BROWN BAG LUNCH PROGRAM – The Poet Guy!

“Twenty Days on Route 20” chronicles the crossing of America. The account is written in haibun, a Japanese literary form combining condensed prose and haiku. Matsuo Basho, Japan’s great 17th century haiku master wrote his classic travel sagas in haibun. Now, more than 300 years later, Michael Czarnecki uses that same form to chronicle his pilgrimage across this vast continent.

Starting from Boston, Route 20 traverses the northern third of the country, through a varied American landscape: rolling hills of New York State; mid-America farmland and villages; sprawling, bustling Chicago; Mississippi and Missouri rivers; Nebraska sandhills; Wyoming plateau country; Yellowstone National Park; lava fields; high desert; Cascade Mountains and finally, the Pacific.

Michael barters for motel rooms, explores small towns, cities and countryside, gives poetry readings, encounters raven and coyote and observes the country slowly unfolding as the road leads forever west. Join us in the program dedicated to Route 20 and also learn a bit about Japanese Prose and self-publishing.