Program Features Meg Muthupandiyan and Angela Trudell Vasquez
For Earth Day Reflections
Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books lost a great champion with the death of Katy Phillips, March 21, at the age of 86. Katy participated in the Festival’s poetry sessions and was a faithful sponsor for many years.
In her sixties Katy Phillips brought an allied passion to poetry, which she used to explore “what she sees unfolding around her,” always from her unfailingly singular viewpoint. Katy’s prize-winning work was widely published. She gave many readings and discovered an inspiring network of friends and fellow writers in the process.
The Southeast Wisconsin Festival of Books will dedicate the April 22 event, Two Poets Celebrate Earth Day, to Katy. The program will feature Meg Muthupandiyan and Angela Trudell Vasquez in conversation about poetry, writing, and the importance of the natural world to their creative lives. Each will read a selection of poems from their respective books.
The program will be streamed over Zoom at 7 pm by Books and Company of Oconomowoc. Register for the program at Booksco.com
About the authors:
ANGIE TRUDELL VASQUEZ is a Mexican-American writer, editor, publisher, and the current poet laureate of Madison, Wisconsin. She holds an MFA in poetry from the Institute of American Indian Arts. Finishing Line Press published her collections, In Light, Always Light, in May 2019, and My People Redux, in January 2022. In 2021, she attended the Macondo Writers Workshop started by Sandra Cisneros, and became a fellow, also known as a Macondista. You can find more about her and her work at angietrudellvasquez.com and artnightbooks.com.
MEG MUTHUPANDIYAN’S poems and illustrations have appeared in various journals. Her first collection of illustrated poetry, titled Forty Days in the Wilderness, Wandering, was published by Finishing Line Press in September 2021. Passionate about creating space for people to contemplate art, poetry, and the natural world in and beyond the classroom, she founded the Poetry in the Parks public humanities project (poetryintheparks.org), which explores the sacred beauty of our land communities through collaboratively created poetry films. More information on her art and poetry can be found at meganmuthupandiyan.com.
You can purchase copies of both books from Books & Company by clicking on the links below:
My People Redux by Angie Trudell Vasquez
https://www.booksco.com/book/9781646627295
Forty Days in the Wilderness, Wandering by Megan Muthupandiyan
https://www.booksco.com/book/9781646626052