Milford | Poetry | Youth Arts Journalism Initiative
Victoria Nordland (Glastonbury Poet Laureate), Pegi Degite Shea (Vernon Poet Laureate), Elaine Nadal (Milford Poet Laureate), and Sharmont Influence Little (former New Haven Laureate). Ruby Szekeres Photos.
Behind a small podium, and beneath the bright lights of a programming room, Sharmont “Influence” Little met the crowd with a smile. To him, it was more than just an expression—it was a lesson, passed down by his father, who had learned how to smile through everything. With love and passion, sorrow and determination, he explained what it meant to smile in the form of a poem.
“So a smile is sometimes all I have left,” he read. “We should all be free to smile.”
Last Saturday, Milford Poet Laureate Elaine Nadal welcomed attendees to the inaugural Milford Literary Festival at the city’s public library, located at 57 New Haven Ave. in the town of Milford. This is Nadal’s last month serving as Milford Poet Laureate, but if her term is renewed, she said she might consider bringing this event back next year.
From mid-morning through mid afternoon, poets and other literary folk filled the space, speaking from their wide-open hearts as they discussed poetry, practice, and the power of the pen. In a conversation that ranged from love poems to artificial intelligence, poets often spoke their minds, leaning on literary anecdotes as they talked.
Guest speakers included Vernon Poet Laureate Pegi Degite Shea, Glastonbury Poet Laureate Victoria Nordland and former New Haven Poet Laureate Little, who held the inaugural title from 2023 to 2025. New Haven’s current poet laureate is spoken word artist and educator Yexandra “Yex” Diaz.
After short introductions, the morning started off with the poet laureates sharing their writing, from recounting their fondest childhood memories to moments filled with fear.
“I had to bring my tears to the stage,” Little said as he talked about his practice.
Little, who Kulturally LIT and the City of New Haven tapped for the position in October 2023 is an activist, nurse, poet, entrepreneur, and father. He spoke about how he brings all of those identities to every poem he writes, and to collaborations that stretch from Bridgeport-based open mic nights to work with Tia Russell Arts Center and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra.
When asked why he never writes poems about love, he replied that he has a whole binder full; they just aren’t ready to be read. “When people ask me why I don’t write love poems, I ask, ‘Why the hell am I not writing more hate poems?’”
Other poets wound back the clock to those first magical moments with poetry and the written word. Noting how deeply “the world still needs writers,” Shea said she can still remember the first time she fell in love with poetry, when in elementary school she entered a poetry contest and won two dollars.
“I thought, wow! I could do this [for a living].” Then she laughed. At 66 years old, perhaps she would tell her younger self that in fact, writing is not quite the money maker she had then thought it to be. “It’s not about the fame. It’s about writing for yourself though.”
During the festival, attendees walked around the edges of the room, where tables showcased various author’s books and provided a window into Connecticut’s literary landscape. Derby resident Laura Garrity, who runs the writer’s group The Written Word at the Milford Arts Council, said she was grateful to be there supporting the poets.
Like Little, Mary Keating also read a poem about smiling, which is part of her book Recalibrating Gravity, a memoir in verse about her life as a wheelchair user who has never let her disability define her.
“Break all the rules,” Keating said after reading some excerpts from her book. “Be creative. Those stories—”
She nodded to Peter Friedman. Just a half hour before, he had told the audience that he was no writer and wasn’t even creative, causing raucous laughter as he recalled his time in the media business.
“—We’re waiting for them,” Keating finished.
Nadal had invited Friedman to the event because of his book I’ll Get The Tip: Moments Between the World’s Biggest Stars And An Unknown Ad Guy, co-written with Grant Copeland.
“I just had the stories,” Friedman said. “Grant put the book together.”
Poetry meant many different things to everyone. For poet Colleen Bak, who brought copies of her book Letters To A Dead Magician, it meant learning about her family, history and a touch of magic. Her husband and three kids were there by her side.
This article comes from a graduate of the 2024 Cohort of the Youth Arts Journalism Initiative. Ruby Szekeres is a junior at Oak Meadow School.