Kolleen Carney, the author of this story, is a graduate of Salem State University. She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in poetry and was happy to volunteer her services at the Massachusetts Poetry Festival. She lives in Methuen, MA, with her husband, son, and two cats, and runs the website www.wordgrrrl.wordpress.com.

With the 2011 Massachusetts Poetry Festival slowly fading into a wonderful three-day memory, it is important to acknowledge the role the Salem Poetry Seminar alumni played in helping the event to be a success. The Salem Poetry Seminar, sponsored by Salem State University and held in 2000, 2007, 2008 and 2010, has each year offered 12 poets enrolled in colleges from all over Massachusetts a week-long chance to expand on their craft. These poets have proved themselves to be talented writers who will no doubt be an integral part of the festival for years to come.

Starting with the kick-off event . . .

The kick-off to the festival was held on Thursday, May 12 at the Ellison Campus Center at the University. After a cheese and wine reception, Poetry Seminar alumni Brian Brouder, Gregory Glenn, Joey Gould, Keith Leonard, Lisa Mangini, Beth Rheaume, Jade Weston, James Connester Jr., Megan Lamattina, Shari Caplan, Libby Rowe, David Walker, and Enzo Surin read from their bodies of work while updating the audience about their current writing projects. Tom Sexton, Alaskan poet-laureate and Salem State graduate, headlined the event.

. . . assisting with high school day . . .

On Friday, May 13, the alumni helped out by volunteering at the university, which hosted a variety of workshops for highschool students from all reaches of Massachusetts. They also played a role in helping to teach the over 650 students and 40 teachers that were present for these morning and afternoon workshops. That evening Enzo Surin took part in a reading at the Peabody Essex Museum alongside performer Kim Richey, and poets Brian Turner, Amy Nezhukumatathil, and Jericho Brown—the headline event of the night. Meanwhile, down the street at the Gulu Gulu Café, several Poetry Seminar alumni helped take part in a poetry slam that had the café packed to capacity—even some participating poets [o1] had a hard time making their way in!

. . . and facilitating numerous events on May 14

On Saturday, May 14, the Poetry Seminar alumni were in the thick of volunteering for the numerous events spread throughout the city. Shari Caplan, who graduated from Salem State University this year, manned the Poetry Trolley headquarters. She was the main individual responsible for rounding up readers to share their work while the trolley drivers shuttled Massachusetts Poetry Festival guests to several destinations. Since visitors were constantly entering and exiting the trolley, the poets’ work was exposed to a diverse number of people.

Bringing poets together

The alumni of the Salem Poetry Seminar should be commended for their dedication to both poetry in general and the Massachusetts Poetry Festival as a whole. Since the seminar is not limited to Salem State University students—whose Creative Writing team tends to become close—a new bond between writers has obviously been forged. These writers are like a family, and it was almost impossible not to run into them in the various expanses of the festival outlets. Since the Massachusetts Poetry Festival is about bringing writers—both old and new—together, it would be in the best interest of the writing community for Salem State University to host their poetry seminar as often as possible.  The alumni’s work speaks for itself[o2] , and the group is active in the poetry community all year long. Brian Brouder has published two prize-winning books (“Other Latitudes” and “So the Night Cannot Go On Without Us”) and runs the blog “How A Poem Happens,” which offers poetry and interviews from various poets. James Connaster, Jr. had a chapbook, “Someone Else’s[o3]  Blue,” published by the Center for Creative and Performing Arts at Salem State University. Megan Lamattina and Beth Rheume run websites that showcase their poetry. Enzo Surin, the author of “Higher Ground,” has won several awards for his writing and has co-founded a literary magazine at Bunker Hill Community College, where he also teaches.   

It will be a delight to see if Salem State University will host more poetry seminars, and what the future of this particular family of writers will offer to the world of poetry, and writing in general, in the Commonwealth.