On Sunday, February 16, Baton Rouge Gallery’s Sundays@4 series is honored to host a presentation of works of poetry by Elizabeth Burk, Jami Donley, Holley Galland Haymaker, & Becky Larkin, with introductions by Ava Leavell Haymon. As with all Sundays@4 experiences, this will be free and open to the public.
About the host:
Ava Leavell Haymon
Ava Leavell Haymon, Poet Laureate of the State of Louisiana 2013-2015, is a poet, playwright, editor, and teacher. Her poems have appeared in journals nationwide and in four collections from LSU Press, most recently, Eldest Daughter. Her poems have been used as text by composers, both jazz and classical.
Elizabeth Burk
About the poets:
Elizabeth Burk is a psychologist who divides her time between family in New York and a home and husband in Southwest Louisiana. Her debut poetry collection, Unmoored, (Texas Review Press) was published in November 2024. She has three previous chapbooks, Learning to Love Louisiana, Louisiana Purchase and Duet - Poet & Photographer, a collaboration with her photographer husband. Her poems and prose have been published in various journals and anthologies. She will be reading from her new book, Unmoored, which is arranged loosely in the form of a memoir, and includes poems about growing up in NYC, her experiences as a northerner living in southwest Louisiana, and poems on attempting to age with humor and grace.
Jami Donley
Jami Donley moved to New Mexico a few years ago after a lifetime in the South. Her poetry is now full of wonder at her new surroundings. She is a member of two writing groups, one from the old life in Louisiana via Zoom and one in Taos comprised of transplants to New Mexico. She recently had a poem published in the 2023 New Mexico Poetry Anthology.
Holley Galland Haymaker
Holley is a retired family doctor who became a student of Ava Haymon’s in the early 90s. She now writes regularly with no interest in publishing. Her only two publications have been:
“Poem for Fitzgerald”. Society for Adolescent Medicine. Newsletter. V17, number 1, August, 2005.
“Sonnet for Missy”, in Red Clover: AIDS Journey-Work, chapbook of winning poems from the contest, “Poetic License: Poets Address AIDS”, Baton Rouge, LA. 1996.
She has read at women’s Month readings at the Gallery in the past.
She will read some selections from her work, one of which will be partially sung.
Becky Larkin
Becky Larkin taught English at LSU for 39 years; her specialties were poetry and technical writing, She studied poetry writing with Ava Haymon and was a regular at the poetry slam at M’s Fine and Mellow Cafe. As a member of the Baton Rouge Slam Team, she competed in the 2001 National Slam in Seattle. She also wrote and performed her poetry in two Of Moving Colors dance productions, from which came her chapbook Blowing Hot and Cool. She continues to write and workshop her poems with the Backroom Poets group.
Sundays@4 is presented in partnership with the Atchafalaya National Heritage Area whose mission is to enhance the identity of our unique American landscape by preserving and promoting our heritage and by fostering progress for local champions that create authentic, powerful connections between people, culture, and the environment.