For Words Poetry Reading featuring Dr. Joe Benevento

The Truman State University Department of English and Linguistics is pleased to announce a poetry reading to celebrate the release of After by Dr. Joseph Benevento. On Wednesday, April 5 at 7:00 p.m. in the SUB Alumni Room, Dr. Benevento will read some of the poems that comprise After. The reading is free and open to the public; copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing at the reading.

After, a collection of nineteen poems, is Dr. Benevento’s twelfth book and sixth book of poetry. All of the poems in the collection are unique in that they are all autobiographical narrative poems that follow the form of five lines in a stanza with five stanzas followed by a coda, a form created by Dr. Benevento. The form began in the poem, “After Jumper Died,” a poem about the death of Dr. Benevento’s dog as a teenager, and became something that helped to carry the meaning of the following poems. While all of the poems focus on parts of Dr. Benevento’s life, from learning that his mother was cursing in Italian to taking his children trick-or-treating and fishing, the themes become a method of connecting with the reader, celebrating that while the details of the events might be unique to Dr. Benevento, the feelings and lessons are universal and shared.

After is published by Mouthfeel Press, an independent press that seeks innovative, experimental and contemporary poetry. Justin Evans, author of Sailing the Nameless Ship and Hobble Creek Almanac says of After, “Joe Benevento continues his insightful exploration into the depths of personal history with this chapbook of alluring poems. As each poem begins, the reader is immediately hooked by both identifying with the many archetypal experiences and rites of passage discussed, and Benevento’s ability to take those moments to unexpected places. With a veneer of homogeneity as a result of the chosen form, the poems in After strike at the very heart of what it means to look back on the past to create a map of one’s own life. The reader is left to wonder about the many people who populate these poems. Refusing to pull any punches these poems remind us our lives are a network of many people and shared experiences. This little bit of sameness and the daring truth within these poems give us all permission to start creating our own map.”

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