Poetry Reading: Kathleen A. Dale, Louisa Loveridge Gallas, Judith Harway, and Bill Murtaugh

Kathleen A. Dale, Louisa Loveridge Gallas, Judith Harway, and Bill Murtaugh celebrating the release of their collaborative chapbook, Vanishing Point (tinder | tender, 2018). All proceeds from sales of Vanishing Point will go to the Environmental Defense Fund.

Kathleen A. Dale is the author of four books of poetry, the most recent of which is The Beautiful Unnamed (Zarigueya Press, 2015). She is also a mentor of poets, whether in the early or later stages of their career.

Among numerous other publications, Louisa Loveridge Gallas is the author of three books: Revelations on Longing Street, Rescue the Good Stuff, and The Wizard’s Dream. She is an original member of Milwaukee’s Earth Poets and Musicians. In life, in her art, in our disturbed world, Louisa reaches for the path Mary Oliver affirms: “Paying attention is a form of prayer.”

Judith Harway is the author of three collections of poetry, as well as Sundown: A Daughter’s Memoir of Alzheimer’s Care. Her poems and essays have appeared in numerous publications, and she is a two-time recipient of the Wisconsin Arts Board literature fellowship. She is a Professor at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.

Bill Murtaugh is the author of Autumn Runs to Darkness (2004), a collection of poetry, plus two plays. He is currently writing a novel – which is very much like entering a long and deep mountain railroad tunnel on foot, or maybe the tunnel of love. He hopes to come out soon but knows better.

Foreward to Vanishing Point:

Strange as it may sound, this slim book is the product of 14 years of collaboration: that’s how long the four of us have worked together as a critique group, meeting monthly (or when we can), and occasionally sharing working retreats to focus on longer manuscripts. Our circle has been midwife to three published books of poetry, six poetry chapbooks (including this one), and a memoir, with two novels and another memoir in the works. I can’t speak for the others, but I can hardly imagine my creative life without Louisa, Kathleen, and Bill.

This is a volume of both new and selected poems. Environmental themes have long been central to the creative work that each of us does, and the depredations of the Trump era have called us to speak out more directly. You could call this a political project because “politics,” at its etymological root, refers to belonging – we belong to our poor beleaguered planet, to one another, and, in these poems, to the continued chorus of artists raising their voices against environmental and social injustice. As Mary Oliver asked, “Do you think there is anything not attached by its unbreakable cord to everything else?”

All proceeds from sales of this limited-edition chapbook will be donated to the Environmental Defense Fund.