Lowery Returns to First Tuesday Laureate Series with New Book

Tuesday | December 5 | 7 pm
Blue Heron Coffeehouse | 162 W 2nd St.

Longtime Winona area writer and teacher Scott Lowery returns to the Laureate Writers Series, Tuesday, December 5, 7:00 pm, followed by an open mic and book signing. The event is free and open to the public, hosted by the Blue Heron Coffeehouse, 162 W 2nd Street in Winona, and sponsored by the Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest.

Lowery will read from his brand-new collection of poems, Mutual Life, which examines everyday life during tumultuous times—specifically, the past 8 years. These poems look for the vital connections that hold us together, even while community and personal ties are strained to the breaking point by pandemic anxiety, climate disasters, and the politics of resentment. One of these poems, “Calling the Border”, was originally published on the Opinions page of the Winona Daily News, and several others went public for the first time at past Laureate Series open mic sessions.

St. Paul poet and essayist Naomi Cohn says, “These poems are full of music and witness—keenly felt and keenly observed—whether it’s a moment of horror, rage or wonder. Fierce, funny, tender and ultimately hopeful, Lowery has transformed the dumpster fire of our recent past into poems you want to visit again and again.”

Scott Lowery is a poet, musician and teaching artist who grew up in Minneapolis. His poems appear in numerous print and online journals, and he has been awarded the Julia Darling Memorial Poetry Prize, as well as Pushcart and Best of Net nominations. Scott’s earlier collection, Empty-Handed (Emergence Chapbook Prize, Red Dragonfly Press) is also newly out in an expanded second edition. A 30-year veteran public school teacher, Lowery has presented writing workshops to young poets from grade school through college. In 2019, he and his wife moved from rural southeastern Minnesota to Milwaukee, drawn by the inexorable pull of young grandchildren. Find more, including workshops with young poets, at www.scottlowery.org.

Scott Lowery is a member of the River Arts Alliance. To learn more about the benefits of membership, please visit: riverartsalliance.org/membership/. River Arts Alliance serves as fiscal sponsor of the Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest.