In celebration of National Poetry Month, four local poets—Joyce Benvenuto, Aram Kabodian, Rosalie Sanara Petrouske, and Ruelaine Stokes—will give a reading on Thursday, April 11, 7:30 p.m., at the East Lansing Library, 950 Abbot Rd. The theme for the evening will be “A Moment in Time.”

There will be a Q. and A. after the performance, and books will be available for signing. Poet Anita Skeen will serve as moderator.

Benvenuto taught English and creative writing at Haslett Public Schools for 18 years. She is the author of two collections of poetry: A Grand River, and Poem Journey. Her next book of poems about the southwest will be published in the fall.

Aram Kabodian taught English at both middle and high school level for many years with a short stint teaching math. He is a teacher consultant with the Red Cedar Writing Project and leads Spartan Writing Camps for youth through MSU.

Rosalie Sanara Petrouske founded Writing at the Ledges in 2005, a local writing group. She has published poems and essays, her most recent: What We Keep, a chapbook; a poem in the MSU Press anthology; And Here: 100 Years of Upper Peninsula Writing, 1917-2017.

Ruelaine Stokes teaches workshops in creative writing and the art of spoken word. She taught English as a Second Language for many years at Michigan State University and Lansing Community College. She currently serves as President of the Lansing Poetry Club. Her poems are featured in Four Against the Wall.