Massachusetts Statewide Poetry Calendar 2

The Framingham State University English Department kicks off its annual Alan Feldman Week of Poetry with a reading by award-winning poet, Daniel Tobin. Tobin is the author of eight books of poems, most recently From Nothing (Four Way Books, 2016), and Blood Labors (Four Way Books, 2018), as well as The Stone in the Air, his suite of versions from the German of Paul Celan (Salmon Poetry, 2018). The New York Times named Blood Labors one of the Best Poetry Books of the year for 2018. Among his awards are the Massachusetts Book Award in Poetry, the Julia Ward Howe Prize, the Stephen J. Meringoff Award in Poetry, and creative writing fellowships in poetry from the National Endowment for the Arts and the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation. Tobin will be reading poems from his latest books, along with new work.

Reservations are recommended, but not required, for this free event. Attendees may park for free in the University's Maynard Road and Salem End Road parking lots.

In celebration of National Poetry Month, Jason Tandon will read poems from his two most recent books This Far North and The Actual World. Jason Tandon is the author of five books of poetry, including This Far North (Black Lawrence Press, 2023) and The Actual World (Black Lawrence Press, 2019). His poems have appeared in Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, The Southern Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Alaska Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. He teaches at Boston University, where he is a master lecturer in the Arts & Sciences Writing Program.

April is National Poetry Month and Wellesley Books will be hosting events throughout the month! For our final event, we welcome poets Jason Tandon (This Far North) and January Gill O'Neil (Glitter Road).This is a free event but we request that you RSVP. You can do so with the link below (no fees) or by calling us at 781-431-1160 during store hours (also no fees).

You can add a purchase of the author's book onto your RSVP. Copies will also be available for purchase at the event. Please note that you must purchase your copy of the book from Wellesley Books in order to have the author sign it at the event.

Join the New England Poetry Club outdoors in the open air tent at the Old Manse for free poetry readings on select Sunday afternoons.
Extend your visit by signing up for a tour of the historic house prior to or following the reading. Learn more about tour offerings and pre-register for house tours here. Plan to come early or stay late for a stroll around the orchard and along the banks of the Concord River.

May poets:
Dr. Sara Epstein is a clinical psychologist who integrates mindfulness practices, including writing, in her psychotherapy work with children and adults. She also facilitates and teaches generative writing groups and classes. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Poetry Quarterly, Amethyst Review, Chest Journal, Nixes Mate Review, Plainsongs, museum of americana, among others. Her book reviews have been published in Mom Egg Review.  Bar of Rest is her first book of poetry.

Denise Provost has published two poetry collections: Curious Peach (Ibbetson Street Press, 2019) and City of Stories (Červená Barva Press, 2021).  Her poems have appeared in such journals as Ibbetson Street, Constellations, Muddy River Poetry Review, qarrtsiluni, Quadrille, Poetry Porch, Red Eft, Sonnet Scroll, Sanctuary, Light Quarterly, and in Bagel Bards anthologies. Twice Pushcart-nominated, Provost received the 2012 Best Love Sonnet award from the 2012 Maria C. Faust Sonnet Competition, and the New England Poetry Club’s 2021 Samuel Washington Allen Prize. She was elected co-president of the New England Poetry Club in 2022. Provost served from 2006-2021 in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Gary Whited is a poet, philosopher and psychotherapist. His first book titled, Having Listened, won the 2013 Homebound Publications Poetry Contest. In 2014 it received a Benjamin Franklin Silver Book Award, and in 2015 was translated into Russian and a bilingual edition was published. His new book, Being, There includes new poems along with his translation of the ancient Greek fragments of Parmenides from the 5th century BCE. This book dances between the poetic voice of Parmenides and the poetic remembrances of a young life on a prairie cattle ranch. His poems have appeared in journals, including Salamander, Plainsongs, The Aurorean, Atlanta Review, Comstock Review, The Wayfarer, Poetry Daily and The Red Letters.