"Poetry in the Garden - Resilience & Rage: Voices from Marginalized America" presents Kimberly Blaeser and Denise Low

Commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence with "Poetry in the Garden - Resilience & Rage: Voices from Marginalized America." Each Monday evening in July, nationally acclaimed poets will share works that explore how historically oppressed communities have been denied the Declaration of Independence's promised "inalienable rights."

On July 7, we welcome the voices of Indigenous activists to the ancestral homelands of the Ramapough, Munsee Lenape, and Wiechquaesgeck people. Poets Kimberly Blaeser and Denise Lowe will read from their recent collections. The evening will also include a performance of traditional dance by Eastern Pequot Tribal Councilor Natasha Gambrell. A Q&A session will follow each reading; poets’ books will be available for signing.

Free for all! Bring a lawn chair or blanket to enjoy the readings, held in KTM&HC’s beautiful walled garden. In the event of inclement weather, the reading will move inside the Garden House.

Ample parking on-site.

Kimberly Blaeser, past Wisconsin Poet Laureate and founding director of Indigenous Nations Poets, is the author of six poetry collections, most recently Ancient Light and Copper Yearning. Her poetry is widely anthologized and her photographs, picto-poems, and ekphrastic pieces have appeared in landmark exhibitions. She is the 2024 Mackey Chair in Creative Writing at Beloit College, an MFA faculty member for Institute of American Indian Arts, and serves on the Poetry Coalition of the Academy of American Poets. An Anishinaabe activist, Blaeser received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas.

Former Kansas Poet Laureate Denise Low is author of House of Grace, House of Blood. Other recent poetry collections include Shadow Light and Casino Bestiary. Low is a founding board member of the Indigenous Nations Poets and former board president of the Associated Writing Programs. For over 25 years, she taught at Haskell Indian Nations University. A literary programmer for Indigenous Voices at The 222 and a professor for Baker University’s School of Professional & Graduate Studies, Low has European and Lenape (Delaware) heritages.

Natasha Gambrell is a Tribal Councilor of the Eastern Pequot Nation. A 2015 graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University, Gambrell teaches high school English and has been actively involved in the Eastern Pequot archaeology field study since 2008. Passionate about representing her tribe, telling their story, and helping the next generation, Gambrell proudly demonstrates and explains the traditional dances of her people.