Stronger Than Fear: Stronger Than Fear: Poems of Empowerment, Compassion, and Social Justice Anthology Reading (via Zoom)

Join editors Carol Alexander and Stephen Massimilla as they introduce five award-winning poets from the Stronger Than Fear Anthology on Zoom. In this timely and timeless collection, remarkable poets—both emerging and established—bring myriad traditions, styles, and vital perspectives to pressing questions, such as how poetry can help us to overcome obstacles to empowerment, compassion, social change, and educational opportunity. Drawing from the work of teachers, artists, and activists, Stronger Than Fear moves us into sudden and startling awareness. These poems arrive at their truths with insight and generosity, with courage and spirit.

NB: This reading will take place on Zoom. The link will be sent to the email that you use to register as soon as you reserve a spot. (Please check your spam folder and save the link to your calendar.) It will also be sent to you the day of the reading for your convenience.

Carol Alexander is a poet, editor, and author of books for young readers. Her poems have appeared in numerous anthologies, e-zines, and print journals. Her 2017 book HABITAT LOST is a collection of poems that explore the human connection to nature and the personal and environmental challenges that confront us all. A new book, ENVIRONMENTS, was published by Dos Madres Press (2018).

Stephen Massimilla is a poet, scholar, author, professor, and painter. He is the coeditor of the 2022 social justice poetry anthology, Stronger than Fear. His multi-genre Cooking with the Muse (Tupelo Press, 2016) won the Eric Hoffer Book Award, the National Indie Excellence Award, an IAN Book of the Year Award, and others. Previous books and awards include The Plague Doctor in His Hull-Shaped Hat (SFASU Press Prize); Forty Floors from Yesterday(Bordighera Poetry Prize, CUNY); The Grolier Poetry Prize; the Van Rensselaer Prize, selected by Kenneth Koch; a scholarly study of myth in poetry; award-winning translations; and others. His work has been featured recently in such publications as AGNI, Barrow Street, the Chicago Tribune, Colorado Review, Denver Quarterly, Epoch, Green Mountains Review, Gulf Coast, HuffPost, The Literary Review, The Los Angeles Review, Poet Lore, The Southern Poetry Review, Tampa Review, Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, and hundreds of others. Massimilla has been interviewed on public radio and television and performed his work at many venues, including Carnegie Hall. He holds an MFA and a PhD from Columbia University and teaches at Columbia and The New School. He has also worked in the art world; he has completed hundreds of paintings and thousands of drawings, a portion of which he has exhibited. For more info: www.cookingwiththemuse.com and www.stephenmassimilla.com