An evening with New York Times bestselling poet and author Kate Baer

Join Cognoscenti, WBUR’s ideas and essays page, for an evening with New York Times bestselling author Kate Baer to celebrate the release of her new poetry collection, “How About Now.” With her trademark candor and curiosity, Baer explores what it means to grow older, to release children into the wildness of their own lives and to reclaim the ever-evolving self. Baer will sit down with her friend Annie Hartnett, author of “The Road to Tender Hearts,” to discuss and read from the collection.

Copies of both books will be available to purchase from our bookstore partner Brookline Booksmith. Baer and Hartnett will sign following the conversation.

Please note: This event is hosted by WBUR at The Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground.

About "How About Now”

Renowned poet Kate Baer returns with a bold and compassionate collection that confronts the march of time in a shifting world.

With her trademark candor and curiosity, Baer explores what it means to grow older, to release children into the wildness of their own lives, and to reclaim the ever-evolving self. Raw, luminous and urgent, this collection channels Baer’s own journey to middle age into poems that are profoundly intimate yet resound universally, identifying the beauty, resilience and fragility that arrive in every stage of life.

“How About Now” is a striking declaration of ongoing transformation and self-discovery. From the poet who has captured the heartbeat of the modern woman, this collection reaffirms Kate Baer’s place among the most vital voices of our era.

About “The Road to Tender Hearts”
At 63-years-old, million-dollar lottery winner PJ Halliday would be the luckiest man in Pondville, Massachusetts, if it weren’t for the tragedies of his life: the sudden death of his eldest daughter and the way his marriage fell apart after that. Since then, PJ spends both his money and his time at the bar, and he probably doesn’t have much time left — he’s had three heart attacks already.

But when PJ reads the obituary of his old romantic rival, he realizes his high school sweetheart, Michelle Cobb, is finally single again. Filled with a new enthusiasm for life, PJ decides he’s going to drive across the country to the Tender Hearts Retirement Community in Arizona to win Michelle back.

Before PJ can hit the road, tragedy strikes Pondville, leaving PJ the sudden guardian of his estranged brother’s grandchildren. Anyone else would be deterred from the planned trip, but PJ figures the orphaned kids might benefit from getting out of town. PJ also thinks he can ask Sophie, his adult daughter who’s adrift in her twenties, to come along to babysit. And there’s one more surprise addition to the roster: Pancakes, a former nursing home therapy cat with a knack of predicting death, who recently turned up outside PJ’s home.

This could be the second chance PJ has long hoped for — a fresh shot at love and parenting — but does he have the strength to do both those things again? It’s very possible his heart can’t take it.

Ways To Save

WBUR’s Legacy Circle, Murrow Society, Sustainers and Members save $5.00 on tickets to this event. To apply the discount to your ticket purchase online, you’ll need to enter a promo code. You can get your code by emailing membership@wbur.org.

Registrants may be contacted by CitySpace about this or future events.