Join Toussaint St Negritude and Uncle Erok for an evening of lively poetry, printing and conversation. Toussaint and Erok will share poems on the topic of art and liberation, followed by group discussion and sharing on the theme. Please bring a poem to share if you feel inspired! 

We'll also be printing! Hard-Presssed Community Printshop members will share about the letter press and will have a broadsheet set up that folks can print to take home featuring words by Toussaint and art by Erok.  

Suggested donation $10-$20. No one turned away for lack of funds.

Toussaint St Negritude is the author of the collection of poems "Mountain Spells" [Rootstock Publishing 2024], former Poet Laureate of Belfast, Maine, and 2024 Nominee for the Poet Laureate of Vermont, poet, bass clarinetist, and composer Toussaint St. Negritude conjures whole liberations in full tempo. US Poet Laureate Gwendolyn Brooks described his work as "full of sweet sounds and surprises." Originally from San Francisco, Toussaint has lived and broadly thrived across the African Diaspora, from the sacred mountains of Haiti to the Coltrane District of North Philadelphia. He, along with bassist Gahlord Dewald, is the leader of the band Jaguar Stereo!,  a free-form ensemble of his own poetry and improvisational jazz, and his works have been widely published and recorded for over 40 years. On an alpine sanctuary facing east, Toussaint St. Negritude continues to thrive in the farthest elevations of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom.

Uncle Erok (he/him/they/them) is a local artist, activist and poet who strives to create work that inspires joy, wonder, deep connection and liberation. From large-scale murals, banners, flags and protest signs to astrological woodcuts, freestyle poetry and upcycled clothing, Erok offers a big and tiny array of artwork.