If you missed Tuesday’s Gather in Poems, a virtual reading organized and hosted by Eve Rifkah you can watch a recording of it on Facebook Live.
Visit https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=231825038688007.
2021 College Contest Results
Congratulations to the winners of the WCPA’s 2021 College Poetry Contest: the Elizabeth Bishop Manuscript Prize and the Etheridge Knight Performance Prize.
Christopher McClure of Anna Maria College and North Grosvenordale, CT won the Elizabeth Bishop Manuscript Prize for “All I Do is Wait” Christopher’s poem will be published in an upcoming volume of The Worcester Review, the WCPA’s print journal.
The winner of the Etheridge Knight Performance Prize is Isabella Sampino of the College of the Holy Cross and Bay Shore, NY.
Kat Gatto of Assumption University and Webster, MA received an Honorable Mention in the Manuscript Prize for “Where I Am” and an additional Honorable Mention in the Performance Prize.
McClure, Sampino, and Gatto were joined by finalist Marina Petrillo of WPI and Worcester, MA.
Many thanks to our contest judges, Nicole DiCello and Susan Roney-O’Brien. The 2021 College Contest was organized by Craig Blaise of Anna Maria College.
Gather in Poems on Tuesday, April 13
Join organizer and host Eve Rifkah for a virtual poetry reading on Tuesday, April 13, 2021, at 7:00 pm. In this time of pandemic, poets lack a regular forum for performing, and we lack the ability to see and hear what poets are writing.
In the virtual reading, each poet will read one poem of his/her own and one of another Worcester area or Worcester-connected poet. The reading will be aired live, recorded, and available through the WCPA archive to preserve our voices and a link to have the poems read in print.
Registration is needed to join the event. Visit the Zoom registration link and fill in the form. A meeting link will be e-mailed to you.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Worcester Arts Council, a local agency, which the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, supports.
Zoom into Poetry with Charles Coe – tomorrow!
The next Zoom into Poetry virtual reading will take place on Sunday, April 11, 2021, at 7:00 pm. Host Christopher Reilley welcomes Charles Coe to our virtual stage. Register via Zoom to join the virtual audience or view the reading on Facebook Live.
Charles Coe is the author of three books of poetry: All Sins Forgiven: Poems for my Parents, Picnic on the Moon, and Memento Mori, all published by Leapfrog Press. He is also the author of Spin Cycles, a novella published by Gemma Media. Charles was selected as a Boston Literary Light by the Associates of the Boston Public Library and is a former artist fellow at the St. Botolph Club in Boston and a current artist-in-residence at the Manship House in Gloucester.
Join us Saturday for the College Poetry Contest
Join us on Saturday, April 10, 2021, at noon for the WCPA College Poetry Contest where we will award the Elizabeth Manuscript Prize and the Etheridge Knight Performance Prize. In its thirteenth year, area colleges send representatives to compete for bragging rights, complimentary membership in the WCPA, and the publication of a poem by the manuscript winner in The Worcester Review.
We are excited to hear the poetry of Kat Gatto (Assumption College) and Marina Petrillo (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) with additional readings by this year’s judges (Susan Roney-O’Brien and Nicole DiCello) and the contest chair (Craig Blais).
Registration is needed to join the event. Visit the Zoom registration link and fill in the form. A meeting link will be e-mailed to you.
25 Years of National Poetry Month
Launched by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996, National Poetry Month reminds the public that poets have an integral role to play in our culture and that poetry matters. That’s half the time the WCPA has existed but it’s still a pretty awesome anniversary! 🙂
All teasing aside, here are some ways you can celebrate National Poetry Month.
- Join one of the virtual poetry events we are hosting in April. See our calendar for what is on offer.
- Enter the WCPA’s Annual Poetry Contest: the Frank O’Hara Prize before April 30th.
- Watch the recorded virtual poetry event – may we suggested Sisters Outsider: Black Women Creating Poetry from March 18th?
- Become a member of the WPCA! Membership fees help provide programs such as the Stanley Kunitz Medal, the Gregory Stockmal Reading, the annual Elizabeth Bishop/Etheridge Knight College Poetry Contest, and the WCPA Annual Poetry Contest: The Frank O’Hara Prize, as well as the WCPA’s nationally known journal, The Worcester Review.
- Speaking of our journal, why not order a copy of the 2020 volume of The Worcester Review which features poetry and analysis of South African activist and poet Dennis Brutus.
- Download a copy of the official 2021 National Poetry Month poster featuring lines by Joy Harjo.
- Check out the National Poetry Month suggestions at poets.org.
Tonight – a virtual Thirsty Lab with Francine Sterle
Join the WCPA tonight for the (sorta) rare 5th Tuesday Thirsty Lab. You can register via Zoom or join us on the WCPA’s Facebook page and view the program on Facebook Live.
A native of northern Minnesota, Francine Sterle has an MFA in poetry from Warren Wilson College and has furthered her studies in a variety of settings, including Oxford University, Oxford, England, the Spoleto Writers’ Workshop in Spoleto, Italy, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Squaw Valley Community of Writers, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Her awards include multiple Pushcart Prize nominations, a Loft-McKnight Foundation Award, a Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Grant, a Lake Superior Contemporary Writers Award, residencies at the Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies, the Leighton Studios at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Blacklock Nature Sanctuary, a Career Initiative Grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council as well as both a Fellowship Grant and a Career Opportunity Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. Her poems have been published widely in such literary journals as The North American Review, Ploughshares, Poetry International, and Nimrod, and have been anthologized in To Sing Along the Way: Minnesota Women Poets from Pre-territorial Days to the Present, 33 Minnesota Poets, The Cancer Poetry Project, and Broad Wings, Long Legs: A Rookery of Heron Poems, forthcoming in 2022. Her poetry collections include The White Bridge (Poetry Harbor, 1999), Every Bird is One Bird (Editor’s Prize, Tupelo Press, 2001), Nude in Winter (Tupelo Press, 2006), and What Thread? (David Martinson-Meadowhawk Prize, Red Dragonfly Press, 2015).
Zoom into Poetry with Charles Coe
The WCPA is thrilled to present Charles Coe in our ongoing Zoom into Poetry series, Sunday, April 11 at 7 PM. Registration is required, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEufuqspjMvGdXC_8ssB2ZDpHM3lwy_ID0z, fill out the form and Zoom will e-mail you the link to join the event.
Princeton Women’s Reading – 3/24/2021
The annual Princeton Women’s Reading moves online this year and is taking place tomorrow night (3/24/2021) at 7:00 pm via Zoom. We know it can be difficult for folks to find the link to register so here it is – https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtce2srzMuH9FJ8Rr25HNJ9ILSglhlt8B4.
The following poets are scheduled to read – Pam Bernard, Polly Brown, Therese Carr, Devon Evans, Kathleen Fagley, Rushelle Frazier, Jennifer Freed, Joyce Heon, Emily Judkins, Maura MacNeil, Cheryl Perreault, Catherine Reed, Eve Rifkah, Susan Roney-O’Brien, Francis Sterle, Nancy Strong, Beth Sweeney, Rhett Watts, and Kate Zebrowski.
Coming up this week
It’s a busy week in the world of virtual poetry readings with three events for you to join if you so desire.
Tonight, 3/21 @ 7:00 pm – Zoom into Poetry with Karen Friedland
Tuesday, 3/23 @ 7:00 pm – A virtual Thirsty Lab with Curt Curtin
Wednesday, 3/24 @ 7:00 pm – Princeton Women’s Reading
Registration via Zoom is needed to join the actual events; you’ll find a link in each calendar event.