***POETRY NEWS***
Here is your Poetry News for the week of June 15, 2015 Scroll down to see or link to more poetry in Worcester, the Berkshires, Boston, Vermont and other areas. To receive Poetry News in your email or to request posting of events write to lori@thepoetrynews.com.
Some Highlights of This Week in Western MA (more below):
Thu. June 11 – David Giannini book launch, The Bookstore, Lenox, 7pm S
Sat. June 13 – Straw Dog Writers Guild Reading at Smith Poetry Center, Northampton, 4pm
Sun. June 14 – Linda Barnes-Aaron book release, Nielson Library, Smith College, Northampton, 3pm
Fri. June 19 – Poetry at Melville’s Barn in Pittsfield, 7pm
POETRY IN THE VALLEY AND BEYOND
Straw Dog Reading
Come to a delightful sampling of new books by members of Straw Dog Writers Guild — Saturday, June 13, 4-6 p.m. at the Smith College Poetry Center. There will be brief readings by Doug Anderson, Marianne Banks, Linda Cardillo, Michael Goldman, Eileen P. Kennedy, Ellen Meerpol,Richard Michelson, Susan Schroder, and Gail Thomas.
Calling all Poets and Storytellers!
Sam’s Pizza and Cafe is now hosting an open reading night, Wednesdays, 7pm Sam’s Pizza, Northampton
Weekly Poetry Open Mic at The Deuce
Every Tuesday Night 8pm – 10pm Open Mic Signup starts at 7pm. World War II Club, Conz St. Northampton,MA Upcoming Featured Poets and Slams 6/16 Emily Carroll and Open Mic. Please bring a 3-5 minute selection of your work to share Fabulous website with featured poets http://www.northamptonpoetry.com/
David Giannini Book-launch and reading
David Giannini’s Span of Thread (selected prose poems)
Thursday, June 11th at 7:00 at The Bookstore, 9 Housatonic St.,
On Friday, June 19 at 7:00 p.m. there will be a public poetry reading in Herman Melville’s historic barn at Arrowhead in Pittsfield. The eight members of a poetry workshop held in Melville’s home from November 2014 through June 2015 will be reading their own work, including poetry created during the workshop and featured in “ RED BARN Volume One ” (published by The Berkshire Historical Society, which owns and operates Arrowhead). “RED BARN” is anticipated to be an annual publication with new work by different authors each year. The 2015 edition includes poetry by Elizabeth Haight, Karel Fisher, Amy White, Linda Wlodyka, Paige Cerulli, Victoria Passier, Karen Schoemer and J. Peter Bergman. There is also a rarely seen poem by Herman Melville in the book. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
Writers Night Out! by Straw Dog Writers Guild. Every first Tuesday of the month, 7-9 pm The Basement, 21 Center St., Northampton. Five minute open mike slots, then featured reader.
Ocean Vuong & Rachel Wiley in Hartford
Join us at 2 PM on Sunday,June 21st, when the Riverwood Poetry Series presents “Something to Say,” a Social Justice reading featuring poets Ocean Vuong and Rachel Wiley. The event will be held at the Harriett Beecher Stowe Center (77 Forest St, Hartford), one of Hartford’s key historical sites. Admission is free and all are welcome.
Ocean Vuong is the author of Night Sky with Exit Wounds (Copper Canyon Press, 2016). A 2014 Ruth Lilly fellow, he has received honors from Poets House, The Civitella Ranieri Foundation, The Elizabeth George Foundation, The Academy of American Poets, and a 2014 Pushcart Prize. His poems appear in The Best New Poets 2014, Boston Review, Kenyon Review, The Nation, The New Republic, The New Yorker, Poetry, Tri-Quarterly, and American Poetry Review, which awarded him the 2012 Stanley Kunitz Prize for Younger Poets. Born in Saigon, Vietnam, he lives in New York City.
Rachel Wiley is a poet and body positive activist whose work has been featured onUpworthy, The Huffington Post, and Everyday Feminism. Her first full length poetry collection Fat Girl Finishing School was released in 2014 from Timber Mouse Publishing. She has performed her work at both the Dodge Poetry Festival and the Massachusetts Poetry Festival.
As always, donations are gratefully accepted.
Writers Read in Lenox
Gail Hosking & Joshua Harmon
Thu. June 25, at 5:30pm, Good Purpose Gallery, Lee
Gail Hosking is the author of Snake’s Daughter: The Roads in and out of War published by University of Iowa Press, and the poetry chapbook The Tug from Finishing Line Press. Her work has been anthologized in several collections and published in such places as Lillith Magazine, Post Road, Camera Obscura,The Florida Review, The Chattahoochee Review, The South Dakota Review, Nimrod International, and Consequence Magazine. She was a finalist for the Marsh Creek Press poetry contest, River Teeth essay contest, and the Iowa Review CNF award. A recent essay was a “most notable” in Best American Essays of 2014. She holds an MFA from Bennington College and teaches at Rochester Institute of Technology.
Joshua Harmon is the author of the essay collection _The Annotated Mixtape_, the novel Quinnehtukqut, the short story collection _History of Cold Seasons_, and the poetry collections _Le Spleen de Poughkeepsie_ and _Scape_. He lives in western Massachusetts.
$4 Suggested Donation: to benefit the Poets and the Gallery. Readings begin at 5:30pm in the Good Purpose Gallery, 40 Main Street, Lee -right next to the Starving Artist Cafe. If you have questions and/or are interested in reading in the series, though we can make no promises initially, please email David Giannini, coordinator of the WRITERS READ series, at davidgpoet@gmail.com
The Good Purpose Gallery
40 Main St. Lee
Please save the date for the June “7 Minutes” readings: Saturday, June 27th, 1 pm – 3 pm.
Featured poets: Sally Bellerose, Ellen LaFleche, Em Jollie, Lori Desrosiers, Towanda Wright, Faye Rapoport Despres, Cindy Zelman, Alexis Johnson
The Gallery of Readers Series presents
Don Horton and Susan Cocalis
reading from their recent work
Sunday, June 28, 2015, 3 PM
Neilson Library Browsing Room
Smith College Northampton
Refreshments will be served.
Don Horton lived the peripatetic life of a military dependent for 17 years but fell in love with the Valley when his father was stationed at Westover AFB in the 1960s. Don returned to make his life there at UMass on the GI Bill. He has worked at Neilson Library, Highland Valley Elder Services, and UMass as a Database Manager. He writes whatever comes to mind.
Susan Cocalis has been on a multi-year quest to understand the meaning of art, history, nature, and the things that surround us. She records the fruits of her labors in verses that are in the spirit of Ogden Nash. Some of her work has been published in Lessons out of School (Gallery of Readers Press, 2011). More recent work reflects her participation in spoken word poetry and poetry slams. This year’s reading encompasses themes best described as her “Blue Period.”
Hedgerow Books Open Reading Period Publishing poetry of distinction from Western Massachusetts, including books honored as finalists for The Massachusetts Book Award, The Eric Hoffer Award, The Montaigne Medal, and The International Book Award, Hedgerow Books is pleased to announce our Open Reading Period — June 15 to September 15, 2015. Poets who have full-length manuscripts from Hampshire, Hampden, Franklin or Berkshire counties are invited to submit. The first round will be read blind by non-local readers, a different mix from our last reading period. Please see Submissions at our website for further information. www.hedgerowbooks.net
Writing Workshops: Strengthen Your Writing’s Power and Effectiveness ** Spring at the Central Library in the Community Room June 10, 2015 from 6:30-7:45 p.m. ** Fall at the Forest Park Branch Library in the Community Room Saturday afternoons, September 19 & 26, plus October 3 & 10, 2015 from 1-2:45 p.m. To register, sign up online on our calendar (www.springfieldlibrary.org) or call the Reference Desk at 413-263-6828 ext 213 or the Forest Park Branch at 413-263-6843. This is a series of four writing workshops, designed for would-be writers who dream of publishing a book, but see a need to develop their writing skills first. These personalized workshops focus on improving grammar, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, and other basic aspects of writing, and include workshops designed to help writers find their voice. The series is led by Phyllis St. George and partially funded by the Springfield Cultural Council. 1. Finding Your Voice: This is the first of four fun writing workshops perfect for the novice or more experienced writer. In Finding Your Voice, you’ll write free-form from visual prompts to find and enliven your unique voice as a writer. 2. Super Sentences: Strengthen your grasp on basic sentence structure, form, and grammar. Review standard syntax, and enjoy building a better writing style and vocabulary. 3. Editing Your Own Writing: In this interactive and dynamic workshop, participants will review the writing of one another and offer helpful and sensitive feedback aimed at increasing awareness of effective grammar, vocabulary, and style. 4. Reading to Find Your Own Voice: The best writers are also readers! Bring in a few pages of a favorite book, story or essay and, using the Amherst Writers Method as a model, write an imitation with your own characters. Feedback on the writing will focus on what is enjoyable and strong. After the completion of the second series, there will be a public reading at the Central Library (to be announced) of writing samples created by the workshop attendees.
Fiction Writing Group at East Forest Park Library 122 Island Pond Road (Next to Rite Aid in the plaza) Springfield First Wednesday of Each Month Time: 6:00 pm Contact: Theresa Boulrice (413) 263-6836)
Emily Dickinson International Society (EDIS) presents: “Poetry Conversation” Jones Library, 43 Amity Street, Amherst, MA; in the Amherst Room, 2nd floor 1st Friday of each month — 2pm – 3:30pm 2nd Thursday of each month — 5:45pm – 7:15pm All who are interested in sharing thoughts and ideas in a group discussion based on selected poems/letters by Emily Dickinson are welcome.
FLORENCE POETS SOCIETY The next business/sharing meeting is Thursday, June 11, 2015 at 6:30pm. Please consider joining the Florence Poets Society. Your $20 membership dues (Sept. – Aug.) support our annual journal, Silkworm, as well as public readings and events. We meet monthly at the Lilly Library in Florence on the 2nd Thurs. of each month, and all are welcome. Please visit our web site for more information: http://www.florencepoets.com or contact us at info@florencepoets.com.
POETRY A LA CARTE RADIO SHOW on WMUA-Amherst 91.1 FM Wednesdays at 5:00pm (Note change of day and time!) WMUA is ably run by students, and the Programmer, who has the unenviable job of arranging a continuous, live, on-air series of shows, 24 hours a day, is hard-pressed to get coverage when the UMass students are on vacation. (DJs are usually about half students and half community members). Hence the change in schedule. Streamed live at http://www.wmua.org/. The program, hosted by Daisy Mathias, includes reading aloud from past and contemporary poets, and occasionally features live interview and poetry-reading with a local poet.
GREENFIELD, SHELBURNE FALLS AND NORTH
Greenfield Word Third Tuesday in Greenfield 9 Mill Street Greenfield Doors open at 7:00 Reading starts at 7:30 There are 10 open mic slots of 5 minutes each $1 to $5 sliding scale donation Hope to see you there Check email in case of a snow cancellation Paul: paul@humanerrorpublishing.com
Northfield Open Mic You are invited to an evening of poetry at Northfield Coffee and Books. Northfield Coffee and Books is at 105 Main St., Northfield, MA. The series will take place on the third Thursday of every month, and is hosted by Bernardston poet and track and field coach Jim Bell. Arrive a little early to sign up.
WORD IN THE BERKSHIRES
Rambling Poets Presents Poetry Slam @ Parlor Cafe
Every third Thursday of the month The Parlor Cafe 303 Ashland St North Adams, MA $2-5 Suggested Donation – Bartering Welcomed. We are a 14 poet, 3 round slam, with cash and prizes awarded to all poets who sign up. Sign ups start at 7pm Poets meeting at 7:45 Event starts promptly at 8pm http://www.facebook.com/RAMBLINGPOETS http://www.theparlorcafe.com
OUTSPOKEN!
Pittsfield’s Monthly Performance Series and Open Mic – Outspoken! hosted by Matt Mcfadden, is held the 3rd Thursday of every month. – Micro Theater (311 North St. in Pittsfield, Greylock Bldg. upstairs among the ArtOnNo studios – Up the block from Jae’s Spice – Entrance to theater is around the corner on Union St. thru Orange door, right next door to Mary’s Carrot Cake. – 8 pm ($5 suggested donation) – Interested open mic performers can sign up for 5 minute slot by e-mailing matt at mcfaddensrus@yahoo.com – Those needing more information can e-mail the same address.
Power of Words, Open Mic
Third Tuesdays 7pm to 8:30 pm Hosted by Garfield Reed. This is an open opportunity to share poetry, readings, music and other spoken word. Free and open to the public at Berkshire South Regional Community Center Crissey Rd.,Great Barrington, MA Every third Tuesday of the month. Please call Garfield at 528 4127 for more information.
In Words, Out Words in Housatonic In Housatonic, MA there is an open mic for poets and performers of all styles and ages. 1st Tuesday of each month at the Deb Koffman Gallery 137 Front Street, Housatonic, MA 01236. “In Words, Out Words.” is hosted by Francine Ciccarelli and there is usually a $1-6 suggested donation for heat and electricity. There are snacks there provided by whoever wants to bring them. The open mic begins at 7 and the featured performer goes on for about 20 minutes. It usually lasts until between 9 and 9:30.
Zeitgeist Gallery Pittsfield Monday Poetry Nights 6 to10pm 648 North Street in Pittsfield call Alan Nidle, the Director at (857) 991-8448 for details
ALBANY, NY POETRY
There’s a vibrant and active poetry community in the Albany area. Go to http://www.albanypoets.com/ for schedules and events!
WORD IN WORCESTER
Poetry, People!
Every Thursday 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm (sometimes later) @ The Coffee Loft 406 Lincoln Street Marlborough, MA 508.251.1431 Poetry, verse, and short stories are are welcome at this very friendly, informal open reading. Now booking for features to start in March. Please contact Jarad at CoffeeLoftBooking@gmail.com for more info or to become a featured poet.
The Little “a” Poetry Series
Every Thursday night at 7pm, with an open mic preceding the feature. It is free and all ages, and will be held at The Strange Attractor, 97D Webster St, Worcester MA. Hosted by “Cowboy” Matt Hopewell, who also does the booking and can be reached at themadcowboy@gmail.com or by phone at (508) 479 8311 .
The d’Alzon Arts Series: Poetry Reading takes place at Assumption College (500 Salisbury Street, Worcester) in the Emmanuel d’Alzon Library on the third Friday of each month during the academic year. The format is an open mic for the first half-hour or so, a short break with refreshments and then 2 featured poets.. The reading starts at 7:00 p.m. and typically runs for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Readings run throughout the school year.
The Dirty Gerund The Dirty Gerund Poetry Show will be held every Monday night starting at 8:30 p.m. The reading is being held at Ralph’s Chadwick Square Diner (148 Grove Street, Worcester) and is hosted by Rushelle Frazier. There will be an open mic every week with a mix of poetry slams and featured poets. No cover; donations accepted. 21+ Please join us at our new home.
CONNECTICUT POETRY
Since CT has a wonderful and comprehensive newsletter online, I have decided to cut the CT Poetry section from Poetry News and only post special events that might be of interest to MA poets. Write to Terri Klein at ctpoetnews@yahoo.com to get the CT Poet newsletter in your email, or the CT Poetry Calendar is online at http://www.ctpoetrycalendar.com
BOSTON/CAPE COD POETRY
We are reprinting Dan Bouchard’s Boston Poetry Page here on Poetry News. Check it out! If you want more events in the Boston area (and there are many more!) write to Dan Bouchard to get his poetry calendar in your email at bouchard@MIT.EDU
VERMONT POETRY Poetry Slam
Every first and third Wednesday of the month. First, Poetry Slam, then is an open mic Equilibrium 14 Elm Street sign-up at 7:30 event is 8-10pm http://www.facebook.com/BrattleboroPoetry For a VT poetry events calendar go to: http://www.phayvanh.com/ For info on Brattleboro poetry and Write Action visit their website – http://www.writeaction.org Poetry readings at the Putney Library 55 Main Street, Putney VT (802) 387-4407 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News for Poetry News should be sent to lori@thepoetrynews.com. Please send your announcements in text only – do not format (no special fonts, left-align, no colors, etc.) and check it for errors. Send by Wednesday for Thursday publication. Thank you, Lori Desrosiers – Publisher, Editor, wearer of all hats.
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