SUNY Adirondack offers 'Tea under the Trees'

QUEENSBURY, New York (April 22, 2025) — SUNY Adirondack’s Forest Bathing Book Club and Writers Project proudly present “Tea under the Trees: A Celebration of Our Creative Writing Graduates & the Natural World” at 12:40 p.m. April 30 in the college’s Arboretum.

Creative Writing students will read from their works in “Tea under the Trees,” followed by readings of nature literature in honor of Mother Earth by members of the Forest Bathing Book Club, under the guidance of club advisor Krista Rivera, assistant professor of English. Tea and snacks will be provided at this free event.

SUNY Adirondack will also unveil Joy!-etry, a poetry machine — a gum ball machine-like device that dispenses plastic capsules with poems — at "Tea under the Trees."

“The poetry machine, named after former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, who read on campus in 2015, is a gumball machine set to a free spin to dispense a donated or published poem,” said Kathleen McCoy, distinguished professor of English and director of the Writers Project.

Poems included in Joy!-etry include those in the public domain, selections from works in Expressions, the college’s annual creative magazine, and works by students and faculty.

“Tea under the Trees” is the final event in the Spring 2025 Writer Project series, which included presentations by six guest speakers who are poets, writers, editors, songwriters, memoirists, activists and journalists. This event is also sponsored by the Forest Bathing Club.

This event is free and open to the public. In the event of inclement weather, “Tea under the Trees” will be held in the college’s Visual Arts Gallery in Dearlove Hall. The Arboretum is on the north end of campus, just outside Adirondack Hall and the Humanities building; guests are invited to park in the north lot.