Release Date: July 1, 2025 

Woodstock is known around the world for its commitment to the arts and the environment. Those two passions will be combined July 12 when the Woodstock Land Conservancy (WLC) hosts its first Poetry Meet Up at Zena Cornfield.

“We’ll circle up under the gorgeous, unobstructed view of Overlook Mountain to read from a selection of poems,” WLC staffer Miranda Javid said. “Nature is the classic subject of poetry,” she noted. “We’re very lucky in Woodstock to have not only awe-inspiring beauty to admire but poets who can actually speak to that grandeur.”

Local writer Guy Reed will premiere segments from his new book of poetry, “Time Under the Overlook,” which was published in April by local publisher Bushwhack Books. It’s a collection of poems that speak to the question of “what does it mean to be of a place?” The publisher notes Reed set out to focus on the following: “What did it mean to live for more than two decades with his family in their house at the edge of the woods in the long shadow of Overlook Mountain?” Started during the pandemic, the collection features more than 70 poems.

Reed will be joined by Bushwhack Books owner and fellow poet Will Nixon, known locally for his multiple collections of poems and nonfiction works about Woodstock, Saugerties and the Hudson Valley. Both Reed and Nixon will be reading their poems as well as facilitating the meet up, encouraging others to read their self-authored verses or a favorite nature poem that speaks to them. Alternatively, attendees are welcome to bring a lawn chair and just listen to the beautiful words dancing across the cornfield.

WLC will provide all registrants with a free chapbook of selected poems from local and national authors. The event is free, but registration is required. The Poetry Meet Up, which will start at noon, is one of the Conservancy’s monthly programs.