— from Jill Johnson for Artsmith —

Essays by Stephen Corey, who will read at Darvill’s Bookstore on Tuesday, March 27

In a rare west coast visit, author Stephen Corey will read this Tuesday with Orcas poet and artist Michelle Reed.

After ten critically acclaimed poetry collections, Corey has released his first essay collection Startled at the Big Sound: Essays Personal, Literary, and Cultural (Mercer U. Press, 2017). The book is aptly named because of how it thoughtfully considers a relatively quiet life that gets disrupted at times by major life events that come crashing like giant cymbals, startling us into awareness.

As the editor of one of the world’s most esteemed literary journals, The Georgia Review, and having worked for the journal for the past 35 years, Corey’s awareness is deeply rooted in the literature, culture, and issues of our time, and interweaves them masterfully throughout his work.

Thought-provoking, touching, and beautifully crafted, the essays are a testament to the resiliency of the human spirit and our ability to find hope and humanity under any circumstances. Corey’s poetry has received similar acclaim for the way it “delves into human experience at its most potent moments.”

Michellle Reed, Orcas poet and artist, will read at Artsmith Salon at Darvill’s with Stephen Corey

Michelle Reed will join Corey, sharing her own deeply poignant poems that range from witty to heartbreaking to wonderfully transcendent.

The reading begins at 6 p.m. and will be followed by a book-signing and reception with light hors d’oeuvres.

Darvill’s Bookstore is at 296 Main Street, Eastsound. More information about Artsmith, a arts non-profit organization, may be found at orcasartsmith.org