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Donation made to VA Medical Center

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Boback announces constituent outreach hours for September

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; With this year&#8217;s selections displayed prominently in the window of the store, professors, poets and supporters gathered on Aug. 28 at Barnes &amp; Noble on Public Square to celebrate artistic expression in their community and launch the ninth consecutive year of the Poetry in Transit program.</p><p>Drawing inspiration from London&#8217;s Poems on the Underground and New York City&#8217;s Poetry in Motion, the program showcases the work of local poets on Luzerne County Transportation Authority (LCTA) busses and runs an entire year with poems rotating monthly. This most public of venues gives writers an opportunity to show their work while promoting literacy, appreciation of art, and a sense of community among creators and admirers of poetry.</p><p>The theme for this year&#8217;s program is &#8220;river,&#8221; and the selections illustrate that concept. The launch introduced 10 of the 14 poets who will be featured throughout the year and allowed them to read from the pieces that will appear on LCTA vehicles and other works.</p><p>Poets were represented in several age groups, academic levels and professional backgrounds.</p><p>&#8220;The neat thing is, we have had more poems from a more diverse group of people in age, in communities, in life and work, each year,&#8221; said Mischelle Anthony<strong>,</strong> associate professor of English and chair of the English department at Wilkes University.</p><p>Anthony, who fostered the program and has been organizing it since 2007, said she became taken with the idea in 1996 when she read a collection from Poems on the Underground, but it wasn&#8217;t until the Oklahoma native moved to Northeastern Pennsylvania that her experiences on the public transportation system pushed her to make the idea a reality.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;ve only been here 13 years, but I feel like it&#8217;s home, and what I noticed when I moved here was a great disconnect between white collar workers and Wilkes University and King&#8217;s, kind of the middle class, and then the bus riders,&#8221; said Anthony.</p><p>She explained that she would observe people on busses reading and discussing advertisements and wondered how the dialogue would change if the subject matter was poetry. She thought the program could be a way of introducing people to poetry and bridging societal gaps through the sharing of art.</p><p>According to Anthony, the first year of the program featured the work of famous poets to introduce the idea, but once the community showed support, the focus turned to local artists.</p><p>In its inception, the program was funded by Wilkes University but was paid for by the LCTA. In its 2015 campaign, funding was provided by the LCTA and a Project Stream grant from Pennsylvania Partners in the Arts thanks to Amanda Modrovsky, grants coordinator at Wilkes.</p><p>An advisory board for the program is comprised of professors from Wilkes, King&#8217;s College, Misericordia University and Luzerne County Community College. This year, the group reviewed about 35 submissions and found 14 to be featured.</p><p>Other major contributors to program development include photographer and designer Mark Goleszewski, Larisa Hillard from MinuteMan Press, Direct Media USA, the LCTA advisory board and LCTA staff members who take care of the yearly poetry collections.</p><p>Amy Higgins, a King&#8217;s College employee who is also a non-traditional sophomore at the institution, read from her poem &#8220;In the Current.&#8221; A reflection on her childhood, it includes the line &#8220;My favorite place was green and beautiful with frigid water that ran rapidly over slippery rocks,&#8221; which is a featured excerpt.</p><p>Afterward, she presented a reflection on adulthood entitled &#8220;Arthritis is a Sadistic Meteorologist.&#8221;</p><p>The Sweet Valley resident expressed her appreciation for a venue to present her work. &#8220;I don&#8217;t think the arts are valued enough, and there aren&#8217;t enough venues for art of any form,&#8221; she said. &#8220;We need art. To me, art is something that should elevate (the human race), and it should speak to our higher senses.&#8221;</p><p>The Rev. Tony Grasso<strong>,</strong> an English professor at King&#8217;s, is also a contributor to this year&#8217;s program, and he read his featured selection &#8220;The Susquehanna,&#8221; which exclaims: &#8220;You filter objects through your dual stands, reshaping our detritus into your pearls.&#8221; Grasso also shared a piece about his observations of the visual art form cubism.</p><p>&#8220;Programs like this bring poetry to the people, and instead of making it seem like its ivory tower, (it shows) it&#8217;s really stuff that everybody can do,&#8221; Grasso said.</p><p>Anthony, who has come to see her idea develop into a widely shared and celebrated program, thanked everyone involved over the past nine years and addressed the joy she gets from it.</p><p>&#8220;I love to see people and hear about people on the bus,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Instead of contemplating the ads for McDonald&#8217;s &#8230; I love to see them reading the poems.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Poems that will be featured in the Poetry in Transit program line the windowsill at Barnes &amp; Noble for the launch party. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TTL083015poetry111.jpg</photo0><caption0>Poems that will be featured in the Poetry in Transit program line the windowsill at Barnes &amp; Noble for the launch party. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TTL083015poetry311.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Father Tony Grasso reads his poem that will be featured on LCTA busses as part of the Poetry in Transit program. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TTL083015poetry311.jpg</photo1><caption1>Father Tony Grasso reads his poem that will be featured on LCTA busses as part of the Poetry in Transit program. </caption1><photoCredit1>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Father-Grasso25.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Father Tony Grasso, CSC, King&#8217;s College </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Father-Grasso25.jpg</photo2><caption2>Father Tony Grasso, CSC, King&#8217;s College </caption2><photoCredit2>Submitted photo </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_SaraP35.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Sara Pisak, Sugarloaf </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_SaraP35.jpg</photo3><caption3>Sara Pisak, Sugarloaf </caption3><photoCredit3>Submitted photo </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Ahrend23.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ahrend Torrey, Wilkes University and Baton Rouge, La. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Ahrend23.jpg</photo4><caption4>Ahrend Torrey, Wilkes University and Baton Rouge, La. </caption4><photoCredit4>Submitted photo </photoCredit4></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Anne-Thomas7.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Anne Thomas, Plains </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo5>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Anne-Thomas7.jpg</photo5><caption5>Anne Thomas, Plains </caption5><photoCredit5>Submitted photo </photoCredit5></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Harold35.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Harold Jenkins, Plains </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo6>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Harold35.jpg</photo6><caption6>Harold Jenkins, Plains </caption6><photoCredit6>Submitted photo </photoCredit6></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Rich2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Rich Sanders, Hanover Twp. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo7>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Rich2.jpg</photo7><caption7>Rich Sanders, Hanover Twp. </caption7><photoCredit7>Submitted Photo </photoCredit7></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Maddy35.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Maddy Brozusky, Mountain Top </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo8>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_Maddy35.jpg</photo8><caption8>Maddy Brozusky, Mountain Top </caption8><photoCredit8>Submitted photo </photoCredit8></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TTL083015poetry211.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Poets who will be featured in the Poetry in Transit stand to be acknowledged at the launch party held at Barnes &amp; Noble. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo9>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_TTL083015poetry211.jpg</photo9><caption9>Poets who will be featured in the Poetry in Transit stand to be acknowledged at the launch party held at Barnes &amp; Noble. </caption9><photoCredit9>Aimee Dilger|Times Leader </photoCredit9></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Luzerne County Poetry in Transit program brings art to the people</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Matt Mattei</p><p>mmattei@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>FEATURED POETS</strong></p><p>Father Tony Grasso, CSC, King&#8217;s College &#8212; &#8220;The Susquehanna&#8221;</p><p>James Jaskolka, Wilkes-Barre &#8212; &#8220;thaw&#8221;</p><p>Sara Pisak, Sugarloaf &#8212; &#8220;Crystalline Waters&#8221;</p><p>Ahrend Torrey, Wilkes University &#8212; &#8220;The Bird and I&#8221;</p><p>Emily Bellanco, Wyoming &#8212; untitled poem</p><p>Mary Ann Hebda, Dallas &#8212; &#8220;River Drive&#8221;</p><p>Diane Polacheck, Bear Creek Village &#8212; &#8220;Eminence&#8221;</p><p>Anne Thomas, Plains &#8212; &#8220;Secret Spring&#8221;</p><p>Amy Higgins, Sweet Valley &#8212; &#8220;In the Current&#8221;</p><p>Marie Moyer, Mountain Top &#8212; untitled poem</p><p>Harold Jenkins, Nanticoke &#8212; &#8220;Susquehanna&#8221;</p><p>Rich Sanders, Hanover Twp. &#8212; &#8220;River Lives&#8221;</p><p>Sarah Gyle, Wilkes-Barre &#8212; &#8220;What a River Can Do&#8221;</p><p>Maddy Brozusky, Mountain Top &#8212; &#8220;My Lady&#8221;</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Matt Mattei at 570-991-6651 or <a href="mailto:mmattei@www.timesleader.com">mmattei@www.timesleader.com</a></p></shirttailMeta></div>

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Wilkes Univsersity hosts launch for 2015 Poetry in Transit program at Barnes & Noble