UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Center for the Book announces the fifth annual 2021 "Poems from Life with Juniper Village," a project developed in partnership with Juniper Village Senior Living at Brookline to share and celebrate the lives of Juniper residents with original, individualized poems presented by local poets.
Housed in the Penn State University Libraries, the Pennsylvania Center for the Book is an affiliate of the Center for the Book established in 1977 at the Library of Congress. It encourages Pennsylvania’s citizens and residents to study, honor, celebrate and promote books, reading, libraries and literacy.
This year’s "Poems from Life" poets include:
- Peter Buck, Penn State Sustainability Institute
- Joe Bueter, Penn State English Department
- Carolyne Meehan, Penn State College of Education
- Katie O’Hara-Krebs, Write to Shine, Centre County
- Lee Peterson, Penn State English Department
- Mary Rohrer-Dann, Penn State English Department, retired
- Camille-Yvette Welsch, Penn State English Department
Each poet meets with a Juniper Village resident over several weeks and then writes an original poem to celebrate the resident’s life and contribute to Juniper’s mission of “nurturing the spirit of life.” Extra precautions were taken this year during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure safety for all, and meetings were conducted via window visits or Zoom in accordance with social distancing guidelines. Residents being celebrated this year include: Donald Boller, Norma Flanagan, Charlotte Hegyi, Mavis Pacchioli, Dorothy Paulsen, Dave Phillips and Rev. BJ Potter.
From 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 20, each poet will present their "Poems from Life" piece in a virtual celebration with the residents of Juniper Village Senior Living at Brookline. Attend the event via Zoom or watch a recording, which will be made available on the Poems from Life page of the Pennsylvania Center for the Book website.
Juniper Village at Brookline offers independent living, personal care, memory care, skilled nursing and rehabilitation in State College, Pennsylvania.
In addition to Poems from Life, the center administers the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, the Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize, the Public Poetry Project, Wordstruck: Micro Essays on Literature, A Baker’s Dozen: The Best Children’s Books for Family Literacy, Words of Art, and the interactive Literary & Cultural Heritage Maps of Pennsylvania.
For more information about the Pennsylvania Center for the Book’s Poems from Life with Juniper Village project, contact Nicole Miyashiro, writer-in-residence, at nmm16@psu.edu, or visit https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/poems-life, where previous poems and videos can also be found.