Poet Quartet features poet U.S. Cultural Ambassador Ronald Rand at Asheville’s Malaprops Bookstore/Cafe Reading from “The Marsh in May and 30 Poems with 29 Paintings by Ronald Rand”

Come and experience the healing grace of poetry!!! U.S. Cultural Ambassador Ronald Rand will read his poetry at Asheville’s Malaprops Bookstore/Cafe’s monthly Poet Quartet reading series on Sunday, March 1st, 4:30pm-5:30pm, 55 Haywood Street, curated by Mildred Barya. This month’s Poet Quartet features Ronald Rand, Maureen Sherbondy, Rosalynn Cimino, and Kelly Riedesel reading from their newest collections. The event is free, but registration is required to reserve your seat. RSVP at: https://malaprops.com/event/2026-03-01/poet-quartet

Ronald Rand’s newest book, “The Marsh in May and 30 Poems with 29 Paintings by Ronald Rand” is his  debut poetry and paintings book and includes thirty-one full-color luminous paintings, described by North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green as…“a deeply immersive, poetic exploration that captures our daily collective witness and powerful pauses “as the gong of life dances in the breeze. Ronald Rand delivers an image-rich quiet explosion of vibrant art and poems that become universal offerings of solitude, wisdom, healing, joy, and empathy.”

The collection is found at: https://www.sunburypress.com/collections/ronald-rand and includes odes about Thomas Wolfe, Edwin Booth, Jean-Claude van Itallie, and to the poet’s mother; and transforming experiences inspired by landscapes from Mostar to Fez, Olympia and Kathmandu.

Readers are invited to float along the Tennessee River, step back to the dawn of cave art, witness the moment Helen Keller recognized water, and sit quietly in a field with a single chimney—resting, reflecting, and soaring within Rand’s heartfelt visual and poetic landscapes.

For readers who love poetry, art, nature, and the gift of life, come and experience a deeply moving and transformative experience in “The Marsh in May and 30 Poems with 29 Paintings by Ronald Rand!!!

Ronald Rand is a U.S. Cultural Ambassador, award-winning Solo

Performing Artist, and the author of four books: “Solo Transformation on Stage”, “CREATE! How Extraordinary People Live to Create and Create to Live”, with 130 interviews, “Acting Teachers of America”, and his newest book, “The Marsh in May and 30 poems with 29 paintings by Ronald Rand”.

He has toured around the globe for 26 years in his award-winning performance as Harold Clurman in his internationally-acclaimed solo play, “LET IT BE ART!” to 28 countries. and 21 states. The State Department and Fulbright Program awarded Ronald Rand four Fulbright Awards as a Fulbright Specialist Scholar/Visiting Guest Professor in Malaysia, Uruguay, Greece, and Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Ronald is the Founder & Publisher of “The Soul of the American Actor.” He is the Librettist of “IBSEN”, the first opera ever written about Henrik Ibsen, and the screenwriter of “GROUP PARADISE”, the first feature film about the famed 1930s Group Theater. He has appeared in several Off-Broadway plays and regional productions, and in over two hundred films and TV shows. An internationally acclaimed Stage Director, he has been a Master Acting Teacher and Visiting Guest Professor at more than fifty universities, colleges, acting schools, and festivals on five continents.