Walking With Whitman: Poetry in Performance

Walt Whitman Birthplace Association (WWBA) presents Walking With Whitman: Poetry in Performance, hosted by Writer-in-Residence George Wallace.

The signature series, now in its 16th season, continues to bring the most intriguing figures in contemporary literature on the national scene paired with local poets on the Walt Whitman stage.

On Thursday, November 12, poets Thomas Fucaloro and Deb Hauser will perform their poetry; musical guest Linda Sussman will perform as well.

Thomas Fucaloro: The winner of a performance grant from the Staten Island Council of the Arts and the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Thomas Fucaloro has been on six national slam teams. He holds an MFA in creative writing from the New School and is a co-founding editor of Great Weather for Media and NYSAI press. He is an adjunct professor at Wagner College and BMCC where he teaches world lit and advanced creative writing. Since 2016, Fucaloro has helped in building a community of poets in Staten Island, focusing on making poetry accessible to all, either though the Life*Vest*Poetry Slam, The Who Needs Healing? Reading Series, or the free workshops offered at Staten Island Libraries and other various organizations.

Deb Hauser: Suffolk County Poet Laureate, feminist, activist, certified ennui therapist, and fairy tale revisionist. Deborah Hauser (she/they) is the author of Ennui: From the Diagnostic and Statistical Field Guide of Feminine Disorders. Her poems and book reviews have appeared or are forthcoming in Ms. Magazine, Women’s Review of Books, Kenyon Review, Prairie Schooner, Bellevue Literary Review, and Calyx. A Pushcart Prize nominee, she has taught literature and writing at Stony Brook University and Suffolk County Community College. She has featured at the Northeast Modern Language Association, New York University, Newman University, KGB Bar, Walt Whitman Birthplace, and Bowery Poetry Club. She has presented her academic work at conferences including the Feminisms and Rhetorics Conference and graduate conferences at The City University of New York and Stony Brook University.

Linda Sussman: Linda Sussman is a NY-based award-winning singer-songwriter whose music is a mix of alt-folk and blues that digs deep into our shared human experience. With songs of courage, love, struggles and triumphs, Linda's vocals are frequently compared to Joan Baez, while her self-taught guitar style leans into open tunings, unique fingerpicking and a bit of acoustic slide.