Poet and Owner of the Grolier Poetry Book Shop Ifeanyi Menkiti June 7 5PM

Ifeanyi Menkiti

Born in Onitsha, Nigeria, poet and philosopher Ifeanyi Menkiti came to the United States to attend Pomona College, where he wrote a thesis about Ezra Pound. He went on to complete a PhD at Harvard under the great political philosopher John Rawls. Since 1973, Menkiti has taught philosophy at Wellesley College, while continuing his work as a poet. In 2006, he took on yet another role, as proprietor of Harvard Square’s venerable Grolier Poetry Book Shop.

May 24, 2016 Poet Jennifer Martelli

Jennifer Martelli was born and raised in Massachusetts, and graduated from Boston University and The Warren Wilson M.F.A. Program for Writers. She’s taught high school English as well as women’s literature at Emerson College in Boston.
Her work has appeared, or will appear, in the following publications: The Denver Quarterly, Folio, Calliope, Kalliope, The Mississippi Review, The Bellingham Review, Kindred, Bitterzoet, ZigZag Folio, The Inflectionist Review, Sugared Water, Slippery Elm, Tar River Review and Bop Dead City. She was a finalist for the Sue Elkind Poetry Prize and a recipient of the Massachusetts Cultural Council Grant in Poetry. Her chapbook, “Apostrophe,” was published in 2011 by BigTable Publishing Company.
Link to a recent interview By bopdeadcity
http://bopdeadcity.wordpress.com/2014/03/05/interview-with-jennifer-martelli/

May 17 Poet Carla Schwartz

Carla Schwartz is a poet, filmmaker, photographer, and lyricist. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Aurorean, Fulcrum, Common Ground Review, Cactus Heart, First-Literary Journal East, Switched-on Gutenberg, Wordgathering, Naugatuck River Review, Stone Highway Review, Boston Poetry Magazine, Literary Juice, Solstice Magazine, Ibbetson Street Magazine, Inkstain Press, Emerge Literary Journal, Enizagam, Equinox, and 05401, among others. Her book, Mother, One More Thing is available through WordTech  and Turning Point Books (2014). Her poem, In Defense of Peaches, was a Massachusetts Poetry Foundation Poem of the Moment. Her poem, Late for Dinner, was a semi-finalist for the Naugatuck River Review Narrative Poetry Contest. Her video work incorporates poetry, documentary,  and instructional videos. Her youtube videos have had hundreds of thousands of views. She has performed and read her work in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Carla is also a professional writer with a doctoral degree from Princeton University. Learn more at her website at carlapoet.com.

Poet, Writer, Performer CD Collins April 26, 2016

 

C.D. Collins

Kentucky native CD Collins follows the storytelling traditions of the South, both as a solo artist and when accompanied by musicians.  Her short fiction collection Blue Land was published by Polyho Press, her poetry collection by Ibbetson Street Press. As one of the originators of the resurgence of spoken word with live music, her work has been archived in four compact discs: Kentucky Stories (winner Best Spoken-Word album Boston Poetry Awards) Subtracting Down, and Carousel Lounge. Her most recent disc, Clean Coal/Big Lie, is currently being released in a series of one-woman shows.  Afterheat is her first novel.

Collins has performed in a variety of venues including Berklee College of Music Performance Hall, Boston Public Library, Club Passim, Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art and the New York Public Library.   Collins’ fiction has appeared in numerous literary magazines including StoryQuarterly, Phoebe, Salamander and The Pennsylvania Review.

Collins has received grants and awards from Massachusetts College of Art, Somerville Arts Council, the St. Botolph Club, The Kentucky Foundation for Women, the Cambridge Arts Council, and Women Waging Peace.

Collins holds a B.A. and an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Kentucky where she studied with author and activist Wendell Berry.

 She was recently a guest at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for a pilot conference to advance the development of innovative technologies that support the inclusion of people with disabilities.

 Her recent projects include:

A book of essays, titled Blue Folks of Troublesome to be released in a limited edition letter press format with original artwork as well as in multimedia tablet display.  This book is a project of MHM Fine Art Studios in Lowell, MA and Dutch artist and designer Markus Haala.

A collaboration of spoken-word and music with Russian-born Santon, a blind, autistic musical savant  and recent graduate of Berklee College of Music. With a grant from the Malden Cultural Council they are currently recording a compact disc titles Night Animals.

Praise for Blue Land:

“CD Collins has the voice of a natural-born storyteller.  Original and unforgettable.” Stephen McCauley, novelist

“Altogether brilliant collection...” Ray Olson, Booklist.

Praise for CD Collins

“Laurie Anderson meets William Faulkner.”

more info at www.cdcollins.com

Tuesday April 5, 2016 5PM Editor, Publisher, Writer, Newton Writing and Publishing Center Founder-- Robin Stratton

Robin Stratton

Robin Stratton has been a writing coach in the Boston area for over 20 years. She is the author of four novels, including one which was a National Indie Excellence Book Award finalist, two collections of poetry and short fiction, and a writing guide. A four-time Pushcart Prize nominee, she’s been published in Word Riot, 63 Channels, Antithesis Common, Poor Richard’s Almanac(k), Blink-Ink, Pig in a Poke, Chick Flicks, Up the Staircase, Shoots and Vines, and many others. She is Acquisitions Editor for Big Table Publishing Company, Senior Editor of Boston Literary Magazine, and Director of the Newton Writing and Publishing Center.

March 29th 5PM Poet Sergio Inestrosa

Sergio Inestrosa received his PhD in Literature from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, Mexico in 1998. Sergio was a Jesuit student for 8 years in Central America, living in El Salvador, Panama and Nicaragua. While in El Salvador he studied with Ignacio Ellacuria, a well known Jesuit scholar who was killed in 1988 by the military. When Professor Inestrosa returned to Mexico, he studied to receive a Masters in Communication and became a professor and researcher in the Communication field. He has presented many research papers in Mexico, Latin America, USA and Asia, and has published 6 books in Mexico. In 1999 he taught Spanish at the Estrella Mountain College in Avondale, Arizona, and in 2000 he conducted Postdoctoral research at Harvard, focusing on the works of Octavio Paz. Since coming to Endicott, Professor Inestrosa has been teaching Spanish and Mexican Culture and has been busy organizing a Spanish Cine Club on campus. He has also developed the Spanish minor and designed many new courses, including Spanish for Professionals, Spanish Cinema, Spanish Translation, Spanish Composition, Latin American History and Culture, and a Latin American literature course. Professor Inestrosa loves to read, write, meet people, learn new languages, cook, and play soccer. He is married and has two children.
Sergio Inestrosa's area of expertise includes: US/Mexico relations. His recent collection of poetry is Los Bordes del Placer

March 15, 2016 Poet, Musician, artist Gilmore Tamny

 

Gilmore Tamny

Gilmore Tamny is an writer, poet, artist, and musician living in Somerville, MA. She's been working on the drawing series Lines, Dots, Circles for the last several years and utilizing both right and left hand has now amassed in in the neighborhood of 450 drawings. In the 90’s she was in the band The Yips which released three full length records. Weather Weapon, her current band, released Weather Weapon on bandcamp in March 2015. She received an MFA from Emerson College in 2002. She has a story in Madison Smartt Bell’s Narrative Design, essays in Not A Rose by Heide Hatry and The Dan Clowes Reader. Her poetry, artwork and short fiction has appeared in various literary magazines. Her novel My Days with Millicent is being serialized online at Ohioedit. She was Somerville's (MA) November 2014 Artist of the Month. She is a committed artiste, feminist, rawk fan, old master painting junkie and audio book listener.

March 1, 2016 5PM Poet, publisher of Salamander Magazine: Jennifer Barber

Jennifer Barber

Jennifer Barber grew up in the Boston area, where she loved gymnastics and modern dance, and graduated as an English major from Colby College in Maine. She studied Old and Middle English at Oxford University and Québécois poetry in Montreal on a Watson Fellowship. She received her M.F.A. in poetry from Columbia University. Having worked in textbook publishing for several years in New York and Boston, she now teaches literature and creative writing at Suffolk University as a scholar in residence. Her books are Works on Paper (The Word Works, 2016, winner of the 2015 Tenth Gate Prize); Given Away (Kore Press, 2012); and Rigging the Wind (Kore Press, 2003, winner of the 2002 Kore First Book Prize). Her poetry has appeared in Agni, the Georgia Review, the Gettysburg Review, Ibbetson Street, Orion, the New Yorker, Poetry, Poetry Daily, Post Road, and elsewhere. Her husband is the fiction writer and translator Peter Brown and she has two children, Jeff, age 27; and Zoe, age 17.

Feb 22, 2016 5PM Michael C. Keith author of "Bits, Specks, Crumbs, Flecks"

Michael C. Keith

 Michael C. Keith is the author of over 20 books (mostly on media topics) and many articles and short stories. In 2003 his memoir, The Next Better Place, was published by Algonquin Books and received high praise from critics. Keith teaches Communication at Boston College and is the recipient of numerous awards for his scholarship in radio studies. We will be talking about Keith's latest collection of short, short fiction " Bits, Specks, Crumbs and Flecks."

Feb 16, 2016 4PM Poet Bridgit Brown

 



Bridgit Brown is a native of Boston and a graduate of the MFA program in Creative Writing at Emerson College. Bridgit has freelanced as a writer and her work has appeared in a number of publications, including the Boston Globe, Herald, Bay State Banner, Color Magazine, WGBH Arts, Huffington Post, and Ibbetson Street Magazine. She is a recipient of the Nadia Aisenberg Poetry Award from the Writers Room of Boston and a Fulbright Lecturing and Research Award. This spring, Bridgit will release her first book of poems, Singsongs, via Ibbetson Street Press. Singsongs, according to Bridgit, captures her life experiences in poetry and song.

Jan 19, 2016 Archivist/ Poet Paige Roberts 5PM

Paige Roberts  Poet and Archivist at Phillips Academy

Jan 12, 2012 Sydney Adams

Behind the scenes, high on the fifth floor of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Library (OWHL), is a vast collection peppered with relics from Andover’s past. As students pass unwittingly in the lower levels of the stacks, Garver Room and the OWHL lobby, leadership of this invaluable collection, the Phillips Academy Archives, has changed hands.

On January 3, 2012 Dr. Paige Roberts succeeded Timothy Sprattler as the School Archivist.
Andover’s archives hold several pieces of the school’s history, with articles ranging from early land deeds and financial records to old fire buckets from the former campus fire station.

As the School Archivist, Roberts will be in charge of sorting, organizing and digitizing these mementos from Andover’s history.

Elizabeth Tully, Director of the OWHL, said, “Paige is poised to lead the Archive as we plan for an increasingly integrated digital future.”


Beyond her proficiency in organizing and preserving records, Roberts was selected because of her potential to “engage with the curriculum and prepare materials and activities to support original archival research by students.”

Roberts has also been named the Associate Director of the OWHL, a position which extends her duties to other portions of the library.

Roberts brings classroom experience to the position, having served as an instructor of American Studies at the University of Southern Maine (USM). At USM, Roberts helped provide references to scholars and design archiving spaces for institutions.

Throughout her professional years, Roberts has developed new archival techniques to increase the accessibility and vitality of the archived collections. While she was the director of the Beverly Historical Society, she developed “model archival collaborations” which allowed for the exchange of materials between schools and public libraries.

Roberts also served as the head of special collections at the State Library of Massachusetts in Boston, an archivist at Springfield College, Director of the Beverly Historical Society and will soon be the President of the New England Archivists.

To reduce the time it would take for Roberts to adjust to Andover and the OWHL, Sprattler spent his final months as School Archivist orchestrating an enormous renovation of the school’s archives. Just a week into her position, Roberts has been able to successfully navigate through the historical resources.

Roberts received a B.A. from Bates College in Political Science, a MLS from Simmons College concentrating in archives management, and a Ph.D. in American Studies from George Washington University with an emphasis in New England culture

Alexis Ivy Jan 12, 2016

 

Poet Alexis Ivy

Alexis Ivy is an educator of high-risk populations in her hometown, Boston.  Her most recent poems have appeared in Main Street Rag, Off The Coast, Spare Change News, Tar River Poetry, The Santa Fe Literary Review, Eclipse, Yellow Medicine Review, Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, J Journal and upcoming in The Worcester Review.  Her first poetry collection, Romance with Small-Time Crooks was published in 2013 by BlazeVOX [books].  She is  finding a home for her next collection, Taking the Homeless Census which has been a runner-up for University of Wisconsin's Brittingham & Felix Pollack Prize.  

Dec 8, 2015 5PM Richard Fox

Richard Fox

Richard H. Fox was born and bred in Worcester MA. He attended Webster University, as much artist colony as college, in the early 1970’s. These diverse cultures shaped his world view and love of words. He is a former President of Poetry Oasis, Inc., a non-profit poetry association dedicated to education and promoting local poets, and was Managing Editor of its journal Diner. Richard’s poems have appeared in numerous journals including Above Place, Boston Literary Magazine, OVS, Poetry Quarterly, Midstream Magazine, and Worcester Review. He is the author of two poetry collections: Time Bomb (2013) and wandering in puzzle boxes (2015). A cancer survivor, many of Richard’s poems focus on cancer from the patient’s point of view drawing on hope, humor, and unforeseen gifts. He seconds Stanley Kunitz’ motion that people in Worcester are “provoked to poetry.”

 

Dec 1, 2015 5PM Poet, Writer, Editor Laurette Folk

Laurette Folk received a semifinalist nomination and “Noted Writer” award from the Boston Fiction Festival and has been published in upstreet, The Boston Globe Magazine, Literary Mama, Narrative Northeast, Italian Americana, Talking Writing, among others. Ms. Folk is a graduate of the Vermont College MFA in Writing program and teaches at North Shore Community College.

Poet Laurin Macios Nov 3 5PM

Laurin Macios

Laurin Macios directs Mass Poetry’s programs, including Student Day of Poetry, Poetry on the T, Common Threads, U35, and Professional Development, and manages the crew of dedicated volunteers and interns who help make Mass Poetry run smoothly. She holds an MFA from the University of New Hampshire, where she taught on fellowship for three years, and has a background in publishing. Her publications and other personal poetic happenings can be found at www.laurinbeckermacios.com.

Laurin Becker Macios was born in Miami, Florida and raised just short of everywhere (Florida, Germany, North Carolina, Colorado, and Holland). She holds an MFA in Creative Writing Poetry from the University of New Hampshire and is Program Director of Mass Poetry. She previously worked in publishing and taught writing courses at UNH. She lives in Boston with six plants and one wicked awesome husband.

Thomas Lyons--Owner of the New England Mobile Book Fair Tues Oct 13, 2015

Thomas Lyons ( Owner of the New England Mobile Book Fair)

Thomas Lyons, the former insurance executive bought New England Mobile Book Fair (NEMBF), the largest independent bookstore in New England. From the parking lot, the squat cinderblock building nestled in a commercial strip in Newton Highlands, looks unremarkable. But step inside to a bibliophile’s dream. Its 32,000 square feet (more warehouse than shop around the corner) is piled floor to ceiling with books. Classics. Best sellers. Remainders and picture books. NEMBF, which is neither mobile nor a fair, is so named because the first lot of books was bought from a woman who sold books out of her car at school book fairs. With the books came the name, and it stayed. More than half a century later, the store still offers discounts to schools and libraries, and the less than accurate name has long been just one of the store’s endearing peculiarities. Until recently, all of the books (yes, one million plus) were arranged by publisher rather than by genre, as is done in the vast majority of bookstores.