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On Tuesday, April 4, at 6:30 p.m. the Camden Public Library welcomes poet, musician, and activist Jason Grundstrom-Whitney to the library’s Picker Room and on Zoom for an evening of poetry. Grundstrom-Whitney will be reading and discussing poetry from his collection Bear, Coyote, Raven, as well as his upcoming works Blues of the Lost Places and his roughly titled Katahdin Series.
This is a hybrid event and will take place in-person in the Picker Room and on Zoom. Use this link to register to attend on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bCxlaFCPSZm9WRkkgAJT3Q
This program will be recorded and available on the Camden Public Library YouTube Channel.
This event is part of a poetry series at the Camden Public Library leading up to the Camden Festival of Poetry, of which the library is pleased to be an institutional partner. To learn more about the Camden Festival of Poetry, taking place on Saturday, May 20, visit www.thepoetscorner.org/festival
Jason Grundstrom-Whitney is husband to Lisa, father of Sarah, Leif, and Joshua, and grandfather of Kael, Jailyn, and to Hayley. He has recently retired from close to 40 years in substance abuse counseling and social work, and is an activist, musician, writer, and poet. His first collection Bear, Coyote, Raven achieved critical acclaim with positive reviews from the Boston Globe and others. His next collection Blues of the Lost Places will be published by Resolute Bear later this year.
About Bear Coyote Raven
A bear can be a person, though most prefer to be bears. Did a coyote ever lead you to a story? Have you ever lost yourself in the blue-black eye of a raven? Imagine three such creatures transitioning from people to animals and back, walking along a desert highway dressed in their finest three-piece suits: ribbon shirts, jeans, and moccasins, foraging a city alley for supper, or sharing stories under a starlit sky. If you listen closely, you could learn something from these three magical creatures. In his first book of poems, Jason Grundstrom-Whitney introduces us to numerous variations of this American trio. Sometimes Bear gets his paw stuck in a back-street dumpster. Coyote shows people how to trick themselves. Raven travels to the far north to bring back another story.
The poems in Bear, Coyote, and Raven welcome the reader into their shape shifting world, where themes of environmental degradation, violence, and technological troubles explore what we have lost and suggest solutions: to connect with the web of being and those blessed in their own right. The poet asks us to engage, to take the time to invest our energy, and to explore this different way of being.
