2021 Stanley Kunitz Medal Nominations

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Nominations for the Stanley Kunitz Medal, which is presented annually by the Worcester County Poetry Association, are now open. The award recognizes the total commitment to poetry as Kunitz lived it: teaching poetry, mentoring poets, speaking poetry, publishing poetry, and supporting organizations that nurture poetry.  Past recipients include Judith Ferrara, Carle Johnson, Dan Lewis, Fran Quinn, Susan Roney-O’Brien, and Michael True.
Nominations for this year will close on March 1, 2021.
 
Additional information can be found on our Stanley Kunitz Medal program page.
Michael True and Carle Johnson

Michael True (left) and Carle Johnson at the 2017 Kunitz Medal presentation.

 

Zoom into Poetry with D. Keali’i MacKenzie on January 10th

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January 10th we continue our monthly virtual poetry feature series with Zoom into Poetry with D. Keali’i MacKenzie. Born in western Massachusetts, he is a past member of the Worcester Poetry Slam Team which represented the Poets’ Asylum at the National Poetry Slam.

Join us at 3:00 pm (Eastern) on Sunday, January 10, 2021. 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.

WPL poetry writing workshops

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2020 Stanley Kunitz Medal recipient, Susan Roney-O’Brien, is leading two more Poetry Writing 101 workshops with Worcester Public Library​.

Sign-up for this Saturday’s class, Poetry Writing 101 with Susan Roney-O’Brien: Sound, Resound​. It’s taking place on January 2, 2021. Or you can sign up for Poetry Writing 101 with Susan Roney-O’Brien: In Form, Conform, Reform​ on Saturday, February 6, 2021.  Registration links can be found in the event listings linked above.

Both workshops take place between 11 a.m. and noon.

a website banner with a winterscape background

2020 Clemente update

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Elizabeth Bacon, WCPA board member and Coordinator for Clemente Worcester, shared this update with Clemente Worcester supporters as the end of 2020 approaches.

Dear Clemente Worcester Supporters,

A table covered with a brown table cloth has multiple gifts including 2 apples, a blue graduation cap with an orange tassle, balloons, and a book

Graduation 2020 gifts

We HOPE this finds you well during these last, dark days of this difficult, still unfolding year.
2020 Worcester Clemente Graduation Program

We wanted to let you know that we paused our in-person program in March. With the ardent support of Mass Humanities, we provided all our 2020 students with Chromebooks and Hot Spots to finish on-line in October. All 20 students graduated, and faculty and staff delivered graduation gifts to each person’s home in mid-October. I have attached photos, a copy of this year’s graduation program, this year’s Graduation Speech, and a Welcome from Worcester County Poetry Association President Rodger Martin. All will bring you JOY and HOPE.

This summer, Professor Lucia Knoles taught an online course for alumni on Op-Ed Writing funded through a Mellon Foundation Grant in partnership with Mass Humanities and four other Clemente sites across the state. The result was a beautiful publication called, We, too, Are America. 2020 Worcester graduate Mallory Shelly’s writing was featured in the Clemente National newsletter on December 8th. Please explore her work and that of others through the link below. Our graduates bring us HOPE:

https://www.blog.clementecourse.org/post/for-mallory-shelly-everything-offers-a-chance-to-learn

Lorenza Villatoro and family members stand in front of several balloons

Lorenza Villatoro

Starting in February, Clemente Worcester faculty will offer a three-credit, on-line course to Clemente Worcester graduates and newly accepted students to the Class of 2021-22, and Clemente students from across the state will be invited to join a new writing class led by Mass Humanities and funded by the Mellon Foundation.

By September, we HOPE to be back in person at The Worcester Art Museum and Trinity Lutheran Church – resuming the life-giving connection to scholarship and community that has become Clemente Worcester’s hallmark. YOU are an important part of that Community, and we HOPE to see you back with us then.

Until then, THANK YOU for joining us in making this amazing opportunity possible for so many and for bringing HOPE in this time of isolation and challenge.

In solidarity – on behalf of all of us,

Elizabeth

PS: If you would like to make a gift this year, please go to:

www.worcestercountypoetry.org

#508Fridays – Main IDEA

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Main IDEA Youth & Arts empowers youth by providing quality accessible arts programs to under-resourced communities. The organization has offered free after-school and summer arts programs to youth in Worcester since 2011, with a priority given to youth residing in the Main South neighborhood.
 
As the year closes out, you can help Main IDEA by donating an art kit or art supplies at C.C. Lowell via an online portal. Your gift will help make 2021 a little brighter and colorful.

December 2020 virtual readings

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A man, Joe Fusco Jr., stands in front of a microphone with a clipboard. He is gesturing with his right hand toward an audience that can be seen in the foreground. He wears a gray hoodie and glasses.

Joe Fusco Jr. at Worcester’s MegaSlam.

A woman, Ethna McKiernan, shown from the shoulders up. She has long dark hair set in braided pig-tails and is wearing large rounded glasses that have a purple tint.

Ethna McKiernan

The WCPA has helped a few area poetry reading hold virtual space for poetry during this long year. Among them are the Deep Thoughts Open Mic from Bedlam Book Cafe, the long-running artists collaborative known as the Free People’s Workshop, and the Thirsty Lab Poetry Series. At least two more readings are happening in 2020.

Next Tuesday, December 22, join A virtual Thirsty Lab Poetry Reading with Ethna McKiernan, and on December 29, join A virtual Thirsty Lab Poetry Reading with Joe Fusco Jr.

Both readings require registration to receive a Zoom online meeting link. Details can be found on the Facebook events. We hope you’ll come through and enjoy some wonderful poetry as the year crawls to a close.

A Poet’s Asylum Reunion – December 20, 2020

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Rush Frazier, a past president of the WCPA and all-around poetry tour de force, has organized a virtual reunion for the long-departed Poets’ Asylum for Sunday, December 20, 2020. For over 20 years, it was the local poetry hangout for performance poets and drew in features from Patricia Smith to Mighty Mike McGee to Dennis Brutus. From Eleni’s Midnight Cafe through the Java Hut and, finally, to the front room at WCUW, you could find a cup of coffee, a supportive community, and some damn fine poetry.

On December 20th, an invitational open mic will have voices from across the ether.  You can register via their Zoom link or view it via livestream on Facebook. Further details can be found on the Facebook invite.

a group photo 17 people seated on a stage inside a store
A group photo from the Wormtown Region Slam in 2002.

#508Fridays – Crocodile River Music

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Crocodile River Music was founded in 2011 to provide opportunities for emerging and established artists from Africa and evoke new ways of cultural thinking in New England.  This past year, their “Live at 5!” programs, streamed on Facebook and Instagram, brought joy, music, and connection into the community. From mini dance classes to interviews, musical jams, and more, they brought hope and light into homes across New England and beyond. Visit their website to view some of their programs.

This past week, they put out a call for local Worcester artists for 2021 whose work connects to or is inspired by Africa and/or the African Diaspora. Musicians, singers, dancers, visual artists, sculptors, storytellers, and creators of all kinds are encouraged to apply. There is a rolling application process for these paid opportunities.  Additional information can be found at https://linktr.ee/crocodilerivermusic.

Virtual Reading Opportunity

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After watching “Gather in Poems: a Virtual Reading” from the Academy of American Poets, Worcester poet, and poetry organizer Eve Rifkah reached out about organizing a local version. She envisions a Zoom reading with each poet reading a poem by another Worcester area poet (alive or not) and one of their own poems. Eve quotes the Academy of American Poets’ own description of the event to explain why the idea of a local event appeals to her right now; “sharing poems create a sense of community, especially at a time when so many are apart.”
 
It sounds like a fantastic event, and the WCPA is excited to be a part of it.
 
Interested in being a reader? You can contact Eve on Facebook or e-mail wcpaboard@yahoo.com, and we’ll share her e-mail address with you.