For Release: Immediately
Department of External Affairs
Free Library of Philadelphia
1901 Vine Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-1189
(215) 567-7710
FAX (215) 567-7850
Contact: Communications and Development
For Release: Immediately
Contact: Communications and Development

Monday Poets Offers a World of Words at the Central Library

Monday Poets is a monthly reading by some of the areas best known poets and wordsmiths on the first Monday of every month from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 1901 Vine Street. On March 7, the featured poets are brothers Daniel and Dave Simpson. Both poets are legally blind.

Daniel Simpson is a former church musician, computer programmer, and high school English teacher who currently serves as the Access Technology Consultant to the Free Library of Philadelphia. He studied poetry with Judith Mofett and Gregory Djanikian while earning an M.A. in English at the University of Pennsylvania. His work has appeared in Prairie Schooner, The Cortland Review, Hampden-Sydney Poetry Review, The Atlanta Review, and Philomel, among others. Earlier this year, Simpson received a 2003 Fellowship in Literature from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

Dave Simpson is working on the manuscript for his second book of poetry, Hyacinths. His first poetry manuscript is in search of a publisher. His work has appeared in Alaska Quarterly Review, River Styx, The Cortland Review, and Verse Daily, among others. He attended Overbrook School for the Blind and studied poetry with Sharon Olds, Gerald Stern, and others while attending New York University's Masters program in Creative Writing.

Monday Poets runs from September through April each year. An open reading follows each of the featured readers. The event is free and open to the public.

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02/18/2005


Department of External Affairs, Free Library of Philadelphia, 1901 Vine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-1189
(215) 567-7710, FAX (215) 567-7850