Issue link: https://newsleader.uberflip.com/i/251767
The Hermitage Artist Retreat invites the public to a free community program on Friday, Jan. 31, on its beachfront campus in Englewood, which will feature a 5:15 p.m. beach reading by U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey. The event will include performances by two Massachusetts Institute of Technology musi- cians, Evan Ziporyn and Christine Southworth. Trethewey also will talk about being the nation's Poet Laureate, a news release notes. Tours of the historic Hermitage House will begin at 4:30 p.m. The artist retreat is located at 6660 Manasota Key Road in Englewood. Ziporyn will play clarinet and electronics during the program, the release adds, while Southworth will play bagpipes before and after the reading. Visitors need only bring their beach chairs and any refreshments they wish to enjoy during this afternoon perfor- mance, the release points out. "How often do you get to meet and hear one of the most highly acclaimed American poets read their work as well as experience phenom- enal musicians on a beach?" asked Hermitage Executive Director Bruce E. Rodgers in the release. "Having this talented group together and sharing them all at once with our com- munity is very exciting. We are really looking forward to the program." Trethewey, who is the 19th Poet Laureate of the United States, is the author of four col- lections of poetry, Domestic Work (2000), The Hermitage Artist Retreat is on Manasota Key Road in Englewood. Contributed photo U.S. POET LAUREATE TO READ FROM HER WORK AT THE HERMITAGE A&E BRIEFS