I dream of a house I’ll never haveCarmen Barefield maybe a little bungalow with a big backyardand a fig tree’s shadow painting the grassits heavy limbs bowing from all its fruitand on move in day, I’ll leave the unpackingto curl up beneath it just because I can the...
Permabeauty in the Boston Athenæum by Andie Sheridan In ash and thornin heightful stacks and stairsa librarianstuck through with a pencil--in her hair a pencilstuck through her hair--clutch-touches through the genealogy of not touching orbegrudging;Exposed red...
“People say (poets say) they write poems because they have to. It’s not a choice. Poetry is how they are able to move through the world. Poetry helps me get out from under the farce of the world. It helps me get out from under the weight of my existence, and my complicity in the cycle.” — AR Dugan
“My hope is that this project inspires other writers and artists, especially BIPOC folks, queer people, disabled people, and others who have been marginalized in the literary and art communities, to develop new ways of releasing work into the world. There is a myriad of ways we can dream up to engage with capitalism differently and to create and deepen community. That’s what I’m most excited about.”
“If landscape once was / sacramental, then / let me dig in mud / and dust, smear its mark / across my brow, wash / my feet in moving / waters when I step / into its river, / and let me never / find the other side.”
Terms of SyllogismTracy FuadI was sure that being in between meant being nowhere.Certain there were scissors that could cut me off the grid.I hoped there was a key, but was sure the void was serious,virulent and spreading. I was sure alone, most of the time.And...
poetry coalition 2020in this place : Poetry & Protest “In This Place (An American Lyric)” features a stirring choral recitation of a protest-themed poem of the same name by National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman. This short film, released in conjunction with...
announcing the 2019 mastheads writers’ residency Applications for the July 2019 Mastheads writers’ residency are now open! Five writers across disciplines are awarded residencies that include a $900 stipend, travel reimbursement, housing, and exclusive use of one of...
April is National Poetry Month! Here Are a few Ways to Celebrate. Read a poem every day! You can find daily poems via Poetry Daily, the Poem-a-Day on poets.org, and by listening to U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith’s podcast, The Slowdown.Mass Poetry is part of...
Ten Tips For starting a Poetry Discussion Group in your Libraryby Alice Kociemba Recently, Mass Poetry’s website shared exciting news from the National Endowment for the Arts: Nearly 29 million adults in the United States read poetry not required for work or school....
public art recognizes poetsby Ken Bresler Cummings typically used lower-case letters in his poems and sometimes spelled his name all in the lower case – but not always. His lower-case initials in The Massachusetts Artifact reflect the spelling “e.e. cummings” that...
MFA/Mass Poetry - Poets in the galleriesIn fall of 2018 - from September through November - three poets were Poets in Residence at the galleries in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The workshops took place on Wednesday evenings 6:30 - 8:30 pm (Wednesday nights after 4...
Boston Poetry Marathon Set for August 10-12 in CambridgeA much-loved writing community tradition is returning to the Hub again in 2018. The Boston Poetry Marathon will be held August 10th - 12th, at Outpost 186 in Cambridge’s Inman Square. Over three days, nearly 100...
On Coming Home: A Note from Executive Director Daniel JohnsonDaniel Johnson | July 2018 Joining Mass Poetry recently as its newest executive director feels like a homecoming to me. I mean this in the deepest sense. Poetry, for many winters and springs, has given me...
Great News: Poetry Readership Is Up!The National Endowment for the Arts released information confirming that poetry reading is on the rise. It confirms what we have seen at readings, festivals, in-school participation, and on social media. According to the NEA’s...
Mary Oliver Poem Excerpt in a Muralby Ken BreslerA portrait of poet Mary Oliver appears in a small mural in Boston with an excerpt from her poem “Invitation.” The excerpt, as Oliver published it, is: it is a serious...
Poet in residence Athena Edmonds on her semester at Everett High School It was my privilege to teach as poet in residence at Everett High School for the Spring 2018 semester. My personal goal for this pilot program was to create a safe space for students to write...