By Gretchen Webster

WESTPORT — When rock star Patti Smith ended her appearance Thursday at Westport Library’s VersoFest ’25 singing her biggest hit, “Because the Night,” 500 people sang along. It was opening night of the library’s annual arts and music festival and Smith got a long, standing ovation.

Protesters no fans of Smith

Before Smith’s keynote program began, however, about 30 people protested outside the library, contending she has made antisemitic comments over the course of the Israel/Hamas war in Gaza. 

“We’re here today to protest Patti Smith’s selective feminism; she doesn’t speak for Jewish women in Israel,” said Chloe Jo Davis, a director of the group EndJewHatred.

“She’s a member of the group Artists4Ceasefire,” added Dori Zuravicky Bomback, another director of the group and a Westport resident. 

On the Artists4Ceasefire website, the group advocates that “our leaders take action to achieve a permanent ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and the delivery of lifesaving aid to civilians in Gaza.”

Critics of Smith had asked library officials to cancel her appearance. But, in a statement to the Westport Journal earlier this week, library officials declined, saying her VersoFest keynote appearance would go forward as a reflection of the library’s commitment “to the free and open exchange of ideas.”

Smith lauded for diverse achievements

Inside the library, Smith was clearly beloved by the full house of fans, who clapped at her litany of achievements — a National Book Award winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, among them — cited by program moderator Alisyn Camerota, a broadcast journalist and Westport resident.

Smith, a poet, songwriter and visual artist, is celebrating the 50th anniversary of her best-selling album, “Horses.” She has also written numerous books, including the memoir “Just Kids,” an account of her early years with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe, and more recently, “The Book of Days,” which she wrote during the COVID pandemic while cooped up in her New York apartment, she told the Westport crowd.

Smith has previously been hosted  at the Westport Library as the honored guest at the 2011 “Booked for the Evening” event.

“I am embarrassed by compliments,” Smith said, when Camerota said Smith was “humble about [her] legendary status.”

“Happy to starve to be an artist”

In the early days of her career, Smith was “a starving artist,” Camerota pointed out, asking how the singer/songwriter survived. “I was always hungry,” Smith admitted, but “happy to starve to be an artist … I’ve always felt the most at home with art, with poetry, with literature, with music.”

Smith’s advice, in this point of her career, is “to look at things from different angles, to determine what is best.” 

A friend and collaborator with several notable musicians, including Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Bob Dylan and others, Smith said although they were an influence, “I’m my own person. Our real work comes from ourself,” she advised. “You have to keep a sense of yourself.”

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VersoFest ’25 runs through Sunday, April 6, at the Westport Library, featuring a range of concerts, discussion panels and workshops.  The band, the Wallflowers, headlines Friday night’s concert at 7 p.m. 

Saturday’s programs include a multi-media presentation with the artist 5iveFingaz at 10 a.m., followed by graffiti workshops with the artist at noon and 1 p.m. A day of panel discussions and workshops is capped by a 7 p.m. program with Black Flag frontman and spoken word artist Henry Rollins in conversation with Nabil Ayers, the founder of Beggers Records US.

The concluding event Sunday is the VersoFest oral history podcast, “Television Rocks!” with Paul Shaffer, SNL band leader, and David Letterman music director, in conversation with SNL Beehive Queen Christine Ohlman.

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A correction was made on April 5, 2025: An earlier version of this article misnamed Ms. Smith’s biggest hit. It is “Because the Night,” not “Because of the Night.”

Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.