Free Poetry Workshop: Writing about History in Place

with Susan Edwards Richmond

Worcester PopUp, 20 Franklin Street, Worcester

Join Mapping Worcester in Poetry on May 7 for a free in-person workshop at Worcester PopUp!

We will focus on writing poems inspired by the past and the present of our city’s public spaces. The workshop includes resources, practical tips, field research at historical sites in downtown Worcester, and a chance to share your new poem with others. Perhaps you’ll decide to enter the finished product in the Poems in and out of Places contest!

Because we will be going in and out ourselves during the workshop, please wear a mask inside, dress appropriately for walking outside, and bring writing materials with you.

The workshop is free, but spaces are limited.  Please reserve your spot by submitting a request to poemsinandoutofplaces@worcestercountypoetry.org by May 3, 2022.

Susan Edwards Richmond is the author of five books of poetry for adults, including Purgatory Chasm  and Increase, which give voice to the stories of individual Massachusetts residents in the physical landscape where they occurred.  She also coordinates the annual Plein Air Poetry Writing and Reading at Old Frog Pond Farm & Studio in Harvard, MA.

Susan writes books for children as well. Her picture book Bird Count won a Parent’s Choice Silver Award and the International Literacy Association’s Primary Fiction Award, and two new picture books are coming out in fall 2022: Bioblitz! Counting Critters and Science Play. A passionate birder and naturalist, Susan teaches preschool at Mass Audubon’s Drumlin Farm and is happiest exploring natural habitats with her  husband and two daughters.

“Writing about History in Place” is the first in a series of free poetry workshops sponsored by Mapping Worcester in Poetry to inspire new poems about public spaces in our city. Notice this undated photo of 20 Franklin Street (courtesy of the Worcester Historical Museum), back when it was the Telegram Building rather than the home of Worcester PopUp.

We will also offer workshops in the Canal District in fall 2022 and at the Worcester Art Museum in early spring 2023. We believe that every place in our city is worthy of a poem!

Poems in and out of Places will culminate in a one-time poetry contest for Worcester County residents with a deadline of June 1, 2023. Selected poems—as many as two dozen—will be awarded an honorarium of $75. The poets will be photographed in the spaces that inspired them, their words recorded on YouTube, and their poems published and displayed either on site or in an exhibit at the Worcester Historical Museum. Additional poems will be posted online. To learn more about Poems in and out of Places, check out our Call for Poems and visit the Mapping Worcester in Poetry page.