Curt Curtin and his wife, Dee O’Connor, will read from his latest collection, So Much Depends On Where You Live, which is both playful and deeply serious. Targeted to young readers in their teens and tweens, the collection includes the “wit, inventive rhyme schemes, and fun wordplay” that characterized his previous collection for younger children, but this new work includes challenging subject matter more appropriate for older children. The opening section entices the reader with images of home, presenting warm memories in a diversity of settings ranging from a nine-story apartment to a mud hut in the Sahel. The second section moves the reader inward through metaphors of closets and themes of loss, bullying, domestic violence and foster care. The final section zooms out to take in the universe, lightening the mood again with images from earth and beyond. 

A brief open mic will start at 2 p.m. followed by the featured reading. Copies of the book will be available for purchase. A bilingual selection of the poems (Spanish and English) is currently in development for distribution within schools and other settings. Teen and pre-teen readers are highly encouraged to attend.

For more information or to reserve a seat or sign up for the open mic (space is limited), call 508-949-6232 or email deb@bookloversgourmet.com.

Curtin has won several awards for poetry including the Worcester County Poetry Association’s Frank O’Hara Award (2010) and the Connecticut Poetry Society’s annual contest (2019). He has twice been named a Pushcart Prize nominee. His poetry has been published in a variety of journals and anthologies, three chapbooks and three other full-length poetry collections.

For more information about the author, visit curtcurtinpoet.com