By KAYLA J. MARSH
Staff Writer
LITTLE SILVER — April will mark the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month, and in honor of the occasion, one local writer will have her work displayed as part of a new gallery that highlights the power of written words and their connection to the world of art.
Poet Gwynneth Green of Little Silver will be featured in the new “Ekphrasis: Art & Words” exhibit at Gallery U in Westfield, which opens April 8.
“I think the exhibit is going to be beautiful for people to see,” Green said in a recent interview. “This exhibit is about local artists and poets inspiring one another, whether it is the art inspiring the poetry or the poetry inspiring the art.
“The pieces really spoke to me and connected with me, and I am so excited to be able to be a part of this … and hope one day to find a place for the exhibit in Monmouth County too.”
Raised in the suburban community of Millburn/Short Hills, Green said she feels her passion for writing came from her grandfather Bud Green, who was the famous lyricist behind the popular song “Sentimental Journey.”
“This is a gift that I have been blessed with that truly was handed down from him,” she said.
“It took time for me to recognize and really embrace it and call myself a poet, but I am very passionate … and love being able to share what I do with others and see them make connections to their own life and spread my work to others … it takes my breath away.”
A graduate of Farleigh Dickinson University, Green said she started writing poetry when she was younger, but had taken a break to raise her two children, and it wasn’t until 2008 that her first book, “unsung songs,” was published.
“I had been doing some journaling and didn’t really share or let anyone know what I was doing, but the book is a gathering of pieces I put together as a gift to me and as my own birthday gift to my closest friends,” she said. “People were so nice and acknowledged it and from there things developed.”
One of those friends was Diane Bufo Daly, who describes herself as Green’s unofficial marketer, publicist, editor and all around “gal Friday.”
“I have known Gwynneth for most of my life,” she said, “We were friendly in high school and had lost touch for a long time before we reunited at our 40th high school reunion.”
From that point on, Daly said she and Green have enjoyed their renewed friendship.
“We started getting together, and she expressed a little frustration about not being able to get her work out there, and she had a stack of papers that had to be a couple of feet high, and I just started looking through and putting things into piles saying, ‘this is a book’ and ‘this is a book’ and before you know it, we were on our way collaborating together on things,” she said.
Green has published eight works of poetry and lyrics including “unsung songs,” “unsung songs II,” “meditation,” “Empowering Poems: A Gift of Strength, Courage, Resilience & Support,” “my friend’s Funk: observations & validations,” “green’s gifts,” “Breathe the ease,” “unplugged” and her most recent work “nine.”
“There are so many different topics that she writes about, and they’re all very unique and her work is very unique and successful and inspiring and … I think she is a force to be reckoned with,” Daly said.
“It has been very exciting, and our collaborating works really well … and I think this exhibit is a wonderful forum for her work, and I hope it brings her much success.”
Green said meeting people or being online and seeing people she doesn’t know sharing her works gives her a great validation that she is on the right path.
“The feeling that I get from seeing others I know, and all those I don’t know, sharing my work and being inspired and connecting with it is indescribable, and I realize I am making an impact and touching other people,” she said.
