19th Century Poet Emily Dickinson.

JAMESTOWN – SUNY Fredonia’s The Emily Dickinson Singers will perform a concert inspired by the poet on Wednesday, March 26 at 7 p.m. in The Reg Studio Theater in Jamestown.

Emily Dickinson was one of 19th-century America’s greatest and most prolific poets. Dickinson also boasts another impressive honor: a large number of her poems have been set to music by hundreds of composers.

Wednesday’s concert is part of The Big Read and is made possible by support from The Reg Lenna Center For The Arts.

The Reg Studio Theater is located at 108 East Third Street in Jamestown, NY. Performance is FREE and open to the public.  First come, first served. Please join us for a sample of Dickinson poems set to music and a baked treat.

Brandon Williamson, founder of Pure Ink Poetry Slam of Buffalo.

JAMESTOWN – Prendergast Library will kick off the 2014 Big Read focusing on the poetry of Emily Dickinson at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 19, with a poetry slam.

Brandon Williamson, founder of Pure Ink Poetry Slam of Buffalo and an admissions counselor for SUNY Fredonia, will be in charge of the event.

Williamson was voted Best Poet of the Month last October at a Poetry Slam in downtown Toronto, and invited to be a guest on a Toronto radio show called “Nik Beat.”

His Pure Ink Poetry Slam team earned first place honors in Rochester at a statewide Empire State Team Poetry Slam  and became the first American team ever to win the Q.E.W. International Poetry Slam at the Burlington, Ontario, Performing Arts Center in January.

“We hope the public will join us in Jamestown to have fun and get ready to enjoy another reading adventure together,” Acting Director Tina Scott said.

POETRY SLAM OPEN TO PUBLIC

Brandon Williamson, founder of Pure Ink Poetry Slam of Buffalo. Williamson will appear in Jamestown at the Prendergast Library on March 19 at 6:30 p.m. as part of an open-to-the-public Poetry Slam.

Each poet will present two poems, one by Emily Dickinson and one original work. Poems will be judged on a 10-point scale by five judges using score cards. First and second place T-shirt prizes will be awarded for the highest combined scores.

The SUNY Fredonia Faculty Student Association will provide refreshments.

Other Big Read events scheduled at Prendergast Library are Download Classics, storytimes, family activities, and an all day book spine poetry activity. Details, dates and times are available at www.prendergastlibrary.org or on the library’s March programming calendar at all public service desks.

“The purpose of the Big Read is to bring communities together through books, and these Jamestown events are a perfect example of that happening,” according to Randy Gadikian,  director of the Daniel A. Reed Library at the State University at Fredonia.

Other members of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System are also offering Big Read activities that are free and open to the public.

The Big Read, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts managed by Arts Midwest, is designed to revitalize the role of literature in American culture and to encourage citizens to read for pleasure and enlightenment.

The Big Read comes to the region through a unique partnership between SUNY Fredonia and the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System, Fredonia faculty, staff and students, and the SUNY Fredonia Academic Community Engagement Center, along with the Erie I Board of Cooperative Education Services, local schools, the Fredonia Faculty Student Association, the Fredonia College Foundation and the Reg Lenna Center For The Arts.

Prendergast Library is located at 509 Cherry St., Jamestown. For information about its events, call 484-7135.
Information is also available at www.fredonia.edu/bigread or neabigread.org.

Tanya Eggleston, right, learns about the Big Read from, left to right, Tina Scott, director of Prendergast Library; Librarian Liz Gruber; and Eli Guinnee, managing director of the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Library System.