thePULSEIrena Kaci
Poetry month is upon us and Worcester County is up to the task. We connected with resident literary agencies Worcester County Poetry Association, Poet’s Cauldron and the Worcester Writers’ Collective to bring by the greatest lineup since lineups.
The Worcester County Poetry Association, along with WPI is bringing in a juggernaut writer/poet to Worcester on April 17th 4-6pm, the inimitable Martin Espada. Espada will be reading at the Higgins House on WPI campus and staying for a book signing. Elizabeth Bacon, WCPA President spoke highly of the initiative. “We are partnering with the WPI Olive Higgins Fund, The Clemente School for Humanities, and The Stockmal Endowment of the WCPA to make sure that we bring a poetic powerhouse into the city for an annual event that will engage our poets and writers, and also establish Worcester as truly a literary destination that it deserves to be.” Indeed, for a city its size, Worcester has a lot of local writers to uplift and support.
WCPA is joining forces with Shrewsbury Public Library to bring you a poetry workshop series, every Saturday from 2:30-4:30. The poetry themes will be Form Poetry, Lyrics & Lyricism, Art & Poetry and lastly The Chapbook. Attend for free, learn more about kinds of poetry, and create some new materials for your portfolio. Or simply come to enjoy the discussion and interact with other writers. See the Shrewsbury Public Library Website for more information.
The WCPA hosts monthly Board Meetings, and this month is extra special. “Not only will we have our standards Wednesday night Board Meeting (April 9th 7-8pm) but we will also be hosting our preemptive ‘Member Mingle’ where ALL Members are invited to come, share some food, music and literary discussion. The Member Mingle begins at 5:30pm and wraps up in time for the Board Meeting at 7. Of course, anyone interested in learning more about Board Business is more than welcome to stay,” Sam Capradae, Board Member explains.
Lastly for Poetry Month the WCPA is launching a new publication known as TripleDecker. Triple Decker, named via a poet’s poll, will feature poets from Worcester County, as well as poetry by the Youth Poet Laureates, as well as Poet Laureates of Worcester. Submissions will open on April 1st and we are excited to hear what Worcester County is saying.
The Poet’s Cauldron will have its usual feature on Sunday April 20th, at the white room (138 Green St.) and as always will feature Melo Green as the musical accompaniment.
The Writers’ Collective is up to its usual hijinks. In addition to the standard meeting at the Jean McDonough Arts Center (20 Franklin St.) the Writers Collective will be working hard on its collaboration with Blackstone Valley Community Arts Center. In partnership with the Blackstone Valley Community Arts Center, the WWC will be installing written works from local writers all over the Blackstone Bike Trail for people to enjoy on walks or to follow up with via QR codes. “It’s just a wonderful way to bring together nature, civic engagement, and literary prowess of our city.” said Emma Couillard, WWC facilitator. Jeff Raymond, another WWC Facilitator and the Liaison to the Blackstone Valley Community Center is also looking forward to the collaboration. “This is something we’ve been wanting to do for a long time, and it’ll be so great to finally have a project like this under our belts. And I can’t think of a better organization with which to be collaborating like this.”
This is merely the tip of the iceberg of the month’s developing lineup. For more information please head over to the WCPA website (www.worcestercountypoetry.org)
