New Jersey poetry is as varied as the cities and towns that make up our state. While New York City may dominate the arts and literary world, New Jersey residents work extra hard simply to be heard. Join us Sunday, April 3 and Sunday April 10 at 4pm as we celebrate New Jersey voices, in this installment with a focus on under-represented NJ voices.

The Museum’s Poet-in-Residence Danny Shot hosts the series. In addition to reading their own work, each poet will also be reading the work of a celebrated New Jersey poet. The Sunday April 10^th event features the poetry of Frank Messina, Megha Sood and reg e gaines. Host Danny Shot will also be reading the work of New Jersey poet Teresa Carson.

Frank Messina will also be reading the work of NJ poet Lillian Morrison. Frank Messina is a poet, actor and visual artist. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Beloit Poetry Journal, and on NPR, PBS and the BBC. Frank first earned recognition as a poet in the 1990s as the leader of the spoken word and music group, Spoken Motion. He’s collaborated with musicians Cecil Taylor, David Amram, John Popper and with members of Phish, Max Creek and the Grateful Dead. In 2013, his 2001 poetry journal was accessioned into the permanent collection of the September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City. His baseball-related poetry was published in his best-selling book, Full Count: The Book of Mets Poetry (Lyons Press), earning him the team’s unofficial title as the Mets Poet. His poems have been adapted to short films and animation. As an actor, Frank has appeared in HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, and in many independent films and documentaries. As a painter, his large abstract paintings hang in private and public collections worldwide. He lives in Jersey City with his son Liam Hudson.

Megha Sood will also be reading New Jersey poet Robert Pinsky. Megha Sood is a Pushcart Nominated Award-Winning Poet, Editor, Author, and Literary Activist based in New Jersey, USA. She is an Associate Editor at MookyChick (UK), Life and Legends (USA), and Literary Partner in the project “Life in Quarantine” with Stanford University, USA. Advocacy Member of United Nations Association (UNS-USA Chapter). Works featured in journals, including Poetry Society of New York, NPR, WNYC Studio, PBS American Portrait, American Writers Review, Kissing Dynamite, Rising Phoenix Review, and many more. Author of chapbook My Body is Not an Apology, Finishing Line Press, 2021 and full length My Body Lives Like a Threat, FlowerSongPress, 2022. Co-Editor of anthologies The Medusa Project, Mookychick and The Kali Project, Indie Blu(e) Press. Recipient of Poet Fellowship 2021 MVICW (Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing), 2020 National Level Winner Spring Mahogany Lit Prize, and Three-Time State-level winner of NJ Poetry Contest. Recipient of Certificate of Excellence from Mayor, Stephen Fulop, Jersey City. New Jersey. Performing venues includes New York Poetry Festival, Paterson Poetry Festival, Nuyorican Cafe, Hudson County Community College, Historic Apple Tree House, and many more. Blogs at meghasworldsite.wordpress.com. Tweets at @meghasood16

reg e gaines will also be reading the work New Jersey poet Amiri Baraka. reg e gaines is a poet, playwright, director, lecturer and Artistic Director of the Downtown Urban Arts Festival in New York City since 2007. This two time Tony Award nominated playwright and Grammy nominated lyricist is author of the Tony Award winning musical, Bring in da Noise/ Bring in da Funk. reg is author of four books of poetry including, The Original Buckwheat and Abstract Sax, is a former Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam Champ and appears in numerous poetry anthologies including Bum Rush The Page, Paterson Literary Review, Aloud: Voices From The Nuyorican Poets Cafe, and A Year in Ink. reg recorded two poetry albums, Please Don’t Take My Air Jordans and Sweeper Don’t Clean My Streets, for Mercury Records.