Poet and Musician Hadaway At Washington College April 22

In celebration of National Poetry month and Earth Day, Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience presents Meredith Davies Hadaway in a program of poetry and music onWednesday, April 22, at 5:30 p.m. in Hynson Lounge, Hodson Hall, on the College campus.

Hadaway’s poems speak to the splendor of nature; the birds, bugs, trees, marshes and especially the waters, of Maryland’s Eastern Shore.  Also a talented harpist, Hadaway will incorporate music into her poetry reading event.  The program is free and open to the public, and will include a reception and book signing.

Meredith Davies Hadaway

Hadaway’s new collection of poems, At the Narrows, showcases her talent as an “eco-poet” evoking the memory and mystery of a riverine world alive with beauty and power. The author of two other collections, The River is a Reason andFishing Secrets of the Dead, Hadaway has received fellowships from the Virginia Center for Creative Arts, an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council, and multiple Pushcart nominations. She was a contributor at the inaugural Bread Loaf Orion Environmental Writers’ Conference.  The former Vice President for College Relations and Marketing at Washington College, Hadaway also served as the 2013-14 Rose O’Neill Writer-in-Residence at the College’s Literary House.

The popular Chestertown-based musical group “Harp & Soul” will lead off the April 22 event with a performance by Hadaway on harp, Ben Bennington on guitar, Rebekah Hardy on oboe, Bob Ortiz on percussion and Nevin Dawson on viola in a program of improvisatory Celtic-influenced tunes.

Founded in 1782 under the patronage of George Washington, Washington College is a private, independent college of liberal arts and sciences located in colonial Chestertown on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. The College’s C.V. Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience is dedicated to fostering innovative approaches to the American past and present. Through educational programs, scholarship and public outreach, and a special focus on written history, the Starr Center seeks to bridge the divide between the academic world and the public at large.