The December 9th Tap Talk at North Water Brewing is grounded in both science and soul. Local poet David Hassler will share poems, videos, photos, and artwork highlighting “America’s Lands, Waters, Wildlife, and Natural Wonders” from The Nature of Our Times, the just-published anthology of poems he coedited.

David Hassler is Executive Director of the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State. He explains, “the Wick Poetry Center launched the ‘Poets for Science’ initiative to bring poetry into the service of science and offer another way of knowing and affirming our emotional kinship with the world around us. The Nature of Our Times anthology is a result of that initiative.”

The anthology gathers 210 voices from the arts, ecology, academia, and Indigenous communities from North America giving witness to how nature shapes our lives and how we can shape the future. It is a companion to United By Nature, a national initiative bringing together knowledge, storytelling, and public participation to elevate the role of nature in the U.S.

Tap Talks was initiated by Don Schjeldahl, the creator of North Water Brewing, as a way to bring the community together for conversation about life in Kent, Kent’s history, and issues of the day that impact us all. It’s also a chance to enjoy an array of locally-brewed artisan ales and beers. Tap Talks are sponsored by Kent Historical Society and scheduled monthly at 7 pm at North Water Brewing, 101 Crain Avenue in Kent.

This Tap Talk is one of many book-launch events and poetry readings planned around the country to introduce The Nature of Our Times, published by Paloma Press. On December 9th, you’ll have a chance to meet David and learn more about this effort that once again puts Kent, Ohio on a national stage. We’ll sell books, too. Here’s a link for more information: https://natureofourtimes.poetsforscience.org/