Poetry Reading and Discussion with Colette Lafia and Friends

This event is FREE to attend. Seating is first come, first served. (RSVPs are optional, but encouraged for our planning purposes.)

Meet the author, find out about a terrific new book, ask questions, hear directly from the author, and get personalized signed books!

Bookshop West Portal is happy to announce we will be welcoming back West Portal local author Colette Lafia for a poetry reading from her transcendent collection, Leaving the Shore: Experiencing Poetry as Prayer, on Tuesday, June 2nd. Colette will do a reading, discuss her work, and maybe even throw in a writing exercise to challenge all you aspiring poets! Colette will be joined by two fellow poet friends, Mark Gelade, a Bay Area musician and writer, reading from his poetry collection "Another Life," and Mary Loebig Giles, a San Francisco writer and pastor of Action and Contemplation at Common Table SF.

You don't need to have read the book beforehand to enjoy the event, but we do recommend reserving your copy ahead of time:

About the Collection:

"Poetry is the voice of the soul, and in this beautiful collection, Colette Lafia brings us into the joys and sorrows of life, revealing how God's enduring love is present in all we experience." --Richard Rohr, author of The Tears of Things

Poems and related practices for a more contemplative life.

Leaving the Shore is a collection of poems with the intent of creating contemplative experiences for readers. The author has added guided Lectio Divina (sacred readings) and writing/journaling prompts, so that readers can pray and reflect with the poems.

Each poem is about some aspect of living the spiritual path: the desire to reach beyond what we know, the longing to step into the Divine Mystery, and the commitment to live in an intimate exchange of love with the Holy.

An experienced spiritual director, Lafia draws on her commitment to the contemplative life. These poems are an expression of contemplation in action as they explore the Holy in moments of daily living: within a marriage, while assisting a loved one dying, in the creative act of painting, and more. They are inspired by writings of the mystics, in particular Mechthild of Magdeburg and St. John of the Cross, and suffused with surrender, love, and awe. They invite the reader into prayer, self-reflection, and seeing their own lives as sacred texts.

About the Author:

Colette Lafia is an award-winning author, spiritual director, and international retreat leader. She is a graduate of the Spiritual Directors Institute at Mercy Center in Burlingame, California, where she also served as an adjunct faculty member. She is a long-term San Francisco resident and served as an SFUSD elementary school librarian for many years, including 10-yrs at West Portal Elementary.

Colette is deeply committed to bringing the arts and spirituality together. She is the author of Comfort and Joy, Seeking Surrender, and The Divine Heart. Her most recent book is Leaving the Shore: Experiencing Poetry as Prayer. Learn more at www.colettelafia.com.

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