Poet Laureate 5: Readings in Cedar Falls

One of my most cherished activities as Iowa Poet Laureate is to give poetry readings. My first two poetry readings as Poet Laureate were hometown events . . . readings in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The first was a release reading for my book Dragons & Rayguns. This was a reading put on by my press, Final Thursday Press, in their twenty-four-year-old reading series, the Final Thursday Reading Series, on 29 August 2024. Here is the flyer for that event. (Click on it to see the image enlarged.) That was a really memorable evening. It began with an open mic featuring local writers, followed by my reading as the featured speaker for the night. There was also a great Q&A discussion afterwards. A truly wonderful release event for my book. Thanks to Jim O'Loughlin, publisher and editor-in-chief. The other Cedar Falls reading took place at the Cedar Falls Public Library on 7 October 2024. This had a different vibe from the earlier reading highlighted above. The audience was made up of many friends and other people from the community. Here is the advertising flyer for that event. (Click on the image if you'd like to see it larger.) This event had a very laid-back ambience. My reading was followed by a warm conversation with the audience about the book and its background. Thanks to Matthew Bancroft for organizing the evening. Here are some photos from the October reading: Something that was visually emphasized in both flyers was the book cover done by my son, graphic artist Marty Gotera. I asked him to include a dragon and a raygun in a comic-book-inspired look, which he accomplished very nicely. I also appreciate the fonts he used (designed?) for the book title. Beautiful! Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ