About: Join Wendell Hawken for a reading from From a Spit Seed, her sixth poetry collection. Set on a northern Shenandoah Valley farm on the edge of the wild, these poems invite readers to marvel at the rural world through the lens of memory, experience, and the wisdom of accumulated years. With her characteristic wry humor and musical attention to language, Hawken moves gracefully between knowing and not knowing, fact and dream, hope and despair.

As Betty Adcock notes, Hawken “weaves dense imagery that catches her readers up and wraps us tight while a story pools darkly, beautiful as unfinished fringe, around us.” This reading is a chance to hear her work aloud, experience its rich sound and imagery, and reflect on the poetic lessons it offers about life, place, and the passage of time.

Date & Time: Sunday, February 1, 2026. Doors will open at 1:30 PM, and the program begins at 2:00 PM.

Registration Information:This program is free to attend, but advance registration is highly encouraged due to space limitations.

Register online or by calling the Barns of Rose Hill Box Office at 540-955-2004 (hours). When our Box Office is closed, please leave a message.