LIBERTY — Come join us for a poetry plaque unveiling celebration at the Liberty Public Library on Sat., March 23rd at 1 pm. This celebration is part of the “Catskilled Poetry for Healing” project designed by Sharon Kennedy-Nolle, the 2022-2024 Sullivan County Poet Laureate. Funded by an American Academy of Poets Laureate Fellowship, made possible by the Mellon Foundation, the project aims to address the county’s mental health and substance use crisis through writing poetry as a therapeutic tool to self-empower individuals and their families affected by this crisis.

“Catskilled Poetry for Healing” features several phases which include outreach to various institutions offering treatment and support programs throughout the county, a six-month series of poetry workshops with institutional clients, and an interdisciplinary symposium. 

This March 23 event to be held at 1 pm kicks off the project’s final phase: a county-wide permanent public arts installation of eleven poems. Each participating client will have a poem mounted on a metal plaque installed at one of the county’s eleven libraries.

Catskilled Poetry for Healing mobilizes the power of poetry to make people’s lives better and to help a community heal with a secured sense of local identity and articulated local pride.

This program is free and open to the public. For more information, call us at 845-292-6070, visit us at our website or Facebook page.