Tim Mayo & Chard deNiord -- Muscle Memories of Love and Disaster & Westminster West

An evening of poetry with Tim Mayo & Chard deNiord! Tim Mayo will be reading from his new collection Muscle Memories of Love and Disaster, and Chard deNiord will be reading from his VT Book Awards finalist collection Westminster West! In Muscle Memories of Love and Disaster Tim Mayo explores both loss and love in late life, early memories living in an immigrant foster home, later memories of recovery from addiction through work in a mental hospital, and the emotional and spiritual impact of a near death and life-changing accident. Westminster West bears witness to ecstasy and grief through persona. By inhabiting the voices of Adam and Eve, Abelard and Heloise, etc., deNiord reveals the enduring alterity contained within the self.Tim Mayo is the author of two previous full-length poetry collections, The Kingdom of Possibilities (2009), and Thesaurus of Separation (2016) and two chapbooks, The Loneliness of Dogs (2008) and Notes to the Mental Hospital Timekeeper (2019). He holds an ALB, cum laude, from Harvard University and an MFA from Bennington College. A ten-time Pushcart Prize Nominee, and a two-time finalist for the Paumanok Award, Mayo is also the recipient of three Vermont Writers Fellowships from the Vermont Studio Center, as well as being a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Book Award and the Montaigne Medal. He lives in Brattleboro, VT, where he worked for fifteen years at the Brattleboro Retreat, a mental institution, and where he is also a founding member and organizer of the Brattleboro Literary Festival. His third full-length collection Muscle Memories of Love and Disaster will be published by Bainbridge Island Press in early 2026.Chard deNiord is the author of six books of poetry: In My Unknowing, Interstate, The Double Truth, Speaking In Turn with Tony Sanders, Night Mowing, Sharp Golden Thorn, and Asleep In The Fire. He is also the author of two books of interviews with eminent American poets: Sad Friends, Drowned Lovers, Stapled Songs, Conversations and Reflections on 20th Century Poetry and I Would Lie To You If I Could.