OLEAN, N.Y. — The Olean Meditation Center will offer an evening of poetry reading by Helen Ruggieri, Olean’s distinguished poet, from 7:30 to 9 p.m. April 30.
The event, offered in the Center at 2275 Dugan Road, has free admission.
Ruggieri, who is a prolific poet with a master’s degree in poetry writing from Penn State, will read selections from her newest book, “Camping in the Galaxy,” in which she expresses a profound wisdom and respect for nature.
Ruggieri has been writing and publishing her work for 30 years. She has published “The Character for Woman,” short prose pieces, or haibun, about living in Japan. She also has three books of poetry in print, “Butterflies Under a Japanese Moon” and “The Kingdom Where Everybody Sings Off Key” and “The Kingdom Where No One Keeps Time.”
Other books are “Glimmer Girls” about growing up female in the 1950s; “Concrete Madonna” about the pink collar experience; and “Rock City Hill Exercises” about hiking in the Alleghenies.
Ruggieri has taught in the Writing Program at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford (Pa.) She also spent several months in Japan at Yokohama College of Commerce and was awarded a Sasakawa Fellowship to study Japanese culture.
