Franklin Matters: The latest from Mass Poetry

Saturday, March 7, 2015

The latest from Mass Poetry

Starting next week, watch for Poetry on the T!

These three poems, by 2015 Mass Poetry Festival headliner Edward Hirsch, 2015 Common Threads poet Rhina P. Espaillat, and U35 poet Hannah Larrabee, will be up on the red line beginning Tuesday, March 9!

Plan your visit to the Mass Poetry Festival

In case you missed it this week, the schedule for the 7th Massachusetts Poetry Festival is now live!

Join us May 1-3 in Salem with headliners Rita Dove • Richard Blanco • Stephen Burt • Denise Duhamel • Nick Flynn • Regie Gibson • Jorie Graham • Edward Hirsch • Richard Hoffman • Adrian Matejka • Marge Piercy • Rachel Wiley • and with the hundreds of fabulous poets participating in sessions. Buy your button today!

Check out Tuesday's release email for information on creating your custom schedule, joining the attendee directory, participating in the Small Press Fair, listing an off-site event, volunteering, and more.

Common Threads at Grub Street

with Ben Berman • April 2, 6-9 p.m.

Join Mass Poetry and Grub Street Writers for a Common Threads discussion and writing workshop. We will both discuss the wonderful selections in this year's Common Threads Poems and use these poems as inspiration to write our own original pieces. There will be an opportunity to write and receive feedback during the workshop, and everyone will leave with a richer appreciation of the Common Threads Poems and a new draft of an original poem.

This session is free and is limited to fifteen attendees. To reserve your spot, click here and sign up to add the event to your Common Threads calendar.

Common Threads events have been taking place all over the state! Don't forget to be checking out our Common Threads event calendar regularly.

On Festival Poet Denise Duhamel

by Dawn Paul

Poetry is Duhamel's affirmative answer to all that life throws at her, from the dissolution of love to the certain knowledge that our time here is limited. Though she will welcome you with the familiar or even the frivolous, she will drop you off at the big questions of transcendence and mystery. Read more.

Poem of the Moment

Linda McCarriston: Mr. No Class, USA

Thinking of how he will live
just shy of retirement
                        if all goes well if all
goes the way the ads
            on t.v. suggest it must
                        urge him to think
it will, gardening with the little lady
            say, golfing maybe, just
                        tossing the ball with the dog in
Continue reading.

Why I Love Poetry

by julie ann otis

"The dusty manacles of what we think poetry and theatre are still weigh on us. But though the outdated or overwrought may give our art a bad name, they also provide the springboard for our minds to be blown by the true, clear voice of those gifted few who pierce thru and captivate us." Continue reading.