Announcing the Winners of the 2022 WCPA Poetry Contest: The Frank O’Hara Prize

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Jennifer Freed of Holden, Massachusetts, has won the 2022 Frank O’Hara Prize. The O’Hara Prize, awarded annually by the Worcester County Poetry Association (WCPA), was established in 1973. Freed’s poem “Kangaroos in Kharkiv” was selected by contest judge Usman Hameedi from the 89 submissions by 34 entrants.

Photo of poet and 2022 O'Hara Prize winner Jennifer Freed

Jennifer L. Freed is the author of When Light Shifts (Kelsay, 2022), a memoir-in-poems about the aftermath of her mother’s cerebral hemorrhage, and of a chapbook, These Hands Still Holding, a finalist in the 2013 New Women’s Voices Competition (Finishing Line Press, 2014).  She was awarded the 2020 Samuel Washington Allen Prize for a long poem or poem-sequence (New England Poetry Club), has been a finalist for the Frank O’Hara prize multiple times, and has received nominations for the Pushcart Prize and Orison Anthology.  She leads adult education programs online and in person and lives in Holden, Massachusetts.

Four additional winners were selected by Usman Hameedi.

  • Second Place – Lis Beasley of Uxbridge, Massachusetts, for “The Father as a Magician”
  • Third Place – Cheryl Bonin of Sutton, Massachusetts, for “Burnt”
  • Honorable Mention – Glenn D’Alessio of West Brookfield, Massachusetts, for “A Lobotomy”
  • Honorable Mention – Dennis Rhodes of Naples, Florida, for “Question”

The winning poems will be published in the next edition of The Worcester Review, the nationally recognized journal of the WCPA. The winners also receive a cash award. The WCPA will invite all the winners to read their work at the Winners’ Ceremony and Reading on Sunday, September 25, 2022, at 3:00 p.m.

The Winners’ Reading will be held at the First Unitarian Church, 90 Main Street, Worcester. Contest judge Usman Hameedi will be our featured reader that afternoon.

Usman Hameedi is a Pakistani-American scientist, poet, and educator. He also serves on Mass Poetry’s Board of Directors.   He earned his MS in Biomedical Sciences from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.  During his graduate studies, he did additional work in medical humanities and volunteered in geriatric care at Mount Sinai Hospital.  Neuroscience and oncology are his primary areas of scientific interest and expertise.  Since 2008, he has competed in and coached for collegiate, national, and international level poetry slams.  He was featured on The Huffington Post, Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine, and The Story Collider: Storytelling for Scientists podcast.  His first full-length collection is forthcoming in 2023 and will be published by Button Poetry.

The poetry contest was renamed the Frank O’Hara Prize in 2009 and continues to be generously supported as a tribute to the late poet Frank O’Hara by the O’Hara family.

Rain Poetry 2022

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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

Clemente Graduation: Best One Yet

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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.
For a glimpse of the Clemente magic, please watch the video of our 2022 commencement ceremony ( https://youtu.be/BmC__uxjQAA ) to hear from our students as they celebrate what they accomplished individually and together. We know you will be inspired.
Before the students speak, there is a keynote from Jill Lepore (David Woods Kemper ’41 Professor of American History at Harvard University and staff writer at The New Yorker) and welcomes from Brian Boyles (Executive Director, Mass Humanities) and Rodger Martin (President, Worcester County Poetry Association).
We are currently recruiting for our summer class and next year’s full humanities course, which is entirely free to students and covers all expenses and childcare if needed. To donate to Clemente-Worcester to support these students click here: https://worcestercountypoetry.org/clemente-course-in-the-humanities/

Spam calls from the WCPA phone number

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We’ve learned that the WCPA phone number is being used to call people for spam/scam purposes.  No one from the WCPA will ever call and ask for personal information.

We are working with our phone provider to try to resolve this issue.  Please accept our sincere apologies if you have been impacted by a spam call from our number.

Lend us a HAND

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The WCPA is looking for volunteers to help with our summer mailing!
When: Saturday June 4th at 2pm
Where: 38 Harlow St. (The Sprinkler Factory).
If you are able to stop by for a half hour or an hour, please contact me at irena@worcestercountypoetry.org so I may give you further instructions.

Cathedral Pines Getaway

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(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)