DeKalb church to host reading of Ukrainian poems to fundraise for Doctors without Borders

DeKALB – To help the people of Ukraine, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is hosting a reading of Ukrainian poetry by local poets.

The event, “Sunflower Seeds: Poetry for Ukraine,” will be held 7 p.m. April 1 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 900 Normal Road in DeKalb. The event also will be streamed on YouTube and on Zoom.

Admission price is a free will offering to benefit Doctors without Borders, which is focused on aiding Ukrainian people fleeing the destruction in their country.

The poems, in English translation, are contemporary works written by Ukrainians in urgent response to the war in Ukraine. The readers for the evening are poets Bonnie Amesquita, Riccardo Amesquita, John Bradley, Marilyn Cleland, Becky Parfitt, Joseph Gastiger and Susan Azar Porterfield.

There will be a reception following the program. Everyone is welcome and invited to attend.

In a news release, poet John Bradley said his participation in the event is his response to help those in need.

“I can’t offer a lot, but what I can do is offer poetry, in this case poems by Ukrainian authors, to bring a focus on this ever-worsening situation that only poetry can bring,” Bradley said. “And with this reading to raise some funds, even if modest, which will offer some assistance to those fleeing the invasion. I feel it’s my responsibility as a fellow human being.”

“As a fellow writer, as one who struggles to shape words, who wrestles with words to express my thoughts, my images, I know that their words have come through fire and bullet and bomb,” poet and St. Paul’s member Marilyn Cleland said in a news release. “In this way, they are true words about this war even if words may be inadequate to it. And I will speak their words.”

For information about the event or St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, call 815-756-4888 or visit www.stpaulsdekalb.org.