The gaps in history are often where the most compelling stories begin. Join award-winning poet and novelist, Colby Cedar Smith, for a thoughtful exploration of the women, music, personal histories that inform her work. From her paternal grandmother, whose story inspired her first novel Call Me Athena, to Barbara Strozzi, the bold 17th-century composer at the heart of The Siren and the Star, Smith draws on history’s forgotten voices, and invites you into a conversation about creativity, courage, and finding new ways to listen to the past.  

No registration required. As space permits. 

Colby Cedar Smith is an award-winning poet, novelist, and educator and the author of two verse novels The Siren and The Star (2025) and Call Me Athena (2021). Her lyric work focuses on the untold stories of women throughout history, and often explores themes of body, gender, and identity, while incorporating images from the natural world. Colby’s work has been selected for an American Booksellers Association Indie Next Pick, an American Library Association Rise: Feminist Book selection, a Goodreads Choice for Poetry Nominee, and a New Jersey Council on the Arts Fellowship in Poetry. Her poems and narratives have been featured by Forbes, POETRY, and NPR. She holds a B.A. from Colorado College and an Ed.M. from Harvard University. Learn more about her visit her website or follow her on Instagram @colby_cedar_smith.