The fun will begin with a poetry treasure hunt from 3-5 p.m. Local poets will create spontaneous works on manual typewriters located throughout the trail and the adjacent Easton Cemetery. Collect a poem from each poet and win a prize.
Yolanda Wisher and the Afro Eaters will give a concert from 5-7 p.m. in front of a big screen at Movie Hill.
After the concert, a showing of Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (102 minutes, 2023) will begin as part of the Movies Along the Trail series. The film won the Grand Jury Prize in Documentary at Sundance.
Please get in touch if you’re willing to help set up luminaria before the movie and remove them afterward.
The poetry treasure hunt is part of the Karl Stirner Arts Trail’s Poetry in the Wild Project. It includes many opportunities to engage with local poets as they create spontaneous poetry on demand using old-fashioned typewriters on the arts trail, Easton Farmers’ Market, and West Ward Market. The project began with a celebration of National Poem from Your Pocket Day at the Easton Public Market and outside Book and Puppet on April 18.
The Afro Eaters are a Philadelphia-based jazz band. Their debut album, Doublehanded Suite, was sponsored by The Rosenbach, a historic house museum in Philadelphia. Yolanda Wisher is the former poet laureate of Philadelphia; her writing has been featured in numerous literary journals as well as The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, CBC Radio, the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series, and the Poetry Foundation’s Audio Poem of the Day series.
Movies Along the Trail is sponsored by Integrated Automotive Services, Timmerman Equipment, Bi-State Construction, Ed and Kathy Ahart, and Northampton County.
Directed by Joe Brewster and Michéle Stephenson, Going to Mars: was honored as Outstanding Documentary Feature at the Frameline LGBTQ Film Festival. A sampling of comments from the media:
- “Insightful and entertaining” – The New York Times
- “A stunning documentary … truly out of this world” – Chicago Reader
- “Beautifully crafted … an engaging portrait” – Variety
- “Heartbreaking and inspiring” – Vox Magazine
“Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project pushes the boundaries of biographical documentary film to reveal the enduring influence of one of America’s greatest living artists and social commentators,” states the International Documentary Association. “Combining parallel cinematic story editing with visually innovative treatments of her poetry, along with intimate vérité, rich archival footage, and Giovanni’s own captivating contemporary performances, Going to Mars recounts the story of the artist and her works of resistance through the tumultuous historical periods in which she lived — from the Civil Rights Movement, to the Black Arts Movement, to present-day Black Lives Matter.”
“Giovanni was among the foremost writers to emerge from the Black Arts Movement, and her unique vision for a future of true equality — the reality and metaphor of space travel — has inspired everyone from Oprah Winfrey to the scientists who named a bat species after her,” writes Peter Jones of Sundance.
“Going to Mars travels the worlds of thought and time as the documentary tracks the poet’s flights by way of poetry readings, candid at-home footage, and contemporary and archival interviews, including an enlightening televised back- and-forth with acclaimed writer James Baldwin,” adds Jones.
