James Hoch, Joan Larkin, and Marcia LeBeau will be the featured poets at the next Watershed Literary Events reading on Oct. 13 at the South Orange Skate House.
The reading is part of a spoken-word series sponsored by the Department of Recreation and Cultural Affairs and the Meadowland Park Conservancy in South Orange. This is the third reading of 2024 and it is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.
Hoch has worked as a dishwasher, cook, dockworker, social worker, and shepherd. He is the author of the poetry collections “A Parade of Hands”, winner of the Gerald Cable Award, “Miscreants” and most recently, “Last Pawnshop in New Jersey.”
His poems have appeared in Slate, The Kenyon Review, The Gettysburg Review, Ninth Letter, and American Poetry Review. Hoch is the recipient of fellowships from Bread Loaf and Sewanee, as well as a 2007 National Endowment for the Arts grant.
Originally from Collingswood, he lives in Garrison, N.Y., with his wife and sons. He currently teaches at Ramapo College and Sarah Lawrence.
Larkin’s latest book of poems, “Old Stranger,” has just been released by Alice James Books.
“There is so much masterpiece here,” fellow poet Eileen Myles writes of the work. “This is why one is a poet all their life. To make this.”
Larkin’s previous collections include “Blue Hanuman,” “My Body: New and Selected Poems,” Lambda Literary Award winner “Cold River,” “A Long Sound,” “Housework,” and “Sor Juana’s Love Poems,” which she translated with Jaime Manrique.
A lifelong teacher, she has served on the faculties of Brooklyn College, Sarah Lawrence, and Smith College. Larkin’s honors include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America. She lives in South Orange.
LeBeau’s recent poetry collection “A Curious Hunger” is “a sassy, kaleidoscopic debut” that “explodes with energy,” according to poet Molly Peacock.
LeBeau’s poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in O, The Oprah Magazine, New Ohio Review and Rattle. She was a third-place co-winner of the 2023 Allen Ginsberg Award, was longlisted for the 2022 Ralph Angel Prize, and received an honorable mention for the Rattle Poetry Prize, as well as several Pushcart Prize nominations.
LeBeau is the founder of The Write Space, a co-working and event space for creative writers in the Valley Arts District of Orange. She lives with her husband and two sons in South Orange.
Now in its sixth year of programming, Watershed Literary Events promotes the work of a talented and diverse array of writers with a New Jersey connection. For more information, contact Blake Smith at arts@southorange.org.
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