Poetry, Barbeque, and a 15-Year Homecoming
- Vero Minute
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
The Laura (Riding) Jackson Foundation has been holding its annual Poetry and BBQ event every spring for fifteen years, and this Saturday, March 28, they're returning to where it all began. "In a Southerly Light...Revisited" recreates the very first Poetry & Barbeque, right down to the poets themselves, bringing back Silvia Curbelo, Michael Hettich, and Sean Sexton, who started this whole tradition. The pairing of poetry with barbecue is deliberate, making poetry, which can feel intimidating at first, more accessible to the uninitiated.
Sexton, who served two terms as Indian River County's first poet laureate, has been on the LRJF board through all fifteen years but hasn't taken the stage since that inaugural appearance. Curbelo still lives and works in Tampa. Hettich has since moved to North Carolina, which still fits the "southerly" theme just fine.
Rather than composing original work for the event, the poets will dig through their existing repertoire for pieces that fit the theme: poems about Florida, about memory, and what it feels like to have been away from home long enough to yearn for it.
The afternoon takes place at the Richardson Center on IRSC's Mueller Campus, opening with recitations by local poets from LRJF's writing groups, including youth writers, before the featured guests take the stage. Just steps away, the historic Laura (Riding) Jackson home will be open for tours. If you haven't been, this is a great opportunity to walk the cracker-style home before tours conclude at the end of April.
Saturday, March 28, 3 to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $60 and can be purchased here.
For those of you who want to try your hand at poetry yourselves, the Foundation will be hosting a poetry workshop the following morning, Sunday, March 29. Details at LRJF.org.
