Library Programs

On Tuesday, July 29th, Portsmouth Public Library will host a reading by poet Christopher Locke.

Recipient of the 2007 Individual Artist Grant in Literature from the NH Council on the Arts, Locke has written three collections: Possessed, Slipping Under Diamond Light, and How to Burn.  His poetry and prose have also appeared in numerous literary journals, including Exquisite Corpse and The Southeast Review.  Locke will read older poems as well as those from his recently completed manuscript, End of American Magic.

Locke writes razor-sharp verse that starts at a single point and expands to soaring heights, only to wrap back around to a specific image.  Jim Daniels has said, “Christopher Locke’s poems don’t blink.  They face the world, unflinching.”  The London-based magazine Ambit has stated, “The poems carry a succulent sting in the tail.”

“I always believed that poetry had the ability to save my life, and over the years, I think it has,” says Locke.  Prepare to be saved.

The reading begins at 7 p.m. in the library’s Levenson Room.  It is free and open to the public.  For more information, please call (603) 427-1540 or visit www.cityofportsmouth.com/library.