Tap Talk at North Water Brewing

David Hassler, of Wick Poetry Center, to present Dear Vaccine: Global Voices Speak to the Pandemic at North Water Brewing’s next Tap Talks

Kent, OH – In celebration of National Poetry Month, North Water Brewing in Kent will welcome David Hassler, director of Kent State’s Wick Poetry Center at its April 19th Tap Talks community gathering, which begins at 7 pm. Hassler will discuss the Global Vaccine Poem project launched last March in partnership with the University of Arizona Poetry Center and read poems from the project’s anthology, Dear Vaccine: Global Voices Speak to the Pandemic, recently published by The Kent State University Press.

According to Governor Mike DeWine, who wrote an afterword for the book, “Dear Vaccine offers a snapshot so that readers of the future can glimpse what it was like to anticipate and receive protection from a killer virus during a global pandemic.”

Hassler notes that, “Making use of poetry’s powerful tools to connect us across division, Dear Vaccine reminds us that medical advances alone are not enough to solve the vexing challenges of the pandemic; the arts – and poetry – have a profound and critical role to play.

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 scheduled monthly on the third Tuesday at 7 pm at North Water Brewing, 101 Crain Avenue in Kent. Tap Talks receive support from Main Street Kent and Kent Historical Society.

Dear Vaccine and its accompanying website, www.globalvaccinepoem.com, resulted from a collaboration among three published poets: Naomi Shihab Nye, Young People’s Poet Laureate of the United States for 2019-2020, David Hassler, cofounder of Traveling Stanzas, a national community arts project, and Tyler Meier, director of the University of Arizona Poetry Center. Contributions to the book come from people all over the world. Pre-orders of Dear Vaccine are now available at the following websites: KentStateUniversityPress.com, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, IndieBound.org