The poetry of summer

By TIMES STAFF WRITER
Published August 17, 2006

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The Alley Cat Players, based in Tampa's Seminole Heights neighborhood, have a reputation for innovation. The group's latest endeavor: dramatic poetry readings in area parks.

Actors Clare Ward, Noreen Maier-Hartley and Jo Averill-Snell will perform poems of Nancy Willard, an award-winning author of adult and children's books and poems, at 3 p.m. Saturday in Rivercrest Park, shown above, at the corner of Osbourne Avenue and River Boulevard in Tampa. The program will be repeated at 3 p.m. Aug. 26 at Demens Landing, Bayshore Drive and Second Avenue S, St. Petersburg.

Both are free, and picnicking is encouraged. The group plans to continue the series in the fall at parks and libraries in Tampa and St. Petersburg. For more information, go to alleycatplayers.org or call (813) 231-8478.