PUTNEY — Shanta Lee Gander will welcome her first poetry collection, Ghettoclaustrophobia: Dreamin of Mama While Trying to Speak Woman in Woke Tongues, into the world at a book launch event at Antidote Books, 120 Main St., at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 18.
The event, which takes place outdoors, will mark the publication this week of the poetry collection by Diode Editions, an independent press publishing poetry, chapbooks, and poetry-related nonfiction books.
Gander, of Brattleboro, is an artist and multifaceted professional whose work has been featured in numerous publications, including this newspaper.
She is a lecturer and scholar at the Vermont Humanities Council Speakers Bureau, where she speaks about the life of Lucy Terry Prince (1730–1821), considered the first known African American poet in English literature.
An MFA candidate in creative nonfiction and poetry at the Vermont College of Fine Arts, Gander is also a 2020 recipient of the Arthur Williams Award for Meritorious Service to the Arts from the Vermont Arts Council.
A virtual reading with Gander and Vermont poet Bianca Stone, organized by Northshire Bookstore in Manchester, is scheduled for Tuesday, June 22 at 6 p.m. Reservations are required for the free event; visit northshire.com.
The Vermont Humanities Council will stream a digital presentation, “Words in the Woods,” with Gander reading at Sweet Pond State Park in Guilford. It will stream at www.vermonthumanities.org/digital, as well as on Facebook Live and YouTube.
Gander is also scheduled to participate at a poetry and film weekend at Epsilon Spires, 190 Main St., Brattleboro, from 7 to 10 p.m. on Friday, July 16, where she will read from Ghettoclaustrophobia in conjunction with the screening of Hey Little Black Girl and The Fits. To register for the $15 program, visit epsilonspires.org.
For more information on the artist and the book, visit shantaleegander.com.