Local News from Marbletown, Rochester, & Rosendale
Spoken Word, the monthly Ulster County reading and performance series, presents an evening of readings by local authors. Nikki Pison of Rosendale and Jay Blotcher of High Falls will read from original works, 7 p.m. Thursday, May 11, at Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Catskills, 320 Sawkill Road, Kingston.
Interspersed with Pison and Blotcher's presentations, there will be open mic presentations. Attendees are invited to present their own spoken works, limited to three minutes per person.
Pison, PhD, is a writer, visual and performance artist, and farmer. She raises a herd of dairy goats on her small family farm. Pison is an avid traveler and a collector of art and stories. In her spare time, she is a clinical psychologist, although she is still considering becoming a midwife, a hot air balloon pilot, or an astronaut. She has published three books, all from Little Heart Press, “The Oracle and the Pearl” (2021), “Fragments of Butterflies” (2013), and “The Cusp of Sad” (2013).
Blotcher has been a journalist since 1981 and has written about the arts and politics for publications including Boston Phoenix, Advocate, Salon, The New York Times, Woodstock Times and Chronogram. He has contributed personal essays to more than ten anthologies. A full-time local resident since 2001, Blotcher co-founded New Paltz Pride and the Hudson Valley LGBTQ Center. As a book editor, he has edited more than 90 works since 1991. He loathes dangling participles.
Elga Antonsen and Penelope Levine have been the co-hosts and stewards of Spoken Word events since the autumn of 2022, taking over for Annie LaBarge after several years.
There is a $5 suggestion donation for admission. Masks are required.
For more information, visit uucatskills.org or call 845-331-2884.
