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New Bedford Poetry Scene Hotbed of Diversity

November 23, 2012 By

The New Bedford literary scene is a hotbed of diversity. An interview with Maggie Cleveland, local poet and long time reading coordinator revealed the dynamics of the area: there are upcoming writers working with in styles ranging from hip-hop poetry to more traditional, formal styles, and long time veterans, such as Everett Hoagland.

Cleveland began organizing readings over 15 years ago due to a lack of local events. The New Bedford area has been highly receptive since then and rewarding to work with. When asked if she believes there is a specific purpose behind the readings, Cleveland answered, “They are driven by the ever-evolving purpose of bringing together local poetry lovers and getting people excited about what the New Bedford literary community has to offer.”

Cleveland then described the astounding diversity of the community itself. John Landry, local poet laureate, ran a previous incarnation of Cleveland’s website, Whaling City Review. Landry is a passionate poet who has read at venues across the United States, including the City Lights bookstore in San Francisco and the Library of Congress. He’s also a proud participant in the New Bedford scene. See more information and samples of Landry’s work,

Hip-hop poetry is popular among the high school and younger crowd in the New Bedford area. One up-and-comer is Tem Blessed, a poet and musician (check out Blessed’s work). On the more traditional side, preferred by older members of the community, is Marybeth Rua-Larsen. Here is an example of Rua-Larsen’s work.

As for veteran writers, New Bedford is home to the previously mentioned Everett Hoagland. Hoagland has been publishing work since the 60s. Cleveland described his work as “vivid” and “honest.” He’s also known for his powerful readings. Caroline Knox, who resides in nearby Westport, is another longtime poet. Cleveland described her work as “quirky,” and “intellectual.” Here is more information on Hoagland  and on Knox.  

Cleveland recently read at her own series, announcing her new book, ATOM FISH. Also present at Saturday’s reading was Jake John, described by Cleveland as a post-Beat poet. ATOM FISH itself is one long, unusual meditation on life through personal and historical relationships. One Time Press, ATOM FISH’s publisher, puts out photocopied and stapled chapbooks and indie journals. One Time Press has connections to indie publishers throughout the nation.

More info on events in the New Bedford community can be found at Cleveland’s website.

Filed Under: Featured

Festival Announcements

April 5, 2012 By

Check this page for special deals and announcements about the Festival. We’ll be adding to the list below as we have other items to report.

  • This year we are again using a social media schedule — our “Facebook for Poets”– that allows you to register, choose the events you wish to attend, and connect with your friends. You also can and post your events to Facebook and Twitter.
  • Please reserve your seat at the workshops and other programs with limited seating. Already three of the workshops are filled and several are near capacity.
  • The Poetry Trains & Trolleys are back! Listen to poetry on the way to Salem in a special poetry car on the Newburyport/Rockport Linedeparting from North Station:
    • Saturday, April 21: Train 1105 departing North Station      at 10:15 AM
    • Saturday, April 21: Train 1109 departing North Station      at 12:15 PM
    • Saturday, April 21: Train 1105 departing North Station      at 2:15 PM
    • Sunday April 22; Train 2109 departing North Station at      12:15
  • On Saturday morning a Poetry Trolley will loop among the venues with poets performing on board at no cost if you have your festival button.
  • Buy buttons for the Festival at the following places (Keep checking; we have more listed.):
  • Beverly
    The Book Shop of Beverly Farms – 40 West Street
    iii
  • Brookline
    Brookline Booksmith - 279 Harvard Street
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  • Newburyport, MA
    Jabberwocky Bookshop -  The Tannery Marketplace,  50 Water St.
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  • Salem
    The  Roost - 40 Front StreetSophia’s – 105 Essex Street
    iii
    Scratch Kitchen 245 Derby St   978-741-2442
    http://scratchkitchensalem.com

    iii
    The Hungry Whale -  72 Wharf St 978.745.6659 
    http://www.facebook.com/thehungrywhale
     i
    iiiii
    Gulu Gulu Café - 247 Essex Street (978) 740-8882 www.gulu-gulu.com 

    Salemdipity – 86 Wharf Street on Pickering Wharf

    Salem Witch Museum – 19 ½ Washington Square North

    Salem Trolley Depot – 191 Essex Street (on the Pedestrian Mall)

     iiii

  • Cambridge:
    Grolier Bookstore - 6 Plympton Street  617)547-4648
    iii
    Porter Square Books - 25 Whilte St ( Porter Square Shopping Area) 617)491-2220
    iiii
    Rodney’s Books - 698 Massachuetts Ave., Central SquareHarvard Book Store – 1256 Massachusetts Avenueiiii
  • Concord
    Concord Bookshop - 65 Main Street  968)369-2405
    iii
  • Marblehead
    Spirit of ’76 Bookstore 107 Pleasant St 781-631-7199
    http://hugobookstores.com/spirit

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  • Check Hotel discounts for festival attendees.
  • Thinking about attending the festival, but want to know more? See our video of last year’s festival.
  • We still need Volunteers to help at the festival.
  • Special restaurant deals include:
    • Essex NY Deli & Pizza
      Museum Mall Place — adjacent to the Small Press Fair on Saturday
      Show your Poetry Festival Button for 10% off
    • Capts Waterfront -Premium Steak & Seafood Grill
      94 Wharf Street, Pickering Wharf (978) 741-0555 | Capts.com
      Show your Poetry Festival Button to receive 10% discount off lunch and a 15% discount off dinner.
    • Rockafellas
      231 Essex Street 978.745.2411
      Show your Poetry Festival Button to receive a 10% discount on food purchases
    • The Regatta Pub
      The Salem Waterfront Hotel, 225 Derby Street (978) 740-8788
      Use the coupon in the Poetry Festival Program to receive a free dessert from the new dessert menu with the purchase of any lunch or dinner entrée! Offer expires May 15, 2011.
    • Victoria Station & Vic’s Boathouse
      86 Wharf Street, Pickering Wharf (978) 745-3400 | VictoriaStationSalem.com
      Show your Poetry Festival Button and save 15% off your meal (does not include liquor, tax or gratuity).
  • For more information on Salem, restaurants, hotels, & shopping go to our partner DestinationSalem

Filed Under: Featured, News

New Addition to Saturday Headliners

April 3, 2012 By

Sherwin Bitsui will be joining his fellow poets Joy Harjo, Nikky Finney and Wesley McNair at the headline event in the Peabody Essex Museum, Saturday, April 21st. Sherwin comes from White Cone, Arizona where he lived on the Navajo Reservation. He is Dine of the Todich’ii’nii (Bitter Water Clan), born for the Tl’izilani (Many Goats Clan).

Sherwin received his BA from the University of Arizona and an AFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts. While at the Institute, Sherwin studied poetry and painting and received a Truman Capote Creative Writing Fellowship. Additionally Sherwin has been granted an Individual Poet Grant from the Witter Bynner Foundation for Poetry, a Lannan Foundation Marfa Residency, a 2006 Whiting Writers’ Award, a 2008 Tucson MOCA Local Genius Award, a 2010 PEN Open Book Award and an American Book Award for his book Flood Song.

The cover art of Flood Song was painted by Sherwin himself.

Shapeshift, Sherwin’s first book, was published in 2003 by University of Arizona Press. The Navajo Times said of Shapeshift: “What is exciting about Shapeshift is the fresh voice and perspective it introduces to Native American and Navajo literature. The times and attitudes have changed, and Shapeshift does not ignore this fact. . . . A must-read for anyone interested in discovering a new Native American author.”  Festival attendees will be happy to note that Sherwin will be joining poets Joy Harjo and Susan Deer Cloud in a reading and discussion of themes in the Peabody Essex Museum exhibit Shapeshifting: Transformations in Native American Art.

Filed Under: Featured, Festival 2012, News

The MPF Schedule of Events Is Now Online!

March 31, 2012 By

Okay! We are getting close now — the Massachusetts Poetry Festival is only weeks away — and our plans have a definite shape. In fact they are so definite you can take  our schedule and create your own for each day. Check out all the poets who will be there. Check out the readings, the lectures, the workshops, the performances, the dance groups, and more. Start your personal schedule now.

Once you register for an event, we save a place for you at any of these events. And you can print your own schedule to take with you to Salem.

Your registration also helps us see if an event needs more space than we originally planned for it.

Not only can you browse the schedule, you can check out who is planning to attend. It’s an easy way to get together with friends you haven’t seen in a while.

Make your plans right now to take part in the Massachusetts poetry community!

 

Filed Under: Featured, News

The Festival Needs Your Help — Volunteer!

March 20, 2012 By

Wordsmiths, literacy advocates and community builders—assemble! Volunteer here! The Massachusetts Poetry Festival needs your help!

Held in historic Salem from April 20-22 (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday), The Fourth Massachusetts Poetry Festival is expected to bring in 1,500 poets and poetry lovers alike and will showcase a variety of extraordinary local and regional poets, as well as engage the public through readings, interactive workshops, panel discussions, and much more.

However, in order to pull off this extraordinary event, the festival requires the help of a lot of volunteers!

Here are just a few of the excellent opportunities to consider:

  • Program Planning
  • Produce A Festival Event
  • Be A Guide During The Festival
  • Work on Outreach and Publicity

So, if you’re interested in volunteering, sign up with this link:


https://goodmeasures.wufoo.com/forms/2012-mass-poetry-festival-volunteer-sign-up-copy/

If you need more convincing, check out this lovely story:


http://masspoetry.org/2012/01/28/your-invitation-to-volunteer-for-the-mass-poetry-festival/

Filed Under: Featured, News

Bidart, Collins and Dunn Headline Sunday Afternoon at MPF

February 27, 2012 By

With the announcement that Frank Bidart, Martha Collins, and Stephen Dunn will headline the Sunday afternoon program, the Massachusetts Poetry Festival completes its roster of featured poets. The Festival runs April 20 through 22 in Salem, Mass.

Friday night program will spotlight poets Robert Pinsky, Major Jackson, and Maggie Dietz.

Saturday night poets are Joy Harjo, Nikky Finney, and Wesley McNair.

Take a look at the accomplishments of Sunday afternoon’s poets:

Frank Bidart’s first books, Golden State and The Book of the Body, both published in the 1970s, gained critical attention and praise, but his reputation as a poet of uncompromising originality was made with The Sacrifice, published in 1983. All three books are collected In the Western Night: Collected Poems 1965-1990. His position in American letters has been solidified through his later works, including Desire, Star Dust, and Watching the Spring Festival. Desire was nominated for the triple crown of awards—the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award—and received the 1998 Rebekka Bobbitt Prize from the Library of Congress for the best book of poetry published during the previous two years.

About his work, the former U.S. Poet Laureate Louise Glück has said, “More fiercely, more obsessively, more profoundly than any poet since Berryman (whom he in no way resembles) Bidart explores individual guilt, the insoluble dilemma.” And about his career as a poet, she said, “Since the publication, in 1973, of Golden State, Frank Bidart has patiently amassed as profound and original a body of work as any now being written in this country.”

His honors include the Wallace Stevens Award, the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Foundation Writer’s Award, the Morton Dauwen Zabel Award given by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Shelley Award of the Poetry Society of America, and The Paris Review’s first Bernard F. Conners Prize for “The War of Vaslav Nijinsky” in 1981. In 2007, he received the Bollingen Prize in American Poetry.

Martha Collins is the author of White Papers (Pittsburgh, 2012), as well as the book-length poem Blue Front (Graywolf, 2006), which won an Anisfield-Wolf Award and was chosen as one of “25 Books to Remember from 2006” by the New York Public Library. Collins has also published four earlier collections of poems and two collections of co-translated Vietnamese poetry. Her other awards include fellowships from the NEA, the Bunting Institute, the Witter Bynner Foundation, and the Ingram Merrill Foundation, as well as three Pushcart Prizes and a Lannan Foundation residency fellowship. Founder of the Creative Writing Program at UMass-Boston, she served as Pauline Delaney Professor of Creative Writing at Oberlin College until 2007, and is currently editor-at-large for FIELD magazine and one of the editors of the Oberlin College Press.

Stephen Dunn is the author of 16 collections of poetry, including the recent Here and Now and What Goes On: Selected & New Poems 1995–2009. Different Hours won the Pulitzer Prize in 2001, and Loosestrife was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist in 1996. His other W.W. Norton books are New & Selected Poems: 1974–1994, Landscape at the End of the Century, Between Angels, and Riffs & Reciprocities: Prose Pairs. Local Time (William Morrow & Co.) was a winner of The National Poetry Series in 1986. A new and expanded edition of Walking Light: Memoirs and Essays on Poetry, was issued by BOA Editions, Ltd. in 2001.The winner of many awards and fellowships, Dunn is Distinguished Professor of Creative Writing at Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, but spends most of his time these days in Frostburg, Maryland, where he lives with wife the writer Barbara Hurd.

 

Filed Under: 2012 Festival, Featured

Small press fair: a place to discover and share

February 14, 2012 By

As the 2012 Massachusetts Poetry Festival approaches, its volunteers kick into gear. Samantha Milowsky, a Somerville resident and founder of Amethyst Arsenic, is now in charge of organizing the Small Press fair for this year’s festival. In keeping with last year, the 2012 Small Press fair will also include literary magazines. Currently, we have 28 small presses signed up. We’re hoping for around 40 though, so if you’re a small press or literary magazine interested in participating sign up here!

Past festival goers can expect a change in venue. This year’s fair will be held in Museum Place Mall. The change in venue guarantees a more social experience in a larger space convenient for foot traffic. The Mall features a number of cafes and restaurants which poetry browsers can visit for refreshments while they peruse.

The fair is an integral part of the Poetry Festival. It provides a mutually beneficial experience for presses and poets. Presses get the chance to widen their readership by participating, while poets get to meet fellow poetry zealots and purchase exciting works of poetry from Massachusetts! The fair presents the perfect opportunity to engage in the simple act of sharing love for poetry—whether you’re a seller or buyer—we are bound by a deeper appreciation of the craft.

Interested in getting involved behind the scenes? Read more here.

Filed Under: Featured, News

Friday night headliners for MPF: Pinsky, Jackson and Dietz

February 13, 2012 By

The first evening of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival — Friday, April 20 — will feature three exciting poets: former poet laureate, Robert Pinsky; Poetry Editor for the Harvard Review, Major Jackson; and former director of the Favorite Poem Project, Maggie Dietz.

Robert Pinsky

Pinsky’s first two terms as United States Poet Laureate were marked by such visible dynamism, and such national enthusiasm in response, that the Library of Congress appointed him to an unprecedented third term. As poet laureate, Robert Pinsky founded the Favorite Poem Project, in which thousands of Americans—of varying backgrounds, all ages, and from every state—shared their favorite poems. The anthology Americans’ Favorite Poems, which includes letters from project participants, is in its 18th printing. The most recent anthology, An Invitation to Poetry, comes with a DVD featuring 27 of the FPP video segments, as seen on PBS. In April 2009, W.W. Norton published Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud. Elegant and tough, vividly imaginative, Pinsky’s poems have earned praise for their wild musical energy and ambitious range. Selected Poems, (spring 2011) is his most recent volume of poetry. His The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems 1966-1996 was a Pulitzer Prize nominee and received the Lenore Marshall Award and the Ambassador Book Award of the English Speaking Union.

Pinsky has released a new CD this month with award-winning pianist Laurence Hobgood. POEMJAZZ treats a voice speaking poetry as having a role like that of a horn: speech with its own poetic melody and rhythm, in conversation with what the music is doing. To put it simply, POEMJAZZ is a conversation between the sounds of poetry and music. Order your copy of POEMJAZZ.

 Major Jackson

Jackson makes his first appearance at the poetry festival. Jackson is the author of two collections of poetry: Hoops (Norton: 2006) and Leaving Saturn (University of Georgia: 2002), winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize and finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award. Hoops was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literature – Poetry. His third volume of poetry Holding Company was recently released from W.W. Norton. He is a recipient of a Whiting Writers’ Award and has been honored by the Pew Fellowship in the Arts and the Witter Bynner Foundation in conjunction with the Library of Congress.
Jackson has strong Massachusetts connections. He served as a creative arts fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University and as the Jack Kerouac Writer-in-Residence at University of Massachusetts-Lowell. He is the Richard Dennis Green and Gold Professor at University of Vermont and a core faculty member of the Bennington Writing Seminars. He serves as the Poetry Editor of the Harvard Review.

Maggie Dietz

Dietz returns to the festival in 2012.  Her first book of poems Perennial Fall (University of Chicago Press) won the 2007 Jane Kenyon Award for Outstanding Book of Poetry. For many years she directed the Favorite Poem Project, Robert Pinsky’s special undertaking during his tenure as U.S. Poet Laureate, and is coeditor of three anthologies related to the, most recently An Invitation to Poetry. Her awards include the Grolier Poetry Prize, the George Bennett Fellowship at Phillips Exeter Academy, as well as fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, and the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts. Her work has appeared widely in journals such as Poetry, Ploughshares, Agni, Harvard Review and Salmagundi. She teaches at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and is assistant poetry editor for the online magazine Slate. Dietz lives in New Hampshire with her husband, the poet Todd Hearon, and their four-year-old twins.

Filed Under: Featured, News

2012 Massachusetts Poetry Festival–April 20-22

February 1, 2012 By

Fourth Massachusetts Poetry Festival will be held on April 20, 21, and 22 in Salem. Each year the festival grows and new features are added. Come back to this page regularly as the festival takes shape and headliners are announced. We’ll be presenting panels, workshops, music and poetry, songwriting, dance and poetry, poetry installations, small press and literary magazine fairs, and readings. As plans are confirmed we will announce them here.

 Volunteers needed

The Festival is a huge undertaking and we need your help. We are currently looking for volunteers to help with a number of tasks.  Read about how you can help.

Calling all bad poets!

Back by popular demand. Steve Almond presents the idea that our very worst poetry can teach us something about writing better. Become part of the fun and learning by submitting your worst poem ever to badpoetry@masspoetry.org  Let’s face it even the best poets have some cringe-worthy verse hidden away in the archives.

Stories about the festival

Announcing Sunday afternoon headliners

Frank Bidart, Martha Collins, and Stephen Dunn headline for the Sunday afternoon program.

Announcing the Friday night headliners

Read about the three poets who are headlining the opening day of the festival: Robert Pinsky, Major Jackson, and Maggie Dietz.

Announcing the Saturday night headliners

Read about three poets who are confirmed as headliners for Saturday night: Nikky Finney, Wesley McNair, and Joy Harjo. Listen to Finney’s acceptance speech at the National Book Award — as John Lithgow said “The best acceptance speech I’ve ever heard given for anything – period!”

Small press fair

See what’s returning from last year, and what’s going to be new!

 

Taking shape: the fourth Massachusetts Poetry Festival

Filed Under: Featured

Volunteers needed for the Mass Poetry Festival

January 28, 2012 By

INVITATION

If you are a poet, volunteer

If you are a word weaver, a dream maker, a storyteller,

A poetry enthusiast, literacy advocator, community builder…

If you’re a friend of Calliope, come join us

For we have a festival to create.

Come join!

Come join!

            The Mass Poetry Festival is looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help plan and run the 2012 festival. As a nonprofit organization, volunteers are our backbone. Those who are interested in making the festival successful can start now!  A lot of work goes into the planning; from reaching out to local communities to soliciting ads for program books. We currently have about 20 volunteers who are helping us plan. We’re looking for 10-15 more volunteers to help with the initial preparing and organizing. The smoother the execution of the planning, the better the festival.

Mass Poetry is also looking for a plethora of volunteers for the festival itself. Last year’s festival had around 100 excellent people helping out. Beth Moore, one of many hardworking volunteers at Mass Poetry, said of the festival, “It’s an incredible opportunity to get involved in the state’s literary community in a very hands-on way, and to share your poetry with others. There’s a great sense of fulfillment that comes from putting together an event like this, and we want to share that with as many as possible!” Those who do sign up can participate in a wide array of tasks. These can include manning information booths, selling buttons, collecting money, and helping with event set-up. Some people may even oversee other volunteers within specified areas or supervise the checking in of volunteers.

No matter in what jobs,  volunteers will be actively engaged in the statewide poetry community this festival fosters. They will meet other people from all over who have a common appreciation for poetry. As Beth said, “All ages are welcome, as are all levels of experience. More than anything, we want enthusiasm.” So if you find yourself intrigued, don’t hesitate to sign up as a volunteer.

Filed Under: Featured
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