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Book Festivals
Voice for Resistance Reading
Voices for Resistance Reading Monday June 4 at 7 pm at the Forbes Library Coolidge Museum, Northampton, MA
Features Martin Espada, Nicole M. Young, the Nields, with Maria Jose Gimenez, Lauren Marie Schmidt, Eileen P. Kennedy, Ellen LaFleche, Dina Friedman, Christopher J. Sparks and Theresa Vincent. An open mic will be available for readers who come by 6:45 pm.
Free to Attend. Open to the Public.

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Mass Poetry “Poem of the Moment”
I am very grateful that Mass Poetry has used one of my poems for “Poem of the Moment.” It will be up until April 17. Check it out:
Join Straw Dogs Writers Guild at a Reading of Compass Roads on Sat. April 14 at 4 pm

From the Nicaraguan Poet Francisco de Asis Fernandez

Anunque el cuerpo se marchite
Hay un misterio que sobrepasa mi llanto y mi sobriedad.
¿Qué esconden las tinieblas? ¿Qué disrazan las sombras?
Cuando era niño lloraba
No entendia la noche
Que tiene un dulce aroma de tierra pisada por las pajaros,
Y ahora no entiendo la muerte,
Aunque sepa que es cuando la luz se abre en el infinito
Y los ojos dejan de llorar.
Although the body may fade
There is a mystery greater than my weeping and my sorrow.
What does darkness hide, what do shadows disguise?
When I was a boy I used to cry.
I did not understand night
With its sweet aroma of earth softly trodden by birds,
and now I do not understand death,
although I am aware that it is when light opens to infinity
and eyes cease weeping.
Festival Internacional de Poesia Grenada, Nicaragua Poetry is Alive and well in Central America
Quabbin Writers Read at Great Rapids Spoken Word Festival last Saturday night
Great Falls Word Festival
The Quabbin Writers Salon of Western Massachusetts will read at the Great Falls Word Festival at 6:30 pm, Saturday, October 14 at the Harvest Restaurant in Turner’s Fall.
They are reading for the first time from their newly published Anthology, a collection of poetry and prose that explores nature, love and the labyrinths of lives fully lived. Members of the Quabbin Writer’s Group have published widely in literary magazines and books. but this is our first collaborative effort and include Epi Bohdi, D. Dina Friedman, Marianne Gambaro, Kathryn Holzman, Jane Johnson and Eileen P Kennedy. Join us for the reading and the rest of this wonderful festival, which will run October 12-15 in Turner’s Falls.
Forbes Writing Room Reading Wednesday May 31, 7 -8:30 pm in the Coolidge Museum

Writing Room Reading
Wednesday and Saturday morning from 9:30- 12:30, writers of every description — novelists, poets, memoir writers, essayists, journalists and more — join novelist Susan Stinson or Forbes writer-in-residence Naila Moreira for companionable writing time. The Writing Room has been open for seven years. We’re celebrating with a reading. We end our mornings writing together with the option of sharing a quick taste of our work, and now we’re offering a sampler to the community.
READERS
Carolyn A. Cushing
Allie Eaton
Elizabeth French
Rachel Hass
Eileen P. Kennedy
Mary Messick
Megan Nolan
Erika Norden
Sean F. Norton
Elizabeth Pike
Julie Rosier
Shane Sinclair
Alice Thomas
Susan Stinson
Naila Moreira
The Critics Have Been Kind
I was grateful to learn I am a finalist for the Wordwrite Poetry Book Award. I’ll find out the results in December. Wish me luck!







