Poet Reuben Jackson to kick off series
Thursday, Sept. 17 at 7 p.m.—WOODSTOCK— Bookstock, the Green Mountain Festival of Words, is pleased to announce Virtual Bookstock 2020, a series of free, monthly live-streaming author talks beginning in September with poet and jazz historian Reuben Jackson and continuing through the end of the year. Now in its 12th year, Bookstock supports the cultural richness of Vermont and New England and celebrates a wide range of literary talent across genres—from regional writers to poet laureates and Pulitzer Prize winners—to emerging young writers and those who have found their compelling voice at midlife.
Virtual Bookstock 2020 will continue the festival’s tradition of presenting a stellar lineup on Sept. 17, when Reuben Jackson will read from his newest book of poetry, “Scattered Clouds.” Jackson, who is a poet, jazz historian, music reviewer, and educator, is widely known to Vermont audiences as the former host of Vermont Public Radio’s Friday Night Jazz. The series will continue with cartoonist, game designer, and author Jason Lutes reading from and discussing his graphic novel “Berlin,” which has been published in 15 languages; Dr. François S. Clemmons, the Grammy Award-winning founder and director of the Harlem Spiritual Ensemble and author of “Officer Clemmons,” his memoir titled after the role he created on the PBS television series “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood”; and New York Times reporter and author Nikita Stewart. Virtual Bookstock 2020 will broadcast authors in their homes wherever they may be; audiences will meet and engage with them in an online Q&A in real time.
Bookstock festival coordinator Alison Hankey said, “We’re excited to connect our returning audiences and new ones with some of the authors originally slated to appear at our 2020 festival. We also see this as an opportunity to explore the benefits of this technology for future Bookstock festivals.” Founded in 2009, Bookstock is a community-wide celebration of books, authors and poets – with an emphasis on those connected with Vermont – and their role in helping us explore a wide range of human experiences. Bookstock’s reputation has flourished and, in recent years, has attracted award-winning authors and poets including Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Russo and MacArthur Fellow poet Ocean Vuong, former Vermont Governor Madeleine Kunin, and poet Carolyn Forché. In 2019, about 1,200 people attended a Bookstock event.
For more information visit bookstockvt.org.
