Husband and wife poets Linda Black and Michael West will present a special reading at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20, at the Vineyard Haven Public Library.

Mr. West has developed a new style of reading his poetry; he talks directly to you as if you were having a conversion, leaving you no choice but to enter into the process.

Ms. Black’s education and background are in broadcast journalism. She has performed spoken word poetry for 15 years in Toronto, New York, Washington D.C., Paris, New Orleans and the Vineyard. She was under contract with the United Nations and performed at a General Assembly.

Mr. West received his master’s in creative writing (poetry) from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University and has taught writing and conducted creative writing classes at Johns Hopkins, American University and Northeastern University.

Both are members of the Hot Words Collective of Island performance poets.