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Ann Wallace

@annwallace409

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Poet Laureate Emeritus of Jersey City, NJ
Host & Producer, @thewildstory_podcast
Writer of poems, essays & memoir; Educator; Illness Advocate

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Welcome to Episode 31 of @thewildstory_podcast by the @nativeplantsocietynj

We open with guest poet @aimee_nezhukumatathil (0:03:15), who joins @annwallace409 in conversation about her stunning new poetry collection Night Owl (Ecco) Aimee shares her sense of wonder and joy, as she reminds us to take care of the life–in all its forms–found on this planet.

In this month’s Ask Randi, entomologist and owner of @toadshade_wildflower_farm Randi Eckel (0:34:27) tackles a listener’s question about insect hotels. Are they actually helpful for pollinators — or could they do more harm than good?

We then speak with best-selling author and botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer (0:42:39) in a powerful conversation about @plantbabyplantmvmt — a grassroots movement she founded that is rooted in restoration, reciprocity, and resistance.

We welcome back beloved author @margaret.renkl (0:57:11) to talk about her beautiful new children’s book, The Weedy Garden (Greenwillow Books), featuring gorgeous collage illustrations by her brother, @billyrenkl . The book is a celebration of the biodiversity we too often overlook right outside our doors.

To close this episode of The WildStory @kimcorrero and Ann talk with acclaimed botanist, professor, and author @beronda_m (1:13:17), speaking about her important new book, When Trees Testify (Henry Holt and Co.). Beronda explores the deep connections between black botanical history and the living landscape.

This episode of The WildStory Podcast is dedicated to the memory of Megan Andrejco, beloved member of the Native Plant Society of New Jersey’s Hudson Chapter. Megan was a Master Gardener, passionate land steward, and generous volunteer who devoted countless hours to caring for gardens and green spaces throughout Hudson County. Megan recently died from ovarian cancer, and will be deeply missed first by her family, friends from NYBG, clients here in NJ and many communities she nurtured with her knowledge, kindness and care for the living world. by @annwallace409

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5 months ago

A few shots from my Keeping Room book launch at Art House Productions on March 13. Thank you to everyone who came out to help celebrate my new book with me! You all made it such a special night. ❤️

(I wanted to share these sooner, but I’ve been down with a bad cold for the past week!)

Photos by Mark Wyville @wyvillephoto

@arthouseproductions @nixes_mate @mamarama_jc @nixesmate #keepingroom taken in Art House Productions by @annwallace409

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7 months ago

Last weekend was Family Weekend at Bennington, and the weather was gorgeous! My mom joined Molly and me in visiting Connie, and we stayed in a cabin on a stunning mountaintop. And Jason came up for the day on Saturday as well.

Friday would have been my brother Chris’s birthday, and, imagine, there was a Farmall tractor, just like his, parked at the edge of the field directly in front of our cabin. He would have loved it there.

We visited the Robert Frost stone house where they had a cider pressing demonstration and an exhibit by Judith Belzer of her Walking Project—a collection of items found on her walks, did some antiquing, went to the Bennington Museum, which has a wonderful collection of work by Grandma Moses, and of course spent lots of time outside and exploring around our cabin. (I couldn’t believe the raspberries were still ripe!). I even squeezed in a run. We had such a nice time, it was hard to pull ourselves away to head home on Sunday evening. by @annwallace409

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3 days ago

‘Twas a lovely way to spend a Thursday evening — listening to poet (& songwriter) Amy Speace read from and speak with Melissa Shepard about her new poetry collection The Cardinals (Red Hen Press) at Little City Books in Hoboken. As a bonus, it was a wonderful opportunity to get together with Lynne Shapiro and catch up over a post-reading dinner!

I’m really looking forward to spending time with Amy’s collection.

@amyspeace @littlecitybooks @galaeluard627 @redhenpress by @annwallace409

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16 days ago

I'm so happy, and grateful, to have this piece up in The Common Dispatches today - a year to the day after I began writing it in a wonderful workshop facilitated by my dear friends Elizabeth Sylvia and Ann Wallace during the Tell It Slant poetry festival at the Emily Dickinson museum. It's about my experience with facial paralysis, migraine, the autumnal equinox, fall fruits of the garden, and an homage to the divine Emily and one of my favorite poems of hers: "I felt a Funeral, in my Brain," (340) Read it here: https://buff.ly/ISYOff6 taken in Emily Dickinson Museum by @annwallace409

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17 days ago

Vids of POETIC JUSTICE last night. Features and open mic’ers came with serious bars and left no crumbs! taken in Underdog Bar by @annwallace409

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20 days ago

I’m excited to share the stage Saturday evening with these amazing poets—I. Buenaventura, TJ, and Isabel Cruz—for the Poetic Justice open mic at the Underdog Bar & Grill in Haledon, NJ. Come on out and join us with your best political poems — there are 20 open mic spots!

Thank you @teachingandpoetrywithtemprano for inviting me to as a featured poet.

@poets_playground_ @ibpen @t_ony9871 @eesahvel @underdog_bar @keanenglishjerseycity @keanenglish by @annwallace409

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22 days ago

I’m honored to present, as a Long COVID patient, caregiver, & Recover rep, on the NIH Recover Initiative’s important research webinar: Growing Up with Long COVID—Risk Factors and School Impacts. Many children, adolescents and young adults experience long lasting, often debilitating, impacts from Long COVID. Join us to learn what that looks like, what the risk factors are, and ways to treat and support young people with Long COVID.

Tuesday, Sept 15, 12:00pm ET
Register at https://recovercovid.org/r3-seminar-series.
The event will be recorded and available on the Recover website.
#longcovid #longcovidkids #pediatriclongcovid #recoverinitiative by @annwallace409

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a month ago

The Wildstory returns after a longer summer hiatus than we had planned. In May, Ann’s father Vern Wallace suffered a devastating stroke and Ann was in Massachusetts for several weeks helping with his care. Sadly, he passed away in late June, just shy of his 90th birthday and of her parents’ 70th anniversary.

In this month’s episode of The WildStory podcast by @nativeplantsocietynj

@gabrielle_myers joins us as our guest poet, speaking with @annwallace409 about her new collection: Go Forth, Lose Yourself into Life, from Finishing Line Press.

Dr. Randi Eckel of @toadshade_wildflower_farm introduces us to the fascinating Eastern Carpenter Bee and why these impressive native pollinators deserve a little more understanding.

Then @kimcorrero catches up with @rachel.mackow.art , co-owner of @wildridgeplants , a nursery dedicated to restoring native plant communities that sustain people and wildlife. Rachel shares the realities of running a native plant nursery, why the location a plant is grown matters, and a lot more.

Ann and Kim close the episode with a long-awaited conversation with Bill Young and Bob Swain, pioneers in restoring some of New Jersey’s most disturbed landscapes—from landfills and Superfund sites to brownfields and mines. They reflect on the early days of the Native Plant Society of New Jersey, their respective years serving as president, and Bob’s remarkable legacy, now honored through the Bob Swain Native Plant Leadership Award. Meet up with Bob and Bill Sept. 24th and 25th at the @serestoration Mid Atlantic Chapter Regional Conference.

Be sure to listen right up to the end of this month’s show. We close with “Plant People FTW,” a new song by @martinebotany and Billy Kelly celebrating all of us who love plants. And don’t skip the ending—the final minute features 25 different lab groups joining in as the Botaneers. Chris Martine, President of the Botanical Society of America, will also be teaching for NPSNJ this fall, so stay tuned for more! by @annwallace409

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a month ago

Monday night in Jersey City!! Poetry open mic, potluck dinner, and Wildflower City plant sale!

Come for the community and dinner, stay for the poetry, and leave with some new plants for your garden—what could be better?!

5-7:30pm at Peace Care, Magnolia & Baldwin. All are welcome!
@wildflowercityjc @peace_care_nj by @annwallace409

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a month ago

Wonderful event tonight at JC Writers — One Minute c Stand with SJ, with powerful performances by featured poets Alyssa Lian Bacay & Iggy!

Thank you @sjbythegram for hosting and organizing this series! @jcwriters @alyssalianb @_bigig by @annwallace409

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a month ago

This morning, on September 11, I spent time on the Hoboken waterfront — which is where I was 25 years ago, watching the horror unfold with my friend Christina Starbuck. By coincidence, Christina and I had dinner last night and we recalled the endless stream of busses filled with people escaping Manhattan, the fire trucks racing into the city, the dust-covered people returning by ferry, the tears, the fear, the sadness.

For a month or more after, we all smelled the burning, and the long cloud of soot and ash settled over the full length of Manhattan, for so long that it felt it would never dissipate. And we saw the flyers posted on lampposts and buildings, in train stations and parks, asking Have you seen…? with the name and face, maybe a photo with a beloved pet or smiling on the beach, of one of the missing. We were so hopeful they would be found. As hope faded, those flyers asked us to bear witness to each missing person. I studied them for weeks until they became weather worn and eventually disappeared.

Amid the despair, I went back to work at Baruch College in Manhattan on Thursday, Sept 13, and my graduate school classes resumed. But none of us were okay, even as the fall flowers bloomed and we found a way forward. by @annwallace409

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a month ago