Book Markers 03.30.17

Poetry Readings, Two of ’Em

April arrives Saturday, and with it, as sure as the spring rain, will come the tired journalistic references to “the cruelest month.” But National Poetry Month also brings with it something else inevitable, but more welcome, the open-mike intonation of poems by Billy Collins, that infuser of humor, revitalizer of the form, and professorial rock star among poets, to the extent such is even possible.

Otherwise, poetry fans, go ahead and pick something of your choosing to read — new and original, old and favorite, you name it — at one or both of a couple of readings in Sag Harbor, on April Fools' Day, Saturday, at 5 p.m. at Canio’s Books and on April 2 at 3 p.m. at the John Jermain Memorial Library. The former will be headlined by Susan Dingle and Maggie Bloomfield, the gals behind the popular Poetry Street monthly series of readings at the Blue Duck Bakery on East Main Street in Riverhead. The latter promises coffee.

L.I. Poet of the Year

Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan has been named the Long Island poet of the year by the Walt Whitman Birthplace Association in Huntington Station, where a ceremony will take place at 2 p.m. on April 23. The honoree will read at the free event.

Ms. Nuzzo-Morgan is a past poet laureate of Suffolk County, founder of the North Sea Poetry Scene, author of several collections of verse, and one of the editors of the anthology Long Island Sounds. She lives in North Sea and is resident poet for the Southampton Historical Museum, for which she will host a series of readings in July and August at the Thomas Halsey Homestead.