On January 4, the first Saturday of 2020, at 2:00 p.m. at Winchester Dondero Cultural Center (3130 McLeod Dr.), noted author Joanne Gilbert and former Clark County Poet Laureate Bruce Isaacson lead a workshop titled Resistance and Poetry on the poetry of Abraham Sutzkever, perhaps the most important Yiddish poet of the 20th Century.
Sutzkever was a major modernist focusing on the meaning of writing, nature, and eternity when WWII broke out. He was a survivor of the Vilna Ghetto massacres, preserved Jewish culture there, fought with the Soviet Partisans, and a poem literally saved his life! He then testified at the Nuremburg Trials and emigrated to Israel, where he became the leading modern proponent of Yiddish poetry. His books were illustrated by Marc Chagall and Samuel Bak. Joanne Gilbert had relatives in the Vilna Ghetto and is a noted author. Poetry Promise was a host and the event was in conjunction with the Jewish Film Festival.
On Thursday January 9, at 7:00 p.m. at Brenden Theatres at the Palms, the film Black Honey was screened on the life and times of Sutzkever. This is the first film of the wonderful 19th Annual Jewish Film Festival. Poetry Promise is a partner with Bruce & Joanne as moderators.
On Saturday, January 18, from 1:00-3:00 p.m., Poet Laureate Heather Lang Cassera will host a workshop on Nature Poetry at the Clark County Wetlands Park (7050 Wetlands Dr., Las Vegas). This casual afternoon will include generative prompts and writing time. You’ll go home with a new poem or two!
On Friday January 24, at 7:00 p.m. at the Historic 5th Street School (401 S. 4th St.) there was a reading by Terry Tempest Williams from her new book Erosion. Terry is a leading writer on Southwest Environmental Issues, and this is sure to be a major event. Her work is both personally moving and socially profound. Her books include Refuge, The Open Space of Democracy, Finding Beauty in a Broken World, and many others. She is also a poet whose poems can often be found woven deeply into her prose. This event is organized by our friend Josh Abbey and The Jewish Film Festival.
On Saturday January 25, at 7:00 p.m. on the Adelson Campus in Summerlin (9700 Hillpointe Rd.), Terry Tempest Williams will moderate a screening of the film Wrenched. It details the genesis and ultimate downfall of the Earth First radical environmental movement inspired in part from the written works of Edward Abbey, based on his “wilderness is freedom” philosophy.
All events were FREE and OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.