September 11, 2022. 5:30 PM ET
Book Talk hosted by publisher, Christine Cote, Shanti Arts, with Lee Woodman, Marjorie Maddox, Joseph Stanton, and photographer, Karen Elias. Short poetry readings and discussion of ekphrastic poetry. These authors come to writing about artworks in unique and personal ways, and will talk about their inspirations and techniques! Please email publisher@shantiarts.com to reserve your spot.

July 13, 2022   7-8 PM ET
The Writer’s Center, 4508 Walsh Street, Bethesda, MD

Lee Woodman Poetry Reading & Discussion

Poet Lore and The Writer’s Center welcome poet Lee Woodman for a reading from her new collection, Artscapes, and a discussion of her writing craft. Lee is in conversation with Emily Holland, poet and Editor of Poet Lore, America’s oldest poetry magazine.
About the Book
Artscapes is a 78-page collection of ekphrastic poems that dazzle with vivid imagery and expert wordplay. Lee Woodman has chosen to explore works from major museums, including The National Gallery, MOMA, The Guggenheim, The Prado, and the Louvre. Woodman invites readers to walk into paintings, enter worlds triggered by sculpture, and eavesdrop on conversations with artists. She will take you to a roaring boxing ring in Washington D.C., a cave in Indonesia with forty-thousand-year-old paintings, and a harem’s den in Algiers. All is possible in poetry. Information about each artwork allows readers to look at the works online while reading poems that offer a refreshing and provocative examination of the art.
VCCA Residency in March 2022 
Lee was awarded a fellowship by the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA). She was among approximately 22 Fellows focusing on their own creative projects at this working retreat for writers, visual artists, and composers.

January 4, 2022

Listen to my 5-minute interview about LIFESCAPES (Kelsay Books) on Kirkus Review’s FULLY BOOKED podcast (starts at 02:45 minutes in before Xochitl Gonzalez) https://www.kirkusreviews.com/podcast/

December 9, 2021,  7 PM

Finishing Line Writers of the DMV

Co-sponsored by The Writer’s Center

October 13, 2021,  7-8 PM ET at Bitter Grace Boutique 526 8th St. SE, Washington, DC

Title: Personal Transformation 2020-2021: A Poetry Reading from Lifescapes  by Lee Woodman

Owner Anne Marie Johnson and guest poet, Lee Woodman, discussed her collection about a fictional artist emerging from the darkness of a broken relationship during COVID and global crises.

September 10, 2021 7:30 PM

Title: Princeton Diary by Sparrow
Lost City Books, Washington, DC

Sparrow discussed his new novella, The Princeton Diary, in conversation with guest poet Lee Woodman. Among the themes: success and failure, love, Doo-wop music, and Joyce Carol Oates.

August 17, 2021 / 6 PM ET

ZOOM Virtual Event The Writer’s Center, Bethesda, MD
Title: Lifescapes
Interviewer: Jane Rosenberg LaForge

Lee Woodman, winner of the 2020 William Meredith Prize for Poetry, read poems from her new collection, Lifescapes. Novelist and poet, Jane Rosenberg LaForge, led a discussion with Lee and audience members about significant life issues: divorce, Covid, writers’ view of the future.

July 20, 2021 / 3:45 PM EST (By invitation)

The Woodmans Present at Arbor Ridge, Rhinebeck, NY
Title: Sisters: Betsy (novelist) and Lee (poet) read from their books

Betsy read from “Jana Bibi’s Excellent Fortunes” and Lee from “Homescapes.” Both works reflect their ten years of growing up in India.

June 11, 2021 / 10 AM ET

ZOOM Virtual Event Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Title: Why Poetry?

“A poet’s work is to name the unnameable, point at frauds, take sides, shape the world, and stop it from going to sleep.”
—Salman Rushdie

“Poetry is a deal of joy, pain, and wonder, with a dash of dictionary.”
—Kahlil Gibran

Lee Woodman, winner of the 2020 William Meredith Prize for Poetry, read poems from her four poetry collections. A Smithsonian alum, she grew up in France and India, where she developed a passion for art, dance, and music. Known as the SCAPES poet, she writes about her overseas childhood, wishes, lies and myths, divorce during COVID, and famous artworks. Historian and world traveler, Marc Pachter, engaged her in a discussion of “Why Poetry?”

Marc Pachter
Marc Pachter was at SI for 34 years, alternating between the museums and ten years in the Castle. He is Director Emeritus of the National Portrait Gallery and, surprisingly, served three times as Interim Director of the National Museum of American History.

Lee Woodman
After a 45-year career in art education, media, and museums, Lee has been writing poetry for six years. Her poetry collection, Mindscapes, was published by Poets’ Choice Publishing on January 9, 2020, and Homescapes was published on May 22, 2020 by Finishing Line Press. Lifescapes will be published by Kelsay Books in summer 2021, and Artscapes will be published by Shanti Arts in winter 2021.

February 2020

Reading sponsored by The Writer’s Center, Bethesda, MD and Poets Choice
Publishing, CT

https://www.writer.org/event/woodman/

April 2019

“Spotlight on Lee Woodman” sponsored by Eastern Market Residences, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC

https://www.writerspassage.com/new-products/show-dont-tell-writing-emotion-and-sensory-detailsnbspw-sita-c-romero-mgld8-s343n

October 2018

Poetry Reading in collaboration with exhibition The Urge to Mark by Craig Kraft

https://www.eastcityart.com/openings-and-events/king-street-gallery-presents-craig-kraft-urge-mark/

Readings sponsored by The Writer’s Hotel and The New Guard Journal, ME:

• June 2017 – The Bowery Poetry, NYC
• June 2018 – The Bowery Poetry, NYC
• June 2019 – The Bowery Poetry, NYC

Looking back at Lifescapes