America Publishers Author Spotlight celebrates a new chapter in Dr. Matthew C. Johnsen’s creative life, where poetry finds a speaking voice and piano music meets its audience in person. On Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 3:00 PM, he will launch his piano CD, Murmuration, alongside the audiobook of To Make the World a Better Place: Poems of Hope and Healing. Worcester is invited to share an afternoon shaped by the pleasure of listening closely.
At the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester, Johnsen will perform live piano, while Ellen O’Neall-Waite, the audiobook’s narrator, will read poetry. The All Saints Day gathering offers an inviting introduction to two expressions of his creative work. Come with a love of literature, an ear for piano, or simply the curiosity to encounter something unfamiliar. There will be room to discover the collection through the words you hear and the thoughts they leave behind.
Two Releases with a Shared Celebration
The afternoon brings the audiobook and Murmuration together at their official launch. The audiobook carries Johnsen’s poetry into narrated form, while the CD introduces his piano music in a recorded release. Hearing poetry and live piano within the same program gives the occasion its distinctive character. Readers can meet another dimension of an author they know, and music lovers can discover the poetry alongside his performance.
For anyone discovering Johnsen now, the event offers a welcoming place to begin. A live gathering makes the introduction immediate: the musician is at the piano, the poems are spoken aloud, and the audience shares the act of listening. The releases give that encounter somewhere to continue afterward, through a collection to explore and music to hear again. The afternoon celebrates their arrival while inviting a more personal discovery.
Hearing the Poetry in a New Way
Ellen O’Neall-Waite’s narration opens another way into To Make the World a Better Place: Poems of Hope and Healing. Spoken poetry can draw attention to rhythm, the space around a phrase, or the moment one thought gives way to another. A listener may notice something different from the detail that first catches the eye on a printed page. The audiobook invites that attentive encounter with Johnsen’s writing.
The collection explores hope and healing alongside questions of community, peace, and social change. Its concerns reach toward the world people share while allowing room for individual reflection. Questions of belonging can feel immediate when we consider who is heard in our own communities and whose experiences deserve a more patient response. Someone drawn to contemporary poetry may enter through its language; another listener may respond to its interest in human connection. The live reading provides an opportunity to discover which aspect first holds your attention and makes you want to return.
For readers who already know the book, hearing its poetry offers a reason to revisit it with fresh attention. For newcomers, the reading can become a first encounter with the voice behind its ambitious title. You can listen without needing a prepared interpretation. Let an image or question catch your interest, then follow that curiosity toward the collection itself. The invitation is to discover what speaks to you.
Murmuration and the Live Piano Performance
Murmuration gives the celebration its musical release, with Johnsen performing live piano as the new CD launches. The performance offers an opportunity to encounter him directly as a musician. In the room, attention can settle on the unfolding music and the choices that give a performance its presence. For an audience arriving through his poetry, the piano opens another perspective on the person behind the work.
Music lovers, meanwhile, can approach the afternoon through the piano and leave with a new author to explore. That exchange gives the combined launch its appeal. The poetry and music offer different ways to engage, brought together by the occasion and the artist whose work is being celebrated. Murmuration will also be part of the CD sale, giving guests an opportunity to continue listening after the gathering.
The Writer and Musician Behind the Celebration
Johnsen brings a background in public engagement to his creative work. He is a Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Worcester State University and a Rotary Peace Fellow alumnus. His poetry offers an accessible form for considering relationships between individuals and their communities. Those interests give context to a collection concerned with how people respond to one another and imagine possibilities for a more hopeful shared life.
The Worcester setting carries a local connection, too. Johnsen serves as music director of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester, the venue for this celebration. The afternoon brings his writing and musical practice into a familiar community setting and invites others to join. Whether you have followed his work or are discovering his name for the first time, the program offers a clear reason to make room for an afternoon of listening.
Your Invitation to Worcester
Join the celebration on Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 3:00 PM at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Worcester, 140 Shore Drive, Worcester, MA 01605. Admission and parking are free. Share the invitation with a friend who enjoys poetry or piano, and plan your visit around the afternoon’s start. Both official launches will be celebrated through the live performance and poetry reading.
Stay afterward for the book and CD sale and signing. It is an opportunity to explore the releases further and choose a book or CD to take home. A signed copy can carry a personal connection to the occasion, while the music offers another way to return to Johnsen’s work. The gathering gives your introduction to the author a natural continuation beyond the performance.
America Publishers Author Spotlight invites you to celebrate this next chapter with Dr. Matthew C. Johnsen. Save the date, bring your curiosity, and let the afternoon introduce you to the poetry and music. Come for the performance. Stay for the book and CD sale and signing. Leave with a new creative voice to explore and the possibility of finding something that stays with you.
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Explore Dr. Matthew C. Johnsen’s Dedicated Website
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Explore Dr. Matthew C. Johnsen’s Published Book
🔗 To Make the World a Better Place: Poems of Hope and Healing on Amazon: Click here
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