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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Worcester County Poetry Association
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260808T160000
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UID:13346-1786204800-1786219200@worcestercountypoetry.org
SUMMARY:Monsieur Merle Happy Birthday
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://worcestercountypoetry.org/event/monsieur-merle-happy-birthday/
LOCATION:Massachusetts
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260815T140000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260815T160000
DTSTAMP:20260803T224501Z
CREATED:20260803T154234Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260803T224501Z
UID:13385-1786802400-1786809600@worcestercountypoetry.org
SUMMARY:Booklovers' Gourmet Open Mic
DESCRIPTION:Open Mic Roundtable Poetry with Special Feature Fred GerhardPlease join us for our Monthly Open Mic Poetry Roundtable moderated by Robert Eugene Perry. This month will also feature a reading and book signing by Fred Gerhard. \n\n\n\nMother and Son Poetry Reading \n\n\n\nAll local poets are invited to bring original poems to share in a supportive\, nurturing environment. There is space for up to 14 readers and usually fills up quickly!  \n\n\n\nListeners are always welcome.To sign up \, please call 508-949-6232 or email deb@bookloversgourmet.com. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFred Gerhard\, author of Drifting to “Hello” (Khotso\, 2023) and Lilacs Still Bloom in Ashburnham (Local Gems\, 2023)\, will be reading his poems and poems from the recently published posthumous collection from his mother\, Rena Gerhard\, The Loving: Selected Poems (Petronella Press\, 2026). \n\n\n\nRena\, who died in 2014 wrote poetry for over five decades in Pennsylvania. Her work is well-crafted and insightful whether writing about love\, family\, God\, or surviving brain cancer. \n\n\n\nFred is widely published in magazines and anthologies. He is a winner of the Art on the Trails competition (2024) and the Poetry in the Pines competition (2023). He is also an editor at Quabbin Quills and Smoky Quartz.
URL:https://worcestercountypoetry.org/event/open-mic-roundtable-poetry-with-special-feature-fred-gerhard/
LOCATION:Booklover’s Gourmet
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260825T190000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260825T200000
DTSTAMP:20260809T190652Z
CREATED:20260806T190107Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260809T190652Z
UID:13392-1787684400-1787688000@worcestercountypoetry.org
SUMMARY:A Virtual Thirsty Lab with Muriel Nelson
DESCRIPTION:The Thirsty Lab poetry reading\, normally based out of Princeton\, MA\, continues to meet virtually. Join us on Tuesday August 25th virtually on Zoom with none other than Muriel Nelson\, our featured reader! \n\n\n\nMuriel Kramer Nelson\n\n\n\nMuriel Nelson lives near Seattle with her husband and furry muses Barney and Seamus. Her collection Here’s Company won the Idaho Prize for Poetry and was published in April by Lost Horse Press. Her other publications include Sightsinger (Encircle Publications) and Part Song (Bear Star Press\, Dorothy Brunsman Poetry Prize)\, and chapbooks\, Please Hold (Encircle Publications\, Poetry Chapbook Award) and Most Wanted (ByLine Press\, ByLine Chapbook Award). Nominated five times for the Pushcart Prize\, Nelson’s poems have appeared in many journals and several anthologies. Two have been set to music. She holds master’s degrees from the University of Illinois School of Music and the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.
URL:https://worcestercountypoetry.org/event/a-virtual-thirsty-lab-with-muriel-nelson-3/
LOCATION:Virtual Online Only
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260826T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260826T190000
DTSTAMP:20260803T152347Z
CREATED:20260803T152345Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260803T152347Z
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SUMMARY:Poetorium Too Poetry Reading & Open Mic Featuring Joanne Johnson\, Joe Fusco Jr.\, & Linda Bratcher Wlodyka
DESCRIPTION:Please join us for a special Wednesday triple feature edition of our monthly open mic and featured poetry reading series  Poetorium Too at TidePool Bookshop (located at 372 Chandler Street in Worcester\, MA) on August 26th from 5 pm to 7 pm hosted by Paul Szlosek and (hopefully) Ron Whittle.  It will be a full two hours of poetry and spoken word featuring 15 minute readings each by poets Joanne Johnson\,  Joe Fusco Jr.\, & Linda Bratcher Wlodyka\, followed by the passing of a hat to pay our features\, a short intermission\, and then an open mic with 5-minute slots for each reader if time allows (in order to fit everything planned into our allotted time\, if the event runs too long\, readers may be restricted to one poem). \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nJoanne Johnson is a Massachusetts-based poet and author of An Imperfect Journey. Her work has appeared in Worcester Magazine\, and Academy of the Heart and Mind. She has also performed her poetry at featured readings and open mic events\, sharing work that explores resilience\, healing\, and everyday life. \n\n\n\nJoe Fusco Jr. is a well-seasoned humorist/stand-up poet/storyteller from Worcester\, Massachusetts. He is the author of six books of semi-amusing poems and essays: Here We Go Again (2026)\, Random Thoughts from a Curmudgeon (2023)\, Pondering the Pandemic during The Rust Years (2021)\, Hmm…That’s Different (2020); Three Score (2014)\, and The Lost and Found Essays (2012)\, all available at local bookstores and Amazon. Joe’s musings have appeared in Damfino Press\, Ballard Street Poetry\, Worcester Review\, Asinine Poetry\, Soul Lit\, and the e-zine Clean Sheets. He was a co-winner of the Jacob Knight Poetry Award in 2002 and was named Best Poet by Worcester Magazine readers in 1999 and 2002. Joe is a Humor Columnist for Worcester Magazine and the last Worcester Mega-Slam winner in 2017. He features at bookstores\, libraries\, clubs\, and coffeehouses throughout Central Massachusetts and Belgium. He is the host of The Poetry Extravaganza at The Mill in West Boylston and The Richard Fox Poetry Series in Worcester. Joe is the Vice-President of Programming for the Worcester County Poetry Association. Joe has lived in lovely Worcester with his better-half Cyndi and their large family for forty-one years. He is a registered Independent and sleeps with one eye always open. \n\n\n\nLinda Bratcher Wlodyka is an Emerita Massachusetts\, Beat Poet Laureate (2023-2025) residing in Berkshire County. Linda previously self-published 3 chapbooks\, Her Spirited Cameo\, Voices from the Blue Room and Tick Tock. Her full length books include: If Brambles Were Bookends Collected Poems (2023) and Mistress of the Wick (2026). Linda has been commissioned to create an ekphrastic poem for a sculpture at the Mount in Lenox\, MA. She will be presenting\, “The Belles” poem\, by Edgar Allen Poe\, with Claire Conroy and Meg Smith\, at the Edgar Allen Poe celebration in Lowell on October 16th this year. She is on the editing board for Silkworm\, the yearly anthology of the Florence Poet’s Society.
URL:https://worcestercountypoetry.org/event/poetorium-too-poetry-reading-open-mic-featuring-joanne-johnson-joe-fusco-jr-linda-bratcher-wlodyka/
LOCATION:TidePool Bookshop\, 372 Chandler St. Unit 101\, Worcester\, MA\, 01602
ORGANIZER;CN="Paul Szlosek":MAILTO:poetsparlor@hotmail.com
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260901T170000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260901T193000
DTSTAMP:20260807T011418Z
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SUMMARY:Fox Reading Series September
DESCRIPTION:Join us on September 1st as we feature the thought-provoking Michael Milligan reading his poetry and the poetry of the iconic Dan Lewis. We’re keeping the 5 pm start to help with metered parking. The Broadway will take one-hour of parking ($2\,00) off your ticket with a food purchase. Owners Tony and Nequel Germano have a plethora of delightful entrees\, apps\, desserts\, and their famous\, homemade ice cream. The Broadway also serves beer and wine and breakfast until closing (with mimosas!). \n\n\n\nWe have a separate room for our shenanigans. Admission is still Free!. All of the tip jar $ goes to our feature. \n\n\n\nSign up for the open mic at joesyellowpad@gmail.com. Five minute maximum and limited spots. \n\n\n\nThe Fox Poetry Series\, in honor of the iconic poet Richard Fox\, is sponsored by the Worcester County Poetry Association through a generous donation from the Fox family. I’m pleased as punch to continue this exciting open mic/feature every 1st Tuesday of the month except for July from 5-7:30 pm at such a welcoming venue. Join us on September 1st! \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nMichael Milligan has worked as a construction laborer\, migrant fruit and grape picker\, homestead farmer\, and commercial arts production manager. Also a musician/composer\, artist and writer. He received his MFA in Creative Writing at Bennington College\, co-founded Poetry Oasis Worcester and was privileged to be an editor with Diner. His poetry book reviews\, fiction and poems have appeared in Agni\, Diner\, The New Orleans Review\, The Valparaiso Review\, Chaffin Journal\, Blue Earth Review\, Illuminations and others. He has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize. He is the author of Unless I Came Back to Tell You\, Kelsay Books 2021 and Failure of Flight\, ICOE Press\, 2026. \n\n\n\nDan Lewis (1946 – 2017) was a writer of prose and poetry. His poetry flourished when he moved to Worcester in 1988 due to the many poets in the area and his connection with them. He was an active member of WCPA board for many years. Dan loved words and how they sounded and was not averse to making up a word to fit a specific object or emotion. His writings could be about an object\, state of the universe\, political\, comments on the human condition…. Dan worked with WCPA Poets\, Artists in the Gallery and as a member of the ‘4 by 4 Group’ (4artists and 4 poets who worked off each other’s works. He received the Frank O’Hara prize\, and the Kunitz Medal from the Worcester County Poetry Association. Dan published 2 books of poetry “This Garden” and ‘Intimations of the Focal Plane’ and 2 chap books ‘Tickets for the Broken Year’ and “Iconospheres’\, as well as the book published by the 4 by 4 group ‘Eco and Spark.’ Dan’s passing created a large hole in the poetry world of Worcester\, MA.
URL:https://worcestercountypoetry.org/event/fox-reading-series-september/
LOCATION:The Broadway Diner\, 100 Water Street\, Worcester\, Massachusetts\, 01604\, United States
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260910T180000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260910T193000
DTSTAMP:20260803T224548Z
CREATED:20260803T153323Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260803T224548Z
UID:13380-1789063200-1789068600@worcestercountypoetry.org
SUMMARY:Poet Stephen Campiglio & Soprano Xuemei Jiang
DESCRIPTION:
URL:https://worcestercountypoetry.org/event/poet-stephen-campiglio-sopranoxuemei-jiang/
LOCATION:Jacob Edwards Library\, 236 Main St.\, Southbridge\, MA\, 01550\, United States
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