WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – Local author Michael Cooper will host a free reading from his experimental novel, “Reap Violet Hiss,” from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, December 16 in the Lowry Room of the James V. Brown Library.
Michael Cooper was born in 1952 and raised in Queens, New York, by an artist father and a poet mother. Upon age 17 he ventured forth to the East Village, where he quickly became immersed in the world of the arts.
He attended the High School of Music and Art and New York University, from which he received the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Poetry Award. Michael was a frequent reader at the Poetry Project and other venues, as well as being a performance artist associated with the Fluxus group.
An early disciple of John Cage from age 16, he served as personal assistant to the publisher, Dick Higgins (Something Else Press), and also to the poet Jackson MacLow. Michael was also Poetry Director of the New York Avant Garde Festival, as well as serving as assistant to the director of that festival, Charlotte Moorman. He went on to earn degrees from Hunter College (B.A., magna cum laude) and Union Theological Seminary in New York (M. Div.).
Michael is the former rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Muncy, and played cello for 24 years with the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra. He is a committed philosophical Taoist, and is the father of four children.
Michael is the author of 17 books of poetry and an experimental novel, “Reap Violet Hiss.” Michael and his son live in Northeast Pennsylvania in a quiet, small town with a cat and two birds and several lovely green plants. Learn more here: https://www.spuytenduyvil.net/reap-violet-hiss.html
The James V. Brown Library is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through
Thursday; 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday; and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. To place a hold, visit www.jvbrown.edu or call 570-326-0536 during the library’s operating hours. Walk-in passport services are available from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Friday, and 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
The James V. Brown Library, 19 E. Fourth St., Williamsport, Pa., is the place to go to learn, connect and grow. Founded in June 1907, the library champions the love of reading, opens new doors to lifelong learning, provides a haven to those who seek and ensures the preservation of public library services for future generations. The library has more than 225,000 visitors in a year and circulates a half-million items annually. A member of the Lycoming County Library System, the James V. Brown Library participates in PA Forward, a statewide initiative to promote literacies in our communities to power a better future for everyone.
