Wayne Reads finale is Sunday
By From staff reports
Published in News on April 28, 2016 1:46 PM
As the finale of a month-long poetry celebration, Wayne County Reads will set off the fireworks as Sunday in the Park presents the "Passionate for Poetry Festival" at Herman Park on Sunday, May 1, from 1 to 5 p.m.
If it rains, the event will be held in the Herman Park Center.
Children and adults as well are invited to join in the activities, which will include "Poetry and Origami" and a "Seuss and Goose" scavenger hunt, both presented by the Goldsboro Writers Group. The Park House porch will feature "The Sound of Poetry."
Also, there will be a writing workshop about memories, and "The Young Woman in the Shoe." Children's art and poetry activities will be held beside the playground.
The headliner at the gazebo stage will be Allan Wolf of Asheville, a former member of the Dead Poets band and a full-time poet and performer for North Carolina schools and community events. He is the author of five books of poetry.
"Mother Goose" will act as mistress of ceremonies, while Goldsboro Writers Group members will roam the park costumed as such poets and characters as Emily Dickinson, The Mad Hatter and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star."
Performances will run all afternoon on the gazebo stage, including African drummer Ayinde Hurrey, bluesman Donald Thompson, songwriter Needham Park, storyteller Priscilla Best, Goldsboro School of Ballet dancers, David Weil's "What's My Line?" poetry quiz and more.
The Wayne County Arts Council will provide a hula hoop lady and vendors with food and drink as part of their usual Sunday in the Park event.
The Wayne County Public Library will exhibit poetry in art with works by local teenage artists.
Goldsboro Parks and Recreation staff will staff and direct the festival set up and clean up.
Now in its 13th year, Wayne County Reads selects one book a year as a community reading project. The series has featured prose, both fiction and non-fiction.
This year's book, "Poetry 180," edited by former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins, is the first selection about poetry and will be available for sale at the festival's welcome table. Pamphlets about statewide poetry organizations and books by guest musician Allan Wolf also will be offered.
For more information, call the Wayne County Public Library at 919-735-1824, or visit the library's website.