This Earth Day, the Alpena County Library will be hosting an evening of spoken word and poetry led by poet and writer Alison Swan.

The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, with Swan reading selections from her written works centered on the theme of water and the Great Lakes. The public is invited to share their poems or prose on these themes in an open mic session. Those electing to share their poems can have their writing displayed in the library if they so choose.

Swan’s poems and essays have appeared in many places, including her poetry chapbooks “Before the Snow Moon” and “Dog Heart,” and the recent award-winning anthologies “Elemental: A Collection of Michigan Creative Nonfiction,” “Ghost Fishing: An Eco-Justice Poetry Anthology,” and “Here: Women Writing on the Upper Peninsula.” Her anthology “Fresh Water: Women Writing on the Great Lakes” is a Michigan Notable Book.

A Mesa Refuge alum and a Petoskey Prize for Grassroots Environmental Leadership co-winner, she teaches literature and writing in the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at Western Michigan University and lives in Ann Arbor.

This program is part of the Library’s Third Coast Conversations series, an initiative of the Michigan Humanities Council made possible through funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities that focuses on the cultural, social, historical, and environmental factors that connect Michigan’s people to their water.

The overall project will be led by the Michigan Humanities Council in collaboration with their strong network of partner organizations across the state.

For more information on this program, visit www.alpenalibrary.org or call 989-356-6188.