Archives for December 2020

2020 Stanley Kunitz Medal recipient, Susan Roney-O’Brien, is leading two more Poetry Writing 101 workshops with Worcester Public Library​.

Sign-up for this Saturday’s class, Poetry Writing 101 with Susan Roney-O’Brien: Sound, Resound​. It’s taking place on January 2, 2021. Or you can sign up for Poetry Writing 101 with Susan Roney-O’Brien: In Form, Conform, Reform​ on Saturday, February 6, 2021.  Registration links can be found in the event listings linked above.

Both workshops take place between 11 a.m. and noon.

Tonight, Tuesday, December 29, 2020, poet and humorist Joe Fusco Jr​ has the honor of being the final feature of 2020 for the Thirsty Lab Poetry Reading series. You can find the registration link in our event listing – A virtual Thirsty Lab Poetry Reading with Joe Fusco Jr.​

You can read a sample of his work in Worcester Magazine​.

Elizabeth Bacon, WCPA board member and Coordinator for Clemente Worcester, shared this update with Clemente Worcester supporters as the end of 2020 approaches.

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Dear Clemente Worcester Supporters,

We HOPE this finds you well during these last, dark days of this difficult, still unfolding year.
2020 Worcester Clemente Graduation Program

We wanted to let you know that we paused our in-person program in March. With the ardent support of Mass Humanities, we provided all our 2020 students with Chromebooks and Hot Spots to finish on-line in October. All 20 students graduated, and faculty and staff delivered graduation gifts to each person’s home in mid-October. I have attached photos, a copy of this year’s graduation program, this year’s Graduation Speech, and a Welcome from Worcester County Poetry Association President Rodger Martin. All will bring you JOY and HOPE.

This summer, Professor Lucia Knoles taught an online course for alumni on Op-Ed Writing funded through a Mellon Foundation Grant in partnership with Mass Humanities and four other Clemente sites across the state. The result was a beautiful publication called, We, too, Are America. 2020 Worcester graduate Mallory Shelly’s writing was featured in the Clemente National newsletter on December 8th. Please explore her work and that of others through the link below. Our graduates bring us HOPE:

https://www.blog.clementecourse.org/post/for-mallory-shelly-everything-offers-a-chance-to-learn

Starting in February, Clemente Worcester faculty will offer a three-credit, on-line course to Clemente Worcester graduates and newly accepted students to the Class of 2021-22, and Clemente students from across the state will be invited to join a new writing class led by Mass Humanities and funded by the Mellon Foundation.

By September, we HOPE to be back in person at The Worcester Art Museum and Trinity Lutheran Church – resuming the life-giving connection to scholarship and community that has become Clemente Worcester’s hallmark. YOU are an important part of that Community, and we HOPE to see you back with us then.

Until then, THANK YOU for joining us in making this amazing opportunity possible for so many and for bringing HOPE in this time of isolation and challenge.

In solidarity – on behalf of all of us,

Elizabeth

PS: If you would like to make a gift this year, please go to:

www.worcestercountypoetry.org

The WCPA has helped a few area poetry reading hold virtual space for poetry during this long year. Among them are the Deep Thoughts Open Mic from Bedlam Book Cafe, the long-running artists collaborative known as the Free People’s Workshop, and the Thirsty Lab Poetry Series. At least two more readings are happening in 2020.

Next Tuesday, December 22, join A virtual Thirsty Lab Poetry Reading with Ethna McKiernan, and on December 29, join A virtual Thirsty Lab Poetry Reading with Joe Fusco Jr.

Both readings require registration to receive a Zoom online meeting link. Details can be found on the Facebook events. We hope you’ll come through and enjoy some wonderful poetry as the year crawls to a close.

Rush Frazier, a past president of the WCPA and all-around poetry tour de force, has organized a virtual reunion for the long-departed Poets’ Asylum for Sunday, December 20, 2020.  For more than 20 years, it was the local poetry hangout for performance poets and drew in features from Patricia Smith to Mighty Mike McGee to Dennis Brutus.  From Eleni’s Midnight Cafe through the Java Hut and finally, to the front room at WCUW, you could find a cup of coffee, a supportive community, and some damn fine poetry.

On December 20th, there will be an invitational open mic with voices from across the ether.  You can register via their Zoom link or view it on via a live stream on Facebook.  Further details can be found on the Facebook invite.

A quick reminder that Zoom into Poetry with Julie Danho is happening next Sunday (12/13).  Visit this link, register, and Zoom will send you the details for the WCPA’s last “Zoom into Poetry” virtual poetry reading of 2020.

More virtual readings in the series are in the works for 2021 with poets David Keali’i MacKenzie, Jeff Walt, and Dane Kuttler.  Plus we have a tribute to Langston Hughes in the works.

Kate McIntyre, Managing Editor of The Worcester Review, shared last night at the WCPA December 2020 board meeting that Robert Steele delivered the 2020 volume to the post office that morning. Members and contributors in central Massachusetts should start to receive their copies with a week.

Volume XLI features selected poems and fiction alongside a feature section highlighting South African poet and activist Dennis Brutus. Worcester State University holds an extensive archive of Brutus’s letters, poetic drafts, and printed materials. This volume also includes poems from the 2020 Frank O’Hara Prize winners Lynn Frederiksen, Patrick Nolan, and Paul Szlosek and contest judge Doug Holder.

The cover art, and a selection of interior images, are by Tanzanian-American artist Abu Mwenye. Mwenye lives in Worcester. Find him online at visionaryafrica.com.

The Worcester Review celebrates the rich literary history of Central Massachusetts, enhances it with work from beyond the region, and serves as a conduit to promote that richness to a national audience. First published in 1972 by the WCPA, a volunteer staff of editors supports its annual publication. We thank all those involved for another incredible volume of literature to help us through the coming days.

Worcester Poet Laureate Juan Matos shared in a Facebook post earlier this week the news the Plough Publishing is honoring poet and translated Rhina Espaillat.  In summer 2021, Plough will announce the winners of its first annual Rhina Espaillat Poetry Award. The winning poet will receive a two thousand dollar award and the winning poem will be published in Plough Quarterly. In addition, two finalists will receive two hundred and fifty dollars as well as publication in Plough.

The WCPA was honored to support a virtual reading by Juan Matos and Rhina Espaillat earlier this year.  That reading was organized by Bedlam Book Cafe.

For additional information on the Rhina Espaillat Poetry Award please visit plough.com.