Area Poets Find Home at Newtown Library

Newtown is full of hidden gems. Among them is a cozy group of poets who hold monthly readings at the .

“It’s an exceptionally warm group, warmer than any I’ve ever met, and yet they’re not uneducated or unsophisticated,” said Kathleen Mulholland, the group’s founder. “You just get it all.”

The group gathers on the third Friday of the month at 7:30 p.m. for a featured speaker followed by an open mic, when attendees are invited to share their own original poems or simply read some of their favorites.

The featured speaker this Friday will be Ray Brown of Frenchtown, N.J. Brown has published a collection of poetry called “I Have His Letters Still."  Two additional books of his poetry, “The Crèche” and “Like Flies on Milk” will be published this fall.

There are some close-knit regulars in this longstanding poetry group, but readings are free and open to the public, drawing writers from Newtown and beyond.

“This is a wonderful group of poets,” said Wendy Steginsky of Doylestown. “I can‘t think of anything better to do on a Friday night.”

Mulholland traces the group’s roots back to a poetry workshop group formed 30 years ago. But she said the group in its current form started up seven years ago in a coffee shop owned by one of her friends and “quickly took on a life of its own.”

When the coffee shop went out of business, Mulholland found a new home for the group at the library down the street from where she lives, Newtown Library Company, which poet Pam Perkins-Frederick of Bensalem describes as “properly library-ish: small, intimate and it just smells good -- like oak and books.”

Every October, Mulholland organizes the lineup of speakers for the year and it always includes the current local poets laureate. Like many poets, Mulholland has a day job -- two, in fact -- on top of which she is pursuing a Masters of Education while raising two children as a single parent.

So why does she take time out to keep the group going?

“Despite the fact that I’m so busy and have no time for myself, having this responsibility means I‘m forced to do what I love,” Mulholland said. “It‘s my way to escape from insanity, to come here, to listen to the language. There‘s such positive energy in the room.”

Mulholland said she also enjoys creating a forum for people to experience poetry outside of an academic setting.

“I think people are afraid of poetry. They think they’re not going to get it,” Mulholland said. “Many people would be surprised at how wonderful poetry is; how easy it is to understand and feel.”