Lee, MA's Writers Read Welcomes Poets Lisken van Pelt Dus and Hilary Russell, 12/21

Lee, MA's Good Purpose Gallery & Starving Artist Café present poets Lisken van Pelt Dus and Hilary Russell on Friday, Dec. 21 @ 5:30 for "Writers Read". Writers Read is a monthly series of established poets and writers reading from their works.

Lisken van Pelt Dus is a poet, teacher, and martial artist raised internationally, in England, the US, and Mexico, and now living in Pittsfield. She arrived in the Berkshires in 1980 when she came from London to Williams College, where she earned a BA in Religion. Subsequently, she earned a Masters from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in Comparative Literature. She now teaches writing and languages at Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington, and is co-owner and one of the chief instructors, with her husband Bob, of Elm Street Martial Arts in Pittsfield, where she teaches classical Okinawan karate and kobudo (weapons). Her poetry can be found in Conduit, Main Street Rag, The South Carolina Review, upstreet, and other journals and anthologies, and has earned awards from The Comstock Review and Atlanta Review. Her chapbook, Everywhere at Once, was published by Pudding House Press in 2009.

Hilary Russell's poems have been published in numerous journals and anthologies, including the Country Journal, the Beloit Poetry Journal, Poet Lore, Ploughshares, Appalachia, the Carolina Quarterly, and Holding True, an anthology of Berkshire County poets. His chapbook, Giving up the House, was published by Mad River Press. Mr. Russell teaches creative writing at Berkshire Community College, is a free lance writer, and directs the Berkshire Boat Building School. He and his wife live in Sheffield, Massachusetts.

Readings will begin at 5:30 in the gallery. All you have to do is show up, sharpen your ears, and enjoy! The authors' books will be available for purchase after their readings. Buy local! There is no admission fee, but we do literally pass a hat for our writers and poets who otherwise read for free. Feel free to bring Chanukah/Christmas snacks to share. If you have questions and/or are interested in reading in the series, though we can make no promises initially, please email davidg@bcn.net.

Good Purpose Gallery & Starving Artist Café is located at 40 Main Street Lee, Mass. Call 413.394.5045 for more information.