Special Event: America's 250th ~ A Poet's Perspective

This year, as we all know, our nation is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence – without a doubt the most radical and influential revolutionary document humankind has produced. With its clarion pronouncement of self-evident truths – “that all men are created equal” — that they are “endowed with certain unalienable rights” – the Declaration continues to resonate worldwide. We should be proud of it. But surely its celebration should not be defined by martial arts combat on the White House lawn and Formula One racing through our capital. And surely we know that its pronouncements are still aspirational — that for 250 years we, as a nation, have struggled to realize its great vision. With this in mind, some of Connecticut’s best poets propose a Poets’ Perspective on the 250th. This will be a reading of political poems written out of a patriotic love of country but tempered by a yearning for what our country might be if we as a people continue to strive for a realization of our founding ideals. This will be the thoughtful celebration the Declaration of Independence deserves, and we all need.

The poets who have written and will read these poems include Margaret Gibson, Frederick Douglass Knowles II, and Christie Max Williams.

Margaret Gibson is widely regarded as one of America’s best poets. She is the Emerita Poet Laureate of Connecticut and author of 13 books of poems, which have won many prestigious awards.

Frederick Douglass Knowles II is the Emeritus Poet Laureate of Hartford and Professor of English at Connecticut State Community College. He is the award-winning author of the just-published Sinking in Moonlight Alone and Blackrosecity (2011).

Christie Max Williams is the inaugural Poet Laureate of Stonington. His book, The Wages of Love, won the William Meredith Poetry Prize and North Street Book Prize.