Howard Schwartz, professor emeritus of English at the University of Missouri–St. Louis, will partake in an interfaith poetry reading at The Ethical Society of St. Louis in Ladue, Mo. Six poets – two Christian, two Muslim and two Jewish (including Schwartz) – will read poems that reflect their cultural and religious traditions.

The reading will begin at 7 p.m. May 28 and feature a performance by Rabbi James Stone Goodman’s Band. Admission is free.

Schwartz has written four books of poems: “Vessels,” “Gathering the Sparks,” “Sleepwalking Beneath the Stars” and “Breathing in the Dark.” He also co-edited “Voices within the Ark: The Modern Jewish Poets.” His other books include “Tree of Souls: The Mythology of Judaism,” which won the National Jewish Book Award in 2005, and “Leaves from the Garden of Eden: One Hundred Classic Jewish Tales.”

Michael Castro, a professor at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Mo., is the other Jewish poet scheduled to read. The Christian poets will include John Knoepfle, former poet-in-residence at Saint Louis University, and Rev. Ralph Wright, who teaches theology and English at Saint Louis Priory School in Creve Coeur, Mo. The Muslim poets will include Fatemeh Keshavarz, chair of the Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures at Washington University in St. Louis, and Zeeshan Pathan, a graduate student at Washington University.

The Ethical Society of St. Louis is at 9001 Clayton Road in Ladue.

More information:
umsl.edu/divisions/artscience/english/faculty/schwartz.html
ethicalstl.org
314-991-0955