Voices for Peace on a War-Weary Planet

The second of Antler's two major events as Milwaukee Poet Laureate
to take place at downtown Public Library at 1:30 on Sunday Mar. 23.

A longtime member of Milwaukee's Peace/SocialJustice/Environmental community, Riverwest poet Antler will give the second of his two major performances as Milwaukee's Poet Laureate. He performed solo before a large enthusiastic turnout last April to mark his having been chosen to the two-year Poet Laureate position by Friends of Milwaukee Public Library. At 1:30 p.m. on Sunday March 23, he'll read again at Centennial Hall, which is entered from the 8th St. side of downtown's Central Public Library. But this time he was to invite three other Milwaukee poets to share the stage.

For this occasion he's chosen Jeff Poniewaz, his best friend since 1966. The
two met in a poetry class at UWM and both grew to become strong poets in
different yet kindred styles with a shared thematic focus. Author of "Dolphin
Leaping in the Milky Way," Jeff teaches a course called "Literature of
Ecological Vision" via UWM.

Longtime members of the "Earth Poets" group Jeff founded in 1988, Louisa
Loveridge-Gallas and Suzanne Rosenblatt have also been invited by Antler to
perform with him on March 23. Author of "Revelations on Longing Street,"
Louisa is a healer and chanteuse who has performed with Claudia Schmidt. And
Suzanne is known for her unique incantatory performance style.

Hailed by Beat poets Allen Ginsberg and Gary Snyder, Antler's poetry has a
strong following far beyond Milwaukee. His recently published "Selected Poems"
will be available at the March 23 event, which is free and open to the public.