We’re back for year four of Queer Poem-a-Day! Queer Poem-a-Day is a unique podcast series for Pride Month presenting a public archive of original poems written and read by contemporary LGBTQIA+ poets. For this fourth year, we’ll be sharing a poem each weekday in June on our podcast and webpage.
You can listen to our trailer episode below, featuring some of the voices from year four (see if you can recognize the voice of a favorite poet!). Then tune in Monday, June 3, for our first episode on our Queer Poem-a-Day page, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or anywhere you get podcasts.
Queer Poem-a-Day is founded and co-directed by poet and professor Lisa Hiton (who grew up here in Deerfield!) and Dylan Zavagno, Adult Services Coordinator at the Library and host of the Deerfield Public Library Podcast. Music for this fourth year of our series is from the second movement of the “Geistinger Sonata,” Piano Sonata No. 2 in C Sharp Minor by Ethel Smyth, performed by pianist Daniel Baer.
We are once again grateful to have received generous support from both the Friends of the Deerfield Public Library and the Deerfield Fine Arts Commission. We also invite you to check out our archives from year one, year two, and year three’s “Lineage Edition.”
We have several related programs this year, including special events devoted to the work of recently passed Nobel Prize-winning poet Louise Glück. While not a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, many of our past and current participants in Queer Poem-a-Day, including our co-director Lisa Hiton, and several of our past interview guests on the Deerfield Public Library Podcast, were students [and colleagues] of Glück’s, offering us a unique opportunity to pay tribute to this deeply influential American poet.
Queer Poem-a-Day is a program from the Adult Services Department at the Library and may include adult language.
Related Programs
(All programs in Central Time)
“I Wished for Another Poem”: a Reading of Louise Glück – Virtual
Wednesday, June 5, 7:00 – 8:00 pm
Poets from our Queer Poem-a-Day series (and other DPL podcast interviews) read their favorite poems by and share memories of recently passed Nobel Prize-winning U.S. Poet Louise Glück. Many of our Queer Poem-a-Day poets were Glück’s direct students, presenting us with a unique opportunity to celebrate this important work.
Classics Book Discussion: The Wild Iris by Louise Glück – Hybrid
Thursday, June 13, 7:00 – 8:30 pm
The Wild Iris is Louise Glück’s celebrated 1992 poetry collection. We welcome back poet and professor Lisa Hiton, our co-director of Queer Poem-a-Day, to help us celebrate this classic work by Lisa’s teacher and consider the highly influential voice of this world-renowned poet.
Queer Poem-a-Day Capstone Lecture – Virtual
Thursday, June 27, 7:00 – 8:00 pm
The co-directors of Queer Poem-a-Day offer their traditional final lecture wrapping up the month, focusing on the themes that emerged from the poems our participating poets shared with all of us.
