Megan Chaskey, a Sag Harbor-based poet, musician, teacher, and healing practitioner, will take part in a special Valentine’s Day weekend reading featuring her new book, Birdsong Under the Wisdom Tree, Collected Poems, A Book of Hours in the Life of a Poet, at Romany Kramoris Gallery.
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Megan’s mother, Connie Fox, did the cover artwork. (Courtesy Photo) |
The deeply personal collection shares the author’s love story, as well as her adoration for a musical and mystical colloquy. Throughout the lifetime of poems, journal entries, and memoir, she recounts the various places she has called home, including New Mexico, Vermont, Cornwall, England and the East End, and also her deep connection with both the inner workings of imagination and the impassioned worlds of nature and relationship. As the book progresses, readers will notice the evolution of the author’s voice as life experiences, like marrying her husband poet/organic farmer Scott Chaskey and having three children, change Megan into the woman she is today.
For the book’s artwork, Megan turned to her mother East Hampton artist, Connie Fox, whose work is featured on the front cover. The author also pays tribute to her stepfather, the late, local sculptor, William King who is honored within one of the sections and several poems. “Bill King was such a warm supporter of my poetry,” explained Megan, “and the inspiration for this book from the beginning.”
Megan attended Bennington College where she was awarded the Poetry Award from the Academy of American Poets. She received her MA from Lesley College. Megan has taught poetry and writing for more than 20 years at local schools, summer camps and workshops, including a Poetry Bookmaking Workshop series at Springs Public School, sponsored by the Anna Mirabai Lytton Foundation for Arts and Wellness. In 2013, her one-act play, The Power of Storm, about the environmental writer Rachel Carson, was featured during the Plant & Sing Festival at Sylvester Manor. Megan has taken part in poetry readings, both solo and jointly with her husband Scott, since 1983 and has published two books of poems, Heartwood (1980) and Voice (2005).
Megan’s reading from Birdsong Under the Wisdom Tree, Collected Poems, A Book of Hours in the Life of a Poet will take place on Saturday, February 13th at 4 p.m.
Romany Kramoris Gallery is located at 41 Main Street in Sag Harbor. For more information, call 631-725-2499 or visit kramorisgallery.com.
