Friday, January 9, 2015

The latest from Mass Poetry



Festival update, The Writers House, Common Threads,                                                   View in your browser
Poem of the Moment, U35 on Jan 20, and more

Mass Poetry Festival Update


We are in the process of finalizing the programming for the 2015 Massachusetts Poetry Festival, May 1-3 in historic downtown Salem, and the schedule will be up soon! In the meantime, learn more about one of our featured poets, Denise Duhamel.
Denise Duhamel's most recent book of poetry Blowout (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013) was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and winner of a 2014 Paterson Poetry Prize. Her other books include Ka-Ching! (Pittsburgh, 2009), Two and Two (Pittsburgh, 2005), Queen for a Day: Selected and New Poems (Pittsburgh, 2001), The Star-Spangled Banner (winner of the Crab Orchard Award, Southern Illinois University Press, 1999) and Kinky (Orchises Press, 1997.) She is the recipient of awards including fellowships from the Guggenhiem Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. The guest editor for The Best American Poetry 2013, she is a professor at Florida International University in Miami.

The Writers House at Merrimack College

An installment in our Poetry Communities series


Since opening its doors in September of 2013, the Writers House has become a creative community for writers, filmmakers, playwrights and poets in North Andover, Massachusetts. As a part of Merrimack College, the Writers House creates a niche space for students to write, read and create. It is the "president of the college's investment of the imagination," says Andrea Cohen, poet and director of the program. The Writers House fosters imagination and ingenuity across several mediums. In order to reach out to  as many students as possible, the Writers House offers a variety of programs and workshops. Read more.

Join us for 2015's first U35!

Tuesday, Jan 20, 7 p.m.

The Marliave Restaurant, Boston

 

Featuring Alyssa Mazzarella, Matt Parker, and Victoria Thompson


RSVP & share the event via Facebook
Alyssa Mazzarella is an MFA candidate in poetry and a creative writing instructor at UMass Boston. In 2013, she received an Academy of American Poets Prize and a Mary Doyle Curran Creative Writing scholarship. She's previously taught at Baystate Correctional Center and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and holds a BFA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing from Emerson College. Her poems have appeared in Freshwater and Common Ground Review.
Matt Parker has been an avid fan of poetry since his childhood, and used it as a life saver during his tumultuous adolescence. Matt began to share his poetry and encourage others to use it as a coping tool in his career field as a youth development professional; he is still learning and teaching poetry to students in schools & community settings, co-facilitating the Boston S.O.U.P. (society of urban poetry) project, and supporting community causes everywhere.
Victoria Thompson studied in the MFA poetry program at the University of New Hampshire. She currently teaches 4th and 5th grade English as a Second Language in Boston Public Schools and lives in Arlington, MA.

Poem of the Moment

Jennifer Markell: Montebello Road


How quickly they shut it down—
three men, a garbage truck,
cars backed up, leaves blowing wild.
A gust sends stink: pork rind, coffee
grounds, ferment of rotting pumpkins.
The men haul bags, heave bales,
bassinette, oven door.
They laugh and shrug, step up, jump down
Continue reading.

Common Threads has arrived!


We are thrilled to release Common Threads 2015, guest edited by Alice Kociemba, contributed to by Robert Pinsky, and graced with eight stunning poems by Massachusetts poets! It includes discussion questions, writing prompts and more, and boasts a complementary media package and a host of exciting events throughout 2015. Check out yesterday's official launch announcement for all the details.

This week is a good one to curl up with our updated list of favorite poems for winter nights, wouldn't you say? Happy new year and warm thoughts to you and yours!


 
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