****POETRY NEWS****
Here is your Poetry News for Western Massachusetts for the month of February, 2020.
Poetry News is published monthly. EMAIL: Please send events to thepoetrynews@gmail.com. The site will be updated regularly.
To receive Poetry News in your email also send to thepoetrynews@gmail.com
I also have a public group on Facebook called “Poetry Events: Northampton, MA and Vicinity.” I update it regularly when a new event comes my way, so please go there in between if you want to post an event, and please join the group for updates. Thanks! Here’s a link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/369429966453898/
Peace through Poetry – Lori
Poetry Events, Northampton and (not too far) Beyond:
Sun. Feb. 2 – Writers Read/Hilltowns presents Suzanne Rancourt & Open Mic, Belding Memorial Library, Ashfield, 2-4pm
Sun. Feb. 2 – Poetry Reading at Gateway City Arts, Paul Richmond, Jovana Van Pelt, Dimitri Rimsky & Karen Skolfield, 92 Race St. Holyoke, 1pm
Mon. Feb. 3 – Rachel Kann Reading, Beit Ahavah, Reform Synagogue, 130 Pine St. Northampton, 7pm
Tue. Feb. 4 – Voices from Inside reading 20 Railroad Ave. Northampton, 6:30pm
Tue. Feb. 4 – Straw Dog Writers Night Out, Julia McKenzie Munemo & Open Mic, The Basement, 11 Center St. Northampton, 7pm
Thu. Feb. 6 – Collected Poets Series: James Arthur & Sara London, Mocha Maya’s Cafe, Shelburne Falls, 7pm
Thu. Feb. 6 – UMass Visiting Writers Series – CA Conrad & Dawn Lundy Martin. Old Chapel, 144 Hicks Way, Amherst, 8pm
Sun. Feb. 9 – jubilat/Jones reading series: Heather Christle & Arisa White, Jones Library, Amherst, 3pm
Mon. Feb. 10 – Majestic Monday Night Lit Club reading: Heartbreak Hoe Tell Lit Club, The Majestic Saloon, 24 Main St. Northampton, 8pm
Tue. Feb. 11 – UNBUTTONED presents: Rebecca Hart Olander and open mic, Luthiers’ Coop, Easthampton, 7pm
Wed. Feb. 12 – Steven Dunn reading at Amherst Books, Amherst, 8pm
Thu. Feb. 13 – Florence Poets Society Meeting & Poetry Share, 2nd Thu. of the month, Lilly Library, Florence. All Welcome! 6:30pm business, 7pm poetry share.
Tue. Feb. 18 – Kathleen Graber at Smith College, Carroll Room, Campus Center, Smith, Northampton, 7:30pm
Tue. Feb. 18 – Greenfield Third Tuesdays: David Wyman & Richard Horton + open mic, 9 Mill St. Greenfield, 7pm
Fri. Feb. 21 – Open Community Writing (Pioneer Valley Writers Workshop) with Drew Johnson, 16 Main St. Williamsburg 6pm
Wed. Jan. 29 – Ign!te the Mic, Open Mic for Youth, Bing Arts Center, 716 Sumner Ave. Springfield, 7pm (6:45 sign-up)
IN DETAIL: POETRY EVENTS: PIONEER VALLEY AND BEYOND!
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, puppetry, 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
Open to residents and students in Franklin County.
Two categories: Adult and Young Poet (ages 12-18)Guidelines:
Submit up to three poems. Number pages of multi-page poems.
Only unpublished poems may be submitted.
Previous winners (first place) may not submit poems.
Top-placing youth poets may re-submit when they enter a new age category.
Indicate “Adult” or “Young Poet,” and Young Poets write your age on the front
of the sheet where the poem appears, lower right hand corner, circled.
No identifying information on front of sheet, where poem appears; no staples.
On reverse side of each poem, write your name, address, telephone number,
and e-mail address, if available. Poems will not be returned.
Submit on white 8.5 x 11 paper, printed clearly in ink or typed in plain typeface; no markers.
Notification of receipt of entry will be via email, unless SASE is included with entry.Send poems to:
POET’S SEAT CONTEST, Greenfield Public Library, 402 Main St., Greenfield, MA 01301
DEADLINE: MARCH 2, 2020 (POSTMARK)
Facilitator: Baron Wormser
April 25/26, two weekend days from 10:00 a.m. to 4 p.m
Place: Northampton, MA
Cost: $365 (Bring lunch or get lunch downtown)
Limited to six participants (first come, first served)
To register contact Baron Wormser at baronwormser@gmail.comOne of the most haunting voices in twentieth-century American poetry is that of Theodore Roethke’s. Beyond a typically cited anthology piece such as “My Papa’s Waltz,” Roethke created a body of work that mirrors his perpetual seeking while honoring the praise song at the root of lyric poetry. Roethke is profoundly a poet of the natural world, of the seasons and the elements. All his poetry is a search for the depth of feeling—be it rapture or despair—available to us and within us. At the same time, as in “My Papa’s Waltz,” Roethke is open to the sheer oddness of life’s moments and the surprises those moments afford us. His poetry shows a passionate engagement with technique—line, rhyme, stanza, for instance—that played out in ever-changing ways over the course of his career. These two days will provide a unique opportunity to look closely at some poems by a poet who lived in poem after poem on the very edge of time.Baron Wormser is the author of eighteen books, including the forthcoming (June, 2020) novel Songs from a Voice, Being the Recollections, Stanzas and Observations of Abe Runyan, Song Writer and Performer. A former poet laureate of the State of Maine, he has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. He teaches in the Fairfield University MFA Program.Please note: Cancellations can play havoc with such an event. If you cancel and your place is filled from the waiting list, you will not be charged. If your place is not filled, you will be charged for your place in the workshop.
Go to http://www.albanypoets.com/ for schedules and events!
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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)
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 .
or the CT Poetry Calendar is online at http://www.ctpoetrycalendar.com
Cape Cod Poetry is under Barry Hellman’s Cape Cod Poetry Group on Facebook.
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
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
News for Poetry News should be sent to thepoetrynews@gmail.com. Please send your announcements in text only – do not format (no special fonts, left-align, no colors, etc.) and please check it for errors. Send by the end of the month for publication. Thank you, Lori Desrosiers – Publisher, Editor, wearer of all hats.
Poetry News 
Lori, Thanks so much for running the notice about Poet’s Seat Contest again. I believe it really helps. And sending best wishes your way–can spring be far behind. Around here, the answer’s O yes.