The Green Room

Fostering a reverence for language, nature, and imagination
through a series of in-person and online gatherings

The Green Room is returning to Maui!

This beloved series went on hiatus in 2020 due to the Covid crisis, and was reimagined as “The Green Room LIVE,” a free, online event series. Weʻre now resuming in-person events at an outdoor venue limited to 60 people, and will film these events to share with our global online community.

COMING UP:

Carol Moldaw and Arthur Sze
Wednesday, August 10th, 7:00PM
Hui Noʻeau Visual Arts Center

The Green Room resumes in-person gatherings on Maui with readings from extraordinary poets Carol Moldaw and Arthur Sze, who are in residence at The Merwin Conservancy. This event is made possible with the generous support of the Atherton Family Foundation, our Green Room Patrons, and our partners at the Hui No‘eau. General admission tickets for this limited-seating event are now SOLD OUT. Please stay tuned, as this event will be filmed and broadcast online later this month.

The 2022 Green Room LIVE online series has featured:

Suzanne Simard
Thursday, June 30th, 2:00PM Hawai‘i

The Green Room LIVE returned to the virtual stage on Thursday, June 30th with Suzanne Simard, forest ecologist, plant communication pioneer, and author of Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest, joining us for a reading and conversation about her work. We are grateful to Susan and Jac Kean for generously hosting this Green Room event, and for making it possible for The Merwin Conservancy to bring rich conversations like this one to both local and global communities.

Poems for the Planet
Wednesday, April 27th, 2:00PM Hawai‘i

In honor of National Poetry Month, The Merwin Conservancy hosts a virtual poetry reading with Kwame Dawes, Tishani Doshi, Robert Hass, and Brenda Hillman, poets featured in the anthology Here: Poems for the Planet (Copper Canyon Press, 2019). Through the lens of poetry, this book looks at our fellow humans and animals, the beauty around us, and the problems we face, and asks for a renewed sense of courage, in place of the fear that so often leads to indifference and cynicism. The book’s editor Elizabeth J. Coleman will also be present to share the inspiration behind the book.

The 2021 Green Room LIVE series included:

Joy Harjo and Indigenous Pacific Islander Poets Featured in When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through
Wednesday, April 21st, 3:00PM Hawai‘i

A celebration of National Poetry Month with U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, editor of native nation anthology When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through (W.W. Norton, 2020). Participating poets included ʻĪmaikalani Kalahele, Dan Talaupapa McMullin, Mahealani Perez-Wendt, Brandy Nālani McDougall, Craig Santos Perez, Lehua M. Taitano, and No‘u Revilla.

Jericho Brown
Saturday, May 29th, 2:00PM Hawai‘i

Poet Jericho Brown reads from his Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Tradition (Copper Canyon Press, 2019) as well as other work, and discusses the role of a person’s “place” in poetry making.

Ross Gay & Aimee Nezhukumatathil in Conversation
Saturday, June 26th, 2:00PM Hawai‘i

These two award-winning poets and writers join us for readings and conversation about place, poetry, and the wonders of the natural world.

Natalie Diaz
Thursday, December 16th, 2021
3:00PM Hawai‘i

The Green Room LIVE returns to the virtual stage on Thursday, December 16, 2021. Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natalie Diaz will join us for readings and conversation about place, poetry, and the power of language.

The Green Room LIVE 2021 online series was made possible by:

Atherton Family Foundation
Green Room Patrons
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