Busboys and Poets Books Presents WHEN YOUR WIFE HAS TOMMY JOHN SURGERY

Join us for an in-person celebration and reading with author E. Ethelbert Miller and guests in honor of his most recent release, WHEN YOUR WIFE HAS TOMMY JOHN SURGERY AND OTHER BASEBALL STORIES: POEMS (release September 7th, 2021), for an evening of poetry and celebration at our Takoma location (235 Carroll Street NW). This event is free and open to all, accessible in person and virtually through our Facebook and Youtube pages(@busboysandpoets).

This collection of poetry is brought to us by the lauded and honored Washington, D.C. poet activist E. Ethelbert Miller, who as always delights and surprises us with his nuanced and beautiful portraits and imaginings. Ethelbert brings words to life with a baseball rhythm, expressing the joy of living despite the bitter challenges we face in today’s world. Bringing together an American classic with the truths and goings of everyday life today, Ethelbert helps define this moment in time for us, allowing us to see ourselves as human through the lens of baseball, music, and family. Bring your baseball loving uncle, your poetry reading cousin, or even that special someone for a wonderful night of rhythms and rhymes with Ethelbert and guests.

This evening was made possible in part with the support of FM 89.3 WPFW, local talk and jazz community radio show.

Please RSVP if you are joining us in person or are interested in purchasing a signed book with shipping (limited to those tuning in via livestream)

The program will start out with an introduction from Busboys and Poets Books Director of Operations, Lori Barrientos Sanchez, before we get right into it with Ethelbert and guests. There will be time for Q&A with the audience before the end of the program, as well as the opportunity to purchase a copy of WHEN YOUR WIFE HAS TOMMY JOHN SURGERY for Ethelbert to sign himself!

WHEN YOUR WIFE HAS TOMMY JOHN SURGERY: AND OTHER BASEBALL STORIES is Miller's second book of baseball poems. Here he touches new bases. There are poems about Marcel Duchamp and Ornette Coleman as well as Whitey Ford and Don Larsen. Miller's poems move the outdoor game indoors where there are moments of disappointment and despair. Baseball can be a blues game. Tommy John surgery is a way of holding onto hope. Many of these poems were written during the Covid pandemic. They beckon fans back to the ballpark. They remind us to enjoy a game that is precious and maybe even essential to our wellness. Coming after If God Invented Baseball, Miller seems to emerge from a literary dugout after a brief rain delay, ready to celebrate the American pastime again.

E. Ethelbert Miller is a literary activist and author of two memoirs and several poetry collections. He hosts the WPFW morning radio show On the Margin with E. Ethelbert Miller and hosts and produces The Scholars on UDC-TV which received a 2020 Telly Award. Most recently, he was given a grant from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities and a congressional award from Congressman Jamie Raskin in recognition of his literary activism. Miller’s latest book is When Your Wife Has Tommy John Surgery and Other Baseball Stories.

Kirsten Porter is a freelance editor, poet, professor, and guest lecturer. She earned an MFA in creative writing from George Mason University and has taught creative writing, composition, and literature studies at Marymount University. Porter’s poetry and teachings focus on women, cultural diversity, community, and the ability for all to repair what is broken in themselves and the world. Porter is the assistant to poet and literary activist E. Ethelbert Miller and the editor of The Collected Poems of E. Ethelbert Miller. She resides in Northern Virginia with her five rescue dogs.

Kate Damon is an artist, designer, activist, colorist, art educator, auntie, SPARKLIST—born in Minneapolis, MN and raised in Charlottesville, VA, and based in Washington, DC. Kate is passionate about color, community, politics, sustainable gliTTer, fútbol, voting rights and how art and culture can shift social movements. She is committed to making the earth a more just and beautiful world.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Busboys and Poets Takoma, 235 Carroll Ave NW, Washington, United States