How Many Ways to Poetry? (Book Talk & Reading)

Help OLLI celebrate National Poetry Month!

How Many Ways to Poetry? (Book Talk & Reading)

Tuesday, April 14, 2026 5:00 p.m. Eastern
In-person at BCC
and via Zoom
Free and open to the public.

Join Lisken Van Pelt Dus as she discusses how poetry comes to be written, with examples from her publications. She will read from her newest book, How Many Hands to Home (Mayapple Press 2025), as well as from earlier collections, sharing insights into the genesis of the work along the way. The event will last for one hour, including an opportunity for the audience to ask questions and to participate in a short writing experience. Books will be available for purchase and light snacks will be provided. 

Lisken Van Pelt Dus is the author of two full-length collections of poems, How Many Hands to Home (Mayapple Press 2025) and What We’re Made Of (Cherry Grove 2016), as well as two chapbooks, Letters to My Dead and Everywhere at Once. She was raised in England, the US, and Mexico, and now lives with her husband in Pittsfield, where she teaches Spanish at Berkshire Community College, martial arts at Elm Street Martial Arts, and poetry privately. Her work has received multiple honors and can be found in many anthologies, e-zines and journals such as Naugatuck River Review, Cider Press Review, and Sky Island Review.

Note: If you are coming in-person and are also planning to attend the OLLI evening lecture with Tom Gerety, you are welcome to stay in the same room at BCC for a viewing party, and to bring your dinner!

OLLI at BCC is sponsored in part by Berkshire Health Systems