We are so excited to launch the third year of our special Pride Month podcast and program series Queer Poem-a-Day. For our first two years, we presented a unique public archive of poems written and read by LGBTQIA+ poets, released each day in June. We invite you to check out our archives from year one and year two and discover an amazing collection of 60 poems from some of the leading poets working today.
For this third season of the program, we are shaking things up with a new format: Queer Poem-a-Day: Lineage Edition. In each podcast episode, we asked a contemporary queer poet to read a work of influence by an LGBTQIA+ writer of the past followed by an original poem of their own. Our participating poets also discuss the poem they chose and how their own work responds, offering an educational opportunity to consider how today’s vibrant living voices are in conversation with the voices of the past that live on library shelves. Our new semi-daily format (shared Monday, Wednesday, and Friday), combined with additional educational programs (see below), adds a new, enriching dimension to our Queer Poem-a-Day project.
Queer Poem-a-Day is founded and co-directed by poet and professor Lisa Hiton and me, Dylan Zavagno, Adult Services Coordinator at the Library and host of the Deerfield Public Library Podcast. This year, 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.
To kick off season three of our series, Lisa and I had a short conversation reflecting on lineage, the threats to public libraries surrounding LGBTQIA+ programming and collections and the backdrop of new specifically anti-trans, and broadly anti-LGBTQIA+ laws, including book and curriculum bans. Our music has changed again as well: our Chicago-based pianist, Daniel Baer, chose the rarely performed AIDS Ward Scherzo by Robert Savage. He joins us for this introductory episode to think through our re-imagined series in the context of classical piano.
Queer Poem-a-Day is a program from the Adult Services Department at the Library and may include adult language.
Related Programs
Poetry Writing Workshop with Lisa Hiton (Virtual) [Full, join waitlist]
Mondays, June 5, 12, 19: 6:30—8:00 pm
Queer Poem-a-Day presents a three-week poetry writing workshop, led by poet Lisa Hiton. Open to poetry writers of all experience levels.
Classics Book Discussion: Gertrude Stein & Margaret Wise Brown (Hybrid)
Thursday, June 22: 7—8:30 pm
Packets available at the Adult Services Desk, or by pdf.
We’ll take a close look at two classic, bestselling queer American female poets who inspired each other along with millions of others–Gertrude Stein & Margaret Wise Brown.
Queer Poem-a-Day Capstone Lecture (Virtual)
Thursday, June 29: 7–8:00 pm
The co-directors of Queer Poem-a-Day offer their traditional final lecture wrapping up the month, with a special focus this year on poetic lineage.
