This event will be at the Crawford House, 189 Montgomery Street, Newburgh, NY.

As National Poetry Month begins, so does the two-year tenure of Newburgh’s new Poet Laureate, Genie Abrams.  Her role, as was her predecessors’, will be to promote the importance of poetry in the community by sharing a wide variety of poems in as many settings as possible. Crawford House will be one of the first such places when Ms. Abrams entertains and enriches an audience on Sunday, April 23rd at 2 p.m.

With the almost 200 year-old Montgomery Street home as a setting, Genie will read from collections of poetry maintained in the Historical Society’s archives.  Reading aloud together was a common entertainment in the 19th century as family and neighbors visited and shared new literature that they discovered.  On April 23rd, the audience may recognize lines from famous 19th-century poets they studied in school as well as hear verses from local writers they don’t know but may want to investigate.  A few of Genie’s own poems will round out the recital.

A Newburgh native with a long career in journalism and public relations, Ms. Abrams has been active in serving her hometown on several boards and committees including a term on the Newburgh City Council.