Manchester Community College student poet Marielena Cartagena of East Hartford will read from her work Thursday, March 25, from 7 to 8 p.m. in a live WebEx online presentation.

One of five Outstanding Student Poets selected by the Connecticut Poetry Circuit, Cartagena is studying visual fine arts and plans to transfer to Southern Connecticut State University to study studio art and creative writing. Her career goals include gallery curation or museum management. She also plans to pursue a master’s degree in creative writing.

“Infinitely delighted by the monstrous feminine rage” in Gothic literature, the college says, Cartagena’s poetry “seeks to explore the depiction of female psychosis in modern and contemporary horror.” Her poetry is slated to be published in MCC’s literary and arts journal “Shapes”, and she is currently working on her first chapbook on grief and its potential for personal transcendence.

Log on to the free reading live via WebEx at https://ctedu.webex.com/meet/TBotomcc.commnet.edu.

The 2020-21 Connecticut Poetry Circuit Outstanding Student Poets also include Gabrielle (Gabby) Colangelo of Yale University, Joelle Gray of Quinnipiac University, Phillip (Phil) Michel of Quinebaug Valley Community College and Mia Yanosy of the University of Connecticut. The Circuit was established in 1968 to continue the work of the New England Poetry Circuit, which was founded in 1964 by the Academy of American Poets and Holly Stevens, daughter of the acclaimed poet and Hartford insurance executive Wallace Stevens.

The work of the circuit is guided by poets Randall Horton, Vivian Shipley, Clare Rossini, John Stanizzi and Kate Rushin. The circuit is directed by James Gentile, an English professor at Manchester Community College, the circuit’s current home. More info can be found at www.manchestercc.edu/about/arts-and-culture/connecticut-poetry-circuit/.