The Poetry Barn, a new literary center in the Hudson River Valley situated by the spillway of the Ashokan Reservoir, announces its inaugural series, “Last Saturdays at the Barn,” which will feature events connecting poetry to the Catskills’ cultural legacy each last Saturday afternoon from May through October. Its first workshop, “Skywriting: Poems & Planes” (Saturday, May 28), pays homage to the barn’s former incarnation as the Harry Everett Smith Memorial Library. Smith, a prominent member of the Beats and close friends with Allen Ginsberg, was an avant-garde artist, filmmaker, musicologist and collector who donated the largest known paper airplane collection in the world to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.
“I’m very interested in connecting the barn’s events to its location, landscape and the rich history of this remarkable area,” said Poetry Barn founding director Lissa Kiernan. Participants will read and write poems about flight and transformation, then print them out on templates designed to fold into paper airplanes. The event, open to all ages, costs $25 and includes materials and a midday writing break with refreshments. Advance registration is required. To register or find more information, visit www.poetrybarn.co.
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