UPCOMING & PAST EVENTS

March 27, 2010 at 2:00 PM
Linda Nemec Foster reads from and discusses her new book, Talking Diamonds, at the East Grand Rapids Library, 746 Lakeside Dr. SE, East Grand Rapids, MI  49506.  For more info, contact Dawn Lewis at DDLewis@kdl.org.

February-March, 2010
Poetry workshops for students inspired by the Michele Oka Doner Exhibit at the Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI.  For more information, contact Heidi Holst at (616) 974-5225 or at hholst@meijergardens.org.

January 9, 2010 from 2:30 PM-4:30 PM
Poetry reading and panel discussion on the theme, The Immigrant Experience in Poetry, for the annual meeting of the American Historical Association, San Diego Marriott Hotel, San Diego, CA.

November 19, 2009 at 7:00 PM
Literary Life Bookstore, 758 Wealthy St., Grand Rapids, MI.
Book launch party to celebrate the publication of Linda Nemec Foster's new book of poems, Talking Diamonds.  Foster will do a reading and book signing.  Reception will follow with music, light refreshments, wine, coffee/tea. 
For more info, contact Gina Gort at gina@literarylifebookstore.com or (616) 458-8418.

November 12, 2009
Full-day poetry colloquium on Women, Poetry, and Faith sponsored by Loyola University in Chicago. Linda Nemec Foster will participate in poetry readings, panel discussions, and a seminar to discuss the themes of faith, creativity, and poetry.  For more information, contact Rachel Hart Winter at rhart@luc.edu or (773) 508-3820.

Author Update
Linda Nemec Foster has been contracted to be Poet-in-Residence for the Forest Hills Public School District for the spring semester of 2009. Foster will conduct poetry workshops and class presentations in a number of the district's schools from January to April, 2009.

March 20, 2009 -- 7:00 PM
Linda Nemec Foster will give a unique poetry reading inspired by visual art complete with a Power Point presentation that features the particular art pieces. This reading is part of the Friday Arts Forum at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, 101 Monroe Center, Grand Rapids, Michigan. For more info, call Jean Boot at (616) 831-2930.

Nov. 11, 2008--7:00 PM
Poetry reading (with other area poets) in conjunction with the Jaume Plensa exhibit at Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park. For more info contact Heidi Holst at (616) 974-5225 or hholst@meijergardens.org

Nov. 13, 2008--9:00 AM--11:00 AM
Poetry workshop for area middle school students at the Calvin College Middle School Writers Workshop. For more info contact Nancy Hull at (616) 526-6264 or kao5@calvin.edu

Nov. 20, 2008--7:00 PM
Poetry reading (with Jack Ridl) to celebrate the publication of Ten Songs from Bulgaria, at Schuler Books and Music, 28th Street location. For more info contact Emily Stavrou at (616) 942-7330
ext. 305 or emily@schulerbooks.com

Tuesday, April 22 at 7:00 PM
Reading for the anthology, Fresh Water (Michigan State University Press) with other contributors (Alison Swan, Jackie Bartley, Lisa Lenzo, Gail Griffin). Herrick District Library, 300 S. River Ave., Holland, Michigan. For more info, call the library at (616) 355-3100.

Saturday, April 19 at 1:45 PM
Poetry reading at the Festival of Faith and Writing, Calvin College, Prince Conference Center Board Room, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Foster is one of 15 poets invited to read at this national conference; there are other writers from other genres scheduled to present. A book-signing follows her reading.

Other poets and writers include Mary Gordon, Paul Mariani, Rod Jellema, Mary Karr, and Franz Wright. For more info contact Festival Director Shelly LeMahieu Dunn at (616) 526-8720 or mld5@calvin.edu.  The entire Festival web site can be accessed at http://www.calvin.edu/festival.

February 27, 2008 
Poetry workshop for literacy teachers at 6:00 PM-7:30 PM, Grand Rapids Public Library, VanderVeen Center for the Book--4th floor, Grand Rapids, Michigan.  For more info contact Shay Kraley at (616) 459-5151 ext. 13 or skraley@kentliteracy.org

February 14, 2008
Craft lecture and discussion at 10:00 AM-10:45 AM; poetry reading at 2:00 PM-2:45 PM at Kalamazoo Valley Community College, Kalamazoo, Michigan.  For more info contact Rob Haight at (269) 488-4452 or RHAIGHT@kvcc.edu

January 5, 2008 
Poetry reading at the Embassy of Poland, Washington, DC as part of the annual conference of the American Historical Association.  Foster was also presented with the 2008 International Creative Arts Award by the Polish American Historical Association at a gala awards banquet at the Embassy.  For more info contact Dr. Anna D. Jaroszynska-Kirchmann at kirchmanna@easternct.edu

F ebruary 28, 2007  12:30 PM--2:00 PM
Linda Nemec Foster and Dianne Carroll Burdick present their book, Listen to the Landscape, for the Grand Forum at Grand Valley State University, Eberhard Center, Room 215, 301 W. Fulton St., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49504.  For more information, contact July Palmer at (616) 331-6615 or at palmerju@gvsu.edu

March 7, 2007  7:00 PM
Linda Nemec Foster and other writers included in the award-winning anthology, Fresh Water, read their selections for the VanderVeen Center for the Book at the Grand Rapids Public Library, Ryerson Auditorium, 111 Library St. NE, Grand Rapids, MI  49503.  For more information, contact Chris Byron at (616) 988-5402, ext. 5497.

March 8, 2007  7:00 PM
Linda Nemec Foster reads from her book, Listen to the Landscape, and discusses the dimensions of poetry that reflects on nature at the Catholic Information Center, 246 Ionia NW, Grand Rapids, MI  49503.  For more information, contact Mary Vaccaro at (616) 459-7267 or at mvaccaro@catholicinformationcenter.org

March 11, 2007  1:30 PM 
Linda Nemec Foster reads from her recent poetry collections in celebration of Women's History Month at the Grandville Barnes & Noble in the Rivertown Crossings Mall.  For more information, contact Linda Arnold Schuhardt at (616) 531-5875 or at crm2008@bn.com

March 25, 2007   2:00 PM
Linda Nemec Foster reads her poetry for the Metro Detroit Writers' Downtown Literary Series at The Scarab Club, 217 E. Farnsworth, Detroit, MI.  For more information, contact Series Director M.L. Liebler at (313) 577-7713 or at MLLiebler@aol.com

March 28, 2007  12:00 PM
Linda Nemec Foster and other writers included in the award-winning anthology, Fresh Water, read their selections at the University of Michigan, Institute for Research on Women and Gender.  For more information, contact Alison Swan at a_swan@sbcglobal.net

September 17, 2006 12:00-3:00 PM
Fountain Street Church's Keeler Gallery, "The Good Earth" exhibit: Dianne Carroll Burdick, photography; Linda Nemec Foster, poetry; reception and book signing for Listen to the Landscape.

September 24, 2006 4:00-5:00 PM
Summer Writers Series at Till Midnight Cafe. Linda Nemec Foster reads from the new book, Listen to the Landscape, and other poetry collections.

September 10, 2006 2:00-4:00 PM
Lowell Area Arts Council reception for InnerScapes, an art/writing exhibit juried by Poet Linda Nemec Foster and Artist Dianne Carroll Burdick. Book signing for Listen to the Landscape. Lowell Area Arts Council, 149 South Hudson, Lowell, MI 49331.

August 4, 2006 at 6:30 PM Linda Nemec Foster reads her poetry at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. 

May 19, 2006 at 2:00 PM-4:30 PM Linda Nemec Foster reads with other Michigan poets at the Ludington Poetry Festival in Ludington, Michigan.  For more info, go to the festival website at www.ludingtonwriters.com

April 13, 2006 at 7:00 PM Linda Nemec Foster reads her poetry for Voices in Verses at the Grand Rapids Public Museum.

April 11, 2006 at 7:00 PM Linda Nemec Foster reads with Miriam Pederson and Sue William Silverman in celebration of National Poetry Month at Schuler Books in Kentwood, Michigan.

March 23, 2006 at 6:30 PM Linda Nemec Foster reads her poetry for the Catholic Social Services of Grand Rapids 60th Anniversary Celebration at the Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

March 22, 2006 at 7:00 PM  Linda Nemec Foster reads her poetry in celebration of Women's History Month at Grand Rapids Community College Library, second floor. 

June 2005
Linda Nemec Foster in Poland

In June, 2005 Linda Nemec Foster was the cultural representative for the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan in an official Sister City delegation that visited Bielsko-Biala, Poland.

Grand Rapids City Commissioner Robert Dean and Grand Rapids Poet Laureate Linda Nemec Foster at Town Hall in Bielsko-Biala, Poland participating in the Sister City Delegation in June 2005

The city in southern Poland is one of four places that has developed close ties with Grand Rapids in the Sister Cities International Organization. (The other three are in Japan, Italy, and the Ga District in Africa).

More than twenty people comprised the delegation that included Grand Rapids mayor George Heartwell and his wife Susan, City Commissioner Robert Dean, Aquinas College President Harry Knopke and his wife Sheila, and various professors, scholars, and translators. As the first poet laureate of Grand Rapids, Foster had specific duties during the trip that included meeting with university professors to develop a college exchange program and talks with secondary school educators to discuss the possibilities of a high school exchange program.

Barbara Rylko-Bauer, Grand Rapids Poet Laureate Linda Nemec Foster and Urszula Kassel at Mayor's Reception in Bielsko-Biala, Poland  in June 2005

Her main goal was to develop relationships with prominent Polish poets and writers to explore the creation of a program in which these authors would be writers-in-residence at Aquinas College's Contemporary Writers Series. With that goal in mind, she had a personal meeting with Adam Zagajewski, one of Poland's most significant poets and writers. He was very interested in the Contemporary Writers Series and the residency program that would be connected with it. Foster is hoping that this cultural connection with Poland and Grand Rapids will be a reality in five years. In the meantime, she feels this trip was instrumental in starting the process.

Friday, May 7-14, 2005
Grand Rapids, Michigan, poet Linda Nemec Foster will appear on the nationwide broadcast of the public radio literary program New Letters on the Air.  Foster, the first Poet Laureate of Grand Rapids, Michigan, talks about her books of poetry, including her most recent, Amber Necklace from Gdansk. The program will be available on the public radio satellite on April 27, 2005, and can also be heard on the program’s website www.newletters.org. May 4-17.

Click here to read full press release

Friday, February 4, 2005 from 6:00 PM
Grand Rapids Poet Laureate Linda Nemec Foster is doing a poetry reading and presentation at the Grand Rapids Art Museum on Friday, February 4 from 6:00 PM to 6:30 PM in the Museum's Cook Auditorium (second floor).  The reading is from work that was specifically inspired by the visual arts and will include a slide presentation of those pieces.  A question and answer period and book signing will follow.  This event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, November 4 at 1:00 PM,
Linda Nemec Foster gives a reading from her new work at University of Michigan-Dearborn.

Thursday, October 28 at 1:00 PM
Linda Nemec Foster presents her poetry at Thornapple Evangelical Covenant Church, 6595 Cascade Road, Ada, Michigan. Her work will be presented in the context of Woman as Immigrant.

Friday, October 22 at 7:00 PM
Linda Nemec Foster is the featured poet at the Writers Place in Kansas City, Missouri.

Friday and Saturday, October 15 and 16
Linda Nemec Foster critiques poetry manuscripts and conducts a poetry session at the Detroit Working Writers Conference at Schoolcraft College, 18600 Haggerty Road, Livonia, Michigan 48152.

Saturday, October 9 at 4:00 PM
Linda Nemec Foster reads from her critically acclaimed book, Amber Necklace From Gdansk, at the Hamtramck Public Library in celebration of Polish Heritage Month.

Wednesday, September 29 at 7:00 PM
Linda Nemec Foster will be reading poems inspired by visual art for a special exhibit at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, 1516 South Cranbrook Road, Birmingham, Michigan 48009.

Monday, June 14, 2004 at 6-8 PM.
at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts
Linda Nemec Foster will read a new poem especially written to celebrate the 35th anniversary of La Grande Vitesse, Alexander Calder's magnificent public sculpture that has graced the Grand Rapids' City Hall Plaza since 1969. The sculpture was the first public arts project to be funded by the National Endowment for the Arts.

Thursday, June 10 at 7:00 PM
Linda Nemec Foster reads her poetry in celebration of Grand Rapids' neighborhoods. The program," We Sing the City Electric: Poetry from the Neighborhoods," is sponsored by the Grand Rapids Humanities Council. The reading takes place at the Grand Rapids Public Library, 111 Library Street, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Saturday, May 22 at 7:00 PM
Linda Nemec Foster is the featured poet at the 7th Annual Theodore Roethke Poetry Festival. Reading takes place at the Anderson Enrichment Center, 120 Ezra Rust Drive, Saginaw, Michigan.

Wednesday, April 14 at 4:00 PM
Linda Nemec Foster will present a talk entitled "Publish or Perish: How Poems are Created, Written, and Published." Vandenberg Center for the Book Arts, Grand Rapids Public Library, Main Branch, 111 Library St NE, Grand Rapids, MI.

Friday, March 26 at 4:30 PM
Linda Nemec Foster will moderate and participate in a panel discussion celebrating the poetry of Lisel Mueller, Pulitzer Prize Winner. Associated Writing Programs Annual Conference, Palmer House Hilton Hotel, Chicago, IL.

Thursday, March 18 at 7:00 PM
Linda Nemec Foster presents a poetry reading and discussion of all six of her published books. Peninsula Writers March event. Schuler Books and Music, 2660 28th Street, Grand Rapids, MI.

Friday, January 23, 2004 at 7:30 PM.
Poetry reading and book signing for Amber Necklace from Gdansk.
Michigan State University,
Main Library, North Conference Room

Tuesday, December 30, 2003 at 2:00 PM
Poet Laureate Linda Nemec Foster reads a poem specifically written for the inauguration of the new mayor, George Heartwell.
Grand Rapids City Hall, 9th floor, City Commissioners Conference Room.

October 23, 2003
Poetry reading and book signing for Amber Necklace from Gdansk
Shaman Drum Bookstore, Ann Arbor, MI, 8:00 PM.

Sunday, March 30 at 2:00 PM
Poetry reading in celebration of Women's History Month - Fenton Public Library.
Fenton, Michigan.

July 28, 2003
Poetry workshop based on visual art, Franciscan Center,  Lowell, MI, 7:00 PM.

May 18, 2003
Poetry reading at Grand Rapids Public Library, 2:30 PM

May 8, 2003
Celebration of poetry and contest winners in Grand Rapids Writing
Competition, Grand Rapids Public Library, 7:00 PM.

April 25, 2003
Poetry Workshops for area high school students, Calvin College,
9:00 AM to 11:00 AM.

April 24, 2003
Poetry reading at the Women's City Club, Grand Rapids, Michigan,
11:00 AM.

April 21, 2003
Poetry reading in celebration of the opening of the new Grand Rapids Public Library, 10:00 AM.

April 16, 2003
Creative Writing Seminars at East Grand Rapids Middle School, all day sessions.

March 27, 2003
Creative Writing Workshops at East Grand Rapids High School, 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM.

Tuesday, March 18, 2003 at 7:00 PM
Poetry reading on the subject of Woman as Immigrant, Aquinas College, Wege Student Center, Loutit Room.  Grand Rapids, Michigan