Worcester County Poetry Association

The Shawna Foundation’s Library Poetry Tour Wraps Up 2025 With Final Stops of the Year
2025-10-15 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Milford Town Library, 80 Spruce St., Milford, MA, United States
The Shawna E. Shea Memorial Foundation, Inc. is proud to announce the final stop of the year for its Library Poetry Tour, featuring Worcester poet John Edward Keough. This free event, part of the Shawna Foundation’s mission to uplift diverse voices and foster creative expression in community spaces, will take place Oct. 15 and 16 at two different libraries in our area. We welcome everyone to experience the power of the spoken word.

The Library Poetry Tour program will hit the Milford Town Library, 80 Spruce St., Milford on Wednesday, Oct. 15; The readings begin at 6 p.m. and are free.

Our October featured poet John Edward Keough is an award-winning poet, journalist, and filmmaker who makes his home in his beloved city of Worcester. His favorite book of all time is “Don Quioxte,” and he can be found walking in Elm Park telling the geese about his adventures, righting wrongs, doing good deeds, and trying to be better than the day before. The Shawna Foundation Library Poetry Tour is made possible by our local cultural council partners, financially supporting this program since 2023. The Milford Cultural Council, the Uxbridge Cultural Council; and the Massachusetts Cultural Council support a critical part of the mission of the Shawna Foundation by joining us in believing that giving voice to poets can change the world. Audience donations also support our poets and the program.

More About the Shawna E. Shea Memorial Foundation

Worcester Writers' Collective Meeting
2025-10-14 18:00 - 21:00 | JMac/Brickbox Theater, 20 Franklin Street, Worcester, MA, 01608, United States
Come one, come all to the weekly meetings of the WWC:

6-7 Free Writing Time

7-9 Reading and Workshop

Building a small community of local writers of all genres is our priority and we are so thrilled to invite anyone interested to drop in and participate.

It’s FREE and open to all. 🙂

Slightly Off-beat Poets Presents: Amie Hyson & Lindy Whiton
2025-10-12 13:00 - 16:00 | Waters Tavern, 650 Central Turnpike, Sutton, MA, 01590, United States
WHAT: Slightly Off-beat Poets Presents: Amie Hyson & Lindy Whiton

WHERE: WATERS TAVERN (Cheryl Bonin’s home) 650 Central Turnpike Sutton, MA

WHEN: Sunday October 12 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

WHAT HAPPENS: Our feature poets of the month will each read for 20 minutes. Then we will take a quick break for book sales, snacks, and the raffle before starting the open mic. Open mic will be round robin, one poem at a time until 4 PM.

COST: There will be a 50/50 raffle, split between the feature and the winner. 5$ to enter.

SIGN-UPS: There is room for 20 POETS. To reserve a spot please email: roberteugeneperry@gmail.com

BIOS:

Amie Hyson lives in Western Massachusetts where, thanks to the encouragement of the vibrant & wonderfully welcoming spoken word community, she has been writing & performing her poetry since 2016. She began facilitating creative writing workshops for women in 2017 and has led numerous workshops in her community since, including one that recently began at her local library. During the pandemic she began offering online co-ed “Writing Your Recovery” workshops, which continue weekly Amie’s work appears in several anthologies & she hopes to publish her first collection soon.

Lindy Whiton is a long-time teacher of writing and reading. She began her career as a poet over 25 years ago and now curates a local Western Massachusetts reading series bringing local writers together to provide them with support and resources. She has several poems and short stories published in journals including Silkworm and Garlic and Arts Festival Anthology.

In July 2023 a reading of her play, Every Moment of Every Day was opened. In late 2024 her first book of poems and photographs, Spirits of the Rookery, was released by Human Error Publishing. She has two poems included in the journal she also edits, Valley and Beyond; a Writers Read Anthology, also by Human Error Publishing.

Celebrate Daniel Berrigan's Block Island
2025-10-09 18:30 - 21:00 | Salisbury House Ball Room, 61 Harvard St., Worcester, MA, 01608, United States
A Celebration of the new edition of the poetry of Dan Berrigan, American Jesuit priest, anti-war activist, pacifist, playwright, poet, and author.

Monthly Board Meeting: October Edition
2025-10-08 19:00 - 20:30 | Preservation Worcester Board Room, 61 Harvard St., Worcester, MA, 01609, United States
Monthly Board Meeting

Join us for our monthly discussion and planning. Come see what what we have been up to and will be up to. 😉

Not a Board Member? Not a problem! Our meetings are always open to the public and everyone is welcome!

October's Member Mingle
2025-10-08 17:30 - 19:00 | Preservation Worcester Board Room, 61 Harvard St., Worcester, MA, 01609, United States
Don’t miss! Join us! 🙂

"Rainbow, Rainbow, Rainbow!"
2025-10-04 16:00 | E.Bishop Grave at Hope Cemetary, 119 Webster St., Worcester, MA, 01603, United States
— until everything / was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow! (“The Fish”)

In our annual fall reading at Elizabeth Bishop’s grave in Hope Cemetery, we’ll celebrate the full spectrum of colors in her poems, including the rainbows that frequently appear. Isn’t it time for us all to experience a little bit of joy?

If you’d like to be a reader, contact Beth at ssweeney@holycross.edu. Children are welcome, rainbow flags are encouraged, and we invite readers to wear a shirt, sock, or ribbon matching the color of their poems!

Directions: Enter the cemetery’s main gate and drive along Curtis Avenue. Take your fourth left onto Beech Avenue (after Elm, Larch, and Bush Avenues). Proceed for one short block and look for the rainbow flag. There will be ample space to park.

Martín Espada Poetry Reading
2025-10-03 14:00 - 16:00 | Worcester State University, 486 Chandler Street, Worcester, MA, 01602, United States
On Friday, October 3, at 2 p.m., at the Student Center at Worcester State, please join us for an unforgettable afternoon with

Martín Espada, National Book Award winning poet and Professor of English at UMass-Amherst, as he shares selections from his powerful new collection, Jailbreak of Sparrows. With more than 20 titles to his name, Professor Espada is a literary force whose work blends empathy, justice, and lyrical brilliance in acclaimed poetry collections including Floaters, Alabanza, and Imagine the Angels of Bread. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from one of the most decorated, influential poets of our time!

The event is in the accessible Blue Lounge on the first floor of the Student Center (#12 on our campus map).

A Virtual Thirsty Lab with Jonathan Blake
2025-09-30 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom Online Meeting, United States
The Thirsty Lab poetry reading, normally based out of Princeton, Mass., continues to meet virtually. On Tuesday, September 30th, 2025, Jonathan Blake will be the featured reader. Please Click Here to register.

Jonathan Blake has been following the gospel of his heart his entire life. Writer, educator, and arts organizer, he makes his home in central Massachusetts. Currently, he shops his hybrid chapbook of jazz essays and poems, Ballad and Blue, with various presses, and is at work on another manuscript of poems, tentatively entitled Fashioning Paradise. His book of poems, In the Kingdom, can be found at lostvalleypress.com, local independent bookstores, and online at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Writers Unite! Fall Summit 2025!
2025-09-30 18:00 - 21:00 | New Dawn Center, 84 Main St., Ashburnham, MA, 01607, United States
Hosted by the New Dawn Writers Group

Initiating at New Dawn Writer’s Group & rippling out through all social networks in & around North Central Mass., Writers Unite began as a way to connect local groups of writers, authors, and literary creatives, with a speakers panel, networking, Q&A’s, skill-share, & more! This second event will focus on how to operate varying types of writer’s groups, how groups can support & encourage each other, and how we can collectively work to improve what is available in our shared creative ecosystem.

Register today as an independent writer looking to network or as a local Writer’s Group looking to be involved.

Submissions for the Fall Writers Unite Exhibition can be made HERE.

Check out our last Writers Unite event here!

Worcester Writers' Collective Weekly Meeting
2025-09-30 18:00 - 21:00 | JMac/Brickbox Theater, 20 Franklin Street, Worcester, MA, 01608, United States
Worcester Writers’ Collective

September 30th @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Come one, come all to the weekly meetings of the WWC:

6-7 Free Writing Time

7-9 Reading and Workshop

Building a small community of local writers of all genres is our priority and we are so thrilled to invite anyone interested to drop in and participate.

It’s FREE and open to all. 🙂

Booklover's Gourmet Presents The Double Nest Book Launch
2025-09-27 14:00 - 16:00 | Booklovers’ Gourmet, 72 E. Main St., Webster, MA, 01570
Come for Rhett’s stunning poetry, stay for the open Mic.

Open mic sign up: (508) 949-6232 ordeb@bookloversgourmet.com

Poem Next Door closing reception celebrates student-faculty work!
2025-09-25 17:30 - 19:00 | Museum of Worcester, 30 Elm Street, Worcester, Massachusetts, 01609, United States
It’s your last chance to peek behind a green door bearing a famous poet’s name, pose for a selfie inside a poem, discover what Frank O’Hara “hated” in the Museum of Worcester’s collections, or compose your own poem about the city at a vintage typewriter! After four months, hundreds of visitors, many festivities (readings, panels, launch parties, Pop-Up poetry appearances, even a Poetry Bazaar), the Poem Next Door is closing its doors. (Sorry — we couldn’t help it.)

Photo: Allan Yung, Worcester Magazine

Join us for a farewell reception and learn how Holy Cross celebrates the poetry of Worcester, with a display of publications by faculty, alums, and research associates as well as a reading of poems set in the city by current students. There will be a surprise announcement about what’s next for Mapping Worcester in Poetry — the initiative, supported by Scholarship in Action with Worcester County Poetry Association as community partner, that led to this fruitful collaboration with the Museum of Worcester.

A typewriter and basket of prompts await you. Photo: Evan Plante

Poems written by visitors to the exhibit. Photo: Evan Plante

The exhibit will be open for viewing from 5 to 8 pm, with a reception starting at 5:30 and a brief program at 6 pm. This event is free but registration is strongly encouraged.

Poetorium Too Poetry Reading & Open Mic Featuring Dee O'Connor & Belén Atienza
2025-09-24 17:00 - 19:00 | TidePool Bookshop, 372 Chandler St. Unit 101, Worcester, MA, 01602
Please join us for another special Worcester Wednesday double feature edition of our monthly open mic and featured poetry reading series The Poetorium (formerly held at the Starlite in Southbridge) at TidePool Bookshop on September 24th from 5 pm to 7 pm hosted by Ron Whittle and Paul Szlosek. It will be a full two hours of poetry and spoken word starting with a brief interview on stage with our two featured poets Dee O’Connor (reading the poetry of her late husband Curt Curtin) and Belén Atienza (reading her own poetry in the original Spanish) followed by poetry readings by our two features, a short intermission, and then an open mic (with 5-minute slots for each reader if time permits).Books by both featured poets will be available for purchase in the store that evening. For more information, please get in touch with us at poetorium@mail.com or visit our website.

Dee O’Connor is a poetry lover who married her favorite poet, Curt Curtin, over 40 years ago. She loves reading his work in public. Dee eventually became the curator of Curt’s work, helping him to get seven full-length collections published. Dee’s professional career was in public policy, aging, and disability where she developed policies to support elders and people with disabilities needing long-term supports in the community. She also wrote and produced a short play, “Talking with Dolores,” which explores end-of-life decisions and suicide. The play was performed in multiple settings across the state, in English and Spanish, and at state and national conferences.

Curt Curtin (1930-2024) authored seven full-length poetry collections, three chapbooks, and many other poems yet to be published. In 2010, he received the Frank O’Hara Poetry award from the Worcester County Poetry Association. In 2019, he won second place in the annual contest of the Connecticut Poetry Society. He was twice nominated for a Pushcart prize. Curt was a featured reader in many poetry venues in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and twice in Ireland. He taught college English and creative writing for over 20 years at Westfield State College following several years teaching younger students. In 2023, he won grants from both the Worcester Arts Council and the Mass Cultural Council to support his work.

Belén Atienza is one of twelve bilingual (Spanish/English) writers who participated in the 1995 creative writing seminar taught at Princeton by Toni Morrison and Gabriel García Márquez. She is the author of the poetry collection entitled Tierra de noches inmensas, a lyrical and erotic evocation of her native Andalucía, inspired by Lorca. Her poetry has been translated to English and Chinese and has appeared in magazines such as Rattle and Poetry East/West. She is also a poetry translator and author of a collection of short stories entitled Saltaparedes, and a monograph “El loco en el espejo: locura y melancolía en la España de Lope de Vega.” She teaches at Clark University and holds a PhD in Romance Languages from Princeton University and a B.A in Spanish Literature from the Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona.

A Virtual Thirsty Lab with Linda Warren
2025-09-23 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom Online Meeting, United States
The Thirsty Lab poetry reading, normally based out of Princeton, Mass., continues to meet virtually. On Tuesday, September 23rd, 2025 Linda Warren will be the featured reader. Please Click Here to register.

Linda Warren has worked as a teacher, Romance novelist and software analyst. She has published a dozen novels and had poems published in in The Worcester Review, Diner, Whiskey Island Magazine, Naugatuck River Review, Writing the Land, and other books and journals. She fishes the trout and salmon rivers of New England and New Brunswick as often as she can, and this collection is inspired by those rivers and the hours she has spent standing in them, casting for fish and for words. Her first chapbook of fishing poems, They Say, has recently been published by Finishing Line Press.

Author Voices Present: Heidi Larsen
2025-09-23 19:00 - 20:00 | New Dawn Center, 84 Main St., Ashburnham, MA, 01607, United States
Reading with Heidi Larson from 7-8 pm, followed by Open Mic!

Heidi Larsen, M.Ed. is a 4th grade teacher at a small Christian school in Central Massachusetts. She is a poet and a natural born storyteller. Her poems have been featured in the books Our Wild Winds and Wandering Roots, both Quabbin Quills Anthologies, and showcased in Creative Connections Art Gallery and in The New Dawn Arts Center. She is the author of My Bible- A Daily Prayer Journal, and co-author, along with her son Holden, of a kids’ book called A Kitten for Katie, and her most recent book, a book of poetry called Smattering – Poems about Life, Death, God and Poetry. Heidi met her husband-to-be, Larry, in a small “puddle jumper” airplane in Seattle, Washington. They walked across the tarmac and into each other’s lives. Together they’re parent to Holden and Cooper, who have been their greatest and most satisfying adventure so far. Outside of the classroom, you may find Heidi cozying up to a cup of Chai Tea, reading her favorite historical fiction, or searching for God’s hearts in nature as signposts of His love.

Book Signing for "Protesting with Rosa Parks"
2025-09-23 18:30 - 20:00 | TidePool Bookshop, 372 Chandler St. Unit 101, Worcester, MA, 01602
Tuesday, Sept. 23, 6:00pm

Protesting with Rosa Parks recounts the experiences of over 95 people who, like Rosa Parks, refused to give up their seats, their rights, and their dignity while travelling on stagecoaches, trains, steamboats, streetcars, buses, planes, cars, elevators, and even a bus station shoeshine stand. Some were or became famous as civil rights leaders and activists. Others were, and are, “ordinary” citizens. Together they changed the shape of American history.

For more details, see www.protestingwithrosaparks.com

TidePoolBookshop372 Chandler Street, Worcester, Mass.(508) 753-2500 https://tidepoolbookshop.com/

Worcester Writers' Collective
2025-09-23 18:00 - 21:00 | JMac/Brickbox Theater, 20 Franklin Street, Worcester, MA, 01608, United States
Worcester Writers’ Collective

September 9th @ 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Come one, come all to the weekly meetings of the WWC:

6-7 Free Writing Time

7-9 Reading and Workshop

Building a small community of local writers of all genres is our priority and we are so thrilled to invite anyone interested to drop in and participate.

It’s FREE and open to all. 🙂

POET LAUREATE OF MANCHESTER TO READ AT THE VANILLA BEAN CAFE
2025-09-20 19:00 - 21:00 | Vanilla Bean Cafe, 450 Deerfield Road, Pomfret, CT, 06259, United States
Poets at Large will present the Poet Laureate of Manchester, CT, Nadia Sims on Sept. 20 th at 7 p.m.at the Vanilla Bean Café, 450 Deerfield Road, Pomfret, CT. Sims has been writing for most of her life and began performing in 2020 at open mics. Her work is largely a message of grace and self-forgiveness. A graduate of Princeton, Sims is the author of A Soft Place to Land, We Know the Dark, and Apostle Interrupted. She was appointed poet laureate in 2024.

Reading with her will be emerging poet Joseph Adomavicia from Waterbury. He has written five collections of poetry and an educational journal: A Step Into My Heart: Blackout Poetry Edition, Love Unbound: Blackout Poetry Edition, Sakura, The Foothold, Cerulean Wings: The Published Works, and Write to Me, Poetically. He owns Cerulean Wings LLC, an editing and book creation company.

Poets at Large, presents spoken word readings of regional poets, and is now in its sixth year. PAL and is a part of Windham Arts. All events are ADA compliant. Admission to all Vanilla Bean events is $15.00 which includes a raffle. All Poets at Large events are sponsored in part by Linemaster Switch, bankHometown, WHZ Financial Advisors, the Putnam Area Foundation and Charter Oak FCU. Contact karen.warinsky@gmail.com to sign up for the open mic which is recommended for ages 18 and up and has a 5-minute max as time allows.

Booklover's Gourmet Open Mic
2025-09-20 14:00 - 16:00 | Booklovers’ Gourmet, 72 E. Main St., Webster, MA, 01570
In addition to our regular open mic (1.5 hours), this month Eric Petersen will be the featured reader (20 minutes) to celebrate his new book Memoirs from the Melieu published by Metaphysical Fox Press.

Join us for our monthly round robin open poetry share, moderated by Robert Eugene Perry. Bring original pieces to share in a friendly, supportive environment.

Space is limited to 14 participants and usually fills up quickly. Please email deb@bookloversgourmet.com or call 508-949-6232 to sign up.

Poetry Extravaganza, featuring Three Decker poet Claire Golding
2025-09-17 18:30 - 20:30 | The Mill, 185 W. Boylston Street, West Boylston, Massachusetts, 01583, United States
Join us at The Mill in West Boylston on September 17th!

The Mill is right off Rt 190, has a spacious parking lot, serves delectable apps, entrees, and desserts with a full bar. We have a separate room for our monthly shenanigans. Admission is still free. All of the Tip Jar proceeds go to the Feature.

The Poetry Extravaganza (PE) is on the 3rd Wednesday of the month, except for July, from 6:30-8:30 pm. Sign up for the open mic at jfjr6969@gmail.com. Five minutes maximum, please! There are no language restrictions. We are not kid-friendly!

Our featured poet on September 17th is Claire Mowbray Golding. Mark Lewandowski of Lewandowski Painters sponsors our event. That’s how we pay the poets! Join the Fun on September 17th!

Claire Mowbray Golding is a freelance writer and editor. She was the 2003 recipient of the Worcester County Poetry Association’s Frank O’Hara Prize, and has self-published a chapbook, Poems and Other Offerings (Lulu Press, 2009). She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her poetry has been published in The Worcester Review, New Millennium Writings, Contour (as part of the 2017 Tale of Two Cities International Poetry Project with Worcester, Massachusetts and Worcester, England), The Scenes and Seasons of a Small New England Village, Penning the Pandemic, and Last Stanza Poetry Journal. She lives in Princeton.

Lecture at The Prior by Hanif Abdurraqib
2025-09-16 18:00 - 19:30 | Prior Performance Arts Center, 1 College Street, Worcester, Massachusetts, 01610, United States
The Prior Performing Arts Center is presenting a free public lecture by Hanif Abdurraqib on Tuesday, September 16 at 6 pm. MacArthur Fellow Hanif Abdurraqib is an award-winning poet, music writer, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His newest release, There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension (Random House, 2024), was a New York Times Bestseller and longlisted for the National Book Award in nonfiction. His 2021 book, A little Devil in America: Notes on Black Performance, placed as a finalist for the National Book Award.

There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension interweaves Abdurraqib’s passion for basketball and life reflections. The book has been described by Steve James, director of Hoop Dreams as “Mesmerizing . . . not only the most original sports book I’ve ever read but one of the most moving books I’ve ever read, period.” Time has said that “[There’s Always This Year] moves through reflections on his father’s jump shot, a dissection of the legend of LeBron James, and more. Abdurraqib . . . offers a complex rumination on home, belonging, and mortality.”

Tickets are free but a reservation is required. Use the QR code to register or simply go on the Holy Cross website.

The Beat Goes On: a poetry reading with Bill Tremblay and Linda Wlodyka
2025-09-15 18:30 - 19:30 | Jacob Edwards Library, 236 Main St., Southbridge, MA, 01550, United States
The Jacob Edwards Library is pleased to present THE BEAT GOES ON, a reading by two contemporary American poets with roots in the Beat tradition–Southbridge poet laureate Bill Tremblay and Massachusetts Beat Poet Linda Wlodyka, appointed by the National Beat Poetry Foundation. The reading will be held at Jacob Edwards Library on September 15 from 6:30 to 7:30 PM when the poets will sign and dedicate copies of their books for sale. Bill’s book, Southbridge: My Triggering Town celebrates the town during the 1940s and ’50s when he was growing up; proceeds from sales will go toward establishing the Bill Tremblay Poetry Prize for citizens of Worcester County. Linda’s book is entitled If Brambles Were Bookends. Linda lives in Florence, MA, and graduated from Berkshire Community College and earned a degree in Environmental Sciences. Her poems have been widely anthologized throughout the United States, and she is a popular performer of her own works throughout southern New England. She is a member of the Florence Poet’s Society and has recently been involved with reading poems submitted in the yearly anthology, Silkworm.

This is going to be a high-energy event. All welcome!

# # # #

Slightly Off-Beat Poets Presents...
2025-09-14 13:00 - 16:00 | Steve Veilleux’s Home, 112 Fabyan-Woodstock North Road, Grosvenordale, CT, 06255, United States
MPORTANT: PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN CHAIR FOR THIS OUTDOOR EVENT

WHAT: Slightly Off-beat Poets Presents: Joshua Michael Stewart & Brian Mosher

WHERE: Steve Veilleux’s house 112 Fabyan-Woodstock Road N Grosvenordale, CT

WHEN: Sunday September 14 @ 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm

WHAT HAPPENS: Our feature poets of the month will each read for 20 minutes. Then we will take a quick break for book sales, snacks, and the raffle before starting the open mic. Open mic will be round robin, one poem at a time until 4 PM.

COST: There will be a 50/50 raffle, split between the feature and the winner. 5$ to enter.

SIGN-UPS: There is room for 20 POETS. To reserve a spot please email: roberteugeneperry@gmail.com

Bards @ The Barrel
2025-09-11 19:00 - 21:00 | Spicy Water Distiller, 108 Elm Street, Millbury, Massachusetts, 01527, United States
Our September Feature will be the Inimitable Renee Slovick.

Monthly Board Meeting: September Edition
2025-09-10 19:00 - 20:00 | Massachusetts

Poetry & Music: Three Decker Launch Event
2025-09-10 17:30 - 19:00 | Preservation Worcester Board Room, 61 Harvard St., Worcester, MA, 01609, United States
Pianist, composer, and poet David Leach enjoys a multifaceted career as a performing artist, writer, and educator. As a founder of both the genre-bending violin and piano duo Room to Spare and the jazz ensemble the David Leach Collective, David’s music explores the spaces between jazz, classical, rock, and folk. Their music embodies a poet’s dedication to emotional honesty and expression, enlivened by their adventurous harmonic and rhythmic sensibilities. Their debut record as a leader, The Ground that Holds You as You Fall Forever, featuring Lihi Haruvi, Dor Herskovits, & John Lockwood, was released by Adhyâropa Records in May 2025. Their music has been featured on Apple Music Outer Orbits playlist, as well as ASCAP’s New Music Friday playlist. A recipient of an Avaloch Farm residency, they have also been artist in residence at UC Riverside and Wellesley College. They hold an MFA in Poetry from Boston University, where they studied with Robert Pinsky and Dan Chiasson, and their poetry has been published in The Crab Orchard Review and VESSEL.

Worcester Writers' Collective Weekly Meeting
2025-09-09 18:00 - 21:00 | JMac/Brickbox Theater, 20 Franklin Street, Worcester, MA, 01608, United States

Poems of Myths & Muses
2025-09-09 18:00 - 21:00 | Daphne’s Tears Bakery Cafe, 1094 Pleasant Street, Worcester, Massachusetts, 01602, United States
Join us at a marvelous new poetry venue with featured poets Susan Elizabeth Sweeney and Michael Milligan, vendors, delicious treats available at the cafe, an open mic before and after the features, and host Ariel Lim!

WORCESTER POET TO READ AT ROSELAND PARKIN WOODSTOCK AT FINAL 2025 FREE EVENT
2025-09-07 14:00 - 16:00 | Roseland Park, 205 Roseland Park Rd., Woodstock, CT, 06281, United States
Worcester poet John Hodgen will bring his talents to Roseland Park in Woodstock, CT, at the last free poetry event of the 2025 Poets at Large season. Hodgen will read along with Catherine DeNunzio of Ledyard, CT. These seasoned poets will perform on Sept. 7 th at Roseland Park in the barn at 205 Roseland Park Road in Woodstock, CT. The event will be held from 2:00- 4:00 p.m. Poets at Large is a regional group of poets who read in CT and MA, now in its sixth year.

John Hodgen is the Writer-in-Residence at Assumption University in Worcester, MA, and Advisory Editor for New Letters at the University of Missouri in Kansas City. Hodgen won the AWP Donald Hall Prize in Poetry for Grace (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2005). His fifth book, The Lord of Everywhere, is out from Lynx House/University of Washington Press, and his new book, What We May Be, is forthcoming also from Lynx House. He has won the Grolier Prize for Poetry, an Arvon Foundation Award, the Yankee Magazine Award for Poetry, the Bluestem Award, the Balcones Prize, the Foley Prize, the Chad Walsh Prize from Beloit Poetry Journal, the Collins Prize from Birmingham Poetry Review, and a Massachusetts Cultural Council Award in Poetry.

Ledyard’s Catherine DeNunzio is the author of Enough Like Bone to Build On (Antrim House 2022). Her poems have appeared in The Breath of Parted Lips: Voices from The Robert Frost Place, Connecticut Literary Anthology, Delmara Review Connecticut River Review, Italian Americana, Marin Poetry Center Anthology, Scapegoat Review, and Waking Up to the Earth: Connecticut Poets in a Time of Global Climate Crisis. She has poems forthcoming in Delmarva Review.

Contact Poets at Large coordinator Karen Warinsky if you are interested in reading in the open mic at karen.warinsky@gmail.com. There is a 5-minute limit for open mic readers and these events are recommended for ages 18 and up.

Poets at Large is a project of Windham Arts. Roseland Park is ADA Compliant. This series is sponsored in part by bankHometown, Charter Oak Federal Credit Union, and Weiss, Hale & Zahansky Strategic Wealth Advisors, Linemaster Switch and The Putnam Area Foundation.
