Tag: national poetry month

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April 2019 Boston Area Poetry Readings

National Poetry Month means an explosion of poetry readings in Boston and environs. The Mass Poetry Festival is on hiatus this year as they work with Grub Street and the Harvard Bookstore to open the new Narrative Arts Center in South Boston’s Seaport District. The Boston Public Library is holding its own festival April 3-7 though–details below.

Thanks as always to Daniel Bouchard for compiling these listings. Check out his new book Spider Drop from Subpress Collective.

Of special note:

Continue reading “April 2019 Boston Area Poetry Readings”

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UPDATED Boston Area Readings for April and May 2018

National Poetry Month (image with flowers)

National Poetry Month continues at fever pitch. Updated listings below.

New in this posting:

Lainie Senechal, Neil Silberblatt and Anna M. Warrock in Somerville (4/17)
Matthew Dickman and Jenny Xie in Brookline (4/19)
Krysten Hill, Bruce Willard, Kathleen Hill and Michael Stein in Boston (4/23)
Tommy Pico, Joseph Osmundson, and Dorothea Lasky in Brookline (4/23)
The Writers Room of Boston Annual Reading in Jamaica Plain (4/26)
Newburyport Literary Festival (4/28)
Kevin McLellan book launch and reading in Cambridge (5/4)
Luljeta Lleshanaku in conversation with Ani Gjika in Brookline (5/4)
Beth Castrodale, Peter Cherches, Mark Saba, Julia Carlson, and Lee Varon in Cambridge (5/5)
Kevin McLellan, Steven Riel, Quintin Collins, Eileen Cleary in Cambridge (5/14)

Thursday, April 19, 7 pm
Tom Laaser and Joe Kebartas
and open mic
Midnight Voices sponsored by Veterans for Peace
Friends Service Center
5 Longfellow Park (across from Longfellow House)
Cambridge, MA

Thursday, April 19, 7 pm
Ellendra Proffer Teasley
Grolier Poetry Book Shop
Plympton Street
Cambridge, MA

Continue reading “UPDATED Boston Area Readings for April and May 2018”

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Boston Area Poetry Readings for April and May 2018

National Poetry Month (image with flowers)

EDITOR’S NOTE: Click here for April 2019 listings.

National Poetry Month lives up to its name with a boatload of readings in Boston and environs. Special shout-outs:

Martha Collins and Joan Houlihan in Newton (4/3)
Kazim Ali and Stephanie Burt in Cambridge (4/4)
Robbie Gamble and Helen Marie Casey in Newton (4/6)
Marge Piercy in Boston (4/7)
Louise Glück in Cambridge (4/12)
Anne Waldman and Meredith Monk in Providence, RI (4/13)
Gloria Mindock, Lori Desrosiers, and Dorothy Shubow Nelson in Somerville (4/14)
Layli Long Soldier in Providence, RI (4/26)
Tracy K. Smith in Providence, RI (4/27)
Lyn Hejinian in Cambridge (5/22)

Thanks as always to Daniel Bouchard (reading Saturday, May 12 at the MIT Press Bookstore) for compiling these listings.

Monday, April 2, 12 pm
Ewa Chrusciel
Common Room, CSWR
42 Francis Ave.
Harvard Divinity School
Cambridge, MA

Monday, April 2, 2 pm
J.D. Scrimgeour
Federal Building — Assembly Room
Middlesex Community College
50 Kearney Square
Lowell, MA

Monday, April 2, 7 pm
Catherine Stearns and Nate Klug
Book launch, reading, and reception
Newtonville Books
10 Langley Rd
Newton, MA

Monday, April 2, 8 pm
Gabrielle Calvocoressi and Gabriel Fried
Blacksmith House Poetry Series
56 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA

Continue reading “Boston Area Poetry Readings for April and May 2018”

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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”

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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”

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Mass Poetry Events in April 2017

April is National Poetry Month, and in a poet-heavy city like Boston it means events are as numerous and ephemeral as cherry blossoms. Here are three from Mass Poetry, an organization that recently asked me to be a regional rep for Suffolk County. Mass Poetry has a strong educational component, and these events are geared toward students and teachers.

STUDENT OPEN MIC – APRIL 1
On Saturday, April 1st from 5pm – 7pm, Mass Poetry is hosting a student open-mic at Barnes & Noble Burlington (98 Middlesex Turnpike, Burlington, MA 01803), open to all middle and high school students in Massachusetts. Poet Regie Gibson will open and emcee the event, and then the students take over. Two participants will be drawn to receive a Barnes & Noble giftcard.
Please email sara@maspoetry.org with any questions.

STUDENT DAY OF POETRY AT THE MASS POETRY FESTIVAL
Mass Poetry will host a Student Day of Poetry on Friday, May 5th with writing: generative workshops, performances and student open mics, and readings and q&as to kick off the Mass Poetry Festival in Salem, MA. After attending the SDOP, students can attend the rest of the festival for free.

Confirmed poets include Anna Ross, Enzo Surin, Hannah Baker-Siroty, Krysten Hill, Laurin Macios, Lindsey O’Neill, and Regie Gibson. Open to students grades 8 – 12. Registration is $50 per school. Email sara@masspoetry.org to sign your students up.

SUMMER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSE
Join Mass Poetry for a Summer Professional Development Course August 8 – 10. Poet Regie Gibson will lead the course at The Atlantic Wharf Building (right by South Station) where teachers will learn new techniques to invigorate the classroom next year.

While the session is geared to high school teachers working with the Common Core Curriculum, anyone who seeks to strengthen their knowledge and skills in creative writing poetry instruction are welcome to attend. Teachers can earn PDPs, while others earn Certificates of Completion.

Cost is $50. Register here.

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UPDATED April 2016 Boston Poetry Readings

National Poetry Month offers a dizzying array of events across the nation, but especially in Boston. Updated listings appear below. You can see my teacher Barbara Helfgott Hyett read alongside an old poet-friend Nicole Terez Dutton at the Newton Free Library on Tuesday, April 12 at 7pm. You can meet me in person at the Roslindale Public Library on Saturday, April 23 at noon. And if you have the time, inclination, and stamina, you can attend at least one reading on just about every day this month. All readings are in Mass unless otherwise noted.

Thursday, April 7, 6 pm
Martin Corless-Smith
introduced by Boyd Nielson
Woodberry Poetry Room, Lamont Library, Room 330
Harvard University
Cambridge

Thursday, April 7, 7 pm
Cammy Thomas, Sophia Yee, Ros Zimmermann
National Poetry Month Celebration
Cary Memorial Library
1874 Mass. Ave.
Lexington

Continue reading “UPDATED April 2016 Boston Poetry Readings”

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April 2016 Poetry Readings in Boston MA and Environs

NOTE: You can find an updated version of these listings here.

April is National Poetry Month, which means that readings and classes abound. Here are my top picks:

Listings follow. All venues are in Massachusetts (USA) unless otherwise noted: Continue reading “April 2016 Poetry Readings in Boston MA and Environs”

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Free Poetry Workshop at the Roslindale Public Library in Boston, MA

The Roslindale Public Library invited me to help them observe National Poetry Month. I’m collaborating with them on window displays, and on Saturday, April 23 I’ll be conducting a poetry workshop on premises. I’d love to see you there. Here’s a link to the event listing on the Rozzie Public Library website, which includes a map and other venue information. The library is right in the middle of Roslindale Square, an easy bus ride from the Forest Hills T stop. There is plenty of on-street parking in the neighborhood. Details follow:

Poetry Workshop with Frances Donovan  Click to add this event to your calendar
DATE Saturday, April 23, 2016
TIME 12:00 pm – 1:45 pm EDT
WHERE Roslindale Branch of the Boston Public Library
4246 Washington Street
Roslindale, MA 02131
LIBRARY Roslindale
NEIGHBORHOOD Roslindale
TYPE OF EVENT Workshops & Classes
COST Free
AUDIENCE Adults
DESCRIPTION Join local poet Frances Donovan to explore one of the oldest art forms. We’ll read work by well-known poets and explore the meaning of their words and the feelings they evoke in us. Then we’ll use prompts to create our own poems, focusing on positive feedback to nurture these new seedlings. Experienced poets and raw beginners — or the merely curious — are welcome. Frances will also have a poetry display in the library during the month of April.

More about the facilitator:
Frances Donovan’s work has appeared in many places, including Borderlands, Snapdragon, Marathon Literary Review, Ishka Bibble, and Gender Focus. She holds a degree in English from Vassar College and has studied with Barbara Helfgott Hyett and Toni Amato. She curated the Poetry@Prose reading series and has appeared as a featured reader at numerous venues in the Northeast, including the Newton Public Library and the PoemWorks Reading Series. Frances aims to create a comfortable, intimate environment where writers of all kinds can become open to new possibilities and new ways of looking at their own work.
MORE www.gardenofwords.com
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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”

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