Mass Poetry: Outdoor performances you won't want to miss, and more!

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Share this: Sessions are filling up! Make sure you're registered so you don't miss one minute of the festival, and buy your festival button today! If you order your button online, just pick it up starting Friday, May 3 from our headquarters at 125 Museum Place Mall! Don't miss amazing musical acts, poetry performances, and more on our outdoor Performance Stage in Derby Square on Saturday, May 4! As the Sparrow, 12 p.m. Poetry Out Loud Finalists, 1 p.m. Louder than a Bomb, 2 p.m. Helen Creeley Award Winners, 2:30 p.m. Boston Typewriter Orchestra, 3 p.m. Cape Ann Improv & Poetry Show, 4 p.m. And bring your own poems for open mics in between acts! Festival Spotlight Interested in families and relationships of all kinds? Check out these explorative and insightful events! Primary Connections: Writing Poetry about Family | Friday May 3, 1:15-2:15 | Old Town Hall, Second Floor Richard Hoffman, Charles Coe, Susan Donnelly Writing poetry about one's family can be challenging. How do we address emotionally sensitive issues with both candor and sympathetic understanding? Why should the reader or listener care about the people in the poet's life? How is the connection made between the personal and the universal? Sentimentality and its Absence in Contemporary Poems of Pregnancy and Motherhood | Saturday, May 4, 12:15-1:15 | PEM Native American Gallery Jennifer Militello, Arielle Greenberg, Lisa Olstein, Rebecca Wolff In this panel, poets who are also mothers will read poems and discuss the relationship of poetry to motherhood, exploring the ways in which poems of pregnancy and motherhood can both emphasize feeling and shy away from traditional approaches, as well as sharing poems that reflect on the experience in ways that welcome sentiment, reshape it, and even thwart it. Writing Your Unwritten Recipe: Poems of Your Family's Immigration | Friday, May 3, 2:30-3:30 | Old Town Hall, First Floor Rachel Barenblatt, Monica Raymond, Joy Ladin, Merle Feld In this workshop, participants will read published poems that celebrate both immigrant stories and delicious food memories. This is your opportunity to write poems that celebrate both where our families come from, and the ways in which food continues to tie us to our family origins. Love what we do? Consider donating today, or even setting up a small recurring payment. You'd be surprised what a difference $10 a month can make! Buy your 2013 Festival Button at any of these great locations: Beverly The Book Shop of Beverly Farms Brookline The Brookline Booksmith Cambridge Grolier Poetry Book Shop Harvard Book Store Porter Square Books Rodney's Bookstore Concord The Concord Bookshop Marblehead The Spirit of '76 Newton Newtonville Books Salem Gulu Gulu's Harrisons Comics Roost SSU English Department Sophia's The Salem Wax Museum Volunteer at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival! Receive free Festival admission, a snazzy T-shirt, and an invite to the poets' reception! Sign up here or email Laurin Macios with questions. 225 Lowell St | Carlisle , MA 01741 US Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.

In the News: place to prosper, plea deal, welfare benefits

At Dean College: A place to prosper

Hitting an academic wall in college can hurt more than in high school, as not only is it lined with less padding, but expectations that students will know where to turn and what to do after the initial impact are much higher.

Dookhan lawyer said he's had 'cursory' talks about plea deal

The lawyer for the chemist charged with faking results and tampering with evidence at a state drug testing lab says he has had "cursory" talks about a possible plea.

State releases information on bombing suspects' welfare benefits

Reversing course once again, Massachusetts' welfare agency made available new details Friday about state benefits received by the family of the Boston bombing suspects, saying public interest in the case trumped the privacy rights of Tamerlan and Dzokhar Tsarnaev.

Franklin Public Works: Upcoming Projects

Thanks to DPW Director Robert (Brutus) Cantoreggi for sharing the presentation document he used for the Town Council meeting on Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013.

For my notes that accompanied the meeting you can check this link

Franklin, MA: DPW Upcoming Projects from Franklin Matters

You can also find this presentation on the Franklin DPW webpage here
http://franklinma.virtualtownhall.net/Pages/FranklinMA_DPW/Construction_Projects/DPW_Upcoming_Projects%20april%2013.pdf

Dan Meyer: Math class needs a makeover (video)

Today's math curriculum is teaching students to expect -- and excel at -- paint-by-numbers classwork, robbing kids of a skill more important than solving problems: formulating them. In his talk, Dan Meyer shows classroom-tested math exercises that prompt students to stop and think. (Filmed at TEDxNYED.)

Regent Circle Documents

Thanks to Steve Derdiarian for sharing these documents referenced during the Town Council meeting on Wednesday, Apr 24, 2013.

For my notes that accompanied the meeting you can check this link

MBTA Debuts 3 New Commuter Rail Coaches

The MBTA this week put into service the first three new commuter rail coaches from Hyundai-Rotem USA. 

The first trips for the 3 new coaches carried passengers on Train No. 213 from North Station to Haverhill Wednesday morning. The new coaches will continue to operate on the North Side of the commuter rail system in the weeks head. It is expected that an additional 15 new coaches will be in service throughout the system by the fall of 2013.

Read more here

MBTA Debuts 3 New Commuter Rail Coaches

In the News: healthy kids, anti-casino, amputee expenses

Hockomock YMCA slates Healthy Kids Day on Saturday

The Hockomock Area YMCA is celebrating Healthy Kids Day with a free community event that encourages kids to be active and provides families with options and methods for living healthier.

Towns to form anti-casino coalition

Facing a classic David versus Goliath scenario, several small towns opposed to having a casino in the neighborhood are seeking strength in numbers – about 58,000 residents worth.

Amputees from Patriots Day attacks facing wide range of expenses

Cost of amputating a leg? At least $20,000. Cost of an artificial leg? More than $50,000 for the most high-tech models. Cost of an amputee's rehab? Often tens of thousands of dollars more. These are just a fraction of the medical expenses victims of the Boston Marathon bombing will face.