Poetry, embedded in a sidewalk in St. Paul's Como neighborhood. Staff photo by David Brewster (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Come for the sidewalk poetry, stay for everything else
Carol Connolly's "Third Tuesday" reading will include announcement of sidewalk poetry winners
May 3, 2011 at 4:26PM
St. Paul poet laureate Carol Connolly--possibly the most ebullient poet laureate in modern history--will host another "Third Tuesday" reading this month at the beautiful and historic University Club on St. Paul's beautiful and historic Summit Avenue. The program is in its 13th year, and still going strong.
In addition to four authors (each reading for no more than 12 minutes, to keep the whole thing under an hour), the evening will also have a "reveal"--the winners of the 2011 Everyday Poems for City Sidewalk competition.
if you've ever been startled and delighted to find a poem beneath your feet while strolling a St. Paul neighborhood, you know what I'm talking about. If not, just know that it is a remarkable project begun by Marcus Young that embeds short, pithy poems in the wet cement of new and newly-repaired sidewalks all over town.
Also: readings by Margo Fortunato Galt, Elaine Wagner, Patricia Weaver Francisco, and, well, me (the blog writer wrote awkwardly).
Everything is free and begins at 7:30 p.m. on May 17 and moves along at a brisk pace; you can be home in bed by 9. There's a cash bar, and a hat will be passed to benefit the Sidewalk Poetry program. The University Club is at 420 Summit Ave., St. Paul.
Lefse-wrapped Swedish wontons, a soothing bowl of rice porridge and a gravy-laden commercial filled our week with comfort and warmth.
