Central Mass Key Participant in Poetry Festival

Stanley Kunitz and Elizabeth Bishop

The Massachusetts Poetry Festival is taking place this “weekend” starting Thursday.  Worcester will be hosting one of the events at the Worcester State College Blue Lounge this Thursday from 7-10pm.  Worcester is well known for its famous poets, with two of them being Poet Laureates for the United States.  Elizabeth Bishop holding that position for 1949-1950 and Stanley Kunitz being honored with the position in both 1974-1976 and 2000-2001.

The Central Massachusetts event is being cosponsored by the Worcester County Poetry Association that has been around since 1971.  Members of the association including president Elizabeth Sweeney will be featured at a Saturday event in Lowell “Poetry from the Heart of the Commonwealth“.

In Massachusetts we are lucky to have had many classic famous writers including the likes of Emily Dickenson, Robert Frost(another poet laureate) and E. E. Cummings.  Robert Frost’s timeless “The Road not Taken” has haunted me a time or two.  The New England scenery and change of seasons is great for moments of introspection.  The Massachusetts Poetry Festival is provides the visibility that poetry needs to be appreciated.  Even those that may not have appreciated the poems in their English classes can feel very differently when they are read to them with purpose and meaning.  Donations can be given through the reservation of the free tickets online.

The Worcester County Poetry Association is very active in the Central Massachusetts area.  Thy actually put together a video that highlights what they do and some events that they have hosted.  I have it below for those interested…

The Worcester County Poetry Association from Worcester County Poetry on Vimeo.