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Program is sponsored by Lehigh Valley Engaged Humanities Consortium
Allentown, PA — Today, Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center announced that they have launched a virtual poetry program to create opportunities for community engagement through the humanities during this period of social distancing due to COVID-19. The program launch coincides with National Poetry Month and is sponsored in part by the Lehigh Valley Engaged Humanities Consortium, with generous support provided by a grant to Lafayette College from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
The project, hosted on Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center’s facebook page, invites community members to submit a recording of themselves reading their favorite poem by an LGBT poet. Submissions are being curated by Jimmy Hamill, a Ph.D candidate in English at Lehigh University. Mary Foltz, Associate Professor of English at Lehigh University is also collaborating on the project.
Community members interested in participating can learn more at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center’s facebook page.
In June, the program will hopefully transition from virtual engagement to an in-person LGBT community poetry reading group facilitated by Hamill and hosted at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center. The ability to resume in-person programs will be dictated by advice from public health officials in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Celebrating the LGBT community’s tradition of art and culture is core to our mission. During this period of social distancing, we are very grateful to the support from the Lehigh Valley Engaged Humanities Consortium that has made it possible for us to offer virtual engagement with poetry during this pandemic.” said Adrian Shanker, executive director of Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center.
Jimmy Hamill, doctoral candidate at Lehigh University, said, “This project offers LGBT people the opportunity to find collective healing and purpose through the simple act of finding a poem that brings them joy and pleasure.”
Mary Foltz, associate professor of English at Lehigh University, added “Reading works by poets can help us connect during the pandemic and experience the richness of LGBTQ culture and community.”
Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center has a strong track record with community engagement with LGBT literature. The Library at Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center received the Allentown Arts Ovation Award in 2018 for Outstanding Achievement in Literary Arts. This is the center’s first poetry series.
About Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center: (www.bradburysullivancenter.
Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center provides arts, health, youth, and pride programs to strengthen and support the LGBT community across the Greater Lehigh Valley.
Information Provided By:
Adrian Shanker
Executive Director
Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center
