As we prepare to launch our 2024 - '25 programming, we're seeking volunteers to support our events and programs at GrubStreet's Center for Creative Writing to the Massachusetts Poetry Festival. We're looking for people with a passion for poetry to step in and fill...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? I’ve been an avid (and advanced) reader since I was in 1st grade, but I think I truly discovered poetry through music. All the way into college I wanted to be a musician, but...
Mass Poetry is seeking an individual with experience in outreach, event promotion, website maintenance & strong communication skills to serve in the role of Marketing & Communications Intern. As a Marketing & Communications Intern, you will provide...
Mass Poetry is seeking an individual with an interest in fundraising & strong communication skills to serve in the role of Development Intern. This position supports the Executive Director with Mass Poetry’s fundraising efforts. The hybrid position involves...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? I heard Anne Sexton read when I was fourteen (my aunt and uncle were friends of hers), and I was stunned by the power of her presence and her words. I also had a wonderful high...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? As a child I first encountered poetry when I was given a Shel Silverstein book. Later in grade school I can remember an assignment of taking text from Macbeth and creating a...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? I know I must have encountered poetry earlier than high school but the moment that sticks with me the most was in a high school AP English Language & Composition class. Our...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems?I found poetry everywhere in the remote mountains of southern West Virginia where I spent the firstpart of my childhood. I remember teaching myself how to write a 4 in the dirt...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? It is no exaggeration when I say that poetry has been a lifeline for me. I started writing poetry when I was in high school. As a teenager, I struggled with severe untreated...
On May 3rd, 2024, Mass Poetry's Executive Director Daniel Johnson and SW@MP (Spoken Word at Mass Poetry) and Teen Council Member Maria Zaki appeared on WBUR to discuss Mass Poetry's inaugural Teen Spoken Word Festival, Maria's experiences as a member of Mass Poetry...
On May 3rd, 2024, Mass Poetry's Executive Director Daniel Johnson appeared on CBS News to promote our inaugural Teen Spoken Word Festival. Watch the complete interview here!
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? Like any good Doc Martens wearing teenage proto-goth of the early ‘90s, I loved Sylvia Plath, along with Yeats. It’s hard to believe now, but that was as close to contemporary...
Authievre answered our questions in English and Spanish. Enjoy her responses. Authievre contestó nuestras preguntas en inglés y español. ¡Disfruta sus respuestas! When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? Before I knew I...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems?I was drawn to repetition in sounds and language from an early age – my earliest memories are of the Madeline books (“She even said ‘poo-poo’ to the lion in the zoo”) and the...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? Like most kids, I was exposed to and asked to write poetry in elementary school. In middle school and high school we were forced to analyze the genre. For most of that time, I...
On January 27th, 2024, Parker-Vincent Alva was named Boston's next youth poet laureate. Parker-Vincent Alva is a SW@MP (Spoken Word at Mass Poetry) member and a 2023 GrubStreet Teen Fellow, as well as a student and writer from Boston, MA. He writes poetry and prose...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? My mother learned many poems by heart and still, at age 92, can recite poetry she learned when she was a child. I am only now realizing how much poetry was a part of my childhood...
Writing While Parenting is a collection of essays that explores the connections between poetry and parenting. How did you discover that you wanted to write about the overlap of these two subjects? Many of these essays come from a monthly column that I started writing...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? Both my parents read aloud to me and my siblings when we were small, and so my first experiences with poetry included children’s verses with strong rhymes and narrative...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? My mother read poems to me, When We Were Very Young, “James James/ Morrison Morrison/ Weatherby George Dupree/ Took great/ Care of his mother/ Though he was only three” and...
When did you first encounter poetry? How did you discover that you wanted to write poems? I’ve always loved words, and while I worked professionally as an editor for many years, I didn’t discover until decades later that I might have something of my own to say and a...