events – Page 2 – Garden of Words

In my unbiased opinion, the one must-see reading this winter is happening on Saturday, February 3 at 2pm. Come see me (Frances Donovan), Erica Charis-Molling, Sonja Johnson, and Heather Derr-Smith read for free at the newly renovated library in beautiful Jamaica Plain.

Others might argue that honor goes to Nikki Giovanni (!) at Brookline Booksmith on Friday, February 2.

Also a shout-out to Regie Gibson and the other fine poets performing at the Gwendolyn Brooks tribute this Saturday, January 13 in Lexington, Mass.

All readings are in Massachusetts.

Friday, January 12, 7:30 pm
Alan Smith Soto, Tim Suermondt, and Pui Ying Wong
Loring-Greenough House
12 South Street (across from the Monument)
Jamaica Plain, MA

Saturday January 13, 3 pm
Chris O’Carroll and David Davis
Powow River Poets Reading Series
Newburyport Public Library
94 State St.
Newburyport, MA

Saturday, January 13, 4 pm
Tara Skurtu
Porter Square Books
25 White Street
Cambridge, MA

Saturday, January 13, 7:30 pm
Contemporary Poets Celebrate Gwendolyn Brooks
Nancy Boutilier, Robert Carr, Jennifer Clarvoe, Tom Daley, Regie Gibson, Krysten Hill, Dorian Kotsiopoulos, Julia Lisella, Kathy Nilsson, Sabrina Sadique, Lloyd Schwartz, Joyce Swagerty, Cammy Thomas, Jonathan Weinert
Munroe Saturday Nights series
First Parish Church
7 Harrington Road
Lexington, MA

Wednesday, January 17, 8 pm
Valerie Duff and Musical Guest
Unearthed Song & Poetry
Home.stead Bakery & Cafe
Fields Corner
1448 Dorchester Ave.
Dorchester, MA

Continue reading “Boston-Area Poetry Readings for January and February 2018”

October 12, 2017

Boston Area Poetry Readings for October and November 2017

All readings are in Massachusetts unless otherwise noted. Thanks as always to Daniel Bouchard for compiling these listings, and to the fine organizations that make possible many readings to be found in and around Boston. If you have an event not listed here, please leave details in the comments.

Thursday, October 12, 5:30 pm
Gregory Pardlo
McCormack Family Theater
70 Brown St.
Providence, RI

Continue reading “Boston Area Poetry Readings for October and November 2017”

September 11, 2017

Boston Area Poetry Readings for September and October 2017

Poetry readings lie thick as apples on the ground. Thanks to poet Daniel Bouchard for gathering them into one basket for the rest of us.

Friday, September 8, 7 pm
Zvi A. Sesling, Gloria Mindock, and Len Krisak
Brookline Booksmith
Harvard Street
Coolidge Corner, Brookline, MA

Continue reading “Boston Area Poetry Readings for September and October 2017”

April 21, 2017

Mass Poetry Festival on the Horizon

A few months ago, Mass Poetry flattered me by asking me to be a regional representative for Suffolk County. If you have a poetry group or event in the Boston area that is open to the public, please feel free to add a comment with your information, or fill out my contact form.

Here’s a brief round-up of happenings at the 2017 festival, just two weeks away, Friday to Sunday, May 5 – 7, in Salem, Mass.

Raining Poetry with submissions from the Migration Poetry contest
Just Spring, a site-specific installation from Colleen Michaels and Stacy Thomas-Vickory
Elle Villanelle’s Poetry Bordello (pictured above)
a documentary on Malcolm Miller
a slam performance from poets in colleges throughout the area
the Rabbit Heart Poetry Film Festival Spring Matinee
the Shakespeare Speakeasy
and of course the Small Press and Literary Fair on Saturday, in addition to the nearly 100 sessions including panels, group readings, and workshops.

This year’s headliners are: Louise Glück · Eileen Myles · Kazim Ali · Andrea Cohen · Cornelius Eady and Rough Magic · Ross Gay · Rigoberto González · Aimee Nezhukumatathil · Emily Pettit · Tom Sleigh · Dara Wier.

Tickets are $20 General Admission, $7 Senior or Student, with a $10 additional fee to attend any workshops over the weekend.

Check out the full schedule, get all the details on venues, and purchase tickets at the Mass Poetry website.

April 1, 2017

Boston Area Poetry Readings for April 2017

April is National Poetry Month, which means the already vital poetry scene in the Boston area kicks it up to eleven. Start off the month with the Boston National Poetry Month Festival and wrap it up with the Mass Poetry Festival in Salem. In between take your pick from all the events listed below; with so many talented poets from Boston and beyond, it’s hard to go wrong with any of them. A few shout-outs:

This coming Monday, April 3:

Nicole Terez Dutton, Regie Gibson, and other luminaries give the second in a series of panels on African American Poetry at the Copley BPL. I attended the first one and found it very inspiring
Fellow Lesley poet Eileen Cleary appears that same evening at Newtonville Books with PoemWorks
Jill McDonough reads at the Blacksmith House in Cambridge.

Also of note:

US Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera appears Thursday, April 6 at Harvard
My former workshop-mate Grey Held reads from his second book of poems on Friday, April 7 at Chapter and Verse in Jamaica Plain
Boston Poet Laureate Danielle Legros Georges appears Thursday, April 27 at Rozzie Reads in Roslindale.

Saturday, April 1, 7:30 pm
“Singing the Body Electric”: Contemporary Poets Respond to Walt Whitman
Linda Bamber, Nancy Boutilier, Robert Carr, Christine Casson, Amy Clark, Jennifer Clarvoe, Steven Cramer, Tom Daley, Regie Gibson, Joan Houlihan, Dorian Kotsiopoulos, Julia Lisella, Jonathan Weinert, Gail Mazur, Lloyd Schwartz, Theodora Stratis, Joyce Swagerty, Cammy Thomas, Daniel Tobin, and Rosamond Zimmermann
Munroe Saturday Nights at First Parish Church
7 Harrington Rd.
Lexington, MA

Continue reading “Boston Area Poetry Readings for April 2017”

March 19, 2017

Boston Area Poetry Readings for Late March and All of April 2017

March is the cruelest month, breeding
ice out of vindictive snow, frosting
wintry mix with freezing nights, forcing
whimpers from our dull mouths.

But at least there’s April — National Poetry Month — to look forward to. As usual, there’s a convocation of poets at the end of the month in Salem for the Mass Poetry Festival on May 5-7. If you’re feeling like too much of an introvert for a mini-AWP though, you can attend one of the readings below instead.

All venues are in Massachusetts unless otherwise noted. If you have an event in the area not listed here, please feel free to leave the information in the comments. Posts are moderated.

Sunday, March 19, 2 pm
Frannie Lindsay and Lynne Potts
Brookline Poetry Series
Brookline Public Library Main Branch in Brookline Village
361 Washington St.
Brookline

Sunday, March 19, 2 pm
Celia Gilbert, Ruth Lepson, and Ethel Rackin
Cambridge Public Library
449 Broadway
Cambridge

Monday, March 20, 7 pm
Kathleen Ossip
Continue reading “Boston Area Poetry Readings for Late March and All of April 2017”

February 25, 2017

Boston Area Poetry Readings for Late February and All of March 2017

It’s easy to get cereal-aisle paralysis in Boston, especially in the spring, when the already robust list of events swells. I’ll let you in on a little secret: I rarely get to more than one or two events in any given month. But the longer days and unseasonably warm weather gave me the energy to go to not one but two poetry events in the past week. I feel refreshed and revitalized. Leave off your mind of winter and brave the mud this month. I guarantee you’ll be glad you did.

Thanks to Daniel Bouchard for the bulk of the listings and to Sandee Story of the Jamaica Pond Poets for the extra listings in Suffolk County. All events are in Massachusetts unless otherwise noted.

Monday, February 27, 8 pm
Martha Rhodes and Josh Bell
Blacksmith House
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge

Tuesday, February 28, 6 pm
Kirun Kapur, Open Mic
Amesbury Public Library Poetry Series
149 Main St.
Amesbury, MA

Tuesday, February 28, 7 pm
Oswald Egger and Laura Mullen
McCormack Family Theater
70 Brown St.
Providence, RI

Wednesday, March 1, 5 pm
Arthur Sze
Morris Gray Poetry Reading
Forum Room, Lamont Library
Harvard University
Cambridge

Continue reading “Boston Area Poetry Readings for Late February and All of March 2017”

February 1, 2017

Boston Area Poetry Readings for February and March 2017

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice

— Wallace Stevens, “The Snow Man“

Bring your mind of frozen junipers, of frozen ponds, of melting snow, of snowdrops and crocuses–bring whatever mind you have to a poetry reading. All minds are welcome.

Friday, February 3, 7 pm
First Friday Youth Open Mic (music and poetry)
First Baptist Church
Centre Street and Green Street
Jamaica Plain

Friday, February 3, 7:30 pm
Chapter and Verse
Susan Donnelly, Jeffrey Harrison, Jennifer Jean
Loring-Greenough House
12 South Street (across from the Monument)
Jamaica Plain

Continue reading “Boston Area Poetry Readings for February and March 2017”

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