The Imaginary Gardens Reading Series
Michael Skau, inspired by this quote about poetry from Marianne Moore "...imaginary gardens with real toads in them...", created the monthly Imaginary Gardens Reading Series in the fall of 2014. The readings are held at Mister Toad (1002 Howard St., Omaha) in the Old Market on the third Tuesday of each month at 7:00pm. Our events are well-attended and our audiences love poetry. Please join us!
This reading series is on hiatus as of December 2019.
Stay in touch with the reading series by liking us on Facebook--go here for our Facebook page.
If you are a poet with a published chapbook or full collection, please contact us to be a part of this reading series by clicking here.
Past guests:
September 2014 -- Michael Skau
October 2014 -- Greg Kosmicki and Cat Dixon
November 2014 -- Barbara Schmitz and Todd Robinson
December 2014 -- Natasha Kessler and Matt Mason
January 2015 -- Sarah McKinstry-Brown and Miles Waggener
February 2015 -- Laura Madeline Wiseman and Paul Dickey
March 2015 -- Marilyn Coffey and Chad Christensen
April 2015 -- Brenda Sieczkowski and Rodger Gerberding
May 2015 -- Lee Ann Roripaugh and Steve Langan
June 2015 -- P. Ivan Young and Britny Cordera Doane
July 2015 -- Unbound Reading: Rich Wyatt, Genevieve Williams, Heidi Hermanson
August 2015 -- Susan Aizenberg and JV Brummels
September 2015 -- Cat Dixon and Michael Catherwood
October 2015--Twyla Hansen and William Trowbridge
November 2015--Amy Plettner and Art Homer
December 2015--Mary K. Stillwell and Clif Mason
January 2016 -- cancelled due to weather
February 2016 -- Laura Madeline Wiseman and Robert Klein Engler
March 2016 -- Erik Campbell and Marilyn June Coffey
April 2016 -- Marjorie Saiser and Al Ortolani
May 2016 -- Bill Trowbridge and Sara Amelia Snelling
June 2016 --Michelle Lyles, Michelle Troxclair and Darian Stout
July 2016 -- Trent Walters and Teri Youmans Grimm
August 2016 -- Miles Waggener and Cat Dixon
September 2016 -- Michael Catherwood and Marjorie Saiser
October 2016 -- Laura Madeline Wiseman and Dennis Etzel Jr.
November 2016 -- Karen Shoemaker and Erik Campbell
December 2016 -- Greg Kuzma and Maria Nazos
January 2017 -- Lisa Fay Coutley and John Price
February 2017 -- Rich Wyatt and Lisa Sandlin
March 2017 -- Laura Madeline Wiseman and Greg Kosmicki
April 2017 -- Katie Berger and Ted Wheeler
May 2017 -- Lisa Knopp and Mj Taylor
June 2017 -- Celebration of the 20th Anniversary of The Backwaters Press
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Michael Skau is an emeritus professor of English at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He studied under Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs, and Gregory Corso at Naropa Institute and has published books of literary criticism on Corso and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Skau has published poems in Carolina Quarterly, Northwest Review, Kansas Quarterly, Laurel Review, and Texas Review, among many others. He was named Winner of the 2013 William Kloefkorn Award for Excellence in Poetry, and his collection of poems, Me & God, was published by Wayne State College Press in 2014. His chapbook, After the Bomb, was published by WordTech Editions in 2017.
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Organizer and creator: Michael Skau
Social media manager: Cat Dixon
Manager of Mister Toad and sound system engineer: Joe Mullin