STONINGTON — Margaret Gibson, former Poet Laureate of Connecticut returns to The Arts Café Mystic Friday for the final show of the fall season and to share her latest work — in a dramatic presentation. "While Margaret is a familiar voice at The Arts Café Mystic," said Artistic Director Lisa Starr in an email, "her breathtaking new masterpiece, 'Draw Me Without Boundaries,' marks a distinct shift and expansion of her work." Friday's program is certain to be an extraordinary evening for those long familiar — and also those new — to her work, Starr said.
Calling Gibson "amazing," Starr said "Draw Me Without Boundaries" "crosses genre lines" as it combines poetry and prose as it tells the story of Lena, an elderly writer suffering from memory loss and her granddaughter, Zoe. Lena is living her remaining days in a memory care facility, Starr explained, while Zoe, a painter who has moved into Lena’s old house, is struggling with the aftershocks of a failed marriage and the unexpected, life-changing decisions she must make. "The book masterfully weaves its narrative as Lena and Zoe present their interior monologues in stirring counterpoint," Starr said.
"The powerful love between a grandmother and a granddaughter animates the voices in this poignant series, set against the backdrop of global climate crisis and the COVID pandemic." "Draw Me without Boundaries" lays bare the integrity and depth of inquiry it takes to make life and death choices in a broken world, Starr a.