Coffee House to Feature Poetry, Live Music, Free Food, Drawings for Prizes

Original poetry and live music are on tap for the seventh annual Poetry Coffee House set for 7 p.m. Thursday April 28 at Seward County Community College/Area Technical School.

The event will feature SCCC/ATS students reading their original poetry, live music, and readings by the winners of two poetry contests.

A couple of prize giveaways are also planned for audience members, including a drawing for an autographed copy of the contest judge’s latest book.

The Coffee House offers a relaxed atmosphere where people can enjoy hot and iced coffee, lemonade, and gourmet finger foods while listening to poetry and music.

Live music will be provided by SCCC/ATS students Nate Lee, Ben Knight, and Alyssa Fisher.

The English Department has sponsored a poetry contest in conjunction with the Coffee House for several years, and contest winners will be announced at the Coffee House and will read their poetry. The judge for this year’s contest was Lamar University Poet-in-Residence R. S. Gwynn.

A nationally known poet, Gwynn’s most recent collection of poetry is Dogwatch (2014) from Measure Press. His criticism appears regularly in the Hudson Review and other publications, and he is editor of the Pocket Anthology Series from Pearson-Longman. In 2015, he was named program director of the West Chester University Poetry Conference.

The public is invited and admission is free to the Poetry Coffee House, which is set for 7 p.m. Thursday April 28 in the music wing/band hall (Room H148) of the Shank Humanities Building at Seward County Community College/Area Technical School, 1801 N. Kansas, in Liberal.

For more information, contact Janice Northerns at 620-417-1456 or [email protected] , or CONTACT _Con-3B7FF19B3 Bill McGlothing at 620-417-1457 or [email protected].