The 14th Biennial Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival is just 6 days away….the festival runs from October 11th through October 14th in downtown Newark.   This week we will feature some of the poets who will be performing….today’s poet is Dorianne Laux.

Dorianne Laux is an accomplished poet and author of several critically acclaimed collections of poetry including, Awake, What We Carry, and Facts about The Moon. Laux is known for her free verse poetry style that has been described as sensual and grounded, often revealing the poet as a compassionate witness to everyday life. She discusses her early inspirations at the 2010 event poets on poetry.

“I didn’t realize until much later, until I had become a poet, I still have a hard time calling myself a poet I really feel that something somebody else should call you, and what I realized was that was the beginning, that was the seed for me, and that my project as a poet was to write about ordinary people and their lives. The people who would be considered beautiful except there are too many of them to take the time to look at and that sort of became my subject. “

Among her awards are the Editor's Choice Award and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Guggenheim Foundation.  You can catch her reading on the main stage of this year’s festival.     

OUTRO: The main stage for the Dodge Poetry Festival will be at NJPAC.  You can get more information by going to dodgepoetry.org or njpac.org.