Merwin Conservancy Presents Award-Winning Poet April 2

Jane Hirshfield photo (c) by Curt Richter.

The Merwin Conservancy will kick off National Poetry Month by welcoming award-winning Poet Jane Hirshfield to speak at the next installment of The Green Room Saturday, April 2, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center; doors will open at 6:30 p.m.

The Green Room is an environmental and literary salon series on Maui. Hirshfield will captivate The Green Room audience as she shares from her recent writings for an evening of poetry.

A reception with live music, desert, champagne and book signing will follow, presented by FIM Group.

Hirshfield is one of our nation’s most celebrated poets, essayists and translators. Her poetry speaks to the central issues of human existence—desire and loss, impermanence and beauty, the many dimensions of our connection with others and the wider community of creatures and objects with which we share our lives.

As a Chancellor of the American Academy of Poets, Hirshfield joins a group of distinguished writers who “consult the organization on artistic matters, elect the recipients of the Wallace Stevens Award and the Academy of American Poets Fellowship; advocate for the organization’s programmatic work; and who serve as ambassadors of poetry in the world at large.”

Described by The New York Times as “radiant and passionate” and by other reviewers as “ethically aware,” “insightful and eloquent,” and as conveying “succinct wisdom,” her subjects range from the metaphysical and passionate to the political, ecological, and scientific to subtle unfoldings of daily life and experience.

Her most recent book of poetry—her eighth—The Beauty (Knopf, 2015), is long-listed for the National Book Award and named a best book of the year by The San Francisco Chronicle.

Previous books—all of which are award-winning—include Come, Thief (Knopf, 2011); After (HarperCollins, 2006), named a best book of the year by The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle and The Financial Times (UK); and Given Sugar, Given Salt (HarperCollins, 2001), a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Her earlier collection of essays, Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry (HarperCollins, 1997), is considered a classic.

“The timing couldn’t be more perfect: Jane Hirshfield, one of our nation’s foremost poets, on Maui sharing from her incredible body of work, to help us celebrate the beginning of National Poetry Month,” said Merwin Conservancy Executive Director Jason Denhart. “We are thrilled to have her join us.”

All ticket sales benefit the nonprofit Merwin Conservancy.

Tickets are $25 per person with a $10 student rate available with student ID.

Purchase tickets online or call the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Box Office at (808) 242-SHOW.

For more information, visit http://www.merwinconservancy.org/the-green-room.