Commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with Poetry in the Garden's fifth season: Voices from Marginalized America. Each Monday evening in July, nationally acclaimed poets will share works that explore how historically oppressed communities have been denied the Declaration of Independence's promised "inalienable rights."
On July 7, we welcome the voices of two award-winning indigenous poets to the ancestral homelands of the Ramapough, Munsee Lenape, and Wiechquaesgeck people: Kimberly Blaeser and Denise Lowe. The evening will also include a performance of Eastern Pequot traditional dance. Poets' books will be available for signing.
Free for all! Bring a lawn chair or blanket to enjoy the readings, held in the beautiful walled gardens of Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center. In the event of inclement weather, readings move inside the Garden House. Ample parking on-site. Fully accessible.
Poetry in the Garden 2025 is generously supported by Ridgefield Library, Books on the Common, The Fountain Inn, A.C.T. of Connecticut, and the Manhattanville University MFA in Creative Writing.
Kimberly Blaeser, past Wisconsin Poet Laureate and founding director of Indigenous Nations Poets, is the author of six poetry collections, most recently Ancient Light and Copper Yearning. Her poetry is widely anthologized and her photographs, picto-poems, and ekphrastic pieces have appeared in landmark exhibitions. She is the 2024 Mackey Chair in Creative Writing at Beloit College, an MFA faculty member for Institute of American Indian Arts, and serves on the Poetry Coalition of the Academy of American Poets. An Anishinaabe activist, Blaeser received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas.
Former Kansas Poet Laureate Denise Low is author of House of Grace, House of Blood. Other recent poetry collections include Shadow Light and Casino Bestiary. Low is a founding board member of the Indigenous Nations Poets and former board president of the Associated Writing Programs. For over 25 years, she taught at Haskell Indian Nations University. A literary programmer for Indigenous Voices at The 222 and a professor for Baker University’s School of Professional & Graduate Studies, Low has European and Lenape (Delaware) heritages.