Clare Rossini will officially be named West Hartford’s Poet Laureate during a Town Council meeting on April 8. The event is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Room 314 of West Hartford Town Hall at 50 South Main Street.
The honorary title of West Hartford Poet Laureate is awarded to a local poet who serves a three-year term. The role aims to promote poetry and literary arts within the community.
Rossini’s work has been widely published in prestigious literary journals and anthologies, including The Paris Review, The Kenyon Review, The Iowa Review, Poetry, and The Best American Poetry series. Her most recent poetry collection, Lingo, was published by The University of Akron Press. She also co-edited the 2020 anthology The Poetry of Capital, released by the University of Wisconsin Press.
Throughout her career, Rossini has earned grants and awards from organizations such as the State of Connecticut, the Minnesota Arts Board, the Bush Foundation, and the Maxwell Shepherd Foundation. She has also held residencies at MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the American Academy in Rome.
After more than 40 years of teaching, including 23 years at Trinity College in Hartford, Rossini recently retired. She remains active in the literary world, teaching at conferences and developing an environmental initiative that connects poets and birds. More information about her work can be found on her website, clarerossini.com.
West Hartford established the poet laureate position in 2008, initiated by poet Maria Sassi in collaboration with then-Town Council member and current Mayor Shari Cantor. Since then, the town has named six other poets laureate: Dennis Barone, James Finnegan, Ginny Lowe Connors, Christine Beck, Julie Choffel, and Benjamin Grossberg.
Grossberg, the outgoing poet laureate, along with other past honorees, will attend the April 8 Town Council meeting to welcome Rossini as the town’s eighth Poet Laureate.
West Hartford stands out among Connecticut municipalities, having appointed more poets laureate than any other town in the state. More information on Connecticut’s poet laureate program can be found through the Connecticut Council of Poets Laureate.
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