2019

May 28th

Cheryl Perreault

(Host of “Wake Up & Smell the Poetry”)

Cheryl Perreault, Ed.D. is a poet, writer and spoken-word artist. She encourages the sharing of poetry in the oral tradition and has hosted community poetry and story-sharing programs for a diversity of ages, life experiences and settings. With a background in psychology, Cheryl has taught a number of courses and seminars in life-span psychology in the Boston area. and has worked with hospice patients writing and conducting life- review stories. Cheryl offers performance programs of her own poetry and has recorded two cds “On Ants, Sandwiches and the Meaning of it All” and “Roar” with guitarist/producer Steve Rapson. She also provides community healing arts/celebrant programs with vocalist/songwriter Carolyn Waters and is co-editor with Cynthia Franca of Hopkinton through Poetry: Celebrating 300 Years featuring the poetry of 36 Hopkinton residents and friends from ages 8-102. At HCAM-TV Cheryl hosts/produces two programs for local cable TV which include “Wake up and Smell the Poetry” and “Meet Your Neighbor.” for HCAM-TV and can also be found at Roots and Wings Yoga and Healing Arts Center in Natick and Body n’ Beyond in Hopkinton where she offers a number of individual and group classes for writing, creativity, spirituality and well-being.

dead poet Thomas Lux Paul Szlosek

The featured Dead Poet of the month was Thomas Lux read by Paul Szlosek

June 25th

Stephen Campiglio

(Author of Cross-Fluence and Verbal Clouds through Various Magritte Skies)

Stephen Campiglio, a longtime Worcester arts organizer, and member of the former Noh Place Artists Cooperative, now makes his home in southern Worcester county and works in Continuing Education at Manchester Community College in Connecticut, where he founded and directed the Mishi-maya-gat Spoken Word & Music Series, which ran for 12 years (presently on hiatus). Stephen has performed his poetry in a variety of musical collaborations, including with the spoken word bands, Forbidden Poets, The Bluebottles, and Radial Points. His poems and translations have recently appeared in Aji Magazine, Chiron Review, City Works Journal, Journal of Italian Translation, Miramar, TAB: The Journal of Poetry & Poetics, Tipton Poetry Journal, VIA: Voices in Italian Americana,and The Worcester Review. Winner of the Willis Barnstone Translation Prize for a poem by Italian writer, Giuseppe Bonaviri (1924-2009), he has now completed a book-length manuscript of translations on the author, The Ringing Bones: Selected Poems of Giuseppe Bonaviri. His new translation project is focused on the work of Italian poet, Giovanni Pascoli (1855-1912), with co-translator and Pascoli scholar, Elena Borelli. Nominated for two Pushcart Prizes, Stephen has published two chapbooks, Cross-Fluence (Soft Spur Press, Missoula, MT: 2012) and Verbal Clouds through Various Magritte Skies (Cy Gist Press, New Haven, CT: 2014). He will have copies of Cross-Fluence to sign (which is also available on Amazon); Verbal Clouds through Various Magritte Skies is available through the publisher at: http://cygistpress.blogspot.com.

Sylvia Plath dead poet collage

The featured Dead Poet of the month was Sylvia Plath read by Cody Peck

July 30th

Genie Johnson

(First Place Winner in the 12^th Annual Julius Sokenu Poetry Awards)

Genie Johnson – Every year since 1970, the Connecticut Poetry Circuit has chosen a small group of student poets from Connecticut’s colleges and universities for a reading tour of campuses across the state. Selected as a Connecticut Student Poet, Genie Johnson is the only community college student [this year] and the first from QVCC to earn this distinction. Her poem, “Shadow”, selected for publication in The Chronicle by Eastern Connecticut State University Professor and Willimantic Poet Laureate Daniel Donaghy, she placed second in the 2018 QVCC Julius Sokenu Poetry Awards, and won first place in the 2019 QVCC Julius Sokenu Poetry Awards category for English poets. Genie resides in Woodstock, Connecticut with her husband Mike and their pug, Bailey.

Mary Oliver Dead Poet Collage

The featured Dead Poet of the month was Mary Oliver read by Robert Eugene Perry

August 27th

Paul Richmond

(US National Beat Poet Laureate for 2019-2020, and Owner & Operator of Human Error Publishing)

Paul Richmond was appointed Beat Poet Laureate of Massachusetts by the National Beat Poetry Foundation headquartered in Wolcott, CT for 2017 to 2019. In September, Paul will be named the U.S. National Beat Poet Laureate for 2019-2020. Often called the Assassin of Apathy, Paul’s poetry is best described as political, deadpan, and wryly humorous delivered in his own unique style. Richmond is the owner and operator of Human Error Publishing, an independent publishing company dedicated to developing and showcasing artists of all types. He also hosts and promotes multiple monthly and annual spoken-word poetry events & festivals including the Greenfield Annual Word Fest (which in later years morphed into the Great Falls Word Festival in Turners Falls, MA), the “Word Stage” at the North Quabbin Garlic & Arts Festival in Orange, MA, and Third Tuesday Greenfield Word. Richmond has performed nationally and internationally on stages from the Austin International Poetry Festival in Austin TX to GödörKlubban at the Jazzköltexzeti est in Budapest, Hungry. His work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and published in four books (No Guarantees – Adjust and Continue, Ready or Not – Living in the Break Down Lane, Too Much of a Good Thing – In the Land of Scarcity -Breeds Contempt, and You Might Need a Bigger Hammer) as well as in numerous journals, magazines, anthologies and poetry collections.

Special Guest Feature (Visiting From Latvia)

Inga Gaile

Ron and Inga (2) — Visiting Latvian Poet **Inga Gaile** With Poetorium Host **Ron Whittle** (*Photo Courtesy of* **Sarma Muiznieks Liepins**)

Inga Gaile has published several collections of poetry, a collection of children’s poetry, plays and a novel. She often writes about stigmatized groups, feminist subjects and gender issues. Her first staged work was about the fate of poet Sylvia Plath. Her poems have been translated into English, German, Swedish, Lithuanian and Bengali. Gaile is active in the Latvian feminist movement and is the founder of a stand-up comedy group. Her new book of poems is “30 Questions People Don’t Ask: The Selected Poems of Inga Gaile” (Pleiades). Gaile lives in Riga, Latvia.

Walt Whitman A (2)-horz

The featured Dead Poet of the month was Walt Whitman read by Genie Johnson

September 24th

Tommy Twilite

(Co-Founder & Director of the Florence Poets Society, Executive Editor of Silkworm, and Host of the Twilite Poetry Pub on WXOJ FM)

Tommy Twilite (2)

Tommy Twilite is the poet, musician, and retired firefighter who founded the Florence Poets Society in 2004 along with his friend, the late Carl Russo. The mission of the Florence Poets is to bring “poetry to the people” by providing a forum for anyone who wishes to explore and develop their own individual poetic vision. Tommy is the executive editor of Silkworm and the host of the Twilite Poetry Pub on WXOJ FM. He is currently working on a memoir “Firehorse“, and a collection of his selected poetry. He has published 5 chapbooks of poetry and his work has appeared in various publications including Meat for Tea, The Long Islander, Sinister Tales, Naugatuck RIver Review, and The Equinox.

The featured Dead Poet of the month was Marina Tsvetaeva read by Patick Yao*

*No Photo Available

October 29th

Robert Racicot

(Author of The Legend of Carbuncle Pond)

rob racicot portrait.jpg Robert Racicot is a poet, writer, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and former Professor of Chemistry at Worcester State University currently living in Oxford, MA. Robert recently left his college teaching career to pursue a path in writing; both young reader books and poetry. His poetry has been accepted for publication in Crosswinds Poetry Journal and Canary. The Legend of Carbuncle Pond is his first young reader’s book about the Native American legend of Carbuncle Pond. Earlier this month, Robert was also the feature along with fellow poet Susan Roney-O’Brien at the 1+1 Poetry Series at 19 Carter in Berlin, MA.

THE FEATURED DEAD POET OF THE MONTH was Seamus Heaney READ BY Karen Warinsky

(TO CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN, ATTENDEES WeRE ENCOURAGED THIS NIGHT TO WEAR MASKS OR COSTUMES AND READ A SCARY OR HALLOWEEN-THEMED POEM IN THE OPEN READING)

November 26th

Doug Anderson

(Author of The Moon Reflected Fire, Blues for Unemployed Secret Police, and Horse Medicine )

Doug-Anderson 2

Poet Doug Anderson grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. He served as a combat medic in the Vietnam War, and after Vietnam attended the University of Arizona, where he studied acting. He started writing poetry after he moved to Northampton, Massachusetts, and worked with the poet Jack Gilbert. Anderson has written about his experiences in the Vietnam War in both poetry and nonfiction. He is the author of the poetry collections The Moon Reflected Fire (1994), the winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award, and Blues for Unemployed Secret Police (2000). In 2009 he published his memoir, Keep Your Head Down: Vietnam, the Sixties, and a Journey of Self-Discovery. His most recent book is Horse Medicine (Barrow Street Press, 2015). His awards include a grant from the Eric Mathieu King Fund of the Academy of American Poets, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and a Pushcart Prize. Anderson has taught at the University of Connecticut, Eastern Connecticut State University, and the William Joiner Center for the Study of War and Its Social Consequences at the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

THE FEATURED DEAD POET OF THE MONTH was Donald Hall Read by Clayton Arble

2020

January 28TH

Richard H. Fox

(Author of Time Bomb, Wandering in Puzzle Boxes, You’re My Favorite Horse, and The Complete Uncle Louie Poems)

Richard Fox Phoro (4) — *Photo Courtesy of Kristen LeClair*

Richard H. Fox dreams three-decker rainbows encircle The Woo. When not writing about rock ’n roll or youthful transgressions, his poems focus on cancer from the patient’s point of view drawing on hope, humor, and unforeseen gifts. He is the author of three poetry collections: Time Bomb (2013), wandering in puzzle boxes (2015), You’re my favorite horse (2017) and a chapbook: The Complete Uncle Louie Poems (2017). The winner of the 2017 Frank O’Hara Prize, he seconds Stanley Kunitz’ motion that people in Worcester are “provoked to poetry.”

The featured Dead Poet of the month was T.S Eliot read by Robert Eugene Perry

February 25TH

Ron Whittle

(Author of Goodbye Again, Postcards From a War Zone, and In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Grandson )

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Ron Whittle, a lifetime resident of Massachusetts, was born in Worcester in 1947 and raised and educated in his home town of Shrewsbury. Further education came by way of the U.S. Navy, Vietnam, the Apollo 13 recovery team, and 45 years of family living. Ron divides his time between his home in Worcester and the shores of Cape Cod. His influences include Tom Waits, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Edgar Allan Poe, Ogen Nash, Ezra Pound, and Rod McKuen. Ron is a founder and co-host of the monthly open mic and featured poetry reading series The Poetorium at Starlite, a member of the Worcester County Poetry Association, the Works in Progress/ Outlaw Stage at the Worcester Artist Group, the Warrior Writers of Boston, and a founding member of the Worcester Art Walk. Ron has appeared and read on many local television programs including being a featured poet on “Wake up and Smell the Poetry” on HCAM-TV in Hopkinton, MA. He has also appeared on stage at the Massachusetts State Poetry Festival in Salem, MA, the Great Falls Word Festival at Turners Falls, MA, and the Garlic Festival in Orange, MA. Ron is the author of currently three published books of poetry (with many more scheduled to be published in the near future) from Human Error Publishing including Goodbye Again, Postcards From a War Zone, and his most recent In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Grandson which also features poems by both his late father and 9-year-old grandson Jake Hansen.