Poetry Rocks, the reading series now in its 10th year, is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by featuring three poets laureate including a Dominican-American, and a student writer from Vernon, Mia Resto, who is Puerto Rican-American. Two additional poets laureate are Faith Vicinanza and Rick Magee.
Faith Vicinanza is the author of six collections of poetry, and is currently working on several new collections, and a memoir. A member of two national slam poetry teams, Ms. Vicinanza competed in National Slam Championships in 1994 and 1996. She was a member of the U.S. Slam Team that competed in Sweden in 1997, as well as the executive director of the 1997 National Poetry Slam Championships held in Middletown, the largest single poetry event in the state’s history. Ms. Vicinanza has been featured in venues from Stockholm, Sweden to San Francisco, has been a finalist for poet laureate for the state of Connecticut, as well as the recipient of the 2003 Connecticut Commission on the Arts Advocates for the Arts Award.
Rick Magee is the Poet Laureate Emeritus of Bethel, CT, and the Saint Francis of Assisi Poet Laureate of Sacred Heart University. He has published in numerous poetry journals in the US and Europe, and his poetry collection Green Latitudes came out in 2023. He is working on a collection of sonnets. Magee has taught English at Sacred Heart for 23 years, and he frequently teaches in the study abroad program in Rome. This winter he will be teaching a poetry writing class called “Pubs, Pints, and Poems” at SHU’s campus in Dingle, Ireland. He is working on a collection of sonnets tentatively entitled “Sonnets from the Patriarchy.” He lives in Bethel, CT, with his wife and son.
Elaine Nadal is Poet Laureate of Milford and author of When and Sweat, Dance, Sing, Cut, published by Finishing Line Press. A Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net-nominee, the Dominican-American poet has published in several journals. She holds a master’s degree in liberal studies from Wesleyan, as well as degrees in Spanish secondary education and fine arts (music). She has studied in Spain and Puerto Rico and delivered a TEDx talk on hope, poetry, and music. Nadal enjoys singing, translating, and traveling. Elaine said, “Writing is a way of making sofrito out of the experiences and varied truths of life. It is also a way of honoring the memory of my Abuela Flor, from whom I learned about struggle, determination, compassion, and love.”
Mia Resto, a junior at Rockville High School, was inducted last year into both the National Honor Society and the World Language Honors Society, and won a Creative Writing Award. A proud Puerto Rican-American, she belongs to the Youth Equity Club. She loves reading, writing, cultural arts, and volunteering for community organizations such as Arts Center East and the Vernon Historical Society.
Admission to the Poetry Rocks reading is free and open to the public. A $5 donation is much appreciated. Refreshments will be served. Sponsors of Poetry Rocks include Arts Center East, Rockville Public Library, and private donors. Arts Center East is located at 709 Hartford Turnpike. For more information, go to https://www.artscentereast.org or email pegideitzshea@aol.com.