This Saturday evening, April 14, The Stage at the KDHX will be the home of a reading from the anthology Bullets in Bells: Poets & Citizens Respond to Gun Violence. A panel discussion will also be included.
Editor Brian Clements notes that event is part is part of a broader work, not contained to just a book or a reading. Instead, he notes, there’s “the book, from which the event on Saturday will include readings; a website, which will publish additional poems, essays, interviews, videos, and opportunities for action on an ongoing basis; and events like this one, at least one such event in every state of the country, in which we use the book as a starting point for discussion of gun violence as it affects particular cities and states.
“The event,” he adds, “will include readings from the book as well as original poems from the St. Louis area and commentary from St. Louis-area residents who are working on the ground and in the MO legislature to reduce the plague of gun violence. I started work on this project immediately after the Sandy Hook shootings, which my wife, Abbey, a second-grade teacher, survived.”
Erin Quick, of the presenting organization, the St. Louis Poetry Center, says that, “Other readings for this anthology have included readers both from the anthology as well as local poets. Dana Levin has a poem in the anthology, and we invited other St. Louis-area poets and speakers who are important to the community and whose work (either creative or other) touches in some way on gun violence and its impact on the St. Louis community.
“Readers will be reading a mix of work, mostly from the anthology itself, she adds, “but also including their own poetry. While poets were not asked to read work that responds directly to recent news/events, it is possible that they will share that kind of work (if sharing their own). The Story Stitchers spoken word artists will be performing an original piece.”
Additionally, Craft Alliance and Maryville University are collaboratively working on a visual arts response, with details available at the Poetry Center’s dedicated page for Bullets Into Bells.
Quick notes that, “Obviously the impact of gun violence is different in each community. While recent news/events like Parkland are horribly tragic and have rightly galvanized many around this issue, it is important to address how gun violence impacts our St. Louis community specifically. There are many organizations doing great work around this, including Story Stitchers, Sibling Support Network, Washington University's Gun Violence Initiative, and on. We invited many of these groups and advocates to participate, to be sure their voices were included in the conversation.”
Poets involved Dana Levin, Aaron Coleman, Mary Jo Bang, Cheeraz Gormon, and St. Louis Story Stitchers. Scheduled Community Advocates in attendance will include: Missouri State Rep. Stacey Newman, Dr. Laurie Punch, Moms Demand Action, and Sibling Support Network. The event, slated for 7:30-9:30, is free; The Stage is located 3524 Washington, in the heart of Grand Center.
