Berks County's Poet Laureate to Lead Poetry Interpretation Workshop
at Reading Public Museum

art reshaped; reformed: Poets Interpret Degas--eyes detect secrets.

photo by John Pankrantz

Join Ryan L. Sittler, Berks County Poet Laureate, as he leads you on a deceptively simple writers exercise--learning to use art as inspiration for the art of poetry. In addition to being a part of the month-long "Reading Reads" Festival, Sittler's workshop is one of the events at "Family Day" at the Reading Public Museum, Saturday, October 20, 2007.

The workshop will begin at noon that day, with participants meeting in the second floor Asian Gallery. A brief tour of Degas and the Art of Japan, the Museum's special exhibition, will precede the workshop and act as your muse for the afternoon. Mr. Sittler will be available to provide insight, advice, and (if desired) friendly critique for all members of the group. Time is allotted for poets to share works created at the workshop. Experienced and novice poets are encouraged to attend.

Ryan L. Sittler is the Berks County Poet Laureate since 2002. His poetry has been published in both newspapers and magazines, in addition to appearing on the BCTV program Poet's Pause, and serving as guest Poetry Editor for (defunct) literary magazine, The Circle. Mr. Sittler has two non-literary books being published by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) in 2008, and has writing credits for both magazine articles and scholarly book chapters. He is currently an Assistant Professor at California University of Pennsylvania in the Library Department. Mr. Sittler was born in Reading, raised in the Oley Valley, finished his BSED at Kutztown University, and spends much of his free time with friends and family in Muhlenberg--he is a true Berks county native and will challenge you to a scrapple eating contest to prove it.

The Museum will be open free to the public from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on that day, and will host a day-long program of family-friendly activities in conjunction with the Degas and the Art of Japan exhibition. In addition to Ryan Sittler's Poetry Workshop, the day's festivities will include traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony demonstrations by Urasenke La Salle, from La Salle University in Philadelphia, as well as a puppet performance entitled "Oniroku and Momotaro, the Peach Boy" by the Hudson Vagabond Puppets. Other activities will include a performance of "The Boy Who Drew Cats" by The Institute of the Arts (Reading, PA), art activities inspired by both works of Degas and his Japanese counterparts, family exhibition activity guides, story readings and tours.

The Reading Public Museum is located at 500 Museum Road, Reading. For more information, go to: www.readingpublicmuseum.org.

Poetry by Ryan Sittler