WPL is looking to publish the poem of any local-ish poet if that poem is suitable for general audiences (no x-rated works, please), and of reasonable length, (100 lines & under)
Each poem is published on their Poem of the Month tab of their Poet’s Place webpage, which can be found here. Each poem stays on that page for about a month, give or take.
All interested poets can email Melody Friendenthal mfriedenthal@mywpl.org.
Paul Szlosek Chosen for 2023 Stanley Kunitz Medal
Long admired as the inventor of poetry forms and champion of obscure ones, Worcester poet Paul Szlosek has been selected as the 2023 Stanley Kunitz Medal recipient. Szlosek is a poet with extraordinary gifts who began writing poetry around 1967 at the age of The Stanley Kunitz Medal originated with a bequest to the Worcester County Poetry Association from the estate of former Poet Laureate of the United States and Worcester native Stanley Kunitz (1905-2006). Szlosek’s will be the ninth recipient of the medal, which is bestowed annually on a poet with a strong Worcester County connection who best exemplifies Kunitz’s lifelong commitment to poetry by teaching poetry, mentoring poets, speaking poetry, publishing poetry, and supporting organizations which nurture poetry.
PAUL SZLOSEK is a poet with extraordinary gifts who began writing poetry around 1967 at the age of five. His mother Pauline collected his poems in a small booklet entitled “Paul’s Poet Tree.” These beginning efforts have been nourished for decades, as he matured into one of the most influential poets in Worcester County. His poems have been featured in regional, national, and international print and online journals and anthologies. Paul’s poetry has been recognized with numerous awards and honorable mentions, including the Jacob Knight Award for Poetry in 2001. Paul served on the board of the Worcester County Poetry Association for over a decade, where he was co-chair of the committee which created the WCPA’s occasional publication, The Issue – he was also its very first editor. He is well-known in the Worcester poetry community as a fanatical practitioner and promoter of obscure poetry forms, as well as the creator of his own forms, such as the streetbeatina, the sing-sang song, and the ziggurat, all of which he shares with his readers on his blog, Paul’s Poetry Playground. A tradition he began during his First Night Worcester program in association with the WCPA combined poetry, magic, and mathematics, after which he organized and edited dozens of group poems. He has also conducted over two dozen in-depth interviews with poets (local, national, and international) that appear in his monthly online poetry journal, which he compiled and edited in the form of transcripts of imaginary poetry readings called “The International Imaginarium For Word Verse” (formerly known as “The Virtual Poetorium”). He is a frequent workshop leader and participant and visiting poet, not only at schools such as the Floral Street School in Shrewsbury, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Worcester State University, but at the Peabody Essex Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Worcester Art Museum. As a co-founder and host of the Poets Parlor and Poetorium at Starlite reading and open mic series, Paul continues to inspire countless poets to engage in the magic of poetry.
Also honored with nominations this year were poets Rodger Martin and Sharon A. Harmon. Paul Szlosek will receive his medal at a ceremony presented by the Worcester County Poetry Association at the Worcester Historical Museum on Thursday, July 27 th from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. There is limited parking at the museum, with additional parking on the street and in the Pearl/Elm Street Garage. Visit Our Website for details.
ATTACHED IMAGE/Paul Szlosek Contact: Judith Ferrara, Chairperson, Stanley Kunitz Medal Committee Judy@PaletteAndPen.com, 508-757-0524
A HUGE thank you to all of our wonderful participants! We got so many contributions and read some truly fantastic poems.
A big thank you to our judge Karen Skolfield for her thoughtful consideration!
and a heartfelt Congratulations to our 2023 O’Hara Prize Winners! We hope to see everyone at the O’Hara reading in September.
thanks to April showers & the JMAC Reading.
We had our annual Rain Poetry Reading this past Sunday at the JMAC @ 20 Franklin St. Our poets wooed and wowed the crowds with some of the best Worcester loving material yet. And the positively glowing Kate Gregoire was MC extraordinaire, with a little help from her baby bundle Grace. A wonderful time was had by all. Catch a glimpse below, and see you at the next one. 😉
Tom Ewart reads “My First Day” located @ University Park
Kristen Schuler Weisberg reads her poem @ Newton Square Bus Stop
David Hallock reads his poem brought to life @ Indian Lake Community Garden
John Gaumond reading his poem “Shrewsbury Street” imprinted @ Cristoforo Colombo Park Bus Stop (bonus guest stars in the photo are Kate & Grace)
photo credit: Oliver de la Paz
Hot off the presses: Paul Szlosek Chosen for 2023 Stanley Kunitz Medal!
Long admired as the inventor of poetry forms and champion of obscure ones, Worcester poet Paul Szlosek has been selected as the 2023 Stanley Kunitz Medal recipient.
The Stanley Kunitz Medal originated with a bequest to the Worcester County Poetry Association from the estate of former Poet Laureate of the United States and Worcester native Stanley Kunitz (1905-2006). Szlosek’s will be the ninth recipient of the medal, which is bestowed annually on a poet with a strong Worcester County connection who best exemplifies Kunitz’s lifelong commitment to poetry by teaching poetry, mentoring poets, speaking poetry, publishing poetry, and supporting organizations which nurture poetry.
PAUL SZLOSEK is a poet with extraordinary gifts who began writing poetry around 1967 at the age of five. His mother Pauline collected his poems in a small booklet entitled “Paul’s Poet Tree.” These beginning efforts have been nourished for decades, as he matured into one of the most influential poets in Worcester County. His poems have been featured in regional, national, and international print and online journals and anthologies. Paul’s poetry has been recognized with numerous awards and honorable mentions, including the Jacob Knight Award for Poetry in 2001. Paul served on the board of the Worcester County Poetry Association for over a decade, where he was co-chair of the committee which created the WCPA’s occasional publication, The Issue – he was also its very first editor.
He is well-known in the Worcester poetry community as a fanatical practitioner and promoter of obscure poetry forms, as well as the creator of his own forms, such as the streetbeatina, the sing-sang song, and the ziggurat, all of which he shares with his readers on his blog, Paul’s Poetry Playground. A tradition he began during his First Night Worcester program in association with the WCPA combined poetry, magic, and mathematics, after which he organized and edited dozens of group poems. He has also conducted over two dozen in-depth interviews with poets (local, national, and international) that appear in his monthly online poetry journal, which he compiled and edited in the form of transcripts of imaginary poetry readings called “The International Imaginarium For Word Verse” (formerly known as “The Virtual Poetorium”).
He is a frequent workshop leader and participant and visiting poet, not only at schools such as the Floral Street School in Shrewsbury, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and Worcester State University, but at the Peabody Essex Museum, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Worcester Art Museum. As a co-founder and host of the Poets Parlor and Poetorium at Starlite reading and open mic series, Paul continues to inspire countless poets to engage in the magic of poetry.
Also honored with nominations this year were poets Rodger Martin and Sharon A. Harmon. Paul Szlosek will receive his medal at a ceremony presented by the Worcester County Poetry Association at the Worcester Historical Museum on Thursday, July 27 th from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. There is limited parking at the museum, with additional parking on the street and in the Pearl/Elm Street Garage. Visit worcestercountypoetry.org for details.
Deadline for our Frank O’Hara Poetry Prize as well as Stanley Kunitz Medal Nominations are fast approaching.
For the Frank O’Hara Prize: If you have a poem (or string of poems) that you’d like considered for the prize, please submit by March 31st.
To submit to the O’Hara Prize, please click here.
For the Stanley Kunitz Medal Nominations: If you know someone who would be a great nominee, please consider submitting by March 31st.
To nominate someone for the Kunitz Medal, please email our Judy at judy@paletteandpen.com
If you miss this deadline, April will indeed be the cruelest month.
Know someone who’s passionate about poetry and is regularly working towards bringing access to the city? Nominate your favorite poetry activist! See below for details!
Stanley Kunitz Medal Award
On behalf of the Stanley Kunitz bequest to the Worcester County Poetry Association, the Medal committee is pleased to announce the opening of nominations for the 2023 Stanley Kunitz Medal, the ninth to be awarded since 2015.
The medal is presented annually to a person with a strong Worcester County (Massachusetts) connection who best exemplifies Stanley Kunitz’s lifelong commitment to poetry and poets. The award recognizes an individual’s total commitment to poetry as Kunitz lived it: teaching poetry, mentoring poets, speaking poetry, publishing poetry, and supporting organizations which nurture poetry.
Letters of nomination should provide detailed support explaining how the nominee nurtured poetry as defined above. Because the yearly award is singular and cannot honor all worthy applicants, past nominations may be reactivated for 2023 once nominators notify the committee chair to keep the nomination active.
Nominations should be mailed to The Stanley Kunitz Medal, c/o Worcester County Poetry Association, P.O. Box 804, Worcester, MA 01613 between December 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023. The award announcement will be made in the late spring of 2023, followed by a ceremony coinciding with Kunitz’s birthday the last week of July at the Worcester Historical Museum. Please visit www.worcestercountypoetry.org Programs/Stanley Kunitz Medal for more details.
The 2023 Stanley Kunitz Medal committee wishes to recognize and thank the following volunteers who have served to bestow this honor in the past: Rodger Martin, chair (2013-2021), Kent Ljungquist (2017-2021), Karen Sharpe (2019-2021), Robert Steele (2015-2016), and E. Robert Cronin (2015-2018).
[Photo credit: Meredith Pugh]
City manager Batista announced the results of this year’s search for a poet laureate. The winner is Oliver de la Paz.
Oliver de la Paz is the Poet Laureate of Worcester, MA for 2023-2025. He is the author and editor of seven books: Names Above Houses, Furious Lullaby, Requiem for the Orchard, Post Subject: A Fable, and The Boy in the Labyrinth, a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Award in Poetry. His newest work, The Diaspora Sonnets, is forthcoming from Liveright Press in 2023. With Stacey Lynn Brown he co-edited A Face to Meet the Faces: An Anthology of Contemporary Persona Poetry. Oliver serves as the co-chair of the Kundiman advisory board. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Poetry,
American Poetry Review, and elsewhere. He has received grants from the NEA, NYFA, the Artist’s Trust, the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and has been awarded multiple Pushcart Prizes. He teaches at the College of the Holy Cross and in the Low-Residency MFA Program at PLU.
Here is a write up done by Worcester Magazine about de la Paz, as well as a link to some of his poems.
WCPA’s annual contest the Frank O’Hara Prize will open on January 1st 2023. Please head over to our [Contest Page] to read about rules and regulations.
A Tale of Two Cities: Worcester, MA & Worcester, England just published their second anthology of call and response poems between the two cities. You can find the paperback on Amazon.
Wonderful Worcester Black History Project & Antiquarian Society event
Join us as Worcester poets share their responses inspired by material from the Brown Family Collections, one of the earliest and largest intact nineteenth-century Black family’s libraries in America. The collections center around William and Martha Ann Brown, who were married in Worcester in 1850, and their son, Charles F. Brown. William Brown’s ancestors, the Moore family, and their descendants, the Goldsberry family, created and maintained an archive over several generations and have entrusted it to the American Antiquarian Society to be made available to aid the work of researchers, community members, artists, and poets for generations to come.
During this hybrid event, poets Ashley Wonder, Catherine Reed, and Xaulanda Thorpe will discuss their experience working with AAS archive material and items in the Brown Family Collections from which they drew inspiration. Both in-person and virtual attendees of this program will have the opportunity to view items used by the poets in addition to other material included in the collections such as books, family papers and correspondence, portraits, and photographs.
This hybrid program will be held in person at Antiquarian Hall and livestreamed to a virtual audience on Zoom. Closed captioning will be available for virtual attendees. Doors open at 6:30pm.
Deborah Hall is CEO of YWCA Central MA. She is also the founder of Worcester Black History Project and a member of the Advisory Committee for the Worcester Cultural Plan. Hall has over 30 years of experience working with survivors of domestic violence and addressing the intersection of race, gender, and community violence. She is a social justice advocate, an art lover, and has served in leadership positions for several programs throughout MA, RI, and MO addressing issues of homelessness, violence, and substance abuse.
Kimberly Toney is the Coordinating Curator for Native American and Indigenous Collections at Brown University Library. During her tenure at AAS as Head of Readers’ Services and Director of Indigenous Initiatives, Kimberly worked with the Brown Family Collection. She created a video for the Worcester Black History Project on William Brown and authored an article for Past Is Present on Martha Ann Brown.
Ashely Wonder has been writing and performing Spoken Word for over a decade with dynamic passion all over Massachusetts. She teaches workshops to various age groups hoping to inspire audiences around her to know that healing and liberation is possible.
Rev. Dr. Catherine H. Reed is the author of four books of poetry. Crossing Boundaries, Between Midnight and Dawn, Sankofa, and Fire Goes Out Without Wood. She was the former Associate Pastor of John Street Baptist Church and a retired Chaplain of The College of The Holy Cross.
Xaulanda Thorpe is a spoken word poet from Worcester, Massachusetts. She graduated from Boston University with a degree in biological anthropology in January 2020. During her time at BU, when she was not examining primate samples, she wrote short stories for Charcoal Magazine, a student-led publication. In 2021, Xaulanda’s poem was chosen for the African Burial Ground National Monument’s Still I Rise tribute to Maya Angelou.
On Sunday September 25th, the WCPA held the Frank O’Hara Prize Winners’ Reading at First Unitarian Church in downtown Worcester. Here are a few pictures from the event, courtesy of our resident photographer John Gaumond.
(Jennifer Freed, Winner of the 2022 Frank O’Hara Prize)
(Usman Hameedi, contest judge)
(Usman Hameedi, and Jennifer Freed)
(The winners and the judge)
The WCPA hosted the annual Stockmal reading on September 22, 2022 and it was a rousing success. We were fortunate enough to feature Martha Collins. Below are a few well chosen pictures taken by our resident photographer John Gaumond.
Acting City Manager Eric Batista, in collaboration with the City Council and Cultural Development Division, is pleased to announce the nomination process for the City of Worcester’s next Poet Laureate.
We are extremely grateful to the current Worcester Poet Laureate, Juan Matos, who has served our community over the course of his 3 year tenure through a variety of community appearances and programs; sessions with local youth; and mentorship of the Worcester Youth Poet Laureates – Amina Mohammed (2020-2021) and Adael Mejia (2022-2023).
Along with the Worcester Youth Poet Laureate, the Worcester Poet Laureate serves as an official ambassador to Worcester’s historic and vibrant cultures of poetry and literary arts. Both Poets Laureate use their positions to share the transformative qualities of poetry and the written word, to celebrate and amplify the city’s great writers, and to help shape the next generation of literary enthusiasts. In addition to sharing their own poetry and creating new works during their term, the Worcester Poet Laureate also serves as a mentor to the Worcester Youth Poet Laureate. The Poet Laureate will serve a three year term, from January, 2023 through December, 2025.
The next Worcester Poet Laureate’s term will begin Jan. 1, 2023. The deadline to apply or nominate has now been postponed to October 31, 2022 at 5PM EST. More on the City of Worcester Poets Laureate program, including guidelines and a link to the current application, can be found at WorcesterMA.gov/Cultural-
All interested in applying or nominating a qualified candidate are encouraged to join a Poet Laureate Application Workshop Wednesday, Sept. 28, at 5:30 p.m. Attendees will have a walkthrough of the application process and can ask questions of Cultural Development staff and current Worcester Poet Laureate Juan Matos. Register for this Zoom workshop at: https://tinyurl.com/
Rain Poetry: A Walk in the Woo 2022
Poems for Rain.Works
The Worcester County Poetry Association is pleased to announce the thirteen poems selected from their 2022 Call for Poems: “A Walk in the Woo” and our six honorable mentions. The poems were successfully painted around the city of Worcester August 13th, 2022.
(1)
Location: City Hall Bus Stop
Poet: Ashley Wonder
Rainstorms flooding Main Street recollections.
I always think God is giving us a chance to get our House in order.
We don’t need savage winds, pouring drops, broken limbs as reminder
we should all be kinder.
Hold in our memory the scent of water, to be called Home.
(2 )
Location: Printer’s Building Entrance
Poet: Maia Campbell
Title: City of Mine
Rounding the corner,
eying structures mangled, neglected,
waiting for care;
Hand by the window to apprehend
depreciated factories and shuttered diners,
to pocket them, for safekeeping;
Knowing I cannot,
my hand slides downward, smudging,
blurring the outside;
Though pained, loving this city of mine.
(3)
Location: Coes Pond Bus Stop
Poet: Irena Kaçi
Title: Petrichor
An olfactory kind of melancholy
Humans and doleful dromedaries
Even from the millennia distance
the bone grief memory persists
of the antediluvian world
we lost once at the end of the
flood. Now each raindrop smells
like the world drowning.
(4)
Location: Newton Square Park Bus Stop
Poet: Kristen Schuler Weisberg
Newton Square and Hill
We each see what we look for
Rain hydrates and drowns
The dichotomy
Birds singing while cars drive by
Sounds like home to me
(5)
Location: Cristoforo Columbo Park Bus Stop
Poet: John Gaumond
Title: Shrewsbury Street
Two stone lions
guard the entrance
to Cristoforo Colombo Park.
As a boy, I would
put aside my fear
to mount a lion’s back.
There I sat, like a prince,
almost touching
fireworks
in the summer sky.
(6)
Location: Indian Lake Community Garden
Poet: David Hallock
Oh! Worcester!
My! Worcester!
A Native Land
Quinsigamond to Quaboag
and Beyond
Watataic, Wachusett, Blackstone
and Betwixt
Rejoice!
This fertile Acre
Tended by Forebears
Now Take Care
And build upon this Heritage
Brick by Brick
(7)
Location: Belmont Hill / Green Park Bus Stop
Poet: Tony Fulginiti
Title: Worcester Schools: Snow Days
My brother and I
Lean back in our toboggan,
Grip the side ropes, and
Push over the edge
Of Steep Gage on Bell Hill.
The flyer’s runners
Scrapes ice,
Sparks of fire
Flicker into the blue snow
At dusk over East Park.
(8)
Location: Kennedy Community Health Center Bus Stop on Tacoma St.
Poet: Tarique Cooper
Title: Dear Worcester
Lushious in Spring,
Valiantly dressed white at year’s end.
Grateful immigrants embraced,
safer, hopeful, new beginnings.
Connecting,
beauty and warm Worcester Pride.
Your beauty, sounds and smells delight,
with fantastic synergy,
Oh, beautiful city, continue shining;
the beating heart of the Commonwealth.
(9)
Location: Broad Meadow Brook Bus Stop
Poet: Judith Ferrara
Title: Moreland Hill
Charlie, the mason,
built a brick house
for his family,
grew vegetables for them
and the critters. “There’s enough to share.”
Charlie made a bluebird house.
They fluttered and nested.
Here’s how we remember
Charlie at our house: blue feathers
red-brown chests, bright black eyes.
(10)
Location: Friendly House Entrance
Poet: Fadi Yousef
Hamilton Hill
Where father grew his beard
On the hill
Between the churches the stoplight
Danced in winter’s chill
And the wind blew the blizzard
Down the back of the spotted dog
Where the stools in Husson’s spa
Rotated the years
That blew back
Hair of hills.
(11)
Location: Bus Stop Near Girls Inc.
Poet: Rucely Diaz
Wustah, city of mine
down by the boulevard
we rhine and dine
In the streets of commonwealth
the vines in heart of England New,
a girl of 22 spread her wings and flew.
She lived in woo, where we went through
Park Avenue
shedding tears of gratitude.
(12)
Location: Crompton Collective Bus Stop
Poet: William Sowka
Title: The Green Street Bridge
A rainy day
The Green Street Bridge
Metal worn
Rides the kids
Dripping sweating
Smoking breath A dollar please A little heft
Don’t ask why
Remember that
Chicory sprouts
From sidewalk cracks
(13)
Location: University Park Bus Stop
Poet: Tom Ewart
Title: My First Day
A jaywalking ticket
on downtown Main,
a busride ascension
to a college hill,
bridge steel striking down
a future neighbor,
my new girlfriend
descending the stairs,
the awakened pangs
of second love. – Tom Ewart
Rain Poetry: A Walk in the Woo 2022 Honorable Mentions
(1)
Poet: Gertrude Halstead
Title: [this sloping meadow]
this sloping meadow
so Worcester
its rise and fall
of rolling hills
clusters of blooming
neighborhoods
celebrating
changing seasons
buttercups
clover pinks
blackeyed susans
vetch white daisies
mustard ragweed
purple asters
poison ivy
bordering the meadow
tall trees
at dusk a deer
(2)
Poet: Joe Fusco Jr.
Title: Trifecta
Swerving to avoid a pothole,
I run over an orange cone,
Then a cop-on-detail pulls me over and cites me for reckless driving.
I love Summer on Plantation Street in Worcester!
(3)
Poet: William Sowka
Title: Over the Seven Hills
Je vous sens dans la douce brise
à travers les feuilles
le soleil levant
la ville d’argent
trottoirs bondés
café du matin
Je vous sens
dans les nuages au-dessus
La pluie qui tombe
Le vol des oiseaux
Over the Seven Hills
Que nous avons vécu
Translation:
I feel you in the gentle breeze
Waving across the leaves
The rising sun
The silver city
Crowded sidewalks
Morning coffee
I see you
in in the clouds above
The falling rain
The flight of birds
Over the seven hills
Where we lived
(4)
Poet: Maia Campbell
Title: The Diner
I push myself through a narrow door
into a wooden booth
so old I fear the splinters.
These benches hold secrets,
and these walls, wisdom.
I, young, curious,
pry for such secrets,
though foolishly venturing
at this time of night.
The diner holds its charm.
(5)
Poet: Mary Ellen Tisdell
Title: [dismissing my mistress]
dismissing my mistress
leaving my love
I’ll be back shortly
and come with a dove
a ring to fit her beautiful hand
a lovely gift from an ugly man
you chewed me out
and kissed me again
never met a girl like Worcester
no matter where i’ve been
(6)
Poet: Tarique Cooper
Title: Out in Woosta
Hills surround,
majestic nature and storied history.
Peace and quiet on Newton,
exercise abound at Vernon.
Enlightening and free,
the joys of being.
Canal District wandering,
brightened by WooSox cheers.
Wormtown in abundance,culture, food and fancy humans.
Preeminent New England lifestyle.
It is with great sadness that the Worcester County Poetry Association has learned of the loss of one of its iconic members, Laura Jehn Menides, scholar, poet, and past president of the WCPA. She initiated over a quarter of a century many of the programs that cemented the WCPA’s legacy as a major cultural institution in Central Massachusetts.
She was active in the Elizabeth Bishop Society and was instrumental in a number of conferences which featured Bishop scholars from all over the world, such as Thomas Travisano, who visited Worcester and provided insights into Bishop’s work. Laura Menides was the spark that began the listing of homes and locations important to nationally known Worcester poets like Frank O’Hara, whose home is now listed as a literary landmark. Her many years as an English professor at WPI provided the basis for collaborations which helped the WCPA bring poets like Stanley Kunitz back to the city for readings.
The WCPA would not be where it is today without her tireless, voluntary efforts to promote poetry in Central Massachusetts.
Featuring the work of 80s Worcester poets in the NOH Place Artists’ Cooperative of Worcester. The anthology includes poems from seventeen poets and is edited by AJ Juarez, Julie Murkette & Stephen Campiglio.
The anthology was produced by Lost Valley Press, an Imprint of Satya House Publications. It is available for pre-order on Bookshop.org or ask your local bookseller if they can get you a copy. Also available on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
Check it out. Give it. Savor it. Donate it. Collect a piece of Worcester literary history.
Learn more about the NOH Place Artists Collective in this archive article from 2020 in Worcester Magazine. Additional information here, and here.
Come join the Worcester County Poetry Association as they award the 8 th Stanley Kunitz Medal to poet Tony Brown. The honor originated with a bequest to the WCPA from the estate of
celebrated poet Stanley Kunitz (1905-2006). Tony Brown is a remarkable and gifted poet who
has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to poetry, thereby emulating the spirit and energy of
Worcester native, Stanley Kunitz.
WHEN: Thursday, July 28 th from 6:30-8:30 PM
WHERE: Worcester Historical Museum, 30 Elm Street, Worcester, MA
PLEASE NOTE: Please check the museum’s website for masking requirements. There is limited
parking behind the museum, with additional on-street parking and in the Pearl/Elm Street
Garage.
PO Box 804, Worcester, MA
01613
worcestercountypoetry.org
wcpaboard@yahoo.com
508-797-4770
Announcing the WCPA Call for Sidewalk Poems: “Rain Poetry: A Walk in the Woo 2022”
Due to the wild success of the inaugural Rain Poetry Event in 2021, the Worcester County Poetry Association is seeking short poems from Worcester residents for the second year of its Rain Poetry Project: A Walk in the Woo 2022.
The selected poems will be painted around the City of Worcester in August on the sidewalks at thirteen bus stops throughout the city’s districts. A map of the locations is posted on the WCPA website: worcestercountypoetry.org. The poems will be painted using Rainworks invisible spray, a paint that is only visible when wet. Please submit poems that speak to your experience as a resident of Worcester by June 30th, 2022.
To be considered for this project, submit up to 2 poems of max. 49 words including the name of the poet to rainpoems@worcestercountypoetry.org. Multilingual poems are encouraged. Full guidelines for entry can be found on our website.
A panel of five judges will select the poems in blind readings. Poets selected will receive an
honorarium of $20; selected poems will be announced by July 21st, 2022 per email; poems to be installed August 2022. These poets, as well as any honorable mentions will be invited to read their poems at a ceremony open to the public later in the fall.
About the Worcester County Poetry Association
The Worcester County Poetry Association (WCPA) was founded in 1971 with a threefold mission: celebrate the rich literary history and creative energy of Central Massachusetts through public readings, workshops, festivals, scholarly conferences, and other programs; support the publication of the literary journal, The Worcester Review; and collaborate with libraries, bookstores, colleges and universities, museums, churches, schools, community centers, businesses and a variety of cultural organizations to promote poetry events. The WCPA is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Not for Publication: For more information, contact
Rodger Martin, contest chairperson
This year’s commencement ceremony, held for the first time at American Antiquarian Society, was especially joyful. It came after a year of unique challenges and unprecedented commitments for all of us. We sacrificed and stretched to keep one another safe, engaged, and almost entirely in person at the Worcester Art Museum. With Trinity Lutheran Church’s willingness to host our childcare program, we returned to the magic of gathering around the seminar table to discuss art, literature, history, philosophy, and critical ideas of race and identity. It was fitting we had a graduation unlike any before.WCPA‘s “Rain Poetry: A Walk in the Woo” returns!
Submit your poem to rainpoems@
*Zoom link will be made available upon registration. Register by email: galefreelibrary@gmail.com or by phone at 508 210 5569
(Pictured above from left to right: Elizabeth Bacon, Rodger Martin, Brett Iarrobino, Katherine Gregoire, and Eve Rifkah)
The Rain Poetry Committee journeyed to the Cathedral in the Pines this weekend in Rindge, New Hampshire to attend the dedication ceremony of three new poetry plaques.
WCPA President Rodger Martin opened the ceremonies, and WCPA VP Susan Roney O’Brien served as judge and read three of her own poems.
In attendance were Brett Iarrobino, Eve Rifkah, Elizabeth Bacon, and Katherine Gregoire.
(Pictured above: Susan Roney O’Brien during her reading)
The second in a series of free, spoken word/poetry readings will be held on May 22 from 2-4 p.m. at the Community Plaza, 60 Douglas Road, Whitinsville, MA from 2-4 p.m. The event will relocate to the Singh Center theater, if rain. An affiliation of regional poets will perform in this series which is split between the Whitinsville location and Roseland Park, 205 Roseland Park Road in Woodstock, CT. All performances include an open mic segment. Sign-ups are at the event; 5-minute limit. Featured on May 22 are authors Gerald Yelle, Loretta (Rhett) Watts and Joshua M. Stewart. Featured Open Mic reader will be Tianna Mercier.
Yelle is a member of the Florence Poets Society and lives in Amherst. His books include The Holyoke Diaries, from FutureCycle Press, and Mark My Word and the New World Order, from Pedestrian Press. He will be releasing a new book in 2023 from FutureCycle Press.
Watts has published poems in numerous journals including Sojourners Magazine, Spoon River Review, The Mud Chronicles, and The Worcester Review, Canary. She won the Connecticut Poetry Award in 2013. Her chapbook is No Innocent Eye from Seven Kitchen Press, and her books are Willing Suspension (Antrim House) and The Braiding (Kelsay Books). She facilitates writing and Soul Collage workshops in CT and MA.
Stewart is the author of Break Every String and The Bastard Children of Dharma Bums. His poems have appeared in the Massachusetts Review, Salamander, Plainsongs, Brilliant Corners, and many other publications. His third poetry collection, Love Something, will be published by Main Street Rag.
All remaining readings in the series will be from 2-4 p.m. and will be on June 5 (Roseland), June 26 (Singh), July 17 (Roseland), September 11 (Roseland), and October 23 (Singh).
Sponsors of the Roseland Park readings include Charter Oak Federal Credit Union, Linemaster Switch, Atty Mark Brouillard, Ashford Xtra Mart, CR Premier Properties, WHZ Strategic Wealth Advisors, Bank Hometown & EA Custom Millwork of Northbridge, MA. Sponsors of the Singh Center events include Webster First Bank, EA Custom Millwork and ValleyCast/Open Sky Community Services. Email karen.warinsky@gmail.com with questions.
In the coming months, Clemente Worcester will offer three opportunities for you to learn more about Storytelling for Social Change. If you have questions, contact Director of Admissions Jude Samuels at juryvybz79@gmail.com. Applications must be submitted for the workshop by Wednesday, May 18 and for the course by Wednesday June 1. Registration is limited to 20 for each opportunity, so if you are interested be sure to register now.
A Civil War Version of Black Lives Matter:
The Social Justice Storytelling of Worcester’s Sarah and Lucy Chase
5:30-7:00 Wednesday, May 25 at the American Antiquarian Society.
During the Civil War broke out, Lucy and Sarah Chase left their home to set up schools in the South for formerly enslaved men, women, and children. Like all of us in Clemente, the Chase sisters believed that education is the best foundation for life as a free citizen of a democracy. But the two women were also promoting social change by writing letters to friends in the north illustrating the hard work, intelligence, and moral courage of the students of the Freemen’s Schools. Those stories directly contradicted the stereotyped characterization of African-Americans as lazy, unintelligent, and amoral that appeared in cartoons, illustrations, and articles of Northern newspapers.
In this one-evening workshop led by Assumption University Professor Lucia Knoles, you will have the chance to learn about racist stereotypes and anti-racist storytelling in the nineteenth century by working directly with letters, newspapers, and graphic arts in the collections of the American Antiquarian Society. The final portion of the workshop will be devoted to a discussion of how we can use the social justice storytelling of the Chase sisters as a way of understanding both contemporary racist stereotypes and the people who practice storytelling for social change today.
Storytelling for Social Change: A Five-Session Clemente Summer Course (no credits)
5:30 – 7:00 Wednesdays: June 29, July 6, July 13, July 20, July 27 (Mix of In-Person and Zoom)
In this five-session summer course, you will learn how to tell the kinds of stories that will make you a more effective advocate for yourselves, your families, your communities, the organizations you belong to, and the causes you believe in. Together, we’ll collaborate in writing several profiles of members of the Clemente community that can later be used in social media campaigns to educate the public about the challenges you face, the values you live by, and the many ways you work to make this a better world. (Note: you do not have to write about your own life in this course. Instead, we’ll be using transcripts of interviews with Clemente alums as the material for our stories.)
The workshop will be led by Lucia Knoles, Professor of English at Assumption University and a charter member of the Worcester Clemente Advisory Board. Media Consultant and former WBUR Executive Producer Iris Adler will serve as a guest advisor and editor.
Paintings Can Tell Stories for Change Too!
A Visit to the Obamas’ Portrait Tour
Date and details will be forthcoming. Stay tuned so you can be included in this field trip.
Why did Barack and Michelle Obama choose African-American artists Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald to paint their official portraits? What stories were the Obamas—and the painters–trying to tell about themselves as the first couple of color to occupy the White House? You be the judge when we visit the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston to take a close look at these remarkable paintings.
Susi Ryan, Clemente Worcester Class of 2020 gave a wonderful interview for CT NPR. You can listen to it here.
Submit your poetry by Saturday April 30th to the WCPA for our Frank O’Hara poetry contest. Find more information here.
