Watch Strays on Stage: Full Video

Julianne Neely and Rachelle Toarmino Live in Conversation; Recorded Reading by Mary Ruefle

On Saturday June 26, 2021, Foundlings Press launched Strays Pack 4 at the North Park Theatre in Buffalo, New York.

The event featured live readings and conversation from poets Julianne Neely and Rachelle Toarmino, plus a surprise recorded performance by Strays 4 packmate Mary Ruefle.

All three poets read from their Strays chapbooks (available for purchase here). Seated on the North Park’s historic stage and beneath the theatre’s golden dome, Neely and Toarmino also discussed each other’s work, the sonnet form and “broken sonnets,” repetition and punctuation, influences, “confessional” poetry, readings and misreadings of contemporary women poets, MFA and PhD programs and workshops, and their experiences reading and studying with Mary Ruefle.

Watch here:

Note: Reading starts at 8:59. Aidan’s introduction and Rachelle’s reading are difficult to hear due to mic placement and acoustics issues. Audio quality picks up during Julie’s reading; the discussion and Mary’s reading are entirely audible.

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