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Judges have selected Hubbardston, Massachusetts, resident Laura DiCaronimo as the first recipient of the annual Dan Lewis Poetry Fellowship.
DiCaronimo, a Fitchburg State alum, runs The Openest Mic as a way to bring poets together in community. She said, “I am personally proud that ten of the sixty-five participants have never publicly read before; the energy in those rooms is just that good.”
DiCaronimo, whose poetry has been featured in the Rain Poetry project on Worcester sidewalks noted, “I’ve been creating connections: Poets are collaborating on rap tracks! Politicians running for office have written beautiful poems about their home cities and city councilors have used ‘The Openest’ part of the Openest Mic to perform spoken word pieces about the closing of a local hospital.”
DiCaronimo, who is also licensed optician, said she plans to use much of the $2,500 fellowship to further that commitment to creating a poetry community.
The fellowship was created in memory of poet Dan Lewis to support the poetry aspirations of a poet residing in Worcester County when there may be limited other opportunities for support of those endeavors. DiCaronimo will receive the award at the annual meeting of the Worcester County Poetry Association. On Sunday, March 3rd from 2-4pm at The Salisbury House Ball Room, 61 Harvard Street, Worcester, MA. The public is welcome to attend.
Her selection was a unanimous decision by judges Kyle Potvin, Exeter, N.H., poet; Tony Brown, Uxbridge, Mass., poet; and Rodney Obien, archivist, The Monadnock Special Poetry Collection, Keene State College, Keene, N.H.
More information about the fellowship and the Worcester County Poetry Association, Inc., a 503-C charitable corporation, can be found at On Our WEBSITE