Pittsburgh, February 3, 2010 — La Roche College’s meeting of the Literary Society will meet at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19, in the Ryan Room of the Zappala College Center on the college’s main campus in McCandless Township. A poetry reading titled “Sestinas, Translations and Family Relations” will feature acclaimed poet and writer Nola Garrett and La Roche alumna and current Director of International Student Services Natasha Garrett. Selections throughout the night will be from Nola Garrett’s latest collections of Sestinas, titled “The Dynamite Maker’s Mistress.” Both Nola and Natasha will read English translations of contemporary Macedonian poetry. The presentation is free and open to the public. A reception will follow the program.

Nola Garrett is Faculty Emeritus of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Palm Harbor, Fla, with her husband, Ronald. Her poems, Macedonian translations and essays have appeared in Able Muse, Arts & Letters, Christian Century, Christianity and Literature, FIELD, Georgia Review and Tampa Review. Her Chapbook, The Pastor’s Wife Considers Pinball, won the 1998 American Poets Prize. She has received residency at Yaddo,, a program that provides opportunities for professional artists to excel in various art forms; scholarships from the West Chester Poetry Conference and the Bread Loaf Writers’ conference.

Natasha Garrett is an alumna of La Roche College, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in English in 1996. She serves as the current director of International Student Services at La Roche and is a doctoral candidate at the University of Pittsburgh School of Education.

For directions to La Roche, visit www.laroche.edu