Vanderbilt’s Poet MDs

Three Vanderbilt medical staff will read their own works and show off their literary talents at the library to help celebrate National Poetry Month.

Brenda Butka practices pulmonary medicine and lives in the Bells Bend area. Her poems have been published widely and have prompted a nationwide program called “Tell Me More”, sponsored by the Gold Society for Humanism in Medicine.

Julie Sumner has worked as a critical care nurse, liver transplant nurse practitioner, and a massage therapist. Her poetry has been published in The Behemoth, Catapult, and the Vanderbilt Medical Center House Organ. Her first chapbook, Flight Path, was published in 2014. She is currently a member of the Humanities in Medicine Working Group at the Vanderbilt Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society. She is currently pursuing her MFA in Poetry at Seattle Pacific University.

Doug Hester is an anesthesiologist and poet. Part of his academic work involves the intersection of medicine and the humanities, especially as a tool for physicians to grow. He also is enrolled in Murray State’s MFA program with an emphasis in poetry.

This program will be in the Children’s Activity Room, off the Children’s Desk. It is the last day to file taxes and the tax volunteers will be in the Meeting Room. Please register if you wish to be guaranteed a seat as there are fewer chairs in the activity room.

All library programs are free and open to the public.

The Williamson County Public Library is located in downtown Franklin at 1314 Columbia Avenue. Branches are located in Fairview, Bethesda, College Grove, Nolensville and Leiper’s Fork. For further information about other library programs or services, call the library at 615-595-1243 or visit the library’s web site at http://wcpltn.org. To sign up to receive library events and announcements via email, send an email to ref@williamson-tn.org with the subject line: Subscribe_Library_Bytes. The library can also be found on Facebook and on Twitter via @wcpltn.