A native of NYC and Hunter College graduate, Joan Murray was a long time Buffalo resident before moving to the Albany area. Her five books of poems frequently feature Buffalo settings especially her Queen of the Mist which is narrated by the first woman to survive Niagara Falls. Her most recent book, Swimming for the Ark, New and Selected Poems 1990 - 2015 is published by White Pine Press. Former Poet Laureate Billy Collins praises her poems which he says are "graced with an intensity of observation and a deep affection for life around her."
A Kenmore native, Janet McNally is a graduate of Canisius College with a Masters in Creative Writing from Notre Dame. Some Girls, her first book of poems, won the White Pine Press Poetry Prize. Ellen Bass says "Some Girls is full of stranger and lovely images, quirky humor and an uncanny insight into classic myths and fairy tales that reveals these stories to be as true and revelatory as ever." She teaches Creative Writing at Canisius College and lives in Buffalo with her husband and three daughters.
This reading is free and open to the public.