Announcing the 2024 O’Hara Prize Winners!

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Announcing the 2024 O’Hara Prize Results

1st Place: Paul Szlosek with “Neither In Nor Out“

2nd Place: Claire Schaeffer Duffy with “Off the Coast in Trapani“

3rd Place: Art DuBois with “Senses“

Honorable Mention: Matt Zingg with “Maturity“

A HUGE thank you to all of our wonderful participants! We got so many contributions and read some truly fantastic poems.

A big thank you to our judge Dennis Barone for his thoughtful consideration!

and a heartfelt Congratulations to our 2024 O’Hara Prize Winners!

We hope to see everyone at the O’Hara reading in September.

Rodger Martin Chosen for 2024 Stanley Kunitz Medal

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2024 KUNITZ MEDAL PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RODGER MARTIN Chosen for 2024 Stanley Kunitz Medal

The Stanley Kunitz Medal committee is pleased to announce Rodger Martin as the 2024 medal recipient.

Whether in New England, Great Britain, or China, Rodger Martin’s mission is to bring poetry into the public arena. The Worcester County Poetry Association grew and prospered under his leadership as president, board, and committee member. He served as managing editor of the nationally recognized journal The Worcester Review for almost three decades. As a devoted volunteer, his work in poetry communities in New England exceeds the highest standards demonstrated by medal recipients.

Who is Rodger Martin? He was born in Pennsylvania, spent his childhood in England, served as combat engineer in Vietnam, and is a journalism professor at Keene State College in New Hampshire, where he resides. He has won an Appalachia Award for poetry and a New Hampshire State Council on the Arts Fellowship for fiction.  Simply put: Martin has earned the right to be called a citizen and poet of the world.

A seven-time recipient of the Bruce Kellner/Monadnock Fellowship, Martin mentored poets through a series of cultural exchanges between Monadnock Pastoral Poets and Writers, including a collaboration among poets, colleagues from Keene State University and pastoral poets and calligraphers in China. He was co-director of New Hampshire’s Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Out Loud. He leads a poetry reading series at Del Rossi’s Trattoria in Dublin, New Hampshire.

Rodger Martin’s publications include four books of poetry, most recently All the Tea in Zhōngguó and The Battlefield Guide. He currently serves as co-editor for Hobblebush Books’ Granite State Poetry Series.

The Stanley Kunitz Medal originated with a bequest to the Worcester County Poetry Association from the estate of former Poet Laureate of the United States and Worcester native Stanley Kunitz (1905-2006). Martin will be the tenth recipient of the medal, which is bestowed annually on a poet with a strong Worcester County connection who best exemplifies Kunitz’s lifelong commitment to poetry by teaching poetry, mentoring poets, speaking poetry, publishing poetry, and supporting organizations which nurture poetry.

Also honored with a nomination this year was poet Oliver de la Paz.

Rodger Martin will receive his medal at a ceremony presented by the Worcester County Poetry Association at the Worcester Historical Museum on Thursday, July 25th from 6:30-8:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. There is limited parking at the museum, with additional metered parking on the street and in the Pearl/Elm Street Garage. Visit worcestercountypoetry.org for details.

Respectfully submitted,

Judith Ferrara, Chair – Judy@PaletteAndPen.com

2024 Kunitz Medal Winner Press ReleaseDownload
Rodger Martin photo (for distribution)Download

Rain Poets on the Radio!

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Up next, another 33 and a 1/3rd Drop

The Drop offers a platform for sharing short segments of up to three minutes, 33 seconds or less on any secular and non-partisan topic of your choice. Your story, poem, or info tip can reach a wide audience. Drops are made available to on-air programmers to feature at their choosing. Join us in creating impactful mini-podcasts!

Why label these modules/mini-podcasts(?) “Up next, another 33 and a 3rd Drop?”

The title recognizes some key elements of playing recorded music from the not-so-distant past, the LP spinning at 33 and a 3rd, a 45 single coming in near 3 minutes 33 seconds and lastly, to play a LP you must “drop” the needle in the groove, “Up next, another 33 and a 3rd Drop” just works for setting the segment apart.

The Drops are made available to the programmer to use or not. They can be a helpful tool for the programmer who is trying to shift gears in a program. The shorter the segment, the more likely it’ll be featured. Each segment will be archived on WCUW with your accompanying info sheet that can be easily accessed by all on-air programmers.

Creators of Drops are encouraged to be members of WCUW and if needed, our studios are available for creating your Drops. Only secular and non-politically oriented Drops will be considered. The Drops must be FCC compliant.

The WCPA Online Bookstore is now live

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The Worcester County Poetry Association now has its own bookstore!

The Worcester County Poetry Association has set up our own bookstore at bookshop.org. Many non-profits, organizations, and individual writers have taken advantage of bookshop.org, which allows organizations to create branded versions of their platform to highlight local authors and poets, and now we’re excited to do the same.

We’ve started with a few books from our board members and look forward to growing this collection, starting with our members. As a new perk for all WCPA members, we would love to list your books in our bookstore.

Current WCPA members: Please use the form below to send us a link to your book. We’ll be sure to include it in the bookstore and help promote it. To ensure

  • The easiest way to list your book is to send us a link to the listing itself on bookshop.org. Go to their website, search for your book, and send us the link to that page.
  • If your book is not listed on bookshop.org, that’s okay! Please send us the ISBN number for your book, and we can load your book on to our shop that way.
  • I don’t have an ISBN! If you’re self-published and don’t have a listing on any websites or an ISBN, we likely won’t be able to help, but it doesn’t mean we can’t help promote your book in other ways. Please send us the title of your book and a link to your personal website or another source we can help promote, and we’ll see what we can do. We could also provide some instructions to help you obtain an ISBN if you would like, which may help promote your work elsewhere online.

Every purchase from our bookalso contributes a small amount to the WCPA, supporting our overall effort to promote poetry in Worcester County and our many programs.

If you’re not a member, please consider becoming a WCPA member today or purchasing one of the books from our new bookstore. We’d love to have you join us.

Applications to Dodge Foundation Poetry Festival are now open!

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The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) are accepting submissions from poets interested in participating in the 20th Dodge Poetry Festival to be held Oct 17 – 19, 2024, at NJPAC in Newark, NJ.

This nationally-recognized opportunity is open to all poets who use their work to challenge and reframe existing narratives and norms including artists who practice spoken word, slam, performance and avant-garde poetry. The deadline to apply is April 15. To apply click here.

If an ADA application accommodation is required please reach out to DodgePoetry@njpac.org.

All submissions will be reviewed by a panel looking for poets who demonstrate a connection with the festival’s themes and communities; an ability to deeply engage audiences and strengthen the meaning of their poetry through live performance and/or reading aloud; and work that takes leaps and asks courageous questions.

Those selected to participate will have the opportunity to join other poets and artists in the festival’s momentous meeting of ideas and have their voices amplified to new audiences. All poets involved will have their books included at the Dodge Poetry festival book fair and will receive an honorarium of $350 per day and coverage of travel expenses.

Updates or changes are unable to be made once an application is submitted. All applicants will be notified of decisions by June 30, 2024. Please note: we are unable to accept print and hard copy materials. By submitting electronically, applicants are confirming that all submitted works are original and that they are the sole author.

The Dodge Poetry festival is designed to build a community of poets and citizens mobilizing for racial and social justice, repair and healing. This marks the first year of an expanded partnership between the Dodge Foundation, a private foundation that supports organizations working towards a just and equitable New Jersey, and NJPAC, Newark and New Jersey’s anchor cultural institution that enhances lives through world-class performances, education programs and community engagement. Dodge Poetry is moving beyond its biennial poetry festival to include poetry programs in Newark throughout the year.

We can’t wait to hear from you and read your work!

Elizabeth Bishop Graveside Reading: Valentines

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At our annual birthday bash at Elizabeth Bishop’s grave in Hope Cemetery, local poets will read aloud her sardonic valentines and tender, poignant love poems, mostly unpublished during her lifetime. Readers include Elizabeth Bacon, Clair Degutis, Judith Ferrara, Claire Mowbray Golding, Kate Gregoire, John Hodgen, Irena Kaçi, Evan Plante, Eve Rifkah, Susan Rooney-O’Brien, Susan Elizabeth Sweeney — and Bishop herself! Refreshments will include birthday cake.

To get there, enter the cemetery’s main gate and continue on Curtis Avenue. Take your fourth left onto Beech Street (after Elm, Larch, and Bush), proceed for one block, and park. Bishop’s grave is behind the nearest tree on the left side of the road.

This event is sponsored by Mapping Worcester in Poetry. If you have any questions or wish to read a poem, please contact Kate or Beth. Until then, join us in pondering the “conundrum Love propounds” (Bishop, “Three Valentines”).

February 7th 10am

E.Bishop Grave at Hope Cemetery 119 Webster St.
Worcester, MA 01603

Announcing the 2023 Dan Lewis Fellow: Laura DiCaronimo

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Extra Extra: READ ALL ABOUT IT

Judges have selected Hubbardston, Massachusetts, resident Laura DiCaronimo as the first recipient of the annual Dan Lewis Poetry Fellowship.

DiCaronimo, a Fitchburg State alum, runs The Openest Mic as a way to bring poets together in community. She said, “I am personally proud that ten of the sixty-five participants have never publicly read before; the energy in those rooms is just that good.”

DiCaronimo, whose poetry has been featured in the Rain Poetry project on Worcester sidewalks noted, “I’ve been creating connections:  Poets are collaborating on rap tracks! Politicians running for office have written beautiful poems about their home cities and city councilors have used ‘The Openest’ part of the Openest Mic to perform spoken word pieces about the closing of a local hospital.”

DiCaronimo, who is also licensed optician, said she plans to use much of the $2,500 fellowship to further that commitment to creating a poetry community.

The fellowship was created in memory of poet Dan Lewis to support the poetry aspirations of a poet residing in Worcester County when there may be limited other opportunities for support of those endeavors. DiCaronimo will receive the award at the annual meeting of the Worcester County Poetry Association. On Sunday, March 3rd from 2-4pm at The Salisbury House Ball Room, 61 Harvard Street, Worcester, MA. The public is welcome to attend.

Her selection was a unanimous decision by judges Kyle Potvin, Exeter, N.H., poet; Tony Brown, Uxbridge, Mass., poet; and Rodney Obien, archivist, The Monadnock Special Poetry Collection, Keene State College, Keene, N.H.

More information about the fellowship and the Worcester County Poetry Association, Inc., a 503-C charitable corporation, can be found at On Our WEBSITE

 

Kunitz Medal Nominations are OPEN!

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2024 Stanley Kunitz Medal Award

 

 

On behalf of the Stanley Kunitz bequest to the Worcester County Poetry Association, the Medal committee is pleased to announce the opening of nominations for the 2024 Stanley Kunitz Medal, the tenth to be awarded since 2015.

The medal is presented annually to a person with a strong Worcester County (Massachusetts) connection who best exemplifies Stanley Kunitz’s lifelong commitment to poetry and poets. The award recognizes an individual’s commitment to poetry as Kunitz lived it: teaching poetry, mentoring poets, speaking poetry, publishing poetry, and supporting organizations that nurture poetry.

Letters of nomination should provide detailed support explaining how the nominee nurtured poetry as defined above. Because the yearly award is singular and cannot honor all worthy applicants, past nominations may be reactivated for 2024 once nominators notify the committee chair Judy Ferrara  (J.Ferrara.artist.writer@gmail.com)  to keep the nomination active.

Nominations should be mailed to:

The Stanley Kunitz Medal, c/o Worcester County Poetry Association,
P.O. Box 804, Worcester, MA 01613

 

between December 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, or email your nomination and Word documents to the committee chair. The award announcement will be made in the spring of 2024, followed by a splendid ceremony at the Worcester Historical Museum, coinciding with Kunitz’s birthday in the last week of July. Please visit www.worcestercountypoetry.org Programs/Stanley Kunitz Medal for more details.

 

The 2024 Stanley Kunitz Medal committee wishes to recognize and thank the following volunteers who have served to bestow this honor in the past: Rodger Martin, chair (2013-2021), Kent Ljungquist (2017-2021), Karen Sharpe (2019-2021), Robert Steele (2015-2016), and E. Robert Cronin (2015-2018).