April is National Poetry Month. PoemTown organizers are currently soliciting original poetry submissions from poets of all ages residing anywhere in Vermont. No more than three poems should be submitted, each of them 24 lines or less. The deadline for submission is February 15.
Poets should send 1-3 original poems as MS Word or rtf attachments to musbird@gmail.com. No pdfs please! Each poem must have the poet’s name and town of residence at the bottom of each submitted poem. Poets should be assured that this information will not be shared with the judges of the poems, but will be helpful when the chosen poems are submitted to the designer who prepares the broadsides for display in town.
In the text of an email, please include the poet’s contact information (name, mailing address, email address and telephone number). Each poem should be attached separately in the email with the title of the poem as each document’s name.
Poets are asked not to submit any work that has been previously displayed in any PoemTown or PoemCity celebrations, and also to not submit any poems that have previously appeared in print anywhere else.
For poets without access to email, please contact Janet Watton at 802-728-9402 to clarify an alternate submission process.
By sending work to PoemTown 2021, poets agree that PoemTown may use any poem in display, in promotional materials, and in associated online, print and other media.
Poets will be credited for their work in all places their poems appear.
This eighth annual PoemTown will be scaled back due to Covid, but poems in the windows, the annual anthology, and outdoor readings this summer will be a welcome celebration of poetry and community.
At one of PoemTown’s signature events, farmer poets Taylor Katz, Caitlin Gildrien and Carl Russell shared their work at the Silloway Sugar House in Randolph Center in April 2019.
Due to the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic, things are a bit different this year. With statewide and national closures of schools, arts organizations, businesses and public places, and warnings to be mindful of social distancing, we have made the prudent decision to cancel all PoemTown events for this year.
However, like the geese and robins, poetry will return to Randolph! The original poems of 76 poets from 46 Vermont towns are on display in the main windows and doors of local businesses and organizations as a walking anthology for residents and visitors to enjoy as they walk through town, hike a short nature trail along the White River, or do errands in town. New this year is the pairing of some of Randolph’s notable outdoor sculptures with poetry that was submitted. Poets were encouraged to submit poems that consider our climate emergency.
We hope that these poems help offset the difficulty of these uncertain times and remind us of the many ways we are connected through common experience. The daily pressures and hectic pace of our lives, and the onslaught of technology all threaten to isolate and overwhelm us. Poetry is a vehicle for articulating our common human experience and the many threads that bind us together as human beings. Who among us has not been shaken by love and loss, has not been moved by beauty in the natural world, yearned for change, or been challenged by a situation beyond his or her control? Through poetry we celebrate our unity through our individual stories and insight. May the days ahead be filled with poetry to sustain us all.
Thank you to our supporters!
We’re grateful for generous sponsorship support that makes possible our ability to print the poems and programs and design and print this year’s anthology.
PoemTown 2020 is underwritten by the the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation and has additional support from DuBois & King, EyeCare for You, Northfield Savings Bank, Sanel/NAPA Auto Parts, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, andthe Ada Brandon Foundation. PoemTown is grateful for partnerships with the Town of Randolph, RACDC, Chandler Center for the Arts, Kimball Library, and the White River Craft Center that helped make possible the planning of this year’s events.
We’re grateful for generous sponsorship support that makes possible our ability to offer the poetry portions of all events at no cost to the public.
PoemTown 2020 is underwritten by the the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation and has additional support from DuBois & King, EyeCare for You, Northfield Savings Bank, Sanel/NAPA Auto Parts, Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, and the Ada Brandon Foundation. PoemTown is grateful for partnerships with the Town of Randolph, RACDC, Chandler Center for the Arts, Kimball Library, and the White River Craft Center that help make possible these events.
Find the Poems
More than 100 poems are placed throughout Randolph Village. Here’s a complete listing of their locations. This year many of Randolph’s sculptures are included in the Poetry Walk.
Sculptures
“The Gift” by Karen Petersen in front of Chandler Music Hall
Gathering — Louis Megyesi
Paul Calter sculptures at Vermont Technical College, Randolph Center
“Focus One” — from Simultaneous — Jim Schley
“Armillary VII” — Ode to the Tree Across the Road — Genevieve Bronk
“Sun Disc, Moon Disc” — Sun, O Glorious Sun — Neill Callahan
“Big Frog, Small Pond” by Jim Sardonis, VT Agricultural and Environmental Lab at VTC
Charles’s Pond — Louis Megyesi
“Whale Dance” by Jim Sardonis at Exit 4, I-89
Eternal Dance — Peggy Brightman
River Walk
Still Leaf — Jonathan Root
Winter — Michael Fitzgerald
Source: Haiku — M. Underwood
Milkweed — James Crews
Questions — Ann Cooper
Waiting on the Ice Jam — Daniel Chadwick
Metamorphose — Deb Delmore
Ladybugs — George Longenecker
Randolph Village Laundromat – 75 North Main Street
Flowerless — Ann Brandon
The Church of Laundromat — Stephen Morris
Chandler Music Hall – 71-73 North Main Street
Ukulele Lesson — Judith Crocker
No Oxygen Left — Trish Alley
Bach Hears Music — Gus Speth
Kimball Public Library – 67 North Main Street
The Writer in His Element — Gus Speth
Logophile — Judith Crocker
Randolph House – 65 North Main Street
The Moon Dances Down Pug Lake — Sydney Lea
Anticipation — M. Underwood
Super Suds Laundromat – 10 Pleasant Street
Colored Glass — Steve Augustus
Act as if …. — Phoenix
Seeds of Despair — Carl Garguilo
TheGear House — 16 Pleasant Street
Afterlife — Jack Mayer
Huggable Mug Café – 22 Pleasant Street
Carbon Footprint Cafe — Donna Bramley
Feeding Time — Timothy Eberhardt
Kids Play — 22 Pleasant Street
Little Zephyrs — Deb Franzoni
about a boy — Nancy Hewitt
Trillium — 24 Pleasant Street
Mother’s Day — Wilma Ann Johnson
What the Birder Said — Veer Frost
The Herald – 30 Pleasant Street
Poetry in an Eggshell — Audrey Boerum
The Lost Poem — Jeff Bernstein
Ode to Ocean — Cynthia Liepmann
Red Lion Inn — 9 Pleasant Street
At 89 — Audrey Boerum
Morning at the Drop-in Center — Barbara Stearns
Red Door Jewelers — 20 Merchants Row
Love and Imagination — Kimberly Madura
Soft Light Appearing — Janet Burnham
Fisher Auto Parts – 10 Merchants Row
The Wind from the Next World — Gina Logan
Car Wash — Annie Bower
Cassandra — Ann Cooper
Pollination — Geza Tatrallyay
After the Flood — Rebecca Starks
Willamina Willy — Tom Martin
Ice — Veer Frost
Ode to ‘e’— Barney Beard
One Blood Paragraph — Nancy Hewitt
Self-Medication — Sandy Edmunds
a broken heart has no home — Mary Collins
Earth Mother — Peggy Brightman
The Singin’ Rage — Sydney Lea
Vermont Computing – 23 Merchants Row
Dead End — Julie Cadwallader Staub
Bluer Seas — Annie Bower
The Black Krim Tavern – 21 Merchants Row
Our Notions of Love — Christina Strong
Sidewalk Florist – 19 Merchants Row
Dahlias — Andrea Rogers
The Peony Admiration Club — Letitia Rydjeski
One Main Tap & Grill – 2 Merchants Row
August 27, 2019 — Julie Cadwallader Staub
Boppin’ at Lunacy — Pam Ahlen
There and Here — Judith Crocker
Belmain’s Building — 15 North Main Street
The Open Field — James Crews
False Labor — Jack Mayer
Clouds — Ina Anderson
Bee-ing Indoors — Gina Logan
Twenty Years — Charleigh Robillard
November 8, 2017 — Ann Cooper
Scorched Earth — Janet Watton
Nativity Scene — Peggy Whiteneck
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust – 21 North Main Street
Out of Control — Janet Watton
So You Think — Michael J. Farrand
Saecula saeculorum — Timothy Eberhardt
First Chill — Deb Delmore
To My Great Granddaughter Not Yet Born — Ina Anderson
On Seeing Satellite Images After Hurricane Dorian — Rebecca Starks
From Stone Road — George Murphy
Ken’s Barbershop – 33 North Main Street
Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, 2005 — Jamie Gage
The Frankenburg Agency – 35 North Main Street
Orbweaver — James Crews
Bethany Church Office – 32 North Main Street
The Book of Job — Peggy Whiteneck
Migration — Wilma Ann Johnson
Noah and the Climate Skeptics — Brigitte Lent
DuBois & King – 28 North Main Street
Teach Me To Whisper — Deb Chadwick
I’m gonna write my dream — David Wrong
Lamentation — Rebecca McMeekin
Rain Change — James Wyman
Blue Moon – 6 North Main Street
There are Words in this Wind — Julie Longstreth
Assumptions and Cullings — Sydney Lea
Northfield Savings Bank – 2 North Main Street
Giant Sequoia — Rebecca McMeekin
Boogaloo to Beck — Jamie Gage
A Tiny Patch of Blue — Trish Alley
The Olde Hollows Transfer Station — Steve Augustus
November — Anne Bakeman
Coffin — Danny Dover
East Garden – 3 Salisbury Street
Bahn Mi in Vermont — Christina Strong
Wilson Tire– 5 Salisbury Street
Poem for the Leavers — Jillian Getman
Randolph Municipal Building – 7 Summer Street
Town Meeting — Rebecca McMeekin
America. America — Audrey Boerum
Tranquility — Mickie Richardson
Of Revolution — David Celone
Randolph Coal & Oil – 8 Salisbury Street
There are too many of us on this earth … — Geza Tatrallyay
The New Normal — Charlie Farrell
Randolph Police Station – 6 Salisbury Street
Airborne — Corinne Davis
Bob’s M&M Beverage – 4 Salisbury Street
Polar Cap — Melanie Adams
Chef’s Market — 2 Salisbury Street
Should — Deb Delmore
Until, that is, I Become Vinegar — Stephen Morris
Stagecoach – Depot Square
Thomas Edison Lands in the 21st Century — Jeff Bernstein
True Center Yoga — 2 South Main Street
A Place Beyond — Gus Speth
TEKHENU — Janet Watton
lotus — Mary Collins
The Split Is Clear — Cynthia Liepmann
Sanel / NAPA – 3 South Main Street
Willing — Nancy Hewitt
No Restraint — Deb Franzoni
after reading how the wollemi pines were saved by firefighters in Australia — Anne Bergeron
Due to the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have made the difficult, but prudent decision to cancel all PoemTown events for this year.
CANCELLED —Poetry Open Mic Thursday, April 2, 7pm – 9pm, Chandler Upper Gallery Bring two or three of your shorter poems and sign up at the door. (In conjunction with Chandler’s WORD series)
CANCELLED — Poetry in Protest: A Workshop Thursday, April 9, 6:30pm – 9pm, Chandler Upper Gallery Led by Ina Anderson, this workshop will support poets at all levels of experience who yearn to speak out in the face of social and climate challenges.
CANCELLED — Dinner with a Poet: Elizabeth Powell Monday, April 13, Black Krim Tavern At 6pm, join the poet for dinner, then stay for her reading at 7:30pmCall (802)728-6776 for dinner reservations
CANCELLED — Three Vermont Poets on Earth Day Wednesday, April 22, 7pm, Kimball Public Library Poets April Ossman, Julie Cadwallader Staub, and Danny Doverread in celebration of the Earth, and in warning of climate disaster.
CANCELLED — Farmer Poets Night Wednesday, April 29, 7pm Silloway Sugar House1303 Boudro Road, Randolph Center Three farmer poets, Taylor Katz, Carl Russell, and Jim Schley,read their poems in the sugarhouse. Serving sugar on snow!
Youth Activities at Kimball Library week of April 6 — Pop-up magnetic poetry week of April 13 — Poetry rip-off CANCELLED — April 16, 3-5 pm — Black-out poetry workshop CANCELLED — April 20, 2-4 pm — “Plant a seed, grow a rhyme” workshop week of April — Letters to the earth
For more information about youth activities at the library, please visit the library’s website: https://kimballlibrary.org.
PoemTown Randolph organizers are excited to announce the seventh annual celebration of poetry in Randolph throughout the month of April, National Poetry month. They are seeking submissions from Vermont poets as the centerpiece of the month-long event.
Originally inspired by Montpelier’s PoemCity, the organizers of PoemTown Randolph 2020 once again plan similar public opportunities for Vermont poets to share their work. Throughout the month of April, posters of selected poems will be displayed in the main windows and doors of businesses, churches, and organizations, and along forest paths in Randolph.
Organizers are currently soliciting original poetry submissions from poets of all ages residing anywhere in Vermont. This year, as we move into a new decade on our planet, poets are encouraged, though it is not mandatory, to submit poems that consider our climate emergency.
No more than three poems should be submitted, each of them 24 lines or less. The deadline for submission is February 1.
Poets should send 1-3 original poems as MS Word or rtf attachments to musbird@gmail.com. In the text of an email, included must be the poet’s contact information (name, mailing address, email address and telephone number). Then each poem should be attached separately with the title of the poem as the document name and no identifying information other than the poem’s title on each document. Poets are asked to not submit any work that has been previously displayed in any PoemTown or PoemCity celebrations, and also to not submit any poems that have previously appeared in print anywhere else.
For poets without access to email, please contact Janet Watton at 802-728-9402 to clarify an alternate submission process.
By sending work to PoemTown 2020, poets agree that PoemTown may use any poem in display, in promotional materials, and in associated online, print and other media. Poets will be credited for their work in all places their poems appear.
PoemTown organizers are planning special poetry events throughout April, including dinner with poet Elizabeth Powell at the Black Krim, an open mic night, an evening featuring local published poets, a performance of climate-focused poetry, a workshop, “Poetry in Protest,” and the popular evening of readings by farmer poets at the sugarhouse of Silloway Maple in Randolph Center.
Monday, April 1st 6:00 – 8:00 PM: Dinner with a Poet – Join poet Kerrin McCadden for dinner at the Black Krim Tavern in Randolph VT. Dinner at 6:00pm, followed by her reading at 7:00pm. Call (802) 728-6776 to make dinner reservations.
Saturday, April 6th4 – 6 PM: Reading at the White River Craft Center with Adeena Karasick and Maria Damon from Brooklyn NY, Mark Lamoureux from New Haven CT and local writer Joan Feierabend
Wednesday, April 107 PM: Three local Vermont poetsread their work at Kimball Public Library in Randolph VT: Corey Cook, Anne Shivas, Carol Potter
Saturday, April 13th 4 – 6 PM: Reading at the White River Craft Center with Gina Myers from Philadelphia and local writer Josie Carothers
Wednesday, April 177 PM: Poetry Open Mic at Kimball Public Library in Randolph Bring two or three of your poems and sign up at the door. Light refreshments.
Saturday, April 207 PM: Farmer Poets Night Three farmer poets read at the Silloway Sugar House, 1303 Boudro Rd, Randolph Center VT Taylor Katz, Carl Russell, and Caitlin Gildrien Sugar on snow and other light refreshments
Thursday, April 257 PM: Poem Town Grand Finale: Los Lorcas — In the spirit of Federico Garcia Lorca — poets Partridge Boswell and Peter Money, along with guitarist Nat Williams, will fuse poetry and music in a passionate and surprising mash-up! Esther Mesh Room, Chandler Center for the Arts, Randolph
Saturday, April 27th 4 – 6 PM: Reading at the White River Craft Center with Jenny Grassl and Julie Thacker from Cambridge MA and local writer Gloria Smith
For questions or more information, ask Janet Wattonmusbird@gmail.com
River Walk Trish Alley — Songbird Dreams Blair Brooks — That Tuft Corinne Davis — The Heist Michael Farrand — Sticking to Vermont William Graham — A Quiet Place Brook Herter James — At the Edge Wilma Ann Johnson — persistent tapping Jonathan Root — Blink Shannon Trigos — Pockets of Heaven to Be Glimpsed
Randolph Village Laundromat – 75 North Main Street Genevieve Bronk — The Aloe Plant in the Doctor’s Office Gus Speth — What He Could Have Done
Chandler Music Hall – 71-73 North Main Street Hatsy McGraw — Best Dancer Janet Watton — The Harp Player
Kimball Public Library – 67 North Main Street Bonnie Beck — For Mary Oliver Yvonne Daly — The Most Detailed Map Rebecca McMeekin — Middle School Science Andrea Rogers — Lament Christina Strong — Meditations on Resolutions
Randolph House – 65 North Main Street Bonnie Beck — My Dad’s Handkerchief Nancy Vandenburgh — Step Out
Super Suds Laundromat – 10 Pleasant Street Peter Dregallo — Filling Voids Becky Farmer — Quandary Wilma Ann Johnson — Oh, what a morning!
Green Light Café – 22 Pleasant Street Steve Augustus — Growing Older Brook Herter James — Every Morning Now Michelle Holder — Maybe We’re All Saints Geza Tatrallyay — I often wonder when I see …
Trillium — 24 Pleasant Street Anne Bower — For my Tai Chi colleagues Cynthia Liepmann — Half Mast
The Herald – 30 Pleasant Street Anne Bakeman — Dryocopus pileatus Judy Crocker — Grammar Lessons Dick Drysdale — Mahatma
Vermont Computing – 23 Merchants Row Carl Garguilo — Digital Deletes Hatsy McGraw — Imbolc
The Black Krim Tavern – 21 Merchants Row Melanie Adams — A Hard Day
Sidewalk Florist – 19 Merchants Row Yvonne Daly — Spring Vigil Michelle Holder — February
The Red Door – 20 Merchants Row Genevieve Bronk — Lavender Tom Martin — coincidence
Flats Tatooing of Vermont – 18 Merchants Row Brook Herter James — Route 90 Westbound
Fisher Auto Parts – 10 Merchants Row Melanie Adams — Rusty Nail Roderick Bates — After the Rapture Audrey Boerum — The Iron Cat Anne Bower — November storm Judy Crocker — Japanese Beetles George Murphy — Days George Murphy — Blood George Murphy — Past Jack Rossi — Letting Go Heather Steliga — Tribute to a Victorious Vermonter
One Main Tap & Grill – 2 Merchants Row Laura Foley — Flowers in a Ball Jar Debby Franzoni — At the Downtown Diner Gina Logan — The Haitian Workers in the Thruway Cafeteria Janet Watton — Spring
Bar Harbor Bank & Trust – 21 North Main Street Steve Augustus — Catch Her Breath Jeff Bernstein — My Scientific Submission Process Rebecca McMeekin — Saltwater Farm, September Judy Crocker — The Morning I Chose Not to Listen to NPR Nancy Hewitt — Morning After First Frost George Longenecker — Summer Lingered Jack Mayer — God Particle Janet Watton — Perfection
Ken’s Barbershop – 33 North Main Street Gina Logan — The Tracks in this Morning’s Snow
The Frankenburg Agency – 35 North Main Street Deb Chadwick — Peaceful
Bethany Church Office – 29 North Main Street James Barrett — Rachel Lindy Sayward — Saving Earth Jim Schley — Dumbstruck
DuBois & King – 28 North Main Street Bonnie Beck — Rolling Rock Jack Mayer — In Memoriam — SVEA Camp Stove Verandah Porche — These Are Just to Say Marshall Witten — Late April
Blue Moon – 6 North Main Street Ina Anderson — My Mother’s Purse Nancy Hewitt — Chanel No. 5
Northfield Savings Bank – 2 North Main Street Peter Fernandez — Detoxification Unit 17, B-Wing Debby Franzoni — And It Was Her Favorite Nancy Hewitt — Lesion Verandah Porche — True Haiku: 01.02 Shannon Trigos — When You Go Away
East Garden – 3 Salisbury Street Pamela Ahlen — At the Botanic Garden in Claremont, CA
Wilson Tire– 5 Salisbury Street Tom Martin — Nervous
Randolph Municipal Building – 7 Summer Street Genevieve Bronk — The Coach Doreen Guillette — Wisdom of a Maple Tree Janet Hayward Burnham — Over the Top Sandra Maccarrone — February
Randolph Coal & Oil – 8 Salisbury Street Jack Mayer — BLOOD — House-call on the Canadian border Verandah Porche — So Long, L. Cohen
Randolph Police Station – 6 Salisbury Street Roderick Bates — The Art of the Relationship
Bob’s M&M Beverage – 4 Salisbury Street Carl Garguilo — To Each
Chef’s Market — 2 Salisbury Street Jeff Bernstein — Winter Market Elissa Doering — Before the Neighborhood Wakes Judith Hishikawa — Strawberry Moments Rebecca McMeekin — Catching the Light
NAPA / Randolph Auto Supply – 3 South Main Street Pamela Ahlen — You take the Moto Guzzi for a ride Roderick Bates — Coldest Thanksgiving on Record Ann Cooper — Driving North Tim Eberhardt — My Father Always Said Jenny Rossi — The War is Never Over
Heritage Real Estate — 10 South Main Street Steven Yaskell — The Dog Mountains
The Playhouse – 11 South Main Street Jeff Bernstein — Popping Corn on the Interstate
Beacon Printing – 18 South Main Street Anne Bergeron — For My Father Audrey Boerum — A Poet Is ….
Curves – 12½ South Main Street Barbara Stearns — 90+
Al’s Pizza – 12 South Main Street Lukina Andreyev — And I Lost Me Audrey Boerum — I Declare My Coronation Carl Garguilo — Angels Shannon Trigos — Warm Innocence
Former Verizon Building — corner of Main Street and Merchants Row Anne Bower —- Mt. Ascutney Ann Cooper — Man’s Fate Tim Eberhardt — A Hospital Death Emerson Gale — Winter Garden Michelle Holder — Pit Stop Near the Boofy Quimby Memorial Center Cynthia Liepmann — Time Julie Longstreth — Osteo-dendrochronology
Randolph Regional Veterinary Hospital – 86 Dylan Drive Debby Franzoni — Snapshot Jack Rossi — Luna (Please Leave The Cat Downstairs Tonight, Dear) Susan Shea — Missing Marmalade Bonnie Watters — Silvio Loves His Stones
Josie Carothers has always lived in a world of words. Life is so fascinating, what better way to live it than to describe it? Leaving behind a life of environmental jobs, activism and advocacy, and the raising of pigs, chickens and children, she is now what she calls a “post-professional,” living with her mate and writing, gardening and dwelling in Vermont, all for her own pleasure. She mines the life of a revolutionary in the 60’s, a free-thinker in the 70’s and beyond, and the inheritor of vast and deep family stories for her material.
Caitlin Gildrien is a writer, graphic designer, and erstwhile farmer living at the feet of the Green Mountains. Her work has recently appeared in Rattle, the Hopper, the Rumpus, Intima, Rise Up Review, and Poets Reading the News. Find her at www.cattailcreative.com and @cattail_caitlin.
Corey D. Cook’s fifth collection of poems, The Weight of Shadows, was released in January (2019) by Finishing Line Press. His poems have recently appeared or are forthcoming in the Aurorean, Bloodroot Literary Magazine, Brevities, Chiron Review, Freshwater, and Northern New England Review. Corey edits Red Eft Review and lives in Thetford Center, Vermont.
Maria Damon teaches in the Writing Department and in the Department of Humanities and Media Studies at the Pratt Institute of Art. She is the author of several books of poetry scholarship and co-author of several books of poetry.
Joan Feierabend: I am a visual artist who likes to write fiction to try and fathom facts. I live in East Randolph and have written for as long as I can remember.
Jenny Grassl was raised in Pennsylvania, and now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her poems appeared most recently in the Boston Review annual poetry contest, runner-up prize selected by Mary Jo Bang, also in the anthology: Humanagerie, Eibonvale Press, UK, Ocean State Review, Rogue Agent and Phantom Drift. Her poems are forthcoming in: Rhino Poetry, Radar Poetry, and Massachusetts Review.
Adeena Karasick is a New York based Canadian poet, performer, cultural theorist and media artist and the author of ten books of poetry and poetics. Her Kabbalistically inflected, urban, Jewish feminist mashups have been described as “electricity in language” (Nicole Brossard), “proto-ecstatic jet-propulsive word torsion” (George Quasha), noted for their “cross-fertilization of punning and knowing, theatre and theory” (Charles Bernstein) “a twined virtuosity of mind and ear which leaves the reader deliciously lost in Karasick’s signature ‘syllabic labyrinth’” (Craig Dworkin); “one long dithyramb of desire, a seven-veiled dance of seduction that celebrates the tangles, convolutions, and ecstacies of unbridled sexuality… demonstrating how desire flows through language, an unstoppable flood of allusion (both literary and pop-cultural), word-play, and extravagant and outrageous sound-work.” (Mark Scroggins). Most recently is Checking In (Talonbooks, 2018) and Salomé: Woman of Valor (University of Padova Press, Italy, 2017), the libretto for her Spoken Word opera co-created with Grammy award winning composer, Sir Frank London. She teaches Literature and Critical Theory for the Humanities and Media Studies Dept. at Pratt Institute, is Poetry Editor for Explorations in Media Ecology, 2018 Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Award recipient and winner of the 2016 Voce Donna Italia award for her contributions to feminist thinking and 2018 winner of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. The “Adeena Karasick Archive” is established at Special Collections, Simon Fraser University.
Taylor Mardis Katz is a poet, farmer, and freelancer from Chelsea, VT. With her husband, she runs Free Verse Farm & Apothecary, an herb farm specializing in growing ingredients for their ever-expanding line of herbal tea blends, culinary blends, and herbal remedies and body care products, which are available locally as well as online. Taylor also works as a poet for hire, writing poems for both businesses and individuals.
Mark Lamoureux is an Assistant Professor at Housatonic Community College. He is the author of four full-length collections of poems, It’ll Never Be Over for Me (Black Radish Books, 2016) 29 Cheeseburgers + 39 Years (Pressed Wafer, 2013), Spectre (Black Radish Books, 2010) and Astrometry Organon (BlazeVox, 2008). A fifth book, Horologion, is forthcoming from Poet Republik, Ltd. in 2019. His work has most recently appeared in Fence, Dream Pop and Fourteen Hills. In 2014 he won the 2nd Annual Ping Pong Poetry prize for his poem “Winterhenge/Summerhenge,” selected by David Shapiro.
Gina Myers is the author of two full-length poetry collections, A Model Year (2009) and Hold It Down (2013), as well as several chapbooks, including most recently Philadelphia (Barrelhouse, 2017). In addition to poetry, she has published numerous essays, reviews, and articles for a variety of publications, including Hyperallergic, Frontier Psychiatrist, Fanzine, The Rumpus, and The Poetry Project Newsletter, among other places. Originally from Saginaw, MI, she now lives in Philadelphia, PA, where she works as a web content writer and social media specialist, co-edits the tiny with Gabriella Torres, and runs the Accidental Player reading series. Learn more at gina-myers.org.
Carol Potter is the 2014 winner of the Field Poetry Prize from Oberlin College Press for her fifth book of poems, Some Slow Bees. Other awards include the 1998 Cleveland State Poetry Center award for her book, The Short History of Pets, and the Balcones award as well as a Pushcart Award and residencies at Yaddo, MacDowell, The Fundacion Valparaiso and Millay Colony of the Arts. Publications include poems in The American Poetry Review, Poetry, The Green Mountains Review, Hotel Amerika, Sinister Wisdom, The Kenyon Review, Hayden’s Ferry, The Massachusetts Review, The Los Angeles Review, Poet Lore, River Styx and the anthology of contemporary Vermont poetry, Roads Taken.
Kerrin McCadden
Kerrin McCadden is the author of Landscape with Plywood Silhouettes, winner of the Vermont Book Award and the New Issues Poetry Prize. She is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowship, a Vermont Studio Center Fellowship, and the Sustainable Arts Foundation Writing Award. Poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Best American Poetry, The Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series, American Poetry Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, and Rattle. She is associate director of the Conference on Poetry and Teaching at The Frost Place and teaches at Montpelier High School. She lives in South Burlington, Vermont.
Carl B. Russell and his wife Lisa McCrory own and operate Earthwise Farm & Forest in Bethel, VT, where they raise organic vegetables and grass fed livestock, use draft animals for logging and field work, and offer workshops on skills for sustainable livelihoods. Carl has operated Russell Forestry Services since 1986, specializing in ecological forestry and low-impact timber harvest with draft animals. Carl’s work with horses and oxen, and other land-based enterprises, provides a broad foundation for personal creativity. From time to time it moves him to share his observations through little bits of written imagery.
Anne Shivas grew up in Scotland. She worked there as a teacher, then did graduate studies in philosophy of education, aesthetics, and dance in London. She has an MFA in poetry from Drew University, where she has been a guest-lecturer. She teaches the Alexander Technique and leads Osher classes in Scottish poetry and literature. Her poems have been published in the USA, Scotland, Israel and New Zealand. Her first poetry collection, Whit Grace, was published in 2017. Her poem “An Old Woman Cooking Eggs” was chosen as one of the 20 Best Scottish Poems of 2017. She lives in Norwich, VT.
Gloria Smith: I am a born and raised Vermonter, recently retired nurse, as well as an artist and writer. I live in Braintree, Vermont. I have written for my own amusement and pleasure for years, now I am sharing my writing with others, be it good or bad. I prefer nonfiction, life is just too amazing to make this stuff up.
Twice a fellow at The Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Julia Thacker has also held fellowships from The Bunting Institute at Radcliffe and The National Endowment for the Arts. Her poems and stories have appeared in AGNI, The Boston Globe Magazine, Little Star, The Missouri Review Online, New Directions and others. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
PoemTown Randolph organizers invite Vermont poets of all ages to submit their original poems as the centerpiece of its 6th annual celebration during National Poetry Month. Throughout the month of April, posters of selected poems will be displayed in the main windows and doors of businesses, churches, and organizations in Randolph.
Poets are welcome to submit up to three original poems for consideration, no longer than 24 lines each. Please send 1-3 original poems as MS Word attachments to musbird@gmail.com. In the text of an email, include your contact information (name, mailing address, email address and telephone number). Then attach each poem separately with the title of the poem as the document name and no identifying information other than the poem’s title on each document. The submission deadline is February 4.
Please do not submit any work that has been previously displayed in any PoemTown or PoemCity celebrations, nor any poems that have previously appeared in print anywhere else.
By sending work to PoemTown 2019, poets agree that PoemTown may use any poem in display, in promotional materials, and in associated online, print and other media. Poets will, of course, be credited for their work in all places their poems appear.
In addition to displayed poems, PoemTown organizers are planning special poetry events throughout April, including dinner with poet Kerrin McCadden at the Black Krim, an open mic night, Saturday afternoons at the White River Craft Center with local and out of town guests, an evening featuring local published poets, a night of “farmers’ poetry” at Silloways’ Sugarhouse, and a special event with Los Lorcas at Chandler. Details will be posted soon!
Monday April 9 — Dinner with Two Poets — Major Jackson and his wife Didi Jackson will read from their work at the Black Krim Tavern, 21 Merchants Row. Dinner at 6 PM will be followed by a reading at 7:00. Dinner reservations are required and can be made by calling the Tavern at 802-728-6776.
Wednesday April 11, 7 PM — Open Mic Poetry Night — Poets of all ages and abilities are encouraged to bring original poetry to share. Kimball Public Library lower level, 67 North Main Street. Light refreshments will be served.
Wednesday April 18, 7 PM — Poetry reading featuring poets Danny Dover, Geza Tatrallyay, Peggy Whiteneck and Ina Anderson, Kimball Public Library lower level, 67 North Main Street.
Thursday April 26, 7 PM — Farmer Poets in the Sugarhouse — Taylor Katz of Free Verse Farm, Toby Bashaw, and other local farmers whose lives are enriched by poetry will read original work at Silloway Maple, 1303 Boudro Road, Randolph Center. Sweet treats and farm products will be for sale.
Ongoing throughout the month of April — A walking tour of more than 100 poems displayed in downtown storefronts and organizations.
Ina Anderson grew up in Cumbria, England. She has now lived in Sharon, Vermont, for many years. Her poems have appeared in several publications, including the anthology Perhaps It Was the Pie. Her first poetry collection, Journey Into Space, was published by Antrim House in 2017. She runs a poetry radio show, Wordstream, on Royalton Community Radio, and leads poetry workshops at Seven Stars Arts Center in Sharon.
Danny Dover’s poems have appeared in various journals including Oberon, Himalayan Journal, Blueline, and Bloodroot. He was a 2013 Pushcart nominee. Danny’s first full-length book of poetry, Tasting Precious Metal (Antrim House Books), was published in 2014 and a chapbook, Kindness Soup, Thankful Tea, came out in 2006. Danny is a retired Dartmouth College piano technician. Suspecting that his social studies teacher never read term papers, Danny once handed in the same paper twice and received a higher grade the second time.
Didi Jackson — Didi Jackson’s poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Ploughshares,The Common, and Water~Stone Review among other publications. Her manuscript, Almost Animal, (now Killing Jar) was a finalist for the Alice James Book Award, the Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize by Persea Books, and the Autumn House Press first book award. Didi’s first collection of poems, Killing Jar,is forthcoming from Red Hen Press. Her chapbook, Slag and Fortune, was published by Floating Wolf Quarterly (2013). Currently, she teaches Poetry and the Visual Arts, 20th c. Poetry of War and Witness, and Creative Writing at the University of Vermont and serves as the poetry editor for Green Mountains Review.
Photo by Erin Patrice O’Brien
Major Jackson is the author of four collections of poetry including Roll Deep which won the 2016 Vermont Book Award. He is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, among other honors. He is the University Distinguished Professor at the University of Vermont and serves as Poetry Editor of The Harvard Review.
Taylor Mardis Katz is a poet and a poet for hire. Her poems have appeared in print and online journals, on the radio, and in various other ephemera. Armed with a MFA in Creative Writing from San Diego State University, she writes poems for herself and others from the comfort of her own Chelsea, VT homestead, as well as at local hootenannies. With her husband, she runs Free Verse Farm & Apothecary, a small herb farm specializing in farm-grown herbal products.
Geza Tatrallyay — Born in Budapest, Geza escaped with his family in 1956 during the Hungarian Revolution, immigrating to Canada. He graduated with a BA from Harvard in 1972, and, as a Rhodes Scholar, obtained a BA/MA from Oxford in 1974, completing his studies with a MSc from London School of Economics in 1975. Geza’s professional experience has included stints in government, international finance and environmental entrepreneurship. He is the author of several thrillers and memoirs, as well as two published collections of poetry (CELLO’S TEARS and SIGHS AND MURMURS) and is currently working on a third (EXTINCTION). He currently divides his time between Vermont and San Francisco.
Peggy Rose Whiteneck has been writing poetry for most of her life. Over the years, her work has appeared in a few national journals that are dedicated to disciplines ranging from the literary arts to theology. She is the author of the poetry collection From These Earthly Parts (Old Line Publishing/Maple Creek Media, 2010).