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Sunken Garden Poetry Festival – Rennie McQuilkin

October 2, 2022, 3:30 PM - 7:00 PM

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PURCHASE LIVESTREAM TICKETS

This evening features headline poet and Sunken Garden Poetry Festival Founder Rennie McQuilkin, a collaborative reading in honor of David K. Leff, and a musical performance by Among the Acres.

Connecticut’s poetry community has lost a beloved member this year, Mr. David K. Leff. His colleagues and friends will come together at Hill-Stead to a reading of Leff’s work.

These individuals will select and read poems by Leff, including those to be published posthumously in his Blue Marble Gazetteer (expected in late October).

Poets include Jon Andersen, Ginny Connors, Pegi Deitz Shea, Daniel Donaghy, Margaret Gibson, Ben Grossberg, Frederick-Douglass Knowles, Marilyn Nelson,  Clare Rossini, and John Stanizzi.


Schedule

3:30 pm    Gates open
4 pm         Reading honoring David K. Leff
5 pm         Musical Performance by Among the Acres
6 pm        Rennie McQuilkin reading

For additional poetry events, see 2022 Sunken Garden Poetry Festival or our Calendar.


Tickets

In-person Ticket
Advance tickets: $20 adults; $10 students & children under 18
After September 24: $25
Purchase in-person tickets here
For reserved seating, please join The Live Poets Society.

Livestream Ticket
$15 per household
Enjoy the world-class Sunken Garden Poetry Festival from the comforts of your own backyard or couch!
Purchase livestream tickets here


Rennie McQuilkin is the former Poet Laureate of Connecticut. He has taught English and Creative Writing at secondary schools including Phillips Academy (Andover), The Loomis-Chaffee School, and Miss Porter’s School. In 1992 he co-founded the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, which he directed for nine years at Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, CT. His poetry has appeared in The Atlantic, Poetry, The American Scholar, The Southern Review, The Yale Review, and many other publications. The author of thirteen poetry collections, he has received several poetry awards, including a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Connecticut Commission on the Arts, the Connecticut Center for the Book’s Lifetime Achievement Award as well as its 2010 poetry award for The Weathering: New and Selected Poems. McQuilkin is currently the publisher of Antrim House Books.

David K. Leff was an award-winning poet and essayist, and former deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. He was the Canton, Connecticut poet laureate, deputy town historian, and town meeting moderator. He was a volunteer firefighter for 26 years.

In 2016 and 2017 David was appointed by the National Park Service to serve as poet-in-residence for the New England National Scenic Trail (NET). He was nominated three times for a Pushcart Prize and was twice a finalist in the Connecticut Book Awards. David received two silver medals from the Independent Publisher Book Awards (IPPY) and was grand prize short-listed for the Eric Hoffer Book Award. His work has appeared in anthologies, newspapers such as the Hartford Courant, and magazines including Appalachia and Yankee.

The author of seven nonfiction books, three volumes of poetry, and two novels in verse, David’s work focuses on the connection of people to their communities and the natural environment. He often explored commonplace elements of the world around us that have hidden meanings and unusual links to each other. David was the book review editor and poetry editor of Connecticut Woodlands, the quarterly magazine of the Connecticut Forest & Park Association and a staff writer for The Wayfarer Magazine.

David’s papers are located at the Special Collections and University Archives, UMass/Amherst.

The author of seven nonfiction books, three volumes of poetry, and two novels in verse, David’s work focuses on the connection of people to their communities and the natural environment. He often explores commonplace elements of the world around us that have hidden meanings and unusual links to each other. David has been the book review editor of Connecticut Woodlands, the quarterly magazine of the Connecticut Forest & Park Association and is now poetry editor. He is a staff writer for The Wayfarer Magazine.

David’s papers are located at the Special Collections and University Archives, UMass/Amherst.

Merging elements of Folk, Rock, Pop, and Americana, Among the Acres delivers an eclectic yet singular sound, marked by a tapestry of four-part vocals, dynamic grooves, and a keen sense of lyricism. Cutting their teeth playing everywhere from breweries and small clubs to festivals and showcases throughout the Northeast, the “Acres” have been honing their powerhouse of a live set non-stop since the band’s inception in 2017. Soon after forming they garnered local acclaim winning CTNow’s “2018’s Best New Band” and “2019’s Best Americana Band”. 


Accessibility at the SGPF

Hill-Stead is proud to make the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival accessible. Wheelchair ramps are available, and many volunteers are on hand to assist the mobility impaired. An accessible section is reserved close to the main stage, and a large-print edition of the program book is available on-site.

Hill-Stead makes every effort to ensure that deaf and hard-of-hearing people feel welcome. ASL interpreters are provided at the main Poetry stage (depending on interpreter availability) or by request in advance by calling 860-677-4787 x140.


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35 Mountain Road Farmington CT 860.677.4787
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