Mass Poetry Festival

May 13-16
Event Date: 
Thursday, May 13, 2021 - 8:00am to Sunday, May 16, 2021 - 8:00pm

 

 

Mass Poetry Announces the 2021 Massachusetts Poetry Festival


Mass Poetry will be holding the Massachusetts Poetry Festival from May 13-16, with some
preview events transpiring earlier in May. Readings, performances, and workshops will take
place virtually at festival.masspoetry.org, with select, limited exhibitions occurring in person in

Salem, MA. The event is open to the public, with tickets available by suggested donation or pay-
what-you-can, and free to students.

This much-anticipated return marks the first Festival since its 10-year anniversary celebration in
Salem, MA in 2018. The 2021 Festival—now a biennial event—showcases an all-star roster of
poets from across the Commonwealth and the country. More than 50 events in total feature 100+
poets. Headline poets include highly acclaimed Guggenheim Foundation Award recipient
Naomi Shihab Nye, Pulitzer Prize winner Tyehimba Jess, international bestselling author Lang
Leav, and American Book Award winner Martín Espada, as well as Victoria Chang, Jos
Charles, Khadijah Queen, Patricia Spears Jones, Ariana Reines, Dara Wier and more.
The Festival will feature many community-inspired events proposed by writers across
Massachusetts and beyond. These include poetry readings, workshops, panels, and performances
as well as unique events pairing poetry with dance, music, and yoga. An online ekphrastic
gallery will premiere at the Festival, pairing the work of Montserrat College of Art students with
poetry. Leading up to the Festival will be a headliner workshop series, an online “shelfie”
campaign, and a series of workshops in collaboration with the Poetry Coalition and the Peabody
Essex Museum. Headliner Martín Espada says of the Festival “This gathering of poets is timely
and necessary. Poets still have something to say in a world wracked by crisis.”
The Festival Student Day of Poetry is returning bigger and better than ever before as a series of
workshops in the weeks leading up to the Festival. These students will participate in creative
workshops with headlining and local poets, with a record 500 students anticipated to attend.
“Teachers and students are hungry for poetry and eager for experiences that can expand the
classroom beyond Zoom. The Festival SDOP is a way to respond to both of those longings in the
midst of a really tough year,” says Erica Charis-Molling, Education Director at Mass Poetry. The
virtual Festival will also include a special series of “Teacher Track” events, which will serve as
the first part of Mass Poetry’s annual teacher training programming and award participating MA
teachers Professional Development Points through the MA Department of Education.
About Mass Poetry:
Founded in 2008 with the launch of the inaugural Massachusetts Poetry Festival, Mass Poetry
envisions a world where poetry catalyzes connection and understanding. From our in-school
poetry residencies to our innovative community programs, we aim to build a vibrant, inclusive community that lifts all voices. In 2021 and beyond, Mass Poetry will serve as an arts-partner-in-residence at the soon-to-open Center for Creative Writing in Boston’s Seaport in partnership with GrubStreet and Porter Square Books. Learn more at www.masspoetry.org.


 

May 13 – 16, 2021  

Select Events 

Group Readings 

❖ Bridging the Atlantic; the Future of African Poetry 

❖ Ecopoetry: Words in Balance 

❖ AAWW Presents: New Pacific Islander Poetry Workshops 

❖ Art in Plain Sight: Writing in Response to Massachusetts Murals 

❖ The Muse of the Cards: Tarot and Poetry ❖ To Play is to Collaborate is to Queer: A Workshop 

❖ Music and Poetry Event with Kaia Kater & Sadie Dupuis ❖ State of Poetry featuring Tyehimba Jess, Jennifer Benka and more 

❖ Online Ekphrastic Art Gallery Premiere work by Monsterrat Students, paired with poetry 

❖ The Small Press Fair, highlighting and supporting independent booksellers in uncertain times 

❖ Exploring Poetry Through Yoga with Linda Spolidoro ❖ Poetry and Dance, in collaboration with Salem State 

Sample Festival Programming  Headlining Readings 

❖ Boston Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola will open for headliners Naomi Shihab Nye and Tyehimba Jess, sponsored by The Grolier Poetry Book Shop 

❖ Reading with Ariana Reines and Patricia Spears Jones sponsored by The Shipman Agency 

❖ Reading with Lang Leav and Dara Wier 

❖ Reading with Victoria Chang and Khadijah Queen ❖ Readings with Martín Espada and Jos Charles 

Additional Programming 

Shelfie contest on social media, engaging  

Festival attendees 

Poetry and Pets an Open Mic and Poetry  

Reading focused on pets, partnering with  

MSPCA 

“Called Back” A Virtual Emily Dickinson  

Poetry Walk 

2020 Re-do A ceremony to honor poets  

who were literary winners or finalists in  

2020 and whose celebration ceremonies  

were cancelled or overshadowed due to  

Covid-19

Panels 

❖ Q&A with Jay Deshpande, Sponsored by Kundiman 

❖ Youth Poet Laureate Legacy Event 

❖ Veteran Poets Reading Veteran Poets 

For Students and Teachers 

❖ Student Day of Poetry 500+ students particpating in virtual workshops leading up to the Festival with headlining poets 

❖ The Teacher Track sessions will serve as the first part of Mass Poetry’s annual Teacher Summer Institute. Participation accrues four hours towards PDPs issued by the MA Department of Education or towards a Mass Poetry certificate of 

completion. 

Prior to the Festival 

Peabody Essex Museum Gallery  

Residencies 

❖ Sundry Acts of Witchcraft: Youth Writing Workshop with Jennifer Martelli 

❖ Salem’s Stories, Salem’s Words: Workshop with Jack Giaour 

❖ Write to Me: Workshop with Kirun Kapur Poetry and Environmental Justice  (with the Poetry Coalition) 

❖ Listening Under Water: A Generative Poetry Workshop with Elizabeth Bradfield 

❖ What the [Waters] Have Made Us: Workshop with Eleni Sikelianos and Lucía Hinojosa Gaxiola (in collaboration with the PEM) 

❖ Living Waters: Workshop with devorah major and Everett Hoagland 

Find out more about the 2021 Massachusetts Poetry Festival at festival.masspoetry.org