Worcester County Poetry Association
  • About
    MissionWho We AreBoard of DirectorsBoard GovernanceBroadside ArchiveAnnual ReportsIn MemoryMapping Worcester in PoetryWorcester Literary HistoryStay Connected
  • Programs
    Events CalendarAnnual Contest – The Frank O’Hara PrizeAnnual MeetingBloomsdayCollege Contest – Elizabeth Bishop / Etheridge Knight PrizesGregory Stockmal ReadingRain Poetry: A Walk in the WooStanley Kunitz MedalStanley Kunitz Summer Writing WorkshopHosting an event?Our YouTube channel
  • The Worcester Review
  • Clemente Course in the Humanities
  • Support the WCPA
    All the Ways to Support the WCPAMembershipDonate to the WCPAEndowmentsVolunteer
  • Action Plan
  • 2022 Archive

Archives for December 2020

WPL poetry writing workshops

December 31, 2020 by Robert Gill

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.

a website banner with a winterscape background

Filed Under: News Feed for Homepage

Tonight – a virtual Thirsty Lab with Joe Fusco Jr.

December 29, 2020 by Robert Gill

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​.

Filed Under: News Feed for Homepage

2020 Clemente update

December 28, 2020 by Robert Gill

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


Dear Clemente Worcester Supporters,

A table covered with a brown table cloth has multiple gifts including 2 apples, a blue graduation cap with an orange tassle, balloons, and a book

Graduation 2020 gifts

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

Lorenza Villatoro and family members stand in front of several balloons

Lorenza Villatoro

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

Filed Under: News Feed for Homepage

#508Fridays – Main IDEA

December 18, 2020 by Robert Gill

Main IDEA Youth & Arts empowers youth by providing quality accessible arts programs to under-resourced communities. The organization has offered free after-school and summer arts programs to youth in Worcester since 2011, with a priority given to youth residing in the Main South neighborhood.
 
As the year closes out, you can help Main IDEA by donating an art kit or art supplies at C.C. Lowell via an online portal. Your gift will help make 2021 a little brighter and colorful.

Filed Under: News Feed for Homepage Tagged With: #508culture, #508Fridays

December 2020 virtual readings

December 15, 2020 by Robert Gill

A man, Joe Fusco Jr., stands in front of a microphone with a clipboard. He is gesturing with his right hand toward an audience that can be seen in the foreground. He wears a gray hoodie and glasses.

Joe Fusco Jr. at Worcester’s MegaSlam.

A woman, Ethna McKiernan, shown from the shoulders up. She has long dark hair set in braided pig-tails and is wearing large rounded glasses that have a purple tint.

Ethna McKiernan

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.

Filed Under: News Feed for Homepage

A Poet’s Asylum Reunion – December 20, 2020

December 13, 2020 by Robert Gill

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 group photo 17 people seated on a stage inside a store

A group photo from the Wormtown Region Slam in 2002.

Filed Under: News Feed for Homepage

#508Fridays – Crocodile River Music

December 11, 2020 by Robert Gill

Crocodile River Music was founded in 2011 to provide opportunities for emerging and established artists from Africa and evoke new ways of cultural thinking in New England.  This past year their “Live at 5!” programs, streamed on Facebook and Instagram was a way to bring joy, music, and connection into the community.   From mini dance classes to interviews, musical jams, and more, they brought hope and light into homes across New England and beyond.  Visit their website to view some of the past sessions.

This past week they put out a call for artists for 2021 for local Worcester artists whose work connects to or is inspired by Africa and/or the African Diaspora. Musicians, singers, dancers, visual artists, sculptors, storytellers, and creators of all kinds are encouraged to apply.  There is a rolling application process for these paid opportunities.  Additional information can be found at https://linktr.ee/crocodilerivermusic.

#508Fridays #508culture

 

Filed Under: News Feed for Homepage Tagged With: #508culture, #508Friday

Virtual Reading Opportunity

December 9, 2020 by Robert Gill

After watching “Gather in Poems: a Virtual Reading” from the Academy of American Poets, Worcester poet, and poetry organizer Eve Rifkah reached out about organizing a local version. She envisions a Zoom reading with each poet reading a poem by another Worcester area poet (alive or not) and one of their own poems. Eve quotes the Academy of American Poets’ own description of the event to explain why the idea of a local event appeals to her right now; “sharing poems create a sense of community, especially at a time when so many are apart.”
 
It sounds like a fantastic event, and the WCPA is excited to be a part of it.
 
Interested in being a reader? You can contact Eve on Facebook or e-mail wcpaboard@yahoo.com, and we’ll share her e-mail address with you.
 

Filed Under: News Feed for Homepage

Our next virtual reading is this Sunday, 12/13/2020

December 7, 2020 by Robert Gill

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.

Filed Under: News Feed for Homepage

#508Fridays – Preservation Worcester

December 4, 2020 by Robert Gill

Next up on #508Fridays, we are sharing the work of Preservation Worcester.  They work to maintain importance to Worcester’s culture, history, and architecture for future generationthe e  They would be gearing up for their annual Holiday Stroll with visits inside homes decorated beautifully in winter holiday finery in a normal year.  This year they needed to reimagine this major event and have introduced the Door to Door – Holiday Tour.

Starting December 5, 2020, tourgoers will view a variety of exterior decorations at their leisure. A digital booklet will contain the tour route in addition to historical and architectural information on each featured neighborhood.  Visit their Facebook event for more information.  The Holiday Tours will last through December 19, 2020.

#508Fridays #508culture

 

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized, News Feed for Homepage

The Worcester Review – volume XLI has been mailed out

December 3, 2020 by Robert Gill

3 copies of "The Worcester Review" literary journal are fanned out on a dark green surface

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.

Filed Under: News Feed for Homepage

Rhina Espaillat Poetry Award

December 2, 2020 by Robert Gill

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.

Filed Under: News Feed for Homepage

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Refund Policy
Worcester County Poetry Association
PO Box 804, Worcester, MA 01613
(p) 508-797-4770 | (e) wcpaboard@yahoo.com
Copyright © 2023 — Worcester County Poetry Association