May 9 5PM Poet Wendy Drexler

 

Poet Wendy Drexler

 see it live at 5PM  at  http://scatvsomerville.org




Wendy Drexler’s third poetry collection, Before There Was Before, was just published by Iris Press in April 2017. She is the author of Western Motel (Turning Point, 2012), and a chapbook, Drive-ins, Gas Stations, the Bright Motels (Pudding House, 2007), which was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Her poems have appeared in Barrow Street, Ibbetson Street, Nimrod, Off the Coast, Prairie Schooner, Salamander, The Mid-American Review, The Hudson Review, The Worcester Review, Valparaiso Poetry Review, and other journals; featured on Verse Daily and WBUR’s Cognoscenti; and in the anthologies Blood to Remember: American Poets on the Holocaust and Burning Bright: Passager Celebrates 21 Years. A three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, she grew up Denver, Colorado, and now lives in Belmont, Massachusetts, with her husband. She is a free-lance editor and has been a poetry editor and a cavity-nest monitor for the Massachusetts Audubon Society. In 2016 she co-authored her first children’s book, Buzz, Ruby, and Their City Chicks.

April 18 5PM Poet Fred Marchant / Poet to Poet Writer to Writer

• 
  
• All Books

A Self-Interview

 

See it live at 5PM  go to http://scatvsomerville.org 

 

 Poet Fred Marchant on Poet Fred Marchant as told to Lauren Macios ( Mass, Poetry)

 I am the author of five books of poetry, the most recent of which, Said Not Said, is forthcoming from Graywolf Press in May 2017. Graywolf also published my collections Full Moon Boat (2000) and The Looking House (2009). My first book, Tipping Point, won the 1993 Washington Prize from the Word Works. In 2002 Dedalus Press of Dublin Ireland brought out House on Water, House in Air, a new and selected poems.
I edited and provided an introduction to Another World Instead: The Early Poems of William Stafford, 1937-1947, published by Graywolf in 2008. In addition, I have co-translated (with Nguyen Ba Chung) two books of Vietnamese poetry, From a Corner of My Yard by Tran Dang Khoa, and Con Dao Prison Songs, by Vo Que. I have published poems, reviews, and essays in literary journals in this country, in Ireland and the U.K., and in Vietnam.
For over thirty years I taught at Suffolk University in Boston, and am now an Emeritus Professor of English and the founding co-director of the Suffolk University Poetry Center. I continue to teach writing workshops in a number of other venues, including the Colrain Poetry Manuscript Conference, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, the Hudson Valley Writers’ Center in Sleepy Hollow, NY, and the SF Bay Area Veteran Writing Group.
I have been awarded residencies at Ucross, Yaddo, the McDowell Colony, and the Heinrich Boll Cottage. Over the years I have served on the Executive Board of PEN New England and the Advisory Board of the Poets’ Theatre in Cambridge MA. In 2009, the New England Poetry Club conferred upon me the May Sarton Award, an award given to a poet whose work has been an inspiration to other poets.

April 4, 2017 5PM Mass Poetry Festival's Sara Siegel and Sharon Amuguni discuss their work and this year's festival!

See it live at 5PM on April 4, 2017  at 5PM  http://scatvsomerville.org

Sara Siegel

Sara Siegel, Program Director

Sara Siegel is a lifelong writer and crafter based in Somerville. After graduating Washington University in St. Louis and working at women's health organizations in NYC, she moved to Burlington, Vermont to earn a Masters in Public Administration at UVM. While there she worked at Vermont Children's Trust Foundation, a grant-making organization working with prevention programs throughout the state. Sara moved to Boston in 2012, and spent nearly three years as the Development and Alumni Relations Associate with School Year Abroad, a high school study abroad and homestay with campuses in China, France, Spain and Italy. Sara's short stories have been published in Wild Violet, Vantage Point, Toasted Cheese Literary Journal and Cleaver Magazine. Her sketch comedy group, Mister Bismuth, regularly performs at ImprovBoston in Cambridge. 


 

SharonAmuguni

 SharonAmuguni
Program Assistant
Summer 2015 -

Sharon is a poet residing in Somerville and is currently attempt to navigate the post-grad life with as much humor and hot tea as possible. She's been published twice in UMass Amherst's Literary journal, Jabberwocky, and once in UMass Amherst's Butterfield Literary Journal. Sharon hopes to one day publish her own poetry book centered on the intersection of resistance, creative production and mental health for marginalized groups, specifically WOC and immigrants.

Poet Richard Waring: March 28 2017

 

Poet Richard Waring

 see it live at 5PM  March 28 at:  Poet to Poet

About the Author

Richard Waring’s poems have appeared in the Comstock Review,

Chest, Sanctuary, Contact II, Dark Horse, the American Journal of Nursing,

Mothering, Inward Springs, the Journal of the American Medical Association,

and other publications. He has been anthologized in The Pocket Poetry

Parenting Guide, Rough Places Plain: Poems of the Mountains,

and Unitarian Universalist Poets: A Contemporary American Survey,

and has appeared on Phone-A-Poem and the cable TV show BookBeat.

Richard has a B.A. in English Literature from Drew University

and attended the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics

at Naropa Institute, where he studied the poetry of William Carlos

Williams with Allen Ginsberg. From 1982 to 1988, he edited

Zonë, A Feminist Journal for Women and Men. In 1992, he was the

writing workshop leader at the Star Island Conference on the Arts.

His chapbook, Listening to Stones, was published in 1999 by Pudding House

Publications. He hosts the Workshop for Publishing Poets reading series

at Newtonville Books in Newton, Massachusetts. A long-time resident

of Belmont, Massachusetts, where he raised a son and daughter,

Richard now lives in neighboring Arlington with his wife and her

children. He is a senior layout artist for the

New England Journal of Medicine.

Poet David Blair March 21, 2017

David Blair

David Blair grew up in Pittsburgh. He is the author of three books of poetry, Ascension Days, which was chosen by Thomas Lux for the Del Sol Poetry Prize, Arsonville, and Friends with Dogs. His poems have appeared in Boston Review, Ploughshares, Slate Magazine, and many other places as well, including the anthologies, The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, Devouring the Green, and Zoland Poetry.
He has taught at the New England Institute of Art and in the M.FA. Writing Program at the University of New Hampshire. He lives in Somerville, Massachusetts, with his wife and daughter, and he has a degree in philosophy from Fordham University and an M.F.A. in creative writing from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. 

Feb. 21, 2017 Michael Anthony author of Civilanized



Michael Anthony

Michael Anthony is a veteran, essayist, and memoirist. He is the author of Mass Casualties: A Young Medic's True Story of Death, Deception, and Dishonor in Iraq, and his newest memoir Civilianized: A Young Veteran's Memoir. He holds an MFA in creative writing from Lesley University and has written for the Washington Post blog, Business Insider blog, among others, and spent a year as the War & Veterans editor for the Good Men Project blog.  Michael lives with his wife and daughter in Massachusetts. He spends his free time with his family and volunteering for veteran charities. He can be reached at his website: MassCasualties.com   see it live at http://scatvsomerville.org

Feb 14, 2017 Guest Poet U-Meleni Mhalaba Adebo

U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo, M.Ed. B.A. is a multi-talented academic and creative sensation who is a multi-award winning international best-selling author and Top 10 charted soul singer.

The married mother of a 5-year-old son is a native of Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, and is based in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. She has delivered several hundred high impact workshops taught through the mediums of poetry, the spoken word, music,film and theatre.

U-Meleni is an Adjunct Professor at Endicott College in Boston. Her two degrees are from Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts and The University of Massachusetts Boston. Her latest book, “Soul Psalms,” from She Writes Press publishers became an instant international best seller prior to its official launch.

 U-Meleni has been honoured with a host of awards over the years from organizations including; Roxbury Community College Teaching and Learning Center,Massachusetts, The Binnacle, the literary and art magazine at The University of Maine at Machias, Boston Public Health Commission Adolescent Wellness Program, The National Society of Black Engineers, N.S.B.E., American Idol Underground and Live. Love.Fashion.

The acclaimed artist and ardent supporter of empowering teaching, artistic and sporting methods for over 16 years, has performed on some of the most prestigious stages in the  world from Harvard University and Boston Opera House to The Museum of Fine Arts Boston and The Institute of Contemporary Art Boston plus dozens more renowned venues including the Africa University, Zimbabwe.

On the sporting front, U-Meleni is a member of the National Black Marathoners’Association, N.B.M.A. and is a respected 5K running mentor to young people in the Boston area. She and her husband raised $10,000 for cancer survivors and ran the Boston Marathon in 2012.

Acting wise, U-Meleni has starred in a variety of films. She had a lead role in a T.V. series entitled, “Ya Ma’Afrika,” filmed in the United States and broadcast worldwide on TéléSud.Living a fascinating life as a wife, mother, educator, artist and athlete, U-Meleni is active with dozens of teaching, art and sports organizations in Boston.

U-Meleni’s name means,“What are you waiting for,” in the African Ndebele-Zulu language. Her dream is to share her message on stages around the world and to one day soon start a non profit initative that provides financial support to individuals, families that are dealing with mental health in Zimbabwe.

view it live  Feb 14, 2017 at 5PM  go to http://scatvsomerville.org  

Jan. 17, 2017 Novelist Josh Cook--author of-- An Exaggerated Murder

 

Josh Cook

JOSH COOK is a bookseller at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His fiction, criticism, and poetry have appeared in numerous leading literary publications, including The Rumpus, The Millions, and Bookslut, and he is the blogger for Porter Square Books’ blog. This is his first novel.

Jan 3, 2017 Poets Diane P. Smith and Khem K. Aryal

Khem K Aryal

Diane P. Smith

 Diane P. Smith is the founder of the Grey Sparrow Press. Khem K. Aryal collaborated with Smith on the American-Nepal issue of Snow Jewel ( Grey Sparrow Press) in 2015.  Both poets will most probably be working together on the forthcoming issue, 2016, as well. Diane Smith is a noted editor and publisher. She is currently doing graduate work at Harvard University. Aryal teaches writing at Syracuse University.



 To see the show live go to  http://scatvsomerville.org

Dec 13 5PM Poet Teisha Twomey

Poet Teisha Twomey

Teisha Dawn Twomey is the poetry editor at Night Train, as well as an associate fiction editor for Wilderness House Literary Press. She received her MFA in Poetry at Lesley University. Her poetry and short stories have appeared in numerous print and online poetry reviews and journals. By day, she is the Resource Specialist at Springfield College's Boston campus and by night, she is (currently) at work on her first novel. We will talking about her new collection of poetry " How to Treat Pretty Things."  To see it live go to http://scatvsomerville.org 

Dec 6, 2016 5PM Poet, Milton Scholar, Playwright, and Novelist Francis Blessington

Poet Francis  Blessington

Francis Blessington’s first novel is The Last Witch of Dogtown. He has translated The Bacchae of Euripides and The Frogs of Aristophanes. He has published two books of poems, Lantskip and Wolf Howl. He is a Milton specialist, the author of Paradise Lost and the Classical Epic and Paradise Lost: Ideal and Tragic Epic (A Student’s Companion to the Poem). His essays, poems, and short stories have appeared in the Harvard Magazine, The Sewanee Review, The Southern Review, and many other journals. He has also published a play, Lorenzo de’ Medici. A professor of English at Northeastern University in Boston. He lives with his wife, Ann Taylor, also a writer and English professor, and their two children. In the summer, he works part-time on a farm in Spain.

Nov 8, 2016 Nanette Perrotte

Nanette Perrotte

Born to an Ecuadorian mother and French father, Perrotte was raised in Amsterdam Holland and Orlando Florida before attending Boston’s Berklee College of Music where she received her BA in Jazz Composition and Arranging with a principal instrument of Voice. This course of study was the fulfillment of a childhood spent singing and performing that continues on as a professional vocalist.

Perrotte’s Masters Degree in Education from Lesley University in Cambridge Massachusetts focused her work on Arts as a tool to learn about and experience cultural diversity. With her college teaching career, private voice students, college choir and acting/improv troupe, Perrotte has now evolved a new lecture/presentation form. This is a new series that combines social history, musicology and storytelling. Ella Fitzgerald- Queen of Swing and Duke Ellington and the Harlem Renaissance.

Recently Perrotte has been traveling with her internationally recognized father who is a chef and Continental Director of the Americas WACS. These travels to South America, South Korea and France have been part of witnessing Louis Perrotte’s work using fine cuisine as cultural diplomacy- although here it is an American chef encouraging chefs in other cultures to pursue their own cuisine first.

Nanette Perrotte’s travels have led to a series of blogs reflecting on cultural differences around music, cuisine and food preparation. Her blog posts (May, October 2012) on South Korea have quickly attracted a following of interested South Korean readers. In these travels Perrotte finds that people want to know the real America. With her musical background, Perrotte is able to convey that to them through the great American Songbook, the richness of our original music tradition that is loved and shared around the world.

Starting in 2010, Perrotte focused her musical theatre work by re-creating the story lines and music of traditional children’s literature to reflect current times and current generations of creative students. Some of her adaptations include: Alice in Wonderland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

Perrotte has a 500 hour advanced Yoga certification, an AFAA Group Fitness Certification, TRX training certification and CPR certification.

Poet Joyce Peseroff Nov 1, 2016

see the show live at  http://scatvsomerville.org

Joyce Peseroff

Poet and editor Joyce Peseroff grew up in the Bronx. She earned a BA at Queens College and an MFA at the University of California at Irvine, where she studied with Donald Justice. She began a lifelong friendship with poet Jane Kenyon in 1973, when Peseroff entered the University of Michigan’s Society of Fellows. In 1977, after both poets had returned to the Northeast, Peseroff and Kenyon cofounded the literary magazine Greenhouse.

Peseroff’s poems offer a sense of faceted perception, in which narrative supports rather than propels. In a 2014 interview with Katie Cantwell for the online literary magazine Niche, Peseroff discussed the thematic concerns of her forthcoming collection Know Thyself, stating, “I’m absorbed by the natural world and how we imagine it—more and more as the subject of elegy. The book was written after the deaths of my parents, so elegy is a sustained note in the chord.” Later in the same interview, she observed, “Whenever something new develops in poetry, many will argue, ‘That’s not poetry.’ Think of the reception of William Carlos Williams by the Poetry Society of America. Think of spoken word poets, poets who incorporate graphics, poets who write in code so robots can read them. It’s all poetry.”

Peseroff is the author of several collections of poetry, including The Hardness Scale (1977, reissued in 2000), Mortal Education (2000), Eastern Mountain Time (2006), and Know Thyself (forthcoming). She has served as an editor for Ploughshares and edited The Ploughshares Poetry Reader (1987), Robert Bly: When Sleepers Awake (1984), and Simply Lasting: Writers on Jane Kenyon (2005).

Her honors include grants from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation as well as a Pushcart Prize. Peseroff lives in Lexington, Massachusetts, and teaches at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

• 
  

Joelle Renstrom Oct 18, 2016

Joelle Renstrom

Joelle Renstrom is a writer living in Somerville, MA. Her collection of essays, Closing the Book: Travels in Life, Loss, and Literature, was published by Pelekinesis in August, 2015. Joelle's blog Could This Happen? explores the relationship between science and science fiction, and won a 2012 Somerville Arts Council fellowship and a 2013 Writers' Room of Boston Nonfiction fellowship. She's the robot columnist for The Daily Beast and is a contributing writer for the new literary travel magazine Panorama. Her work has appeared in Slate, Guernica, the Guardian, The Toast, Slippage, Cognoscenti, and others. Joelle teaches writing and research with a focus on robots/AI, technology, space exploration, and science fiction at Boston University. Follow her on Twitter.

Oct 4, 2016 5PM Poet, Playwright, Novelist Lawrence Kessenich

Lawrence Kessenich

Lawrence Kessenich won the 2010 Strokestown International Poetry Prize. His poetry has been published in Sewanee Review, Atlanta Review, Poetry Ireland Review and many other magazines. He has a chapbook called Strange News and two full-length books, Before Whose Glory and Age of Wonders. He has had three poems nominated for Pushcart Prizes. Kessenich has also published essays, had short plays produced at festivals in Boston, New York and Durango, Colorado, and his first novel, Cinnamon Girl,  was released inSeptember 2016.


To see the show live go to  http://scatvsomerville.org  

Poet Martha Collins: Sept 20, 2016 5PM

Poet Martha Collins

   ***** To see the show live go to:  http://scatvsomerville.org



Martha Collins is the author, most recently, of Admit One: An American Scrapbook (Pittsburgh, 2016), Day Unto Day (Milkweed, 2014), White Papers (Pitt Poetry Series, 2012), and Blue Front (Graywolf, 2006), a book-length poem based on a lynching her father witnessed when he was five years old. Collins has also published four earlier collections of poems, three books of co-translations from the Vietnamese, and two chapbooks (see Books and Poems).

Sept 6, 2016 Poet Kevin Gallagher

Kevin Gallagher is a political economist, poet, and publisher living in Greater Boston with his wife Kelly, their children Theo and Estelle, and Rexroth the family German Shepherd.  Gallagher's new poetry book, LOOM,  is published by MadHat Press.  Gallagher edits spoKe, a Boston-based annual of poetry and poetics, and works as a Professor of Global Development Policy at Boston University’s Pardee School for Global Studies. 

Poet Kevin Gallagher


see the show live at 5PM  at  http://scatvsomerville.org