The Guilford Poets Guild invites the community to its “Second Thursday” poetry reading on October 10, from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM. The evening will start with an Open Mic session at 6:30, followed by readings from poets Pat O’Brien and Gemma Mathewson.
Patricia Horn O’Brien, a graduate of Columbia School of Social Work, has dedicated her life to social work. She is a long-time member of the Guilford Poets Guild and co-founded the CT River Poets group in 2012, which now includes 15 active poets. Pat has contributed to establishing a Prison Hospice program in three Connecticut prisons and has facilitated poetry workshops at York C.I. She also started the ongoing “Paintings and Poetry” program at the Florence Griswold Museum.
Pat’s poetry has been published in numerous periodicals, including CT River Review and Poet Lore. She has received several awards, including honors from Embers and the Acton Library in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, where she lives with her husband, John, close to their three sons and their families. Her first poetry collection, “When Less Than Perfect is Enough,” is in its second printing, published by Antrim Books. She has also written a memoir, “The Laughing Rabbit,” about her son, Richard, whom she placed for adoption and later reunited with after 20 years. Additionally, she has published a poetry collection titled “The Scatter and the Gap.”
Gemma Mathewson grew up in Clinton, Connecticut, where she developed a love for language through stories told by her father and mother. Her early interest in poetry grew during her teenage years in New Haven, where she discovered the power of spoken word at the Exit Coffee House. After starting a family and working for 18 years as an Early Childhood Education director, she returned to her poetry roots.
Gemma’s work has appeared in various publications, including Rattle and Caduceus. She participates in open mic events in New Haven and co-hosts a series with Guilford Poet Laureate Mark McGuire Schwartz at the Institute Library. She has also co-hosted two poetry series at Valley Shore Community TV. Her first poetry collection, “The Museum of Rain,” was published in 2019 and features selected works from her archive. Her poems, along with her photographs, can be found on her WordPress site, also titled “The Museum of Rain.”
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