I grew up in Riverside, and my memories are of the library, reading Mark Twain. And so I wouldn’t miss the opportunity of returning there, but this time to hear poetry. It was billed as “By the river — Poetry & Prose” and sponsored by Urban Farmhouse Press and Cranberry Tree Press, both companies based in Windsor. Readers included Rosalind Knight (That Summer at the Mettawas and Songs of Zambia), Christian Laforet (The Space Between Houses), Denis Robillard (The History of Water), and co-publishers Lenore Langs and Laurie Smith (The Truth abouth Roller Skating; smack in the middle of spotlit obvious (Urban Farmhouse Press, 2016). Laurie Smith read a brilliant poem about Jeffrey Dammer, also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, an American serial killer and sex offender. It was a haunting and perfectly written piece, and it silenced the room. Rosalind Knight read some amazing work from her experiences on a trip to Zambia. Denis Robillard and Christian Laforet began the evening to a packed house. Robillard is quickly developing a reputation as a formidable poet in this city, and now his work is published with Cranberry Tree Press. These are my photographs of the night.

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