Walk In The Woo: 2023 Winners & Reading

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PO Box 804, Worcester, MA

01613

worcestercountypoetry.org

wcpaboard@yahoo.com 

508-797-4770

Announcing the WCPA Rain Poems: “A Walk in the Woo 2023”

 

The Worcester County Poetry Association is pleased to announce that the thirteen poems selected from their 2023 Call for Poems: “A Walk in the Woo” have been successfully painted around the city of Worcester. A team of volunteers and many of the poets themselves came together September 30th and October 1st, 2023 to prepare stencils and paint the poems around the city. A map of the poems’ locations and the poems themselves can be read at worcestercountypoetry.org/a-walk-in-the-woo/. Be sure to check out these poems whenever it rains and please save the date for our Rain Poems 2023 poetry reading open to the public on Sunday, February 26th at the JMAC PopUp at 20 Franklin St. from 2-4pm. 

 

2023 Rain Poets, in no particular order

Evan Plante with “Staying Power”

Gertrude Malesi with “[Hatua za Wwenyeji]” (Swahili for “A gait that belongs”)

Jan Davini with “[The city beats in my heart]” 

Aidan Brueckner with “Phantom Limb Syndrome”

Mark Wagner with “Flying Out of Worcester”

Laura DiCaronimo with “Hot Drops”

Chloe Mascitelli with “[The world feels lightest in Worcester]”

John Zywar with “Indian Lake”

Daniel Gregoire with “Worcester Time”

Lisa Knight with “Rain Magic”

Paul Szlosek with “[When Worcester was Worchester]”

David Ginsburg with “Forever Worcester”

Emily Haley with “History”

 

2023 Rain Poetry Honorable Mentions

John Zywar with “Interlude”

David Ginsburg with “Footsteps”

 

This years’ judges included Oliver de la Paz, Poet Laureate, City of Worcester; Vanessa Gonzalez-Oyola, Clemente Alumnus; Natalia Botero, Clark Student, and Katherine Gregoire, WCPA Board Member.

 

The poems were painted using Rainworks invisible spray, a paint that is only visible when wet. Keep an eye on the weather forecast and check out these poems when the rain begins to fall. The paint will begin to fade in a few months. This is the third year of the WCPA’s Rain Poetry Project. 

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 Kate Gregoire, contest chairperson, katheanderson@gmail.com 

 

 

Sponsored by:

 

 

Rain Poetry 2023 Contest Winners

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The Worcester County Poetry Association is pleased to announce the 2023 Rain Poets and their poems!

2023 Rain Poets, in no particular order:

  • Evan Plante with “Staying Power”
  • Gertrude Malesi with “[Hatua za Wwenyeji]” (Swahili for “A gait that belongs”)
  • Jan Davini with “[The city beats in my heart]”
  • Aidan Brueckner with “Phantom Limb Syndrome”
  • Mark Wagner with “Flying Out of Worcester”
  • Laura DiCaronimo with “Hot Drops”
  • Chloe Mascitelli with “[The world feels lightest in Worcester]”
  • John Zywar with “Indian Lake”
  • Daniel Gregoire with “Worcester Time”
  • Lisa Knight with “Rain Magic”
  • Paul Szlosek with “[When Worcester was Worchester]”
  • David Ginsburg with “Forever Worcester”
  • Emily Haley with “History”
  • 2023 Rain Poetry Honorable Mentions
  • John Zywar with “Interlude”
  • David Ginsburg with “Footsteps”

The selected poems will be painted around the City of Worcester in September 2023 on the sidewalks, primarily at bus stops distributed equitably throughout the city’s districts. The poems will be painted using Rainworks invisible spray, a paint that is only visible when the sidewalks are wet. This year’s locations will be posted on our website, on Facebook, and our Instagram account, so please consult these resources when organizing your rainy-day scavenger hunt to try to visit all thirteen before the sun dries the pavement.

We encouraged submissions from poets of all ages, walks of life, and in any language, that spoke to the poets’ experience of Worcester. The poems were selected in blind readings by a panel of judges that included Worcester Poet Laureate Oliver de la Paz, WCPA Board Member Katherine Gregoire, Clemente Graduate Vanessa Gonzalez-Oyola, 2021 Rain Poet Brett Iarrobino, and Clark Student Nati Botero. The 2023 Rain Poets 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.

For more information, contact Kate Gregoire, contest chairperson

Poet Laureate Oliver de la Paz Reimagines Rain Poetry

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Oliver de la Paz, Worcester Poet Laureate

Civic Project Proposal: The Rain Poetry Project Project

Summary

The Rain Poetry project was started by the Worcester County Poetry Association in 2021.It brought thirteen poems, written by diverse poets of Worcester, to bus stops throughout the city.

Poems were painted on the concrete using stencils and Rain Works’ Rain Paint, a paint that is only visible when wet. The poems lasted for 2-4 months in their locations. The selected poets were then brought together for a community reading with friends and family.

This coming year will be the third year the project has been in place. While I am not affiliated directly with the Worcester County Poetry Association, I hope, as Poet Laureate, to assist them in broadening the appeal of poetry throughout Worcester County in conjunction with efforts through the City of Worcester’s Culture Office.

My goals for the project are threefold: 1) to use my platform as Worcester Poet Laureate to increase the participation of the schools and the community in this project, 2) to create more civic participation in this project, making it a legacy event, and pairing the creation and revelation of the Rain Poems in an annual public ceremony that is open to the public with the support of local organizations and businesses, 3) finally, to create an archive of this project through photographs and videos of the creation and display of the works that will be available via the web and social media, but also as a print anthology for participants.

Timeline:

  • August 2023: Begin promotion of Rain Poetry to Schedule Poet Laureate readings in the schools and direct solicitation of works from teachers.
    • Contact the press and begin community outreach to garner excitement for the next cycle of Rain Poetry and launch the application of the 2023 Rain Poetry poems
  • November-December 2023: Selection of Rain Poems to be Judged by Poets Laureate—former PL Juan Matos and Youth Poet Laureate Adael Mejia as well as members of the Worcester County Poetry Association and a member of the Worcester Cultural Coalition
  • January 2024: Announcement of Winners to Promote winners via local media sources
  • February 2024: Materials Preparation to Create stencils, scout locations, prepare paint to Hire Photographer and Videographer to archive the event
  • Late March 2024: Installation to Paint the stenciled poems at the chosen locations via community participation
  • April 2024: Public Celebration of the Poems to Celebrate the installation of the poems at their paint sites
    • Begin construction of the print anthology for the poets
  • May 2024: Final Recognition of Selected Poets at the JMAC to Public community event & recognition at Jean McDonough Arts Center to Include an edited video of the activity to provide each selected poet with a copy of a print anthology

Call for Poems: “A Walk in the Woo”

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light grey text on a wet sidewalk

As part of its 50th Anniversary Celebrations, the Worcester County Poetry Association is seeking short poems from Worcester residents that illustrate the poetry of the streets of Worcester.

Thirteen poems will be stenciled on sidewalks throughout Worcester using paint that is only visible when wet with rain.  A map and list of planned poem locations can be found on the program page.

To be considered for this project, submit up to 2 poems of max. 49 words, including the name of the poet.

Submission guidelines

The submitter must be a resident of the City of Worcester.

Each poem can contain no more than 49 words which will include the poet’s name and title if any.

Dual language poems are encouraged. (Please provide a translation into English for our judges.)

Submit via e-mail to this e-mail address: rainpoems@worcestercountypoetry.org

Include in submission e-mail your poem, your name, your address, e-mail, and contact information such as a phone number.  Poets of any age are encouraged to submit.

Poets selected will receive an honorarium of $20. Poems must be submitted by midnight of July 31st, 2021.