Poetry with Dennis Finnell and Joanne Hayes: a Local Author Talk and Reading

Join us at the Greenfield Public Library on Monday, April 7 in the library’s conference room at 2:00pm for a talk with local poets Dennis Finnell and Joanne Hayes who will be reading from their books Where the Eye Leads the Head Soon Follows (Finnell) and I am the Prairie (Hayes).

Dennis Finnell has published seven books of poems, most recently Where the Eye Leads the
Head Soon Follows from BlazeVOX Books. His first book Red Cottage, won the Juniper Prize from the University of Massachusetts Press. In addition to teaching at various colleges and universities, including the University of Tennessee, Mount Holyoke College, and Wilkes University, he’s had over thirty other jobs, from work on a Chevrolet Pickup Truck assembly line to writing training materials for major U.S. businesses. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, he has lived with his wife in western Massachusetts for some years.

Growing up in a Chicago suburb, Joanne McNeil Hayes wrote poems about mid-western life before moving to southern Vermont. In her current collection, I am the Prairie, she focuses on the ecology, history, and memories of the Illinois prairie. She has been published in ENOUGH, Crosswinds, Plum, and Valley and Beyond, and has three collections: We begin in fragrant fields (2020); Riding out the Risk: A Conversation with Poet and Painter (2024); and I am the Prairie (2025).

Books will be available for purchase at the event.

For more information, contact Lisa Prolman at [email protected] or call (413) 772-1544.

This free event is sponsored by the Friends of the Greenfield Public Library.