POETRY OUT IN THE OPEN 

All are invited to gather to celebrate poems of hope and warmth.  Join James Crews and his husband, Brad Peacock, co-editors of Love Is for All of Us: Poems of Tenderness & Belonging from the LGBTQ+ Community & Friends, as they share poems about love of all kinds—romantic love, self-love, family & friend love, as well as reverence for the natural world.

James and Brad will talk with local poet (& Out in the Open organizer!) Diana Whitney, and James will lead participants in a short writing experience based on several of the poems shared. Everyone is welcome– no poetry experience necessary!

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Edited by James Crews with his husband, Brad Peacock, and illustrated by Lisa Congdon, these compassionate poems of connection and affirmation are a celebration of all kinds of love—romantic, family, friendship, self-love, and love for nature. The poems are gathered from a diverse group of contemporary writers, both part of and allied with the LGBTQIA+ community, with a special focus on queer, nonbinary, and transgender poets.

Contributors include Andrea Gibson, Ellen Bass, Nikita Gill, Mark Doty, Audre Lorde, Richard Blanco, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Danez Smith, Joy Ladin, Carl Phillips, Li-Young Lee, and many others. Brief essays called “Stories of Becoming” act as touchstones throughout the book, telling the inspiring and touching stories of LGBTQIA+ people whose experiences may bring hope to others.

About James & Brad:

James is the editor of several bestselling books, including The Wonder of Small Things, The Path to Kindness, and How to Love the World, which has over 100,000 copies in print. He is also the author of a collection of essays, Kindness Will Save the World, available as a hardcover and audiobook. He has been featured in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The New York Times Magazine, People Magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and on NPR’s “Morning Edition.” The author of four prize-winning books of poetry, James also leads an online writing community called The Monthly Pause (themonthlypause.com). For more info, visit jamescrews.net. Find him on Facebook and on Instagram: @james.crews.poet.

Brad is a writer, veteran, and long-term organic farmer, whose passion is to bring people closer to one another and the natural world. His poems have been published in several anthologies, and his op-ed pieces have appeared in newspapers across the United States. Find him on Instagram: @theheartofafarmer.

James and Brad live on forty rocky acres in the woods of Southern Vermont.