Writing the Land: Windblown I, Book Launch and Art Reception
You don’t want to miss this special book launch and art reception for Writing the Land: Windblown I on Sunday, Nov. 13 from 2 to 4 p.m.
The event, hosted by the Branford Land Trust (BLT) and Branford Arts and Cultural Alliance (BACA), and will be held at the BACA Gallery in downtown Branford. Poet Laurel Peterson will read a selection of her poems about Branford’s Beacon Hill Preserve, and the book’s featured artwork by BLT and BACA members will be on display.
Writing the Land: Windblown I is a national anthology featuring the work of poets writing about conserved lands for 11 land trusts across the country. Published by NatureCulture LLC, this creative collaboration between BACA and the BLT features four poems by Peterson, and artwork by local artists Tricia Bohan, Lauren Brown, Gerry Casanova, Jan Doyle, Silvia Drewery, Barbara Dwyer, Sharon Hart, Lisa Hesselgrave, Carol Cable Hurst, Trish Kater, Jeanette Mobeck, Sylvia Ohlrich, Gaile Ramey, Dierdre Baker Schiffer, Maria Stockmal, Robert Thomas, and Patricia Towle.
This book was made possible by funding from the Deirdre Baker Schiffer Fund to the BLT, with special thanks to BACA volunteers for jurying the art submissions. Proceeds from the sale of the book will benefit the conservation efforts of the BLT.
“Writing the Land is an attempt to honor nature and our relationship with it in a way that is as equitable and transparent as it is deep and entangled,” says editor Lis McLoughlin. “We intend to be as inclusive — to humans and places — as we hope the mantle of protection that land trusts offer can be. Our work will never be complete but gains strength, depth, beauty, and energy in a multitude of voices.”
Poet Laurel Peterson is Professor of English at Norwalk Community College. Her poetry has been published in many small literary journals, and she has two poetry chapbooks: That’s the Way the Music Sounds and Talking to the Mirror. She co-edited a collection of essays on women’s justice titled (Re)Interpretations: The Shapes of Justice in Women’s Experience, wrote the mystery novel, Shadow Notes, and published a full-length collection of poetry, Do You Expect Your Art to Answer You? She served as poet laureate of Norwalk, CT from April 2016 to April 2019. She lives in Branford and Norwalk.
Writing the Land: Windblown I (6x9, black & white, 213 pages) is available for $20 online at www.branfordlandtrust.org and at the BACA Gallery.
The Book Launch and Art Reception is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. Masks are encouraged. The BACA Gallery is located at 1004 Main St, Branford, CT. For more information, please visit www.branfordarts.org or www.branfordlandtrust.org
The Branford Land Trust is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, accredited by the Land Trust Alliance, established in 1967 to protect Branford’s open space and natural resources. Run by volunteers and supported by member families and businesses, the Land Trust manages and protects over 1,000 acres in more than 130 parcels and holds conservation easements on another 400 acres in Branford.
The Branford Arts and Cultural Alliance, BACA, is a local nonprofit organization founded in 2014, whose mission is to support the arts in Branford. They do this by presenting public art displays, and through the Gallery which they operate at 1004 Main Street, where the work of over 50 artists are displayed. Our mission is simple: to enhance the quality of life in Branford through the arts.