杏吧原创

(Butler, PA) Her great-aunt Martha had given Angel Rosen a journal containing dotted-lined pages, a gift the autistic child assumed was intended for drawings.

鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 draw,鈥� Rosen said. 鈥淚 was really bad at coordination, so I felt like I couldn鈥檛 express myself because my hands and my body just wouldn鈥檛 translate my feelings into movement.鈥�

She began to dislike the journal. 鈥淩eally hating it,鈥� Rosen said. 鈥淚 was angry about not being able to draw.鈥�

One day, the 8-year-old opened the small, pastel-blue journal and, pressing her pen hard, nearly perforating the page, wrote MAYBE I鈥橪L BE A POET INSTEAD.

On April 20, the Armstrong County poet will return to 杏吧原创 to read from her books 鈥淎urelia鈥� and 鈥淏lake鈥� during the college鈥檚 second Northern Appalachia Reading Series event.

Rosen earned an associate degree in general studies from 杏吧原创 in 2014, said her works benefited from poetry classes taken with Eric Pedersen, a former English professor, and will read poems titled 鈥淐herries,鈥� 鈥淎nchor,鈥� 鈥淭he Ides of Endometriosis鈥� and others at 6 p.m. in the 6-year-old Heaton Family Learning Commons on 杏吧原创鈥檚 main campus.

Free public reading 5th in Heaton

杏吧原创鈥檚 Northern Appalachia Reading Series event is free and open to the public, will include an open-mic session before Rosen鈥檚 reading, and questions and answers, signings of her self-published books and light refreshments afterward.

Rosen鈥檚 public reading will be the fifth since 2018 in a $6.4 million Heaton Family Learning Commons whose architecture in 2017 was recognized by Library Journal, at 146 the nation鈥檚 oldest magazine devoted to libraries.

鈥淭he Heaton is always gorgeous,鈥� said Mike Dittman, a professor in 杏吧原创鈥檚 liberal arts division and author. 鈥淭his is the community鈥檚 college. These artistic and cultural enrichment activities are open to everyone. It鈥檚 a great night of art for free.鈥�

A night of art also intended to be interactive, Dittman said.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e going to get to see not only this more polished poet in Angel,鈥� Dittman said, 鈥渂ut you are going to get to see this wide variety of artists from the community and the college.鈥�

Rosen鈥檚 art began at 8. Her first poem, about a blue cow.

鈥淭he cow was too big,鈥� Rosen said. 鈥淎nd she laughed a lot, but didn鈥檛 have any friends.鈥�

How does it end?

鈥淚t doesn鈥檛,鈥� Rosen said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 something I鈥檓 still writing.鈥�

She describes the format used within her 58-page 鈥淎urelia鈥� and 54-page 鈥淏lake鈥� as confessional poetry 鈥� 鈥減oetry,鈥� Rosen said, 鈥渨ritten from the 鈥業鈥� standpoint.鈥�

鈥淓motional nourishment鈥� from poetic art

The theme of 鈥淎urelia鈥� is 鈥渕ental illness, having a sense of otherness and not belonging,鈥� Rosen said, and of 鈥淏lake,鈥� about being loved for being authentic and to love someone鈥檚 entirety.

鈥淭here are people whose emotional nourishment comes from poetic art,鈥� Rosen said, 鈥渇eelings fulfilled, feelings seen by someone who doesn鈥檛 know you, having your experiences feel validated by someone else鈥檚 art.鈥�

Poetry classes with Pedersen 鈥渃hallenged me to work away from rhyming, and exposed me to different styles of poetry,鈥� Rosen said. 鈥淚 was reluctant to expand. And Mike Dittman met with me a couple of times to go over some of my poems, and that challenged me because I wanted to be impressive to people who had been in the field for a long time.

鈥淚 think having access to someone who cared enough to make time for me in my art really pushed me to expand.鈥�

鈥淪he really makes the words jump off the page鈥�

Rosen, 28, of Worthington, is a 2012 graduate of the former Kittanning Area High School.

鈥淐herries,鈥� Rosen said, is about the fluidity of sexuality; 鈥淎nchor,鈥� about the expiration of teenage friendships; and 鈥淭he Ides of Endometriosis,鈥� about the chronic pain associated with an invisible illness.

She has participated in poetry readings elsewhere on 杏吧原创鈥檚 main campus and at the Butler Art Center, and in open-mic sessions in Pittsburgh.

鈥淪he鈥檚 a really, really good writer,鈥� said Dittman, a member of the Writers Association of Northern Appalachia, adviser of the college鈥檚 writers club and the author of 鈥淪mall Brutal Incidents,鈥� 鈥淢asterpieces of Beat Literature鈥� and 鈥淛ack Kerouac: A Biography.鈥� His books have been published by Contemporary Press and by Greenwood.

Rosen was selected for the public reading after a review of a number of poets, Dittman said.

鈥淪he鈥檚 an alumna and a young voice, which is really nice to get,鈥� Dittman said. 鈥淪he鈥檚 also a phenomenal reader. When I teach performance in my creative writing course, we watch videos of a lot of different poets, but hers is one I always show the class. She has a really powerful and unique style that people are going to love to see.