Maria Mazziotti Gillan at the Dodge Poetry Festival

Sep 20

Sep 20 Maria Mazziotti Gillan at the Dodge Poetry Festival

The Dodge Poetry Festival is the largest poetry event in North America. Paterson-based poet Maria Mazziotti Gillan will be reading on Thursday and Friday of the four-day festival taking place October 18-21 in Newark. Maria is the force behind the Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College, and the author of more than 20 books of and about poetry. Her poems are about her life, including her strong memories of childhood in Paterson’s Italian immigrant community. She likes to talk about the “cave,” that place of memories and feelings inside us all that the best poetry takes us back to. Producer Susan Wallner spoke to Maria Mazziotti Gillan at her home in Hawthorne, a suburb of Paterson.

Susan Wallner

Susan Wallner is a principal of PCK Media, an independent production company. She is the co-series producer of the public television program "State of the Arts," a job that has introduced her to a wealth of talent and artistic diversity over the years. Susan's documentaries and performance specials have aired nationally. Most recently, her profile of the writer, aviator and celebrity, "Anne Morrow Lindbergh: You’ll Have the Sky," won the 2017 Mid-Atlantic Emmy for Best Feature Writing (it was Susan's 15th regional Emmy win). Narrated by Judith Light and Lily Rabe, it aired throughout the country on PBS and PBS World, and is available on DVD. Currently, Susan is working on a documentary about the self-taught city planner, builder, and artist, Kea Tawana.