Book Launch Event
Saturday, April 18, 2026
Event 2-4 p.m.
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Help us celebrate the release of the poetry collection Words at Play at the Wilton Public Library, located at 137 Old Ridgefield Road in Wilton, Connecticut. Hosted by editor Edward Ahern, come join the poets as they read from their collection and invite discussion of their poetry.
Free to attend. They will be raffling off several copies of the collection, and in addition to poets from the anthology reading their work, there will also be an open mic.
Print: $9.00 ~ Kindle: $4.00
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Buy a great book and
support great community endeavors!
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Advance Praise for Words at Play
“Words at Play is a volume marked by profound tensions—celestial to earthy, other to self, light to heavy, formal to free, certainty to doubt—embraced by a love of nature and man, all within forty pages… a treasury of verse.”
—Emerson Gilmore, former President of The Connecticut Poetry Society
—Emerson Gilmore, former President of The Connecticut Poetry Society
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“Showcasing a range of local voices, Words at Play offers poems from the comic to the spiritual. Many call on nature's solace, long for peace in the face of aging and loss, or express simple joys like winning at Scrabble or sharing a daily routine with a spouse. There's something here for everyone.”
—Laurel S. Peterson, Poet Laureate Emeritus of Norwalk, Connecticut
—Laurel S. Peterson, Poet Laureate Emeritus of Norwalk, Connecticut
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“In Words at Play, a diverse group of Connecticut writers have produced a variety of entertaining and thought-provoking poems. I highly recommend this anthology to lovers of verse; in its pages, there's a poem to please every discerning reader.”
—Alison McBain, award-winning poet
—Alison McBain, award-winning poet
About Words at Play
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Poetry is a labor of love, and sharing poetry is a gesture of affection for its readers and listeners. The Connecticut Poetry Society’s Wilton workshop goes back at least thirty years, starting in a Borders bookshop. The bookshop threw the group out as too disruptive discussing poetry and politics, and it migrated through Barnes & Noble, Fairfield University, and for many years now, the Wilton Library. This little book, compiled from fifteen Connecticut poets, lets readers listen in on our rowdy sessions. You’ll have to imagine the banter and byplay, but the poems express their emotions pretty well.
There have been four moderators--Guss Stepp, Sherman Poultney, Ray Rauth, and Ed Ahern--and hundreds of members, many of whom went on to publish their own poetry books. The group meets in person at the Wilton Library from 2-4 p.m. on the third Saturday of every month. Feel free to join us. |
POETS
Ed Ahern resumed writing after forty-odd years in foreign intelligence and international sales. He’s had over 600 stories and poems published so far, and twelve books. He works the other side of writing at Bewildering Stories, where he squats on the review board, and at ScribesMICRO, where he’s the idle figurehead.
Sadiqua Asad: There are two things that I try in life and enjoy trying. One of them is of course poetry which the Wilton poetry group has given me a fertile soil for. The other is Chemistry which I teach at Wilton High School. I always find joy in seeking the chemistry of words in poetry and the poetry of natural laws that govern chemistry.
Adele Evershed is a Welsh writer who swapped the Valleys for the American East Coast. Her work has appeared in Poetry Wales, Comstock Review, Modern Haiku, Avalon Literary Review, Black Bough Poetry and Flashflood. She is the author of Turbulence in Small Spaces (Finishing Line Press) and has a forthcoming poetry collection, In the Belly of the Wail, with Querencia Press. She has published three novellas-in-flash--Wannabe and Schooled (Alien Buddha Press), and A History of Hand Thrown Walls (Unsolicited Press). Her short story collection, Suffer/Rage, was released by Dark Myth Publications.
Alicia Gignoux spends time in Wilton from time to time. She has enjoyed sharing poems and listening to the poems that the Connecticut folks bring to the library.
Francie Grace has been a writer since birth and remembers as a young girl viewing as rivals the authors depicted in a literary deck of cards. Francie is best known as a journalist who had a very long run at CBS News. She has many creative pursuits including poetry, screenwriting, songwriting, and art (franciegraceart.com).
Edward Kabak is a semi-retired lawyer, poet, parodist, and purported polymath. His poetry has been published before under the pseudonym Edward Kahn in the New York Times op-ed page titled “The House that George Built.” He’s also performed at public forums including presenting humorous reviews of legal events each year at a major national marketing and law conference. Among other performances, he has crafted and performed praise poems at private parties. His first book, Provocations, Parodies, and Poetry in the Moment will be published in early 2026. Kabak is a graduate of Columbia College and a cum laude graduate of Columbia Law School.
Pam Klem lives in Wilton, CT with her husband Tom and her dog Lester. She is a longtime reader of poetry, and recently returned to writing it after a decades-long hiatus. Her poems have appeared in Thimble Literary Magazine and an upcoming anthology by Orenaug Mountain Publishers.
Janet Krauss retired after thirty-nine years of teaching English at Fairfield University. She continues to mentor students, lead a poetry discussion at the Wilton Library, and participate in the CT Poetry Society Workshop and other poetry groups. She co-leads the Poetry Program of the Black Rock Art Guild. She has two books of poetry: Borrowed Scenery (Yuganta Press) and Through the Trees of Autumn (Spartina Press). Many of her poems have been published in Amethyst Literary Journal and her haikus in Cold Moon Journal.
Dearta Logu Fusaro’s earliest memory is the stain of a typewriter ribbon—ink bleeding red into black across her six-year-old fingers. Though the subject of that first assisted poem is lost to time, she kept the pride of it for herself. Decades later, she remains a lifelong amateur in the truest sense: one forever enamored with the music of verse. Today, she finds a creative home among the patient members of the Connecticut Poetry Society, who continue to nurture her craft. And recently published her first book title, The Illyrian Way, a travel memoir describing her long-distance hike along the western Balkans.
Wayne Lysobey started writing short stories around 2010 and turned more towards poetry a few years after that. Interests include rowing, fishing, skiing, chess, cooking and (of course) writing.
Ray Rauth: for years he searched for his poetic voice. He never found it. But as the decade-long leader of the Wilton Poetry Workshop, he helped scads of others find theirs.
Christopher Seep scatters words on a fallow page, hoping to grow a poem.
Marsha Temlock is the author of Your Child’s Divorce: What to Expect… What You Can Do, The Exile, a young adult novel, and Tuesday’s Mah Jongg is More Than a Game, a novel. She has appeared on the Today Show and was featured in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Miami Herald, and interviewed on dozens of radio talk shows. She holds a master of arts in English from NYU and a master of arts in organizational psychology from Columbia University. She taught literature and writing at Fairfield University, Sacred Heart University, and Norwalk Community College. Her interests include theater, literature, travel, and (of course) Mah Jongg. Learn more at tuesdaymahjongg.com.
Debra Wagner is a fledgling poet, who recently leapt from the comfort and privacy of the nest, to feel the thrill of the winds beneath her newfound wings.
Marsha Whitman’s career has been spent in music as teacher, choral conductor, arranger, impresario, singer and accompanist. She has always kept journals of everyday experiences and poetry. Holding the Body Back (1st World Publishing, 2020) is her one full length book of poetry. Her work has been published in the anthology Pandemic Puzzle Poems (Blue Light Press). Born (1951) and raised in Norwalk, CT, USA.
D. C. Wilkinson is a novelist, a poet, and a lifelong voyager of inner and outer realms. His literary work centers on his passion for historical tales, portal fantasies, and dreams and visions. He began his career in the Midwest as a student of Language Arts before relocating to the East Coast in his early twenties. A graduate of Columbia University and former New York City public school teacher, he now calls Connecticut his home, where he resides with his spouse and their beloved beagle.
Sadiqua Asad: There are two things that I try in life and enjoy trying. One of them is of course poetry which the Wilton poetry group has given me a fertile soil for. The other is Chemistry which I teach at Wilton High School. I always find joy in seeking the chemistry of words in poetry and the poetry of natural laws that govern chemistry.
Adele Evershed is a Welsh writer who swapped the Valleys for the American East Coast. Her work has appeared in Poetry Wales, Comstock Review, Modern Haiku, Avalon Literary Review, Black Bough Poetry and Flashflood. She is the author of Turbulence in Small Spaces (Finishing Line Press) and has a forthcoming poetry collection, In the Belly of the Wail, with Querencia Press. She has published three novellas-in-flash--Wannabe and Schooled (Alien Buddha Press), and A History of Hand Thrown Walls (Unsolicited Press). Her short story collection, Suffer/Rage, was released by Dark Myth Publications.
Alicia Gignoux spends time in Wilton from time to time. She has enjoyed sharing poems and listening to the poems that the Connecticut folks bring to the library.
Francie Grace has been a writer since birth and remembers as a young girl viewing as rivals the authors depicted in a literary deck of cards. Francie is best known as a journalist who had a very long run at CBS News. She has many creative pursuits including poetry, screenwriting, songwriting, and art (franciegraceart.com).
Edward Kabak is a semi-retired lawyer, poet, parodist, and purported polymath. His poetry has been published before under the pseudonym Edward Kahn in the New York Times op-ed page titled “The House that George Built.” He’s also performed at public forums including presenting humorous reviews of legal events each year at a major national marketing and law conference. Among other performances, he has crafted and performed praise poems at private parties. His first book, Provocations, Parodies, and Poetry in the Moment will be published in early 2026. Kabak is a graduate of Columbia College and a cum laude graduate of Columbia Law School.
Pam Klem lives in Wilton, CT with her husband Tom and her dog Lester. She is a longtime reader of poetry, and recently returned to writing it after a decades-long hiatus. Her poems have appeared in Thimble Literary Magazine and an upcoming anthology by Orenaug Mountain Publishers.
Janet Krauss retired after thirty-nine years of teaching English at Fairfield University. She continues to mentor students, lead a poetry discussion at the Wilton Library, and participate in the CT Poetry Society Workshop and other poetry groups. She co-leads the Poetry Program of the Black Rock Art Guild. She has two books of poetry: Borrowed Scenery (Yuganta Press) and Through the Trees of Autumn (Spartina Press). Many of her poems have been published in Amethyst Literary Journal and her haikus in Cold Moon Journal.
Dearta Logu Fusaro’s earliest memory is the stain of a typewriter ribbon—ink bleeding red into black across her six-year-old fingers. Though the subject of that first assisted poem is lost to time, she kept the pride of it for herself. Decades later, she remains a lifelong amateur in the truest sense: one forever enamored with the music of verse. Today, she finds a creative home among the patient members of the Connecticut Poetry Society, who continue to nurture her craft. And recently published her first book title, The Illyrian Way, a travel memoir describing her long-distance hike along the western Balkans.
Wayne Lysobey started writing short stories around 2010 and turned more towards poetry a few years after that. Interests include rowing, fishing, skiing, chess, cooking and (of course) writing.
Ray Rauth: for years he searched for his poetic voice. He never found it. But as the decade-long leader of the Wilton Poetry Workshop, he helped scads of others find theirs.
Christopher Seep scatters words on a fallow page, hoping to grow a poem.
Marsha Temlock is the author of Your Child’s Divorce: What to Expect… What You Can Do, The Exile, a young adult novel, and Tuesday’s Mah Jongg is More Than a Game, a novel. She has appeared on the Today Show and was featured in the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Miami Herald, and interviewed on dozens of radio talk shows. She holds a master of arts in English from NYU and a master of arts in organizational psychology from Columbia University. She taught literature and writing at Fairfield University, Sacred Heart University, and Norwalk Community College. Her interests include theater, literature, travel, and (of course) Mah Jongg. Learn more at tuesdaymahjongg.com.
Debra Wagner is a fledgling poet, who recently leapt from the comfort and privacy of the nest, to feel the thrill of the winds beneath her newfound wings.
Marsha Whitman’s career has been spent in music as teacher, choral conductor, arranger, impresario, singer and accompanist. She has always kept journals of everyday experiences and poetry. Holding the Body Back (1st World Publishing, 2020) is her one full length book of poetry. Her work has been published in the anthology Pandemic Puzzle Poems (Blue Light Press). Born (1951) and raised in Norwalk, CT, USA.
D. C. Wilkinson is a novelist, a poet, and a lifelong voyager of inner and outer realms. His literary work centers on his passion for historical tales, portal fantasies, and dreams and visions. He began his career in the Midwest as a student of Language Arts before relocating to the East Coast in his early twenties. A graduate of Columbia University and former New York City public school teacher, he now calls Connecticut his home, where he resides with his spouse and their beloved beagle.