Book Launch - "Village: Recession" by Jo Pitkin

In Village: Recession, Jo Pitkin explores the Great Recession of the early 2000s from the intimate vantage point of an American village, documenting the effects of this worldwide economic meltdown on friends, family, and neighbors—like the hardworking snow plower or the carpenter who never finishes his own house renovation in order to avoid paying higher property taxes—and on the poet herself. When the “recession’s serrated edge” profoundly alters her daily life, Pitkin finds temporary relief in small acts of kindness and solace in everyday encounters. Her poems not only capture the anxiety and isolation of being unexpectedly pushed out of the economic and, in turn, social mainstream but also convey with Dickinsonian detail the pleasures of ordinary experiences amidst the gradual contraction of her daily life. While tackling abrupt upheaval and contemplating how repercussions of economic cycles in history have shaped twelve generations of her family, Pitkin at last discovers the strength to endure.

Jo will be talking about her book, reading poetry excerpts, and answering questions. There will also be an opportunity to get a copy of her book signed.

Refreshments will be provided.

If you can't make this date in person, please tune into our Zoom livestream!

Jo Pitkin is the author of a chapbook, The Measure, and three previous full-length collections: Cradle of the American Circus: Poems from Somers, New York; Commonplace Invasions; and Rendering. A native of Somers, New York, she moved to Cold Spring in 1995, where she won the First Annual Hudson Valley Poetry Contest in 1997, initiated the first state-funded literary reading series at the Julia L. Butterfield Library in 2003, and created the first poetry book club at Merritt Bookstore Volume III on Main Street in 2005. Jo is currently working on a new poetry book, The Lake, and serves as a teaching artist at The Poetry Barn. | www.jopitkin.com