for Grownups
Read the poems. Come and discuss. We are a very non-pretentious group of poetry enthusiasts who gather monthly. This is an open group; there is no need to sign-up ahead of time -- just read the selection and show up. Bring a bottle of wine (or bourbon or whatever), or a dessert of some sort to share if you wish. (Hint: Chocolate always works.) Folks read their favorite poems and provide their own insights, and we have truly interesting and wonderful discussions. Send a note to Dave at dave@littleshopofstories.com if you would like more information or to get on the email list!
We primarily read contemporary American poets, but -- as you'll see as you peruse the list below -- we sometimes mix it up. Dave is ALWAYS open to recommendations.
We’re meeting next on Wednesday, October 18th at 7 pm. at Little Shop. We'll be discussing The Great Fires: poems 1982-1992 by Jack Gilbert.
It was requested that a list be compiled of all the works that we have read for Poetry & Wine. Here it is!
2023
October - The Great Fires: poems 1982-1992 by Jack Gilbert
September - Dubious Breath by Jennifer Davis Michael (including a discussion with Jennifer Davis Michael via Zoom)
August - Prognosis by Jim Moore
July - Human Chain: Poems by Seamus Heaney
June - The Anxiety Workbook by Christina Olson
May - Unusually Grand Ideas by James Davis May
April - Dear Outsiders by Jenny Sadre-Orafai (including a discussion with Jenny Sadre-Orafa)
March - Guillotine: Poems by Eduardo C. Corral
February - Love Poems
January - Musical Tables by Billy Collins
2022
December - Potluck and memorial poems
November - Turn Up the Ocean by Tony Hoagland
October - Meditations in an Emergency by Frank O'Hara
July and September - The Hurting Kind by Ada Limón
June - Hail, The Invisible Watchman by Alexandra Oliver
May - Time is a Mother by Ocean Veoung
April - Crush by Richard Siken
March - Magnificent Errors by Sheryl Luna
February - Reparations Now! by Ashley M. Jones
2021
December - Potluck and Haikus
November - The Gold Cell by Sharon Old
October - Red Clay Suite by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers
September - Poetry Pot Luck: poems submitted by the group
August - The Wild Iris by Louise Glück
2020
March - Nightshade by Andrea Cohen (canceled due to the pandemic)
February - Fieldnotes on Ordinary Love by Keith S. Wilson
January - Hey Marfa: Poems by Jeffery Yang
2019
December - Potluck, poetry, and music
November - The Café of Unintelligible Desire by Julia Knowlton (including a discussion with Julia Knowlton)
September - The Flame by Leonard Cohen
August - Still Life with Mother and Knife by Chelsea Rathburn
July - How to Love a Country by Ricahrd Blanco
June - A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver
May - The Tradition by Jericho Brown (including a discussion with Jericho Brown)
April - Power Politics by Margaret Atwood
March - Coney Island of the Mind by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
February - Enough Rope by Dorothy Parker
January - Years, Months, and Days by Amanda Jernigan
2018
December - Song of Myself by Walt Whitman (part two)
November - Hold by Bob Hicok
October - Native Guard by Natasha Trethewey
September - feeld by Jos Charles
August - Oceanic by Aimee Nezhukmatathil
July - Otherworld, Underworld, Prayer Porch by David Bottoms
June - The Way Under the Way: The Place of True Meaning by Mark Nepo
May - Felicity by Mary Oliver
April - American Purgatory by Rebecca Gayle Howell
March - Good Bones by Maggie Smith
February - The Rain in Portugal by Billy Collins
January - canceled due to a one heck of a nasty ice storm
2017
December - Good Poems, selected and introduced by Garrison Keillor
November - Song of Myself (1891 deathbed edition) by Walt Whitman
October - The Princess Saves Herself In This One by Amanda Lovelace
September - Scald by Denise Duhamel
August - Lessons on Expulsion by Erika Sánchez
July - Map of the Stars by Adrian Matejka
June - Said Not Said: Poems by Fred Marchant
May - The Trouble with Poetry by Billy Collins
April - Madwoman by Shara McCallum
March - Best American Poetry 2016 edited by David Lehman and Edward Hirsch (part 2)
January - Best American Poetry 2016 edited by David Lehman and Edward Hirsch (part 1)
2016
November - The Poetry of Bob Dylan as selected by the group in honor of Dylan's Noble Prize in Literature
October - Unquiet Things by James Davis May
September - Dog Songs by Mary Oliver
August - Get Up, Please by David Kirby
July - the do over by Kathleen Ossip
June - 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East by Naomi Shibab Nye
May - Dead Man's Float by Jim Harrison
April - The Best American Poetry edited by Sherman Alexie (the inaugural meeting)
JOYCE'S MOTTO has had much fame but few apostles. Among them, there has been Jack Gilbert and his orthodoxy, a strictness that has required of this poet, now in the seventh decade of his severe life, the penalty of his having had almost no fame at all.