Mind of Winter

In January of every year, the Writers House Planning Committee embraces the post-holiday doldrums with a celebration of winter's comforts, inspired by Wallace Stevens's chilly poem, "The Snow Man." We gather here at the Writers House, stoke a big fire in the parlor, simmer several big pots of soups and stews, and share our favorite winter-themed readings with one another. Let it snow!

January 24, 2008

Calendar entry

Jessica Lowenthal - Introduction
Kim Eisler - "January" by William Carlos Williams, "A City in Winter" by Frank O'Hara
Danny Goldstein - from "Eskimo Love" by Max Apple
Cecilia Corrigan - "Alcanac Breakup" by Cecilia Corrigan
Dick Polman - "The Only Rose" by Yves Bonnefoy
Jillian Budd - Untitled by Jillian Budd
Adrian Khactu - "Misbegotten Son" by Adrian Khactu
Jessica Lowenthal - "The Snow Man" by Wallace Stevens

January 18, 2007

Calendar entry

This event is featured in Eric Karlan's NOTES FROM THE GREEN COUCH, a series of summaries and analyses of Writers House events. Click on the image above.

Jessica Lowenthal - introduction to the event
Al Filreis - discussion of Stevens' "The Snow Man"
John Carroll - "Sudden Snow", "A Warm Day for December", and "Poem" by Frank O'Hara
Brooke Palmieri - "The March of the Ottoman Turks" by Brooke Palmieri
Mingo Reynolds - from The Brothers K by David James Duncan
Anna Levett - from The Facts of Winter by Paul Lafarge
Sam Allingham - "Something She Told Me" by Sam Allingham
Arielle Brousse - "Housed in Winter" by Marge Piercy and "February" by Margaret Atwood

January 19, 2006

Calendar entry

Jennifer Snead - introduction to the event
Al Filreis - discussion of Stevens' "The Snow Man"
Julia Bloch - poems by Julia Bloch ("In the Cardigan of the Mind," "Night Flight," excerpts from "Letters to Kelly Clarkson," "Pilot's Bay," "Seasonal Affective Disorder")
Erin Gautsche - "Ohio" (by Erin Gautsche)
Janine Catalano - Calvin Trillin's "Speaking of Soup"
Kenny Goldsmith - the "Groundhog Day" section of Goldsmith's The Weather
Beth Kephart - Michael Ondaatje excerpt entitled "Frozen Ice"
Jim Gardner - reading from "The Dead" by James Joyce

January 26, 2005

Program (PDF)

Al Filreis - Introduction
Jamie-Lee Josselyn & Phil Sandick - Celebration of Al's 20th year of teaching at Penn
Al Filreis - "The Snow Man" by Wallace Stevens
Samantha Barrow - "LA Rte 82" by Samantha Barrow
Samuel Wilcocks - Shakespearean song
John Timpane - "Winter beforelight" by John Timpane
Alicia Oltuski - "Ice Fishing"
Miriam Mann Guerrero - Excerpt from The Snow Falcon by Stuart Harrison
Matthew Abess - "Sestina díInverno" by Anthony Hecht
Jennifer Snead - "Why Stop at Salmon?" by Jennifer Snead
Emily Missner - Excerpt from The Winter Room by Gary Paulsen
David Grazian - "Horses and Men in Rain" and "Man and Do on an Early Winter Morning" by Carl Sandburg, "Before Air Conditioning" by Donald Rumsfeld
Conni Bille - "These Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden, "Winter" by Conni Billi, "Lines for Winter" by Mark Strand

January 22, 2004

Program (PDF)

Al Filreis - Introduction and a reading of Wallace Stevens' "The Snow Man"
Erin Sweeney - "Forecast"
Andrew Zitcer - "Zero Tolerance for Gurgling" and two short poems by George Herbert and Ibn Gabirol
Greg Djanikian - "After the First Snow"
Phil Sandick - a reading from from Wordsworthís The Prelude
Aaron Levy - a reading from from Emma Kayís Worldview
Pat Green - "The Snow Arrives After Long Silence" by Nancy Willard
Jennifer Snead - Farewell

January 31, 2002

Program

Greg Djanikian
Allie D'Augustine
Bob Perelman
An Lam
Kathy Lou Schultz
Pamela Zinn (on piano)
Blake Martin
Andrew Zitcer
Heather Starr, live from Taos
Mike Magee, live from Providence