In honor of International Women’s Day, the DAMD Poets are the featured poets at an evening event at Orange Hall Gallery, SUNY Orange. The Readings begin at 7pm on Friday, March 8, 2024.

Women Poets in Celebration of Women: A Reading by the DAMD Poets

Each of the DAMD Poets will have a section of time during which she will read a selection of her original works.

Then, a 30-minute Open Mic for audience members to read a poem will take place.  The poems read during Open Mic are to be no more than 2 minutes in length and must be about women's experiences, women's perspectives or issues, or by a woman author. Original works by readers strongly encouraged.  A sign-up sheet will be available at the entrance.

This event is one in many that Cultural Affairs has planned to salute Women’s History Month.

Join us on March 8^th for the first of two poetry Readings events during Poetry Weekend, the second being Sunday, the 10^th. The setting of Orange Hall Gallery is superb as two watercolor exhibits are on display: the 2024 North East Watercolor Society Members’ Exhibition and Watercolor Expressions: My Explorations in Landscapes and Portraits by Hema Gupta.

The DAMD Poets is a group of SUNY Orange colleagues, active and retired, who meet to critique each other’s work, collaborate on shared prompts, and support each other’s poetic endeavors. Their work has appeared in numerous journals and publications. 

Deborah Chedister is an assistant professor of English at the Middletown campus, where she teaches Freshman English and Reading Skills.

Anne Sandor is professor emerita. She taught Creative Writing Fiction and Contemporary Novel.

Mary Makofske is a retired assistant professor who taught Creative Writing Poetry. 

Diane Bliss is professor emerita. She taught English and Philosophy and received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Faculty Service.

Free parking is available in lot #1 which is adjacent to Orange Hall and located at the corner of Wawayanda and Grandview Avenues, (GPS: 24 Grandview Ave.) on the Middletown campus of SUNY Orange. Questions may be addressed to Cultural Affairs at cultural@sunyorange.edu.