Axe ’Em, Jacks!
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – A poetry reading by Nacogdoches’ prize-winning poets Judith and Ken Lauter will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.
“Rembrandt and Vermeer – Two Dutch Painters as Seen by Two Nacogdoches Poets” will feature the Lauters reading from their books combining poems and paintings. Ken's book is “Vermeer in Words,” and Judith's is “Light from the Left; poems on paintings by Rembrandt.” Each poem will be accompanied by a full-size color slide of the painting it describes.
“This format lets the two forms of art engage in a dialogue, each speaking to the other,” Judith explained. “The poems celebrate the beauty and artistic genius of these beloved paintings, and they also explore the personal, political and social context of the turbulent times in which they were created.”
A book signing will follow the reading and slideshow.
The Lauters have visited the Netherlands a number of times, and their love for the country, its culture and the spectacular work of the painters of the Dutch Golden Age is fully evident in the poems they will read at The Cole Art Center.
Judith is a neuroscientist, poet and photographer who recently retired from Stephen F. Austin State University after serving more than a decade as the director of the SFA Human Neuroscience Laboratory, capping off a 30-year career as a university professor and researcher. She has published nine volumes of images and poetry, and her books are available both online and from a number of special-interest bookstores and art museums in Texas (Nacogdoches, Lufkin, Longview, Corpus Christi) and New Mexico. Information about her books is available on Amazon, and on her website, judithlauter.com.
Ken has been a university professor of English and creative writing, a university administrator, a mayor's aide (in St. Louis, Missouri), and a grass-roots environmental activist. He has published 12 volumes of poetry and also writes essays and plays. His books are available online at Amazon. Additional information about his other writings can be found at kenlauter.com.
“Anyone interested in poetry and/or painting, particularly classical painting, will be enlightened by this event,” said John Handley, director of art galleries at SFA.
Admission is free, and refreshments will be served. For more information, call The Cole Art Center at (936) 468-1131.