Dog Ears Bookstore will focus on the state of Texas during part nine of its multi-state Around America educational adventure. Designed for seniors, the program will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Thursday, March 27 at Dog Ears, a nonprofit community bookstore located at 688 Abbott Road, Buffalo.

Around America explores the United States, one state at a time, highlighting each state’s history, geography, culture and the written word. Multiple states and distinguished authors will be discussed during the series, including Alaska (John Krakauer), South Dakota (John Neihardt), Alabama (Richie Jean Jackson), Illinois (Ernest Hemingway, Abraham Lincoln), California (John Steinbeck), Missouri (Mark Twain, Langston Hughes, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Maya Angelou, Jerry Pinkney), Hawaii (George Gray, Robert Craig), Texas (Cormac McCarthy, Larry McMurtry) and Oregon (Beverly Cleary, Cheryl Strayed, Chuck Palahniuk).

Participants will engage in discussions, guided readings, storytelling and sharing, presentations and more as they travel the country without leaving Western New York!

For five of the programs, local artists will provide a lesson and project that corresponds with an aspect of the state culture. Mediums will include glass, sculpture, paint, textiles and more. Participants will be able to take their artworks home with them.

Sessions take place on the second floor of Dog Ears, and the café will be open for individuals who may want to purchase refreshments.

For more information or to register for the March 27 event, please visit the bookstore or call (716) 823-2665. 

Dr. Susannah Winters Simpson, a hospice nurse, gifted poet and deeply observant writer, will visit Dog Ears Bookstore & Café from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday, March 30, for a book-signing event. A nonprofit community bookstore, Dog Ears is located at 688 Abbott Road in South Buffalo.

Dr. Susannah Winters Simpson will visit Dog Ears on March 30.

Simpson creates sensual female-centric poetry for us all. She writes for those who live and those who die, for those who love and those who lose. Her new book, Mother Wind (Pine Row Press/2024) has multiple strong female speakers whose voices resound throughout her work. They provide a palpable and profound call to action, urging us to hold all life sacred, honor the natural world, and continue to build and keep our connections to one another. These poems translate hard-earned wisdom into a compelling universal language and are a much-needed counterpoint to our pervasive global plague of alienation and disconnection. More than simply capturing moments with clarity and power, her poems flood the reader with expressions of kindness and awe.  

Her third book Dharma of Death & Desire (Shanti Arts Press/2024) showcases Simpson’s years in hospice nursing, psychiatric nursing, and her work with recovering addicts. These decades of working in proximity to death and dying inform her view of living. It has provided her with deeply moving insights into the very human challenges we all face. 

Simpson’s remarkable eye for illuminating the details that bring the reader into a scene are no doubt due to her years of bearing witness. Her poems offer us a common thread to grasp, especially when writing about grief and loss. She comforts us and challenges us to cultivate our hopes and desires, and to bear our disappointments with compassion. This poet shares the gravitas not only of life’s inevitable passing, but also those exquisite moments occurring each day that call us to live a meaningful life. 

For more information on Dog Ears Bookstore, please visit dogearsbookstore.org.

The popular free after school youth program for students in grades 3-8 at Dog Ears Bookstore will resume on Feb. 4 and run through June 12. Three different days of programming are offered by grade group. Tuesdays feature programs for students in grades 3 and 4, Wednesdays are targeted towards students in grades 5 and 6, and Thursdays are reserved for students in grades 7 and 8. Depending on numbers, there will be an opportunity for children to attend all three days.

All sessions are held from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. and are limited to 20 students per day. Sessions are taught by literacy specialists and New York State Certified English Language Arts teachers. All class materials are provided, along with a small snack.

A nonprofit community bookstore, Dog Ears is located at 688 Abbott Road, Buffalo, near Mercy Hospital. Sessions are held upstairs of the bookstore (enter through the front entrance). Adults do not need to attend with their child but must be mindful of drop-off and pick-up times. Parents are welcome to wait for their children in the café, which will be open for food and beverage purchases.

Pre-registration is required and youth are expected to attend each week. Parents can sign up their children by calling the bookstore at 823-2665. When signing up, please make sure to indicate which day your child will be attending.

The free after school program is made possible through funding from Erie County Youth Services, M&T Bank and Christopher Scanlon’s office.