Shepherdstown resident Lee Doty, right, dishes up a couple of brownies onto a plate for Chris Duewel, as Leah Rampy looks on, at the Bookmark the Park July event in Rumsey Park on Sunday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — In its second season this year, Bookmark the Park has once again brought a variety of literary events to each of Shepherdstown’s parks: Viola Devonshire Park on East German Street, Bane-Harris Park on West High Street, Cullison Park on Rocky Street, Riverfront Park on North Princess Street and James Rumsey Monument Park on Mill Street.

The monthly event series began with a kickoff event in April at Cullison Park, and is set to conclude on Oct. 8 at 11 a.m., with a Children’s Librarian Story Time at Riverfront Park.

“October will be the end of the series — it’s a makeup for the one in June that was rained out,” said Shepherdstown Parks & Recreation Committee member Effie Kallas on Sunday afternoon. “It’s difficult, of course, because weather always is the key player [in an event’s success] — if it’s rainy, if it’s too hot.”

Kallas was busy on Sunday afternoon, leading the July event in Rumsey Park — a local author talk by Stephen Altman, focusing on the works of English poet John Keats, who inspired Altman’s 2021 book, “Blues for the Muse.”

“This is our very first author talk ever! Of course, Bookmark the Park is only in its second year this year,” Kallas said, mentioning that, along with the author talk, a raffle, book giveaway table and refreshments were also taking place at the event. “At the end of the day, we really just want people to know where their parks are, realize they’re open and free for you to use and one great use is quiet reading or group reading! So, this is just a sort of way to get people to think of their parks differently, because most people just think of ‘walk the dog’ or ‘let the kids play,’ and there’s more that can be done in the parks on a regular basis.”

Shepherdstown-based author Stephen Altman gives a reading from his latest book, “Blues for the Muse,” in Rumsey Park Sunday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

According to Kallas, the inspiration for the July event came from Four Seasons Books owner Kendra Goldsborough, who frequently helps out with the event by selling copies of featured books and sending out Bookmark the Park email notifications to her customer email list.

“I thought it would work well for the venue!” Goldsborough said. “He’s an amazing speaker, as we saw today. He’s very engaging, the book is fascinating and he just knows his topic well! I just thought it would make a perfect Sunday afternoon experience.”

“Blues for the Muse” was also a noteworthy suggestion, Goldsborough said, because it was one of Four Seasons Books’ top five sellers last year.

“I’ve never spoken outside before. It was certainly nice to do it, particularly when you were surrounded by some of the things that Keats was writing about: nature, the changing of the seasons, the importance of connecting with others, all of which is possible out here,” Altman said, after finishing his talk and question and answer session.

Altman, who has a master’s degree in literature from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, frequently gives literary workshops, such as ones he recently gave to a group of Morgan Academy’s high school students this past spring. His favorite poet to discuss in either those workshops or his writing, is Keats — his idol since the age of 21.

Attendees of the July Bookmark the Park event sit in Rumsey Park on Sunday afternoon. Tabitha Johnston

In spite of his long love for everything Keats — his poetry and his life story — Altman’s first book, written in the 1980s, was a Western novel. It took all of the time since then, for his second book, “Blues for the Muse,” to happen. But, even though it does incorporate poetry, Altman noted he does not consider himself a poet, but rather a “writer of verse,” as his preferred writing style will always be prose.

“After a year of working on the novel, I realized it had to be written in poetry, and so I threw away the novel and started over!” Altman said of “Blues for the Muse,” which took a total of eight years to write. “I am very pleased with it, so it was worth the time.

“I do not consider myself a poet, nor would I tell people to expect the usual poetry, if they were reading this, because this is a lot more accessible and lighthearted than most poetry you would come across,” Altman said. “People who read this tend to say that, after the first eight or 10 sonnets, that it just reads like a story. And, that makes me feel very good, because I want them to read the story!”

The next Bookmark the Park event, “Let’s Play, Picnic and Read,” will be held a children’s event at Bane Harris Park on Aug. 20 at noon. Attendees are encouraged to bring their favorite picnic food and books to share with new friends.