Well-known Irish poet Tony Curtis will give a reading at the fellowship hall of the Guemes Island Church, at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, April 15.

Curtis was a featured poet at the Skagit River Poetry Festival in 2010. He currently teaches local children as a visiting poet in the Festival’s schools program.

For those attending from off the island, the passenger-only ferry departs at 6:00 p.m. from Cap Sante Marina’s A-Dock on Seafarer’s Way. No fare is charged. A free Skagit Transit bus will deliver passengers to the reading, and also pick them up for the 15-minute return trip leaving Guemes hourly beginning at 8:30 p.m.

A donation of $5 is suggested, to go to the Skagit River Poetry Festival and its poets-in-the-schools program.

Curtis was born and educated in Dublin. A poet of much heart and lyric grace, he is the author of The Well in the Rain: New and Selected Poems (2006) and other collections. His books for children include An Elephant Called Rex: an A to Z of Poems for Children. One of the most popular poets of his generation, in 1993 Curtis won the Poetry Ireland/Friends Provident National Poetry Competition. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.

Attendees at his readings have said he is “incredibly entertaining and funny!” and “This was fabulous. Tony Curtis tells a great story, sets up the poem in a very entertaining way, and delivers it, all in his wonderful Irish accent. Particularly enjoyed his Robert Frost arrangement!”