken Meisel

Poet Theodore Roethke was born in Saginaw, MI... about 20 minutes from where I live in Midland, MI. Roethke's father and uncle ran a floral/greenhouse business together, and the homes they ran the business from still stand side-by-side on Gratiot Ave. in Saginaw. The flowers and the greenhouses and the natural living afforded by their lifestyle proved to be rich material for Roethke's poetry.

The white house is where Roethke was raised. The fieldstone house next to it was where the uncle lived.

Currently, because of structural issues, The Friends of Roethke are having a "Save the Stone House" campaign. They hope to restore the stone house so it can lighten traffic on the Roethke Museum itself. They hope one day the stone house will host visiting writers, have classrooms for literary arts for Saginaw children, and also advocate for mental health issues (something Roethke struggled with his entire life)

Here's a promotional video I made regarding The Stone House that features poet Tess Gallagher (widow of Raymond Carver and a former Roethke student) and also Annie Ransford, President of The Friends of Roethke: here

Roethke has long since passed away (1963), but his home and property are maintained as a literary museum by The Friends of Roethke... an organization dedicated to preserving Roethke's legacy and advancing the literary arts in Mid-Michigan.

I became more deeply acquainted with The Friends of Roethke when I was writing my novel, American Poet (winner of a 2012 Michigan Notable Book Award). It tells the fictional story of Denver Hoptner who, after college, returns to Saginaw to live with his father, as his degree in poetry writing affords him no real opportunity for work. Denver becomes involved in trying to save the Roethke Home after a fictional fire in the museum's attic.

Through my friendship with the FOTR (Fellowship of the Roethke?), I was able to spend a night in the Roethke Home and even write on the second floor's screened in porch (where Roethke sometimes wrote)

Me writing...

More about the novel, American Poet: here

Obviously, Covid-19 has made it difficult for many arts-based companies and organizations to stay above water and to continue with their missions. Bookstores are struggling, film festivals are struggling and, yes, the Roethke Home Museum is struggling. Normally, throughout the summer, they host literary picnics to help bring awareness to the Roethke Home Museum. That hasn't been possible this summer. What they decided to do was to try some Zoom readings. 

Yours truly and poet Ken Meisel were asked to present at one of the Zoom readings.

I miss the idea of having a local book release right in the living room of the Roethke House, but I'm also digging the idea of a Zoom reading (where anyone in the world could come to the reading if they wish)

So, here are the details. It looks like you register in advance, and then they send the Zoom info.

This information is directly from The Friends of Theodore Roethke:

Tuesday, August 11, 7:00pm – Ken Meisel and Jeff Vande Zande. 

Ken Meisel will read from his most recent book, Our Common Souls: New & Selected Poems of Detroit. He is a poet and psychotherapist, a 2012 Kresge Arts Literary Fellow, a Pushcart Prize nominee and author of eight books of poetry. He has been published in over 100 different magazines, and he was a featured artist in the 2019 film, Detroit: Tough Luck Stories. 

Jeff Vande Zande will read from his new collection of short stories called The Neighborhood Division. Author Laura Hulthen Thomas had this to say: "Two shots realism, one shot speculative, a dash of horror-- the genre-bending stories in Jeff Vande Zande’s The Neighborhood Division and Other Stories shows us what happens when suburbia takes on a rebellious, sometimes eerie and always dangerous, life of its own. Vande Zande’s earnest, well-meaning characters are fated to discover that the seemingly benevolent perks of privilege they’ve come to rely upon are in fact the greatest threat to their security. From a family trapped in their own basement by an aggressive home renovation to a tenant’s crusade to save his building from collapsing under the load of his neighbors’ excessive possessions, these stories reveal the unexpected joys and perils of taking a closer look at our most familiar neighborhoods."

RSVP: www.friendsofroethke.org/blog 

Please register beforehand. A $5 donation to FOTR is requested, as we continue to raise money to save the Stone House. However, we recognize that finances are tight these days for many reasons, so the donation is not required. If you do not have a Paypal account, or if the $5 is a hardship right now, please email us directly, info@friendsofroethke.org, and we will manually register you. 

A Zoom link will be provided to all registrants before the start of the event.