Scorpios Rising: A Poetry Reading and Book Release Party
PoetryJoin two powerful poets, Maureen McDole and Sara Ries Dziekonski, for a celebratory evening in which they share works from their latest poetry collections. Maureen’s full-length book, Feast, was released this month from St. Petersburg Press. Sara’s Marrying Maracuyá was published earlier this year as winner of Main Street Rag’s Cathy Smith Bowers Chapbook Competition. Authors will sign books directly after the reading and copies will be available for purchase. Come celebrate the fire and magic of two newly-born books from these strong St. Pete poets in their birth month.
We ask that you kindly RSVP so we can have adequate seating ready when you arrive!
Masks encouraged to be worn inside the building.
If you would like to volunteer during this event, please CLICK HERE to sign up.
Sara Ries Dziekonski (Sara Ries), a Buffalo native, holds an MFA in poetry from Chatham University, where she received the Best Thesis in Poetry Award. Her first book, Come In, We’re Open, which she wrote about growing up in her parents’ diner, won the Stevens Poetry Manuscript Competition and was published in June 2010 by the NFSPS Press. Her poem, “Fish Fry Daughter,” was selected by Ted Kooser for his American Life in Poetry column. Ries Dziekonski taught composition and literature at Erie Community College before teaching for SENA in Colombia. Her chapbooks include Snow Angels on the Living Room Floor (Finishing Line Press 2018) and Marrying Maracuyá (Main Street Rag 2021), which won the Cathy Smith Bowers Chapbook Competition. Her poems have appeared in Slipstream, Cordella Magazine, Punt Volat, Creative Pinellas, The Buffalo News, Blue Collar Review, LABOR: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas, Words Without Walls: Writers on Addiction, Violence, and Incarceration, and Earth’s Daughters, among others. She lives with her husband, son, and cat and works for Keep St. Pete Lit as an editor and creative writing teacher.
Maureen McDole was born in St. Petersburg, Florida. She is a direct descendant of carnies, carpenters and fishermen. This do-it-yourself ethos in her DNA infuses every area of her life. As far back as she can remember she loved to write. Her first book of poems, Exploring My Options came out in 2006. Her second poetry book, Longing for the Deep End was released in 2011. She has a BA in English Literature from USF-St. Petersburg and a certificate in Arts & Culture Strategy from University of Pennsylvania. Her poetry has been set in a variety of different ways including: film, dance, spoken word, art installations, Sprechstimme, and traditional vocal works. She is the recipient of St. Petersburg Art Alliance’s 2016 MUSE Award for Literary Arts. Maureen has been leading workshops and speaking about creativity for over 15 years. She founded the literary arts organization Keep St. Pete Lit in 2013, because she believes wholeheartedly in the power of literature to change the world.
Photo courtesy of Denzel Johnson Green