New Poetry Workshop Forming in Boston, Massachusetts

dreamstime_head_tree_logo_72dpiAfter a year-plus hiatus, I’m forming a new poetry workshop. The focus of the workshop is on generating new work and nurturing each other’s individual voice. New, questioning, and experienced poets are welcome. The workshop is GLBT friendly. I invite members of all races, classes, nations, and ages to attend.

Here’s what a previous workshop participant had to say about his experience:

As someone who is new to writing workshops and writing for an audience, it was quite helpful to get your input. It’s given me a fresh way to look at my own work.

The workshop space is within walking distance of Roslindale Square in Boston, Massachusetts. Get more details and contact me here.

Boston-Area Poetry Readings for May and June 2015

Wednesday, May 20, 6:30 pm
Liam Callanan and Andrea Cohen
Aurora Providence
276 Westminster St.
Providence, RI

Wednesday, May 20, 7 pm
Ralph Fennel, Kevin McLellan, and Jennifer Jean
Porter Square Books
25 White Street
Cambridge, MA

Thursday, May 21, 7 pm
Kevin Bowen, Frannie Lindsay, Jill McDonough, and Daniel Tobin
Boston Poet Spotlight Reading
curated by Danielle Legros Georges
Trident Booksellers and Cafe
338 Newbury Street
Boston, MA

Continue reading “Boston-Area Poetry Readings for May and June 2015”

Ebb and Flow, Walking the Po-Biz Labyrinth

Since I stopped posting drafts of poems to this blog, I find myself writing fewer drafts of poems. The instant gratification of a blog can become addictive, but without a workshop or some other audience — some other incubator of the work– my poetry becomes like a tree falling in a forest. Of course, the squirrels and sparrows and voles are there to hear the tree falling, but they don’t really give very productive feedback. Neither do the random strangers who click “like” when I post an unformed draft.

Going back to Barbara’s workshop would help, and I’ve been taking some baby steps in that direction. I rearranged my schedule so that I might go, but I still need to take the plunge, make the call, set the date that I will return. And figure out how to pay for it.

Photograph of a turf labyrinth
Walking the Po-Biz Labyrinth

Poetry seems like such a slow crawl right now — like that point in a labyrinth when you see the goal in sight, but turn away from it on your journey toward it. It’s not that I’ve been stagnant, it’s just that generating new work has taken a back seat to polishing old work and sending finished work out to journals. Submitting work is strangely exhausting. It gets easier with time, and then again it doesn’t. But I need to trust that there’s no wrong turning, that there’s only the inexorable journey toward the center.

Continue reading “Ebb and Flow, Walking the Po-Biz Labyrinth”

Two Poetry Events in Boston and Salem this Weekend: Mass Poetry and Janaka Stucky

Mass Poetry Festival 2015 LogoThe Mass Poetry Festival takes place in Salem during the first weekend in May — just in time to cap off National Poetry Month. Founded in 2009, the festival creates a sort of clearinghouse for the many poetry events and societies in Boston and the surrounding areas. Every year, the festival saturates downtown Salem in readings, workshops, and open-air performances celebrating the written and spoken word. This year’s headliners include Rita Dove, Jorie Graham, Richard Hoffman, and Marge Piercy. The weekend boasts approximately 100 different events and the cost of attendance will fit even a starving poet’s budget: $15.

To see a schedule and purchase a festival button, visit MassPoetry.org

Book Cover and Event Poster for Janaka Stucky's The Truth Is We Are PerfectIf you like your poetry with tattoos and music, I recommend the release party for Janaka Stucky’s full-length book, The Truth Is We Are Perfect. Janaka’s first chapbook Your Name Is the Only Freedom reignited the fire in my own belly and remains one of my prize possessions — excellent text aside, Brave Men Press created a beautiful book. The founder of Black Ocean Press, Janaka has a loyal following in the Boston area. The event, which includes both poetry and music, happens at the Brattle Theatre on Saturday May 2 at 9pm. More information Facebook and the poet’s website. And then there’s this, posted on the Facebook event yesterday morning:

Friends, I’ve felt increasingly conflicted about all the self-promotion this week during so much suffering and unrest. As a result, the other performers and I have agreed to donate all proceeds from ticket sales to a relief fund for those affected by the earthquake in Nepal. Furthermore, I will personally be donating $5 to the ACLU in Baltimore for every book sold at the event on Saturday. I hope you’ll join us in supporting others, through your attendance or in your own way.

The Fish Head at Incessant Pipe

My poem “The Fish Head” has been published at Incessant Pipe.

Under deep water I found you
in a jar as big as my head

Full poem here:

https://incessantpipe.wordpress.com/2015/04/17/poetry-the-fish-head-frances-donovan/

Boston Area Poetry Readings for April 2015

Photo of crocuses again a backdrop of snow
Photo of crocuses by Tejvan Pettinger CC-licensed via Flickr

April is National Poetry Month. Combined with the advent of spring (and hopefully the disappearance of the last of the snowbanks), that means a massive number of readings in the Boston area. It all culminates with the Mass Poetry Festival, which runs from Thursday April 30 through the first weekend in May.

The April listings are more than ample, but I couldn’t resist giving a shout-out to Janaka Stucky, one of my favorite Boston poets, who will be reading tomorrow evening (Wednesday, March 25, 2015) along with Nicole Terez Dutton, Danniel Schoonebeek, and Jackie Eugene Wang at The Harvard Advocate, 21 South St., Cambridge, MA.

Wednesday, April 1, 7 – 9 pm
Emily Ferrera, James B. Nicola, and Zvi A. Sesling
with Open Mic
Raytheon Room, Wayland Public Library
5 Concord Road
Wayland, MA
Free and open to the public

Wednesday, April 1, 7:30 pm
Veronica Golos
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA

Continue reading “Boston Area Poetry Readings for April 2015”

Boston Area Poetry Readings for March 2015

This year, February has been the cruelest month in Boston. No matter what March holds, I’m ready to come out of hibernation and seek out poetic community. Plenty of people have similar plans, as you can see from the listings below.

Two of my favorite poets, Wendy Drexler and Eric Hyett, will be reading at Newtonville Book this coming Monday March 2. Honor Moore will be at the Blacksmith House in Cambridge the same night. That following Friday March 6 is Write On the Dot, a reading series put on by UMass Boston MFA students and local Dorcester writers. And Monday, March 9, Daniel Bouchard will be reading at MIT. Daniel is the man responsible for compiling these listings and a fine poet in his own right. His latest book Art & Nature is available from the indy darling Ugly Duckling PresseOn Thursday March 19 I’m looking forward to strolling over to my own neighborhood reading series in Roslindale. Other listings range from Providence to Northampton, so no matter where you live in Massachusetts, there’s poetry close by.

Sunday, March 1, 12 pm
Mary Kane and Miriam O’Neal
Poetry: The Art of Words/Mike Amado Memorial Series
The Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North St
Plymouth, MA

Monday, March 2, 7 pm
Wendy Drexler and Eric Hyett
Newtonville Books
10 Langley Road
Newton, MA

Monday, March 2, 8 pm
Honor Moore and Peg Boyers
The Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
$3

Tuesday, March 3, 6:30 pm
Jeffrey Levine and Sarah Strickney
The Crane Room
Tufts University
Medford, MA

Tuesday, March 3, 7:30 pm
Bettina Judd
Stoddard Hall Auditorium
Smith College
Northampton, MA

Tuesday, March 3, 8 pm
Eleanor Goodman
Boston University Black Box Poetry Series
Boston Playwrights’ Theatre
949 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA

Tuesday, March 3
Astrid Drew and Craig Sonnenfeld
‘For the Love of Words’
Blackthorne Publick House
402 Turnpike St. (Rt.138)
S. Easton, MA

Tuesday March 3, 6 pm
Peg Boyers
Katzenberg Center, 3rd floor, CGS
Boston University
Boston, MA

Wednesday, March 4, 7 pm
Annie Pluto and Irene Koronas
Cervena Barva Press Reading Series
Arts at the Armory
Cervena Barva Press Studio/Basement B8
191 Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA
$3

Thursday, March 5, 5:30 – 6:30 pm
Sharon Bryan and Mary Baine Campbell
Pearlman Lounge
Brandeis University
Waltham, MA

Thursday, March 5, 6 pm
Andrew Zawacki
“The Poetics of Graffiti”
Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Room 330
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Free and open to the public

Friday, March 6, 6:30 pm
Danielle Legros Georges, Liam Day, Emily Jaeger, and open mic
Write on the Dot
The Banshee
934 Dorchester Ave
Dorchester, MA

Friday, March 6, 7 pm
Partridge Boswell, Alice B. Fogel, Peter Money, and Diana Whitney
Harbor Mountain Press Fundraising Reading for Grolier
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
6 Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

Friday, March 6, 8 pm
Sara Lippmann, Jon Papernick, and Matthew Lippman
Dire Literary Series
Out of the Blue Art Gallery
541 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA

Sunday, March 8, 3 – 5 pm
Danielle Legros Georges, John Holgerson and Sandra Storey
Calliope: Poetry Readings at West Falmouth Library
575 West Falmouth Highway
Falmouth, MA
Donation: $5. Refreshments provided

Sunday, March 8, 1 pm
Visual Inverse 2015 [24 poets interpret 24 piece of art]
Bill Alberti, James Brosnan, Barbara Siegel Carlson, Louisa Clerici, Nancy Brady Cunningham, Harris Gardner, Regie O Gibson, Elizabeth Hanson, Diane Harrison, Lawrence Kessenich, Irene Koronas, Thomas Libby, Gloria Mindock. Nancy Morgan-Boucher, Tomas O’Leary, Miriam O’Neal, Rene Schwiesow, Lainie Senechal, Zvi Sesling, Dolores Stewart, Lisa Sullivan, Renee Summers, Susan Thanes and Sheila Mullen Twyman
The Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North St
Plymouth, MA

Sunday, March 8, 3 pm
Peter Gizzi
Poetry at the Library Series
Concord Free Public Library
With book signing reception
129 Main St.
Concord, MA

Sunday, March 8, 3 pm
Samuel Amadon and Matthea Harvey
jubilat / Jones Reading Series
Goodwin Room
Jones Library
43 Amity Street
Amherst, MA

Monday, March 9, 7 pm
Daniel Bouchard and Jessica Bozek
Room 32-141
Stata Center (aka Frank Gehry building)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA
Free and open to the public

Monday, March 9, 8 pm
Sandra Lim and Chloe Honum
The Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
$3

Tuesday, March 10, 2:30 pm
Don Mi Choi
McCormack Family Theater
70 Brown St.
Providence, RI

Tuesday, March 10, 7 pm
Jorie Graham
Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA

Thursday, March 12, 6 pm
“BE AGAIN”: Three films by Fanny Howe
Introduction by Keith Jones
Thompson Room, Barker Center
12 Quincy Street
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA
Free and open to the public

Thursday, March 12, 7 pm
Mark Schorr
recites Blake, Ginsberg, and his own poems
Grolier Poetry Bookshop
9 Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

Friday, March 13, 7:30 pm
David Groff, Audrey Henderson, and Steven Riel
Chapter and Verse Literary Reading Series
Loring-Greenough House
12 South Street
(across from the Monument)
Jamaica Plain, MA

Saturday, March 14, 7 pm
Sarah Manguso
Harvard Book Store
1256 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA

Sunday, March 15, 2-4 pm
Marsha Pomerantz, Stephen Burt, and Jericho Brown
Brookline Public Library, Main Branch
361 Washington St.
Brookline Village
Brookline, MA

Monday, March 16, 8 pm
Julia Lisella and Caki Wilkinson
The Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
$3 admission

Wednesday, March 18, 7 pm
Deborah Pfeiffer, Ruby Poltorak, Elizabeth Quinlan and Barbara Thomas
Hosted by Sam Cornish
New England Mobile Book Fair
82 Needham Street
Newton Highlands, MA

Wednesday, March 18, 7:30 pm
John J. Ronan, Rufus Collinson and Nancy Hewitt.
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA

Thursday, March 19, 2:30 pm
Julia Fiedorczuk
McCormack Family Theater
70 Brown St.
Providence, RI

Thursday, March 19, 7 – 9 pm
Ladette Randolph and Dorothy Derifield
Rozzie Reads
Roslindale House
120 Poplar Street
Roslindale, MA

Thursday, March 19, 7:30 pm
Ron Padgett
15th Annual Robert Creeley Award
Acton-Boxborough Regional High School
36 Charter Road
Acton, MA

Friday, March 20, 7 pm
Peter Covino, Walt McGough
The Clearing (Natanya Silverman, with Megan Caniglia, Caroline Lyons, + Madelyn Robinson)
phantom phantom: an experimental performance series
The Green Room
62 Bow Street
Somerville, MA

Saturday, March 21, 10:30 am
Johnny Flaherty, Bruce Marcus and Ron Israel
Wake up and Smell the Poetry
HCAM Studios
77 Main Street
Hopkinton, MA

Saturday, March 21, 3 pm
Tim Steele and Meredith Bergmann
Powow River Poets Reading Series
Newburyport Public Library
94 State Street
Newburyport, MA

Sunday, March 22, 3 pm
Kids Open Mic
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA

Monday, March 23, 8 pm
Krysten Hill, Brionne Thompson and Jeffrey Perkins
The Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA
$3

Tuesday, March 24, 7 pm
Martha Collins and Jeffrey Harrison
Grolier Poetry Reading Series
6 Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

Tuesday, March 24, 7 pm
David R. DiSarro, Richard Shideler, and Denise Warren
U35 Poetry Reading
Marliave
10 Bosworth Street
Boston, MA

Tuesday, March 24, 7:30 pm
Stephen Mitchell
Stoddard Hall Auditorium
Smith College
Northampton, MA

Wednesday, March 25, 6:30 pm
Afaa Weaver, Cynthia Cruz, and Jericho Brown
Cambridge Public Library
Lecture Hall
449 Broadway
Cambridge, MA

Sunday, March 29, 7 pm
Book releases for Dara Cerv, Elaine Kahn, Kit Schlüter, Thera Webb
2×2 Reading Series
The Purple Palace
362 Broadway
Cambridge, MA

Monday, March 30, 8 pm
Tom Sleigh and Alice Fulton
The Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridg, MA
$3

Tuesday, March 31, 5 pm
Brenda Hillman
Morris Gray Reading
Harvard University
location to come

Tuesday, March 31, 7 pm
Veronica Golos
Grolier Poetry Bookshop
9 Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

For Beth with the Golden Hair Published in Oddball Magazine

Oddball Magazine just published my poem “For Beth with the Golden Hair.”

I am a weaker version of you
you are a stronger version of me
you said as you did not grind the gears
as you pushed it into fifth

Read the full poem here: http://oddballmagazine.com/2015/02/25/poem-by-frances-donovan/

Boston Area Poetry Readings for February 2015

Massive snowstorms have been causing gridlock all around Boston for the past couple of weeks. Hardy souls can still brave the snow and find poetic respite, though. Many of these readings are close to public transit. My recommendations appear in bold.

Denizens of Jamaica Plain and environs, there’s a new bookstore, Papercuts on Green Street, less than a block off Centre Street next to the Blue Frog Bakery. Be sure to take a moment to browse the shelves of hand-picked books, which include a quite respectable poetry section.

 

Wednesday February 4, 7 pm
Gloria Mindock, Nicholas Bartoli and Jaime Bonney
Hastings Room
First Church Congregationalist
11 Garden Street
Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA

Thursday, February 5, 7 pm
Joan Houlihan and Martha Collins
Suffolk University Poetry Center
Mildred F. Sawyer Library
73 Tremont Street
Boston, MA

Friday, February 6, 7 pm
Ariana Reines and Andrea Werblin
Grolier Poetry Shop
Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

Friday, February 6, 7 pm
Brian Burt and Peter Ramos
Book Launch
Back Pages Books
289 Moody Street
Waltham, MA

Friday, February 6, 8 pm
Steven Brykman, Mignon Ariel King, Michael Steffen, Jilly Gagnon
Dire Literary Reading Series
Out of the Blue Art Gallery
541 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA

Sunday, February 8, 12 pm
Marguerite Bouvard and James Brosnan
Poetry: The Art of Words/Mike Amado Memorial Series
The Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North St
Plymouth, MA

Sunday, February 8, 2 – 4 pm
Marsha Pomerantz and Bill Yarrow
Jewish Poetry Fest
Temple Sinaim Brookline
50 Sewall, Street
Brookline, MA
Open Mic, Refreshments

Sunday, February 8, 3 pm
Karina Borowicz
With book signing reception
Poetry at the Library Series
Concord Free Public Library
129 Main Street
Concord, MA

Sunday, February 8, 12 pm
Marguerite Bouvard and James Bronsan
Poetry: The Art of Words/Mike Amado Memorial Series
The Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North St
Plymouth, MA

Sunday, February 8, 3 – 5 pm
Mark Hart, Audrey Henderson, and Jennifer Tseng
Calliope: Poetry Readings at West Falmouth Library
575 West Falmouth Highway
Falmouth, MA
$5

Monday, February 9, 11 am
Nancy Esposito
Books and Bites
Belmont Public Library
336 Concord Ave.
Belmont, MA

Monday, February 9, 7 pm (postponed from Feb 2 on account of snow)
Shana Hill and Dianne Silvestri
Newtonville Books
10 Langley Road
Newton, MA

Tuesday, February 10, 7:30 pm
Fred Marchant
Stoddard Hall Auditorium
Smith College
Northampton, MA

Wednesday, February 11, 6 pm
Gerrit Lansing
with an oral history and interview
Woodberry Poetry Room
Lamont Library, Rm. 330
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

Wednesday, February 11, 7 pm
Denise Bergman and Tino Villanueva
Porter Square Bookstore
25 White Street
Cambridge, MA

Thursday, February 12, 7 pm
Gary Whited and Audrey Henderson
Grolier Poetry Reading Series
Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

Friday, February 13, 7:30 pm
Susan Nisenbaum Becker, Holly Guran, and George Kalogeris
Chapter and Verse Literary Reading Series
Loring-Greenough House
12 South Street
Jamaica Plain, MA (just across from the Monument)
$5

Saturday, February 14, 3 pm
Douglas Rothschild and Jim Behrle
Outpost 186
186 1/2 Hampshire St
Cambridge, MA

Sunday, February 15, 2-4 pm
Stephen Burt, opening reader TBA
Brookline Public Library, Main Branch
361 Washington St.
Brookline Village
Brookline, MA

Wednesday, February 18, 6 pm
Rachel Blau DuPlessis and Nathaniel Mackey
Edison Newman Room
Houghton Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

Friday, February 20, 8 pm
Daniel Bouchard, Laynie Browne, and Julie Carr
Small Animal Project
Outpost 186
186 1/2 Hampshire St
Cambridge, MA

Saturday, February 21, 7 pm
Matthew Rohrer
Grolier Poetry Reading Series
Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

Sunday, February 22, 1pm
Visual Inverse 2015 [24 poets interpret 24 piece of art]
Bill Alberti, James Brosnan, Barbara Siegel Carlson, Louisa Clerici, Nancy Brady Cunningham, Harris Gardner, Regie O Gibson, Elizabeth Hanson, Diane Harrison, Lawrence Kessenich, Irene Koronas, Thomas Libby, Gloria Mindock. Nancy Morgan-Boucher, Tomas O’Leary, Miriam O’Neal, Rene Schwiesow, Lainie Senechal, Zvi Sessling, Dolores Stewart, Lisa Sullivan, Renee Summers, Susan Thanes and Sheila Mullen Twyman
The Plymouth Center for the Arts
11 North St
Plymouth, MA

Wednesday, February 25, 7 pm
Cammy Thomas
Porter Square Books
25 White St
Cambridge, MA

Thursday, February 26, 6 pm
Timothy Donnelly
The Bagley Wright Lecture
Edison Newman Room
Houghton Library
Harvard University
Cambridge, MA

Thursday, February 26, 6 pm
Eliza Griswold
Katzenberg Center, 3rd floor, CGS
871 Commonwealth Ave.
Boston University
Boston, MA

Saturday, February 28, 5 pm
Sara White
Grolier Poetry Reading Series
Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

Making Love in Public: Part One of Poets & Writers ((LIVE)) San Francisco

Always good to hear about existential angst and fear of writing conferences from another poet.

Dinty W. Moore's avatarThe Brevity Blog

A guest blog post (and nifty sketches) from Rebecca Fish Ewan reviewing the recent Poets & Writers ((LIVE)) event in San Francisco:

Why go to a writer’s conference? Isn’t writing an occupation of isolation? Of loneliness? David Shields often quotes David Foster Wallace’s wisdom on loneliness. He did so in Melbourne in 2012 (see Is Writing Better Than Sex?) and again this past weekend in San Francisco at Poets & Writers ((LIVE)), while his friend Caleb Powell joined him on stage looking agitated (This is their collaborative art form … arguing in public).

Wallace had said: “We’re existentially alone on the planet. I can’t know what you’re thinking and feeling and you can’t know what I’m thinking and feeling. And the very best works construct a bridge across that abyss of human loneliness.”

Right. The work constructs a bridge, not the actual writer, so why fly from Phoenix to…

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