College Two Rivers Reading Series presents a reading and discussion with poet Gretchen Marquette, March 29

March 10, 2017

Anoka-Ramsey Community College is hosting poet Gretchen Marquette, who will read from and discuss her poetry book May Day, published by Graywolf Press, Wednesday, March 29, noon to 12:50 p.m. and 2 to 2:50 p.m. in the Coon Rapids Campus Legacy Room. The event is free, and the public is encouraged to attend.

Marquette’s poetry debut, May Day, is an intense exploration of love and loss, a skillful examination of the complexities of relationships where both love and absence co-exist. The speaker fears for her brother serving in Iraq, grieves a failing relationship with her lover, and admires the vulnerability and freedom in the natural world.

“Marquette’s beautiful and macabre images have the feel of a classic fairy tale,” said Star Tribune reviewer Elizabeth Hoover. 

May Day was recently named a poetry finalist for the 29^th Annual Minnesota Book Awards and was named a “top-ten summer read” by Publisher’s Weekly. Marquette’s poetry has also appeared in places such as Harper's, Poetry Magazine, Tin House, and the Paris Review. She is a 2014 recipient of an Emerging Writer’s Grant from The Loft Literary Center.

“We are thrilled to feature Gretchen Marquette and May Day for our spring 2017 event,” said Paige Riehl, English Faculty member and Two Rivers Reading Series Chair. “Our students have the unique opportunity to study this imaginative and moving poetry debut and then attend the reading, meet the author and have their book signed.”

The Two Rivers Reading Series provides students, faculty, staff and the public access to award-winning authors, poets and playwrights each semester. Two Rivers Reading Series events make learning more comprehensive by combining class work with real world experiences. This event is supported by Anoka-Ramsey’s English Division, Veterans’ Affairs and Faculty Development.

For more information about the Two Rivers Reading Series at Anoka-Ramsey Community College, visit AnokaRamsey.edu/academics/departments-faculty/english/ or contact English Faculty member, Paige Riehl at paige.riehl@anokaramsey.edu