***POETRY NEWS***
Here is your Poetry News for Western Massachusetts for the month of May, 2018.
Poetry News is published monthly. EMAIL: Please send events to thepoetrynews@gmail.com. The site will be updated regularly.
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Wishing you Peace through Poetry
Poetry Festival!
Massachusetts Poetry Festival, May 4-6, Salem MA
http://www.masspoetry.org/festival2018/
Poetry Highlights of This Month in Western Massachusetts:
Tue. May 1 – Straw Dog Writers Guild Writers’ Night Out: Kathy Ford and Open Mic, The Basement, 21 Center St. Northampton, 7pm
Tue. May 1 – Northampton Poetry: Team Selection Semi Finals and Open mic at The Deuce, WWII Club Northampton, 7pm
Thu. May 3 – Collected Poets’ Series: Poets Janet MacFadyen & Anna M. Warrock at Mocha Maya’s Coffee House, 47 Bridge St, Shelburne Falls, 7pm
Fri. May 4 – Pulp Slam: Oompa & Open Mic, The Roost, Northampton, 7pm
Sun. May 6 – Writers Read at the Inn at Norton Hill: Leslea Newman, Ashfield, 3pm
Tue. May 8 – UNBUTTONED presents Catherine Weiss, Luthiers Co-op, Easthampton, 7pm
Tue. May 8 – TBA & Open Mic at The Deuce, WWII Club, Northampton, 7pm
Thu. May 10 – Florence Poets Society meeting & poetry share, Lilly Library, Florence, 6:30pm
Thu. May 10 – Compass Roads Anthology reading, Montague Bookmill, Montague, 7pm
Tue. May 15 – Greenfield Word – Featuring Ilina Singh & Trish Crapo plus Open Mic, 9 Mill St. Greenfield, 7:30pm
Wed. May 16 – Compass Roads Anthology reading, Odyssey Bookshop, S. Hadley, 7pm
Fri. May 18 – Third Friday Poetry Open Mic at the Arms Library, Shelburne Falls, 7pm (sign up 6:30)
Mon. May 21 – WordxWord reading, poems on Incarceration in America, 42 Wendell Ave. Pittsfield, 7pm
Tue. May 22 – Writer’s Read at the Lee Library: TBA, 6:30pm
Tue. May 22 – TBA & Open Mic at The Deuce, WWII Club, Northampton, 7pm
Thu. May 24 – Compass Roads Anthology reading, Jones Library, Amherst, 7pm
Tue. May 29 – TBA & Open Mic at The Deuce, WWII Club, Northampton, 7pm
Wed. May 30 – Teatro V!DA Youth Open Mic, Bing Arts Center, 716 Sumner, Springfield, 7pm
IN DETAIL: POETRY EVENTS: PIONEER VALLEY AND BEYOND!
Write Up Springfield
A new writing group for poets and writers of all levels will be held
on May 12th from 1-3 and June 9 from 1-3 at Springfield Central Library.
Come join us in building a vibrant and supportive local writing community!
Located at 220 State Street, Springfield, MA
WordxWord Pittsfield
The next reading is on May 21 at The Whit 42 Wendell Ave in Pittsfield.
On the 21st the topic for poems is Incarceration in America (part of Poets Creating Conversation series)
Outspoken Youth Poetry Festival for poets age 13 to 22 on May 4 and 6.
WordxWordFestival.com at 100 North St. in Pittsfield.
2018 Elyse Wolf Prize by Slate Roof Press for a chapbook of poetry
Deadline June 15
Slate Roof Press, a member-run, not-for-profit collaborative, is pleased to announce the 2018 Elyse Wolf Prize for our annual poetry chapbook contest. The winner receives publication and $500, and becomes an active member of the press. Winners commit approximately 10 hr/mo to the press, including monthly meetings in Greenfield, MA, and share work responsibilities for many aspects of publishing.
Submit no more than 28 pages of poetry. $10 reading fee. For full contest guidelines, visit www.slateroofpress.com/contest.html or http://slateroofpresscontest.submittable.com/submit.
VALLEY POETS
A group of working poets in the NoHo/ Amherst area will begin in June to meet one evening a month to share verse in progress, critique each others’ work and, ideally, to enjoy each others’ company. Initial reaction to this announcement in last month’s Poetry News was excellent. We are now in discussions with several area centers about a regular meeting place and time. While the venue is as yet undecided, there seems to be a growing consensus that the last Wednesday or Thursday of each month is the preferred meeting time. If you responded to last month’s notice, you’ll hear again from us soon. Given the vagaries of participants’ various commitments, we’re shooting for a core group of around ten people willing to commit to making it each month if they can.
NO MONEY WILL CHANGE HANDS, AND NO FEES WILL ATTACH TO ANY ASPECT OF THIS ENDEAVOR.
If you’re interested in becoming a ‘founding member’ of what we hope will become a lasting new, non-profit-oriented group interested in sharing the work and camaraderie of other neighbor poets, drop a note to VALLEYPOETS@netaforum.net. And here’s to a productive last day of this year’s Poetry Month.
Poetry As Painting
Learn to see the strange in the ordinary.
Workshop with Jayne Benjulian in Great Barrington, Tuesdays 7-9 PM June 5,12 & 19
+ group trip to MASS MoCA
more info: http://jaynebenjulian.com/poetry-as-painting/
The Collected Poets Series: Janet MacFadyen & Anna M. Warrock
Thursday, May 3, 7:00 PM
Please join us Thursday, May 3, 2018, at 7:00 pm, when poets Janet MacFadyen and Anna M. Warrock will read for the Collected Poets Series. Mocha Maya’s Coffee House, 47 Bridge St, Shelburne Falls, MA. ($2-5 suggested donation)
Janet MacFadyen is the author of two full-length collections, Waiting to Be Born: American ghazals & other journeys (Dos Madres Press 2017) and A Newfoundland Journal (Killick Press, 2009), along with a Slate Roof Press chapbook, In the Provincelands. Her work has been nominated for the Forward Prize and two Pushcarts, and has appeared in numerous journals, including The Atlanta Review, Crannóg, Malahat, Osiris, Poetry, The Southern Poetry Review, and Terrain; and has work forthcoming in the QuillsEdge50/50 anthology. In addition to a nine-month fellowship at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, she has had residencies at Cill Rialaig (Ireland) and the Fowler and C-Scape dune shacks in Provincetown. She is a freelance editor and is currently the managing editor of Slate Roof Press.
Anna M. Warrock’s publications include From the Other Room, winner of the first annual Slate Roof Press chapbook contest, and the chapbooks Horizon and Smoke and Stone. Her work appears in the anthology Kiss Me Goodnight, Poems and Stories by Women Who Were Girls When Their Mothers Died, Minnesota Book Award Finalist, for which she also wrote the introduction. Besides appearing in a number of literary and interdisciplinary magazines, such as The Madison Review, Harvard Review, The Sun, Phoebe, and Poiesis, her poems have been set to music, performed at Boston’s Hayden Planetarium, and permanently installed in a Boston-area subway station. Anna has held seminars on understanding grief and loss through poetry. She is a 2018 recipient of a Somerville Arts Council Literature Fellowship. www.AnnaMWarrock.com
Mocha Maya’s Coffee House, 47 Bridge St, Shelburne Falls, MA
Pulp Last Chance Slam features Oompa and Open Mic
Friday, May 4, 7:00 PM
Doors & Sign-Up at 7:00 PM, show begins at 7:30 PM
The Roost is located at 1 Market St, Northampton, MA
Wheelchair accessible
All ages welcome on the mic and in the audience
$5 suggested donation, cash and cards accepted
No one turned away for lack of funds
Our poetry slam and feature will be followed by an open mic. All things welcome: music, poetry, comedy, etc.
Oompa is a nationally-acclaimed, Boston-born, poet, rapper, and educator, who is forever representing the queer, black, orphaned, hood kids and them. Oompa is the winner of the 2017 Women of the World Poetry Slam, and a finalist at the 2017 National Poetry Slam. She has been featured in Huffington Post, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, NPR Boston’s The ARTery, Vanyaland, among others. Oompa’s debut album, November 3rd, was named one of Dig Boston’s Top 30 Local Albums of 2016 and one of Allston Pudding’s Favorite albums of 2016. She was nominated for Best New Artist at the 2017 Boston Music Awards, and Boston Herald’s New Favorites of 2018. She is currently working on her second full-length album and planning a fall tour of both music and poetry. For more information, live-performance videos, or photos, check her out on Soundcloud.com/OompOutLoud or on any social media platform as @OompOutLoud, or at her OompOutLoud.com
The Roost, 1 Market St, Northampton, MA
Open Mic Night for Youth
Every last Wednesday of the month from 7-9 p.m. from September through April, youth ages 12-25 are invited to Ign!te the Mic, The Valley’s only open mic for youth by youth.
A safe and non-competitive space for youth to share poetry, spoken word, music, monologues, theatrical scenes, dance, visual art, puppertry, or whatever your imagination can conceive!
All languages welcome. Admission $5 (no one turned away for lack of funds) Come and experience the healing power of the arts!
Co-sponsored by Teatro V!da and the The Bing Arts Center
Every last Wednesday of the month from 7-9 p.m.
Performers sign up at 6:45 p.m.
Bing Arts Center
716 Sumner Avenue
Springfield, MA
In the Forest Park neighborhood: free on street parking
www.teatrovida.com www.bingartscenter.org
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
Please bring a 3-5 minute selection of your work to share
Fabulous website with featured poets
http://www.northamptonpoetry.com/
FLORENCE POETS SOCIETY
This month’s Florence Poets Society meets Thursday, May 10th. Socializing at 6:30, poetry s at 7:00pm. 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.
3rd Tuesday of the month
Jumpstart, restart, and develop your writing in a supportive circle of women. Discover and generate new material, explore and diversify, or make progress on an ongoing project. Expect intriguing prompts, short and long writing periods, regular opportunities to read your work aloud and receive helpful, inspiring feedback. Near the end of each workshop, we read and discuss one participant’s work-in-progress. Genres: nonfiction, fiction, poetry, plays, & more. Participants will offer a spring reading at Studio 413 in the Eastworks Building in Easthampton.
When: Wednesdays 1:00-4:00 pm on February 28, March 14 & 28, April 11 & 25, May 9 & 23, June 6 & 20, & July 4.
For more information & registration: https://www.writelikeariver.com
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
The Hangover Hour Poetry Salon
is every other Sunday afternoon, with a poet from the community reading the works of a poet from history. The open mic before the feature is a tight 5 minutes, for poems, stories or other spoken word propaganda. Spread the word nerd! The future is a drag, man!!! We start promptly at 5:00 p.m. every other Sunday, so come early, have a tasty beverage and be cool cats. 18+ Nicks (124 Millbury Street, Worcester)
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 .
CONNECTICUT POETRY
CT has a wonderful and comprehensive newsletter online. Write toctpoetnews@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
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
Cape Cod Poetry is under Barry Hellman’s Cape Cod Poetry Group on Facebook.
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 8-10pmhttp://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
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