Poet Karen J. Weyant will give a reading at Tobeco Open Mic night at Michelle's Café, Main St., Clarion, on Oct.29, at 6 p.m. The reading is co-sponsored by the Clarion University's Spoken Arts Writers' Series and Tobeco.

            Born and raised in Western Pennsylvania, Weyant is an assistant professor of English at Jamestown Community College, Jamestown, N.Y.

Karen Weyant

            Weyant's work has been published or is forthcoming in 5AM, Barn Owl Review, Copper Nickel, The Comstock Review, Lake Effect, Minnesota Review and Slipstream. Her chapbook, "Stealing Dust," was recently published. She was 2007 Fellow in Poetry recipient from the New York Foundation for the Arts.

            The Spoken Arts Writers' Series' goal is bringing poets and writers of national stature to the university to offer workshops and read from their work; provide a new and active forum for important regional voices from around western Pennsylvania; and to foster the literary arts within the Clarion area's growing writers' community - from college and high school students just beginning to experiment with the written word to faculty and community writers who have been practicing their craft for many years.

            Clarion University is the high-achieving, nationally recognized, comprehensive university that delivers a personal and challenging academic experience.