Academics
 

Writer-in-Residence

Barbara Novack is Writer-in-Residence at Molloy College and also a member of the English department, where she teaches creative writing, advanced creative writing and courses in poetry writing, novel writing and short story writing. A creative presence on campus, she provides class visits, consultation, mentoring and inspiration, reminding all that creativity is a vital part of life.

In addition to her faculty duties, she conducts popular writers’ workshops, presents programs on creative writing, memoir writing and poetry and has given readings of her poetry at various metropolitan area venues. An award-winning writer, she is a member of The Authors Guild and is listed in the Directory of American Poets and Fiction Writers, Who’s Who and Who’s Who of American Women.  Her website is www.barbaranovack.com

Two poems by Barbara Novack:

A RAINBOW IN THE SAND

By the curbside, sand ground fine
stone diminished to its merest particles
gray brown
almost colorless in the city.
And yet, as I step to cross the street,
I see a shimmering rainbow arc
beneath my feet.
I touch it tentatively with my toe.
The sand shimmers and shifts
but holds its magic.

I have been preoccupied this morning
with the day’s troubles
with the mundane
that has ground me fine
like city sand, colorless,
to be trod upon,
and I have trudged,
head down beneath the too-bright light,
lost in dreary thought.
But I have touched my toe, this morning,
in a rainbow.
A reminder, so gentle, so tactfully discreet,
that beauty
and blessings
and even magic
lie at my feet.

SEPTEMBER

The pear tree in the neighbor’s backyard
drops its crop on the driveway
with hard thumps
like baseballs hitting a mitt.
But the pears roll, uncaught.

Once my father climbed to the top of the garage
where the pear tree branches stretch over the peak
and perched there, straddling it, plucking pears
and tossing them down to me. I
caught each neatly,
brown-green balls of sweetness, small and firm,
slapping into my cupped palms
and deposited in a large paper bag at my feet.
The pluck, the toss, the catch, the drop:
we had a good rhythm that sunny September afternoon.
And when the bag was finally full and the game ended,
my father lit his pipe, set it at a jaunty angle,
and sat secure and serene
up high against the bluest sky.

The pear tree in the neighbor’s backyard
drops its crop on the driveway
with hard thumps:
the pears roll, uncaught.

I stand at the kitchen window
and stare out at the branches
so high against
the emptiest sky.

Poetry Events and Author Afternoons

As Writer-in-Residence, Barbara Novack co-founded with the English department and hosts Poetry Events at Molloy College and Author Afternoons at Molloy College, two reading series that bring contemporary poets and writers to a wider audience.  Poetry Events at Molloy College Spring 2012 season:

 
Date: Sunday, March 18 at 3 p.m., featured poet Jack Anderson, with additional poetry reading by Mario Susko and an open reading.
Location: Multipurpose Room, Wilbur Arts Center. Free. Open to the public. No reservation necessary.

Jack Anderson is the author of ten books of poetry and seven books on dance. He writes on dance for The New York Times, New York Theatre Wire and Dancing Times (London). Mr. Anderson's poems have appeared in numerous anthologies. One of his prose poems provided the title for the anthology the party Train. He was a visiting writer at the University of Kansas and at the College of DuPage in Illinois and has received both a National Endowment for the Arts creative writing Fellowship and a National Endowment literary award.

Mario Susko, survivor of the war in Bosnia, has lived in the U.S. since 1993. He teaches at Nassau Community College and has edited and translated many major American writers. Dr. Susko is author of thirty poetry collections and his work has appeared nationally and internationally in literary journals and anthologies.

Jack Anderson is the author of ten books of poetry and seven books on dance. He writes on dance for The New York Times, New York Theatre Wire and Dancing Times (London). Mr. Anderson's poems have appeared in numerous anthologies; one of his prose poems provided the title for the anthology the party Train. He was a visiting writer at the University of Kansas and at the College of DuPage in Illinois and has received both a National Endowment for the Arts creative writing Fellowship and a National Endowment literary award.

Mario Susko, survivor of the war in Bosnia, has lived in the U.S. since 1993. He teaches at Nassau Community College and has edited and translated many major American writers. Dr. Susko is author of thirty poetry collections and his work has appeared nationally and internationally in literary journals and anthologies.

Date: Sunday, May 6 at 3 p.m.: Featured poet Muriel Harris Weinstein, plus original songs performed by Valerie Griggs and an open reading. This event is free. Open to the public. No reservation necessary.
Location: Multipurpose Room, Wilbur Arts Center.

Muriel Harris Weinstein's poems have appeared in literary journals and anthologies. In addition to being an award-winning poet, she is an award-winning children's book author. Her children's picture book When Louis Armstrong Taught Me to Scat, written in poetry, scat, bebop and other rhythmic forms, won the National Junior Library guild award. Her jazz-inflected children's chapter book Play Louis Play was nominated for the biggest state award in the country, the Texas Blue Bonnet Award.

Valerie Griggs, a member of Molloy College's Writing Center and the English Department, has published over thirty poems in literary journals, articles in magazines, and has written a week of meditations for The Upper Room's annual devotional book Disciplines. Having turned to song writing in recent years, she has recorded two CDs of her original music. 

Poetry events are free, open to the public and are held in the Multipurpose Room of Wilbur Arts Center on Molloy College’s Rockville Centre campus.

Responses to events
“...a warm and nurturing atmosphere ... “
“...a cross-section of talent ...”
“... a diversity of voices...”
“Consistent with its commitment to public service, Molloy College, a wonderful venue, showcases and nurtures our local poets and writers.”
“These readings are inspiring and entertaining and open up poetry to the general public.”
“Without poetry, so much is denied to a community, although it may not always be missed. Events like this prevent loss of the soul.”
“Long may these gatherings prevail!”