Three well-known members of the literary community were welcomed to Bowers Writers House on March 20 to share their writing, along with the experience they have accumulated throughout their writing careers, with members of the Elizabethtown community. James Tolan, Nicole Callihan and Lorraine Doran were introduced with much praise for their individual accomplishments within the writing world.
Tolan is the author of “Mass of the Forgotten” and the book “Red Walls,” and he is the co-editor of “New America: Contemporary Literature for a Changing Society.” His poems have appeared in many journals, such as the “American Literary Review,” “Atlanta Review,” “Bellevue Literary Review,” “Connecticut Review,” “Indiana Review,” “Linebreak” and “Ploughshares,” as well as a number of anthologies, including “The Autumn House Anthology of Contemporary American Poetry.” Tolan was the first poet to kick off the night, which began with his poem “The Eggman, The Pediatrician and Me” from his book “Mass of the Forgotten.” As the night went on, Tolan continued reading from “Mass of the Forgotten,” reading other poems such as “Returning Home,” “The Coup” and “Downstream.” At the end of the night, Tolan was asked how he went about tackling the process of understanding the content of other writers’ poetry. “Think of it like this: the poems you are reading are fixing you a sandwich. Just eat the sandwich,” he said.
Tolan was originally from Chicago but earned a doctorate from the University of Louisiana-Lafayette. He worked for years as a poet in public schools in New York City, N.Y. with the Teachers and Writers Collaborative.  He is currently an associate professor at the City University of New York/BMCC.
Nicole Callihan writes poems, stories and essays. She recently wrote the 2012 nonfiction “Henry River Mill Village,” a documentation of the rise and fall of a tiny mill village turned into a ghost town in North Carolina. Callihan has also written “SuperLoop,” a collection of poems published by Sock Monkey Press in early 2014, which she read from throughout the night, starting with her poem “Flashes.”   Callihan shared her other poems, including “Lesson 3,” “It May End with My Mother” and “Status Update.” Later in the night, Callihan was asked what her biggest goal was when it came to creating poetry. “I’m trying to get as much emotion into as much space as possible,” she said.
Callihan is a full-time senior language lecturer at New York University where she has received an Excellence in Teaching Award every year since she began in 2002. Callihan is also noted as a founding member of the Brooklyn Writer’s Collaborative.  She currently resides in Brooklyn with her husband and daughters.
Lorraine Doran followed her colleague’s readings with her debut collection of poems, “Phrasebook for the Pleiades,” which won the 2012 Cider Press Review book award. She read poems titled “200 Mt. Pleasant,” “Postcard: Prague” and “A Series of Disconnected Events.” To conclude the night, Doran was asked how she forms the ideas for her poetry.  “I believe there is what you think you’re doing, and then there’s the thing that the poem becomes,” she said.
Doran’s most recent poems and essays can be found in “Gulf Coast,” “FIELD,” “Barn Owl Review” and “American Poetry Journal.” She has also been a featured poet at the Proletkult Poetry Circus and the Barron Arts Center. She lives and writes in Brooklyn. Doran holds a J.D. and M.F.A in poetry from New York University.