Photo Courtesy of Rachel Diken // Michael Lally
SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Watershed Literary Events, a spoken-word series sponsored by the Department of Recreation and Cultural Affairs in South Orange, will host its final virtual reading of 2021 on Sunday, Dec. 5, at 2 p.m., featuring Michael Lally and friends. The event is free and open to the public; to attend, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86405802744.
Lally was raised in South Orange and has spent the last 22 years in nearby Maplewood. In between, he has served in the U.S. military; been a jazz musician; been an anti-war, women’s and gay rights activist; and worked as a professional actor. In 1968, he ran for sheriff of Johnson County, Iowa, on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket, while attending the University of Iowa on the G.I. Bill. Lally has been sharing his poetry with audiences since 1959. He has published 30 books, the most recent of which is “Another Way to Play: Poems 1960-2017.”
“My goal has been to talk to the kid I was when I was 14, 15, 16 — before I had any education, before I had read anything that sophisticated but still knew certain things in my heart,” Lally said of his work.
As a teacher, Lally has inspired many students over his career. Three of them — Jose Funes, Stella Keating and Maria Serrano — will join him at this event to share his work and their own. An open mic opportunity for other friends of Lally’s will follow.
For more information, visit www.southorange.org or contact Celina Herrero at cherrero@southorange.org.
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