VSG’s Second Sunday Poetry and Music takes place every 2nd Sunday at the Gallery. Renowned poets and local talents alike will find a platform for their poetry, prose, spoken word, and acoustic performances creating a vibrant atmosphere of creativity and expression. By hosting these events, VSG aims to foster a sense of community and promote the art of poetry in Southbury and beyond. Whether you’re a seasoned poet, an aspiring writer, a storyteller, or simply a lover of the spoken word, mark your calendar for our open mic afternoons.

Free and open to the public (Suggested Donation)

Nadia Sims, poet and spoken word artist and poet laureate of Manchester, will be a featured poet along with Southbury poet Edward Dzitko. An open mic will follow.

Sims, who has been writing for most of her life, began performing in 2020 after gaining confidence at open mics. She quickly focused on spreading her message of grace and self-forgiveness in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. The Princeton graduate is the author of A Soft Place to Land and We Know the Dark. She released a spoken word album in February 2023, and in March 2024, was appointed Manchester's poet laureate.

Dzitko is a managing partner of Orenaug Mountain Publishing (OMP) and the contest coordinator for the Connecticut Poetry Society. He has done creative, newspaper, marketing, public relations, and technical writing for more than 40 years. In 2021, he started focusing more on poetry. He is the author of Swinging Away: Baseball in Poetry and Prose, So Strongly Do the Bugles Call, and Time with Thay. He has also edited several OMP anthologies, including Brand New Season, a baseball collection, and Pleasant Pastimes: Poems About the Sports We Love.