Poets from the Connecticut Poetry Society Featured in My Hometown Collection

Orenaug Mountain Publishing, in collaboration with the Connecticut Poetry Society (CPS), announces the release of My Hometown, a collection from 37 poets around the state celebrating where they live now or have lived at some point in their lives. The poets, including several current and past local poets laureate, debuted their poems during a themed open mic at a CPS luncheon in Woodbury in August.

“Home, as represented in these poems, is multi-faceted and complex,” said Pat Mottola, president of the Connecticut Poetry Society. “It can be a place of love and security, but it can also be a site of loss, conflict, and displacement. Home is never just a place. It is a feeling, an emotional connection, and a lifelong search for belonging.”

Added Sandy Lee Carlson, editor of the collection and a managing partner of Orenaug Mountain Publishing, “The collection reflects the heartfelt desire of Connecticut poets to share what it means to be alive in the palace we call home and to invite others into their experiences.”

Among the contributors are Amy Levitin Gray of Branford; C.A. Carpenter of Canton; Pat Mottola of Cheshire; Cathy Weiss of Clinton; Gloria Jainchill of Glastonbury; Terry Blackhawk of Hamden; Margaret Hunt of Litchfield; Ed Lent of Lyme; Bailey Quinn of Middlebury; Jane Jacobson of Milford; Carly Message of Naugatuck; Gwen North Reiss of New Canaan; Padmaja Battani, Siri Denni, and Aparna Devershetty of Newington; Katherine Schneider of Norwalk; Nancy Manning, Eric Mutschler, Susan Mutschler, and Katelyn Botsford Tucker of Oxford; Jessica Anderson of Putnam; B. Fulton Jennes of Ridgefield; Sandy Lee Carlson, Faith Vicinanza, and Edward Dzitko of Southbury; River Ripa of Southington; Karen Ciosek of Wallingford; David Mello, Deborah Nash Ott, and Margaret Plaganis of West Hartford; Patti Fusco and Tony Fusco of West Haven; David Bigham of Waterbury; and Katherine Baker, Betty Lou Bowles, Julie Cook and Susan Murphy of Woodbury.

Proceeds of the sale of the book benefit the poetry society. Copies can be purchased by visiting www.orenaugmountainpublishing/poetry-collections/My-Hometown.