Join us for a book launch for our very own Stephen Allen, author of the poetry collection, Difficult Music.

This will be an event with food and wine; please email or call to reserve a spot!

Difficult Music follows the pattern of a traditional orchestral concert, using form to provide a necessary constraint on a neurologically jumpy mind. From an overture that is a series of poems on a variety of interlinked topics, including religion and the environment, to a concerto made up sonnets on living with Tourette's Syndrome, and on to a symphony-a sequence combining family history, ars poetica, and nature poetry. Together, they show a mind at work in a rich and varied ground, trying to pin down experiences in an ever-changing world.
"Difficult Music fulfills the promise of its title-providing a rich and resonant score that never strays into the easy or ornamental. Stephen A. Allen writes with the rigor of someone who knows that form isn't a constraint, but a scaffolding to climb. These poems confront illness, family, and faith with a quiet precision that always feels authentic. Whether recalling "the stolen sleep of the righteous" or confessing, "I have no sense of rhythm, I have no room / to move," Allen gives us poems as finely wrought as they are emotionally raw. This is a book for readers who still believe sound matters, that rhyme can become revelation, and that poetry can capture the full difficulty of being human." -Timothy Green, editor of Rattle

Admission: Free