S149. An Uncommon Presence: Celebrating CavanKerry Press and Its Outgoing Publisher, Joan Cusack Handler

Cody D. Todd Memorial Stage, Sponsored by USC, Exhibit Hall, Tampa Convention Center, Third Floor
Saturday, March 10, 2018
10:30 am to 11:45 am

 

Five CavanKerry Press poets share a tribute to founder Joan Cusack Handler, who is retiring as publisher in this its 18th year. The nonprofit press is known for books illustrating the emotional landscapes of daily life, and for its commitment to service. Under Joan’s leadership, writers are obliged to give three free community events annually. The press has donated more than 16,000 books to libraries, schools, hospitals, and prisons. It was a finalist for the 2017 AWP Small Press Publisher Award.


Participants

Moderator:

Tina Kelley wrote for The New York Times for ten years, sharing in a staff Pulitzer. She has written three poetry books, Abloom & Awry, The Gospel of Galore, a WA State Book Award winner, and Precise, and coauthored Almost Home: Helping Kids Move from Homelessness to Hope. She’s a freelance journalist.

Teresa Carson is the author of The Congress of Human Oddities, My Crooked House, a finalist for the Paterson Poetry Prize, and Elegy for the Floater. She holds an MFA in poetry and an MFA in theatre, both from Sarah Lawrence College. She was associate publisher at CavanKerry Press and assistant director at the CPT at Frost Place.

Nin Andrews’s poems have appeared in many literary journals and anthologies including Ploughshares, Agni, and four editions of Best American Poetry. She is the author of fourteen books, and her most recent collections are Our Lady of the Orgasm and Miss August.

Joseph O. Legaspi is the author of Threshold and Imago, and two chapbooks: Aviary, Bestiary and Subways. Recent works appeared in Poetry, New England Review, Orion, Waxwing, and Best of the Net. He cofounded Kundiman (www.kundiman.org).

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February 7–10, 2024
Kansas City, Missouri

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