Diane Raptosh’s Hand Signs from Eternity’s Yurt explores civic unease in a series of 22 American sonnets—unrhymed 14-lined poems. Characterized by a sense of informed resistance and revolutionary compassion, the poems seek a “conscious recoupling of feeling / with thought” in the hopes that empathy might birth a new strain of democracy.

Join us as Raptosh discusses the joys of reading and writing poetry and the role of the imagination in an imperiled democracy. She will discuss poetry as one of our most underused resources for reimagining self and society. She'll share some of her most recent work with us and will invite your questions. A book signing with Chapter One will follow.

This event will be held outdoors on the Library's Donaldson Robb Family Lawn on 4th Street. No registration is required. Bring your chair or blanket! (In case of inclement weather, the event will move indoors to the Lecture Hall.)

Diane Raptosh's American Amnesiac (Etruscan Press), was longlisted for the 2013 National Book Award in poetry. A native Idahoan and the recipient of three fellowships in literature from the Idaho Commission on the Arts, she served as the Boise Poet Laureate (2013) as well as the Idaho Writer-in-Residence (2013-2016). In 2018 she won the Idaho Governor’s Arts Award in Excellence. She teaches literature and creative writing and co-directs the program in Criminal Justice/Prison Studies at the College of Idaho. Her seventh collection, Run: A Verse-History of Victoria Woodhull, was published by Etruscan 2021. Her newest chapbook, Hand Signs from Eternity’s Yurt, was published in June 2022 (Kelsay Books).

Before the reading, on Friday afternoon Diane will also lead a writing workshop on the American Sonnet. Learn more or register here.