The Nick Virgilio Writers House reopening went wonderfully, with guests joining us in person at our backyard garden and virtually to listen to Rocky Wilson read his poetry and watch Hifsa Ashraf join us over Zoom from Rawalpindi, Pakistan. The mood was joyous, as for many of us it was the first time gathering in a group since the pandemic began. Open Mic participants were outstanding both at the Writers House and from all around the world. We were even joined by a poet from Camden, London in the Zoom portion of the open mic, which was an outstanding connection of our two Camdens!

Winners of our annual student haiku contest in partnership with the Haiku Society of America will be announced in early May. Watch this space to find out more!

The next live event we have coming up is our annual graveside celebration of Nick Virgilio’s birthday on Sunday, June 27th, 2pm, at Harleigh Cemetery on the other side of Camden, NJ. We will read Virgilio’s poems together and our own poems in the open mic. Afterwards we will have a special gathering to unveil our brand new mural at the Writers House! Many thanks to Danielle Cartier, our mural artist, and Jack O’Byrne for the grant that made this possible. We’re so excited to adorn the side of our writers house with Danielle’s beautiful artwork commemorating Nick Virgilio and his Lily haiku.

Danielle Cartier is an artist with a studio at Camden Fireworks down the street from the Nick Virgilio Writers House.