Local poet launches new book at Genesee Depot restaurant

Cornerstone Restaurant, W31343 Highway 83 in Genesee Depot, is hosting a reception in honor of local poet Mary Jo Balistreri’s new book, “Gathering the Harvest,” on Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 3 p.m. Balistreri will be reading from her new collection of poems and signing the books. The event is free and open to the public. Complimentary refreshments will be served. 

“I’m really honored to be reading at Cornerstone Restaurant and share the poetry that is essential in saving my life,” says Balistreri. “Through poetry, I feel encouraged to explore my interior life, the life outside my window, to witness, praise, and grieve the journey of this one life and make sense of it. I always hope that in some way the best of my poems will resonate with others in a way playful or compassionate, and serve as a starting point for intimacy as if the reader and I are sitting across the table from each other, sharing our stories.”

Balistreri is an accomplished poet who has earned awards from writing organizations in Wisconsin, Illinois and Florida. In the last year, she won her second Jade Ring honor from the Wisconsin Writers Association and was also the first place winner in the Franciscan Center’s Spiritual Literature Contest for nonfiction. Her poems have been widely published in journals and anthologies such as Verse Wisconsin, The Healing Muse, and Crab Creek Review. 

Gathering the Harvest is Balistreri’s second book of poems published by Bellowing Ark Press. Her books can be purchased at the event or through her website.

For more information, please visit the website or call (262) 547-6087.