Cambridge Common Writers

Writing by Ear: Incorporating the Poetic, with Michael Mercurio
2021-02-06 09:30 - 12:30 (America/New_York) | Online Event
Every writer—no matter how accomplished they may be—feels the pressure of finding the right words to invigorate their manuscripts, to tell stories that resonate with readers and that linger for a long time. In this half-day workshop, writers will explore how the origins of words we use and the sounds of them can enhance their writing across any and all genres. Incorporating these poetic sensibilities into your work can help to create meaning you didn’t know was there and to get your work to stand out when it crosses an editor’s desk. This workshop will include a brief history lesson on the peculiarities of the English language, an opportunity to discuss some tried-and-true strategies for using words as springboards for inspiration, and plenty of time to write.

Memoirs of a Black Girl - Q & A with The Boston Globe
2021-02-08 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
Join The Boston Globe‘s Black History Month Film Festival in a virtual screening and discussion of Thato Mwosa’s (WSS, June 2017) first narrative feature, Memoirs of a Black Girl.

Memoirs of a Black Girl is a Coming-of-Age feature drama that explores the lives of diverse urban students in an underserved High School in Roxbury, MA. The protagonist, Aisha Johnson, a young black girl who epitomizes “black girl magic,” is one of four city-wide finalists for a prestigious college scholarship. In order to win the award, Aisha must outperform the other candidates. Under normal circumstances, these things would prove easy for Aisha, whose academic history has shown nothing but excellence. But these aren’t normal circumstances. Aisha’s world is turned upside down when she reports on the school’s resident “it girls,” for smoking weed in the bathroom at school. Aisha is targeted for being a “snitch.” She must learn not only to navigate the challenging obstacles but to survive while keeping her eyes on the prize.

Poetry Reading and Party -- Jennifer LeBlanc's "Descent"
2021-02-14 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
Hosted by Kristina LeBlanc, join Jennifer for a reading and celebration of her debut poetry collection. Please email or message Jennifer for the Zoom link and password at msjennleblanc@gmail.com.

The R-Word: How Racism Spread Across the Nation - featuring Jason Reynolds
2021-02-23 16:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York) | Online Event
Best-selling author and Lesley University MFA in Creative Writing faculty Jason Reynolds (WFYP, MFA Writing Faculty) is Lesley University’s Black History Month speaker. He will read from and discuss his latest book, “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You,” followed by a Q&A session.

The Crime Plays - A Film Noir Tribute for the Stage
2021-02-26 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Online Event
Featuring 10-minute Plays by:Sandra CruzeWendy Ewan (WSS, June 2018)Sabrina HillKen LevineAnthony LeyvaJohn MabeyMartha PattersonEric Henry SandersRegister soon because space is limited.

In Conversation with A.J. Verdelle and Fred Joiner
2021-02-28 15:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
Join Cambridge Common Writers for readings and conversation with A.J. Verdelle (Fiction, MFA Writing Faculty), author of The Good Negress and winner of the Vursell Distinguished Fiction Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Whiting Award in fiction, the Bunting Fellowship, the NEA Critical Studies Award, a finalist for PEN/Faulkner Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the IMPAC/Dublin International Book Prize.

Joining her will be Fred Joiner (Poetry, June 2015), the Poet Laureate of Carrboro, NC and a 2019 Academy of American Poets Poets Laureate Fellow, the Board Chair of the Orange County Arts Commission Artists Advisory Board and a Board member of the American Poetry Museum and Arch Development Corporation.

We will hear a brief reading from each author, followed by a conversation about their work and writing lives, and then a short Q&A session with the audience.

Reading in The Loom Reading Series with Kevin Prufer
2021-02-28 16:30 - 17:30 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
On Sunday, February 28th at 4:30pm, the Toadstool Bookshop and the Loom Poetry Series will host a live, online reading from three poets, Kevin Prufer (Poetry, MFA Writing Faculty), Angela Narciso Torres, and Reginald Gibbons, to celebrate the release of their new books from Four Way Books. This event will be free and open to the public and will offer an opportunity for readers to listen to and discuss new, contemporary poetry.

The Loom Poetry Series is a Harrisville-based initiative to highlight and celebrate the best in contemporary poetry. They will be presenting these three contemporary poets, all published by Four Ways Books, to celebrate these releases.

2021 Lampeter Society Talk: A Shock of Recognition; How Lampeter Became My Welsh Hometown -- an online talk with Pamela Petro
2021-03-01 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
Pamela Petro (Creative Nonfiction; Graphic Novel & Comics, MFA Writing Faculty) will be reading from and talking about her new book, The Long Field. The talk will center around how a small Welsh market town–Lampeter–became the second hometown of a suburban-raised American of German and Hungarian descent.

18th Annual Saints and Sinners Literary Festival -- Michael Lowenthal
2021-03-11 00:00 - 2021-03-14 23:59 (America/New_York) | Online Event
Michael Lowenthal (Fiction, MFA Writing Faculty) will be one of the speakers at the 2021 Annual Saints and Sinners Literary Festival. Events will be entirely virtual, and there is no registration fee.

The Saints and Sinners Literary Festival was founded in 2003 as a new initiative designed as an innovative way to reach the community with information about HIV/AIDS, particularly disseminating prevention messages via the writers, thinkers and spokes-people of the LGBTQ+ community. It was also formed to bring the LGBTQ+ literary community together to celebrate the literary arts.

The Festival has grown into an internationally-recognized event that brings together a who’s who of LGBTQ+ publishers, writers and readers from throughout the United States and beyond. The Festival, held over 3 days each spring at the Hotel Monteleone in the New Orleans French Quarter, features panel discussions and master classes around literary topics that provide a forum for authors, editors and publishers to talk about their work for the benefit of emerging writers and the enjoyment of fans of LGBTQ+ literature.

What The Universe Is: Featuring Kenzie Allen and Jon D. Lee
2021-03-11 19:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
Join Kenzie Allen, Jon D. Lee (Poetry, January 2017), and Michael Mercurio (Poetry, January 2017) for the continuation of the reading series, “What The Universe Is,” as they engage in conversation both through and about poetry and other modes of creative expression.

E.A. Luetkemeyer reads from his novel "Penitentiary Tales: A Love Story"
2021-03-12 20:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
E. A. Luetkemeyer reads from his vivid and engaging novel, Penitentiary Tales: A Love Story

An informal book reading by the author, followed by a conversation with Ginna Gordon and questions from participants.

This event will be hosted on Zoom. Participant audio and video will be muted.

Penitentiary Tales: A Love Story recounts the escapades of Dean Davis, a thirty-something, educated, straight white male from the affluent community of Sausalito, in Marin County, California, who is sent to an Illinois prison dominated by a daunting, ethnically diverse population of inmates from the mean streets of Chicago.

How does he do his time? What challenges does he meet?

Addressing issues of race and gender in America, Penitentiary Tales: A Love Story is at once a serious inquiry into the minds and hearts of the marginalized and the oppressed and a bit of a romp. It will appeal to adventurous and intelligent readers of all persuasions who appreciate a literary walk on the wild side.

Virtual Author Event with YA author David Elliott, The Seventh Raven
2021-03-16 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Online Event
Gibson’s Bookstore will be hosting David Elliott (WFYP, MFA Writing Faculty) for a virtual event as he presents his latest novel in verse, The Seventh Raven, a retelling of the Grimms’ fairytale of the same name.

Best-selling author David Elliott examines the timeless themes of balance, transformation, and restoration in this evocative tale about a girl who will stop at nothing to reverse a curse that turned her seven brothers into ravens. Elliott’s retelling explores the unintended consequences of our actions, no matter our intentions. Stunning black-and-white illustrations throughout by Rovina Cai.

David Elliott is a New York Times best-selling children’s author whose recent works include Bull and Voices, both novels in verse for teens. Born in Ohio, David has worked as a singer, a cucumber washer, and a popsicle stick maker. Currently, he lives in New Hampshire with his wife and a three-footed dog. davidelliottbooks.com

Imagine More: A Speculative Poetry Craft and Writing Workshop with Heather Hughes
2021-03-20 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Online Event
The speculative – everything from alternate histories and futures to space travel to epic fantasies – is deeply embedded in poetry. Imagination and curiosity, the heart of speculative genres, can guide us in creating poetry and in reinventing the world around us.

In this one hour workshop, we’ll read sample poems, discuss strategies for writing speculative poetry, and begin poem notes or drafts with a generative prompt. No prior poetry experience is necessary to attend.

heather hughes is a poet and letterpress printer with a lifelong love for sci-fi, fantasy, surrealism, and speculative art. She was recently awarded a 2021 Artist Fellowship by the Somerville Arts Council.

Tiny Turns Paperie is partnering with heather to produce this class.

Workshop Fee – $5

Add-On a notebook from Tiny Turns for $15!

Show your registration ticket with add-on purchase at Tiny Turns Paperie to select a Leuchtturm1917 Medium (A5) Hardcover Notebook and enjoy 10% off on any purchases on that day.

My City of Dreams -- Lisa Gruenberg
2021-03-22 19:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
Join Lisa Gruenberg (Nonfiction, June 2007) as she speaks virtually about her memoir, My City of Dreams, through Temple Concord in Syracuse, NY.

In this carefully researched and hauntingly written memoir, Lisa Gruenberg records not only her own life, but also that of relatives long lost to darkness, terror, and murder. In dreamlike sequences she weaves known facts of the lives of those lost into tableaus of imagined family dinners, conversations, and leisure activities set in the Vienna landscape. She embodies her aunt Mia as she walks in her shoes, sees with her eyes, and speaks with her voice. These flights into the past are presented within the framework of Gruenberg’s own family, her husband and daughters, and her father. He escaped from Vienna in 1939 and shared few of his memories with her, and those only late in life.

The trauma and feelings of guilt often described in Holocaust survivors is reflected in this memoir, also the burden shared by so many of their children and grandchildren. At the same time, this tale is one of lightness and finding balance. My City of Dreams is an important landmark in 21st century testimony of the Holocaust. Read an excerpt from the book.

—Sabine Hildebrandt, author of Anatomy of a Murder: Ethical Transgressions and Anatomical Science during the Third Reich

Michael Lowenthal & Christopher Castellani author talk: Sex with Strangers
2021-03-24 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
A book discussion with Michael Lowenthal (Fiction, MFA Writing Faculty) in conversation with Christopher Castellani on Lowenthal’s new story collection. Participants will be able to purchase books signed by the author. See the event page for details.

Sex with Strangers is a fiercely honest exploration of the risks and rewards of contemporary relationships—and hookups. The collection embraces the dizzying power of attraction across the spectrum of passion and infatuation. In this fearless collection, lust and loneliness drive a diverse cast of queer and straight characters into sometimes precarious entanglements.

Recognizing that any partner is unknowable on some level, Michael Lowenthal writes about how intimacy can make strangers of us all. A newly ordained priest struggles with guilt and longing when he runs into his ex-girlfriend. A woman weighs the cost of protecting her daughter from a man they both adore. A teenage busboy has a jolting brush with a famous musician. A young man tries to salvage a long-distance relationship while caring for his mentor, an erotic writer dying of AIDS.

In edgy, disquieting stories, Lowenthal traces the paths that attraction and erotic encounters take, baffling and rueful as often as electrifying. This fraught and funny volume forces us to grapple with our own subconscious desires and question how well we can ever really know ourselves.

Michael Lowenthal is the author of four novels: Charity Girl, The Paternity Test, Avoidance, and The Same Embrace. He lives in Roslindale and teaches in the MFA in Creative Writing program at Lesley University.

Moderator Christopher Castellani is the author of five books, most recently the novel Leading Men. He is the artistic director of GrubStreet.

Write Over Here with Ella Nathanael Alkiewicz
2021-03-26 18:30 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
Join Faculty and Participants from the Write Over Here Rezidency as they share excerpts from their work. This is the first night of two, where different people will share. Ella Nathanael Alkiewicz (Nonfiction, June 2018) will be one of the readers featured.

Virtual Fridays Dire Series with Steven Cramer
2021-03-27 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
Join Steven Cramer (Poetry, MFA Writing Faculty) as a featured reader for Timothy Gager’s Virtual Fridays Dire Literary Series. Events can be viewed on live stream at the Virtual Fridays Dire Literary Series Group on Facebook. All feature segments will be uploaded to YouTube afterwards.

Virtual Book Launch with Andrea Wang & Jason Chin
2021-03-30 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Online Event
Join Second Star to celebrate the launch of WATERCRESS with award-winning local author, Andrea Wang (WFYP, June 2011), and illustrator, Jason Chin!

Andrea Wang is the award-winning author of The Nian Monster and Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando. She was inspired to write Watercress by her experience growing up in rural Ohio as a child of Chinese immigrants. Andrea holds an M.S. in Environmental Science and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing for Young People. She lives in Colorado with her family.

Jason Chin is a celebrated author and illustrator of children’s books. His book Grand Canyon was awarded a Caldecott Honor, a Sibert Honor, and the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award. He is the author and illustrator of Your Place in the Universe, as well as other acclaimed nonfiction titles—Coral Reefs, Redwoods, Gravity, and Island: A Story of the Galapagos—which have received numerous starred reviews and other accolades. He lives in Vermont with his wife and children.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Gathering watercress by the side of the road brings a girl closer to her family’s Chinese Heritage.

Driving through Ohio in an old Pontiac, a young girl’s parents stop suddenly when they spot watercress growing wild in a ditch by the side of the road. Grabbing an old paper bag and some rusty scissors, the whole family wades into the muck to collect as much of the muddy, snail covered watercress as they can. At first, she’s embarrassed. Why can’t her family get food from the grocery store? But when her mother shares a story of her family’s time in China, the girl learns to appreciate the fresh food they foraged. Together, they make a new memory of watercress. Andrea Wang tells a moving autobiographical story of a child of immigrants discovering and connecting with her heritage, illustrated by award winning author and artist Jason Chin, working in an entirely new style, inspired by Chinese painting techniques. An author’s note in the back shares Andrea’s childhood experience with her parents.

Sex with Strangers w/ Michael Lowenthal at East End Books Ptown
2021-03-31 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
A fiercely honest exploration of the risks and rewards of contemporary relationships,Sex with Strangers embraces the dizzying power of attraction across the spectrum of sexuality and infatuation. In this fearless collection, lust and loneliness drive a diverse cast of queer and straight characters into sometimes precarious entanglements. Recognizing that any partner is unknowable on some level, Michael Lowenthal (Fiction, MFA Writing Faculty) stretches what it means to be with a stranger and to have to navigate happiness, loss, and regret. A newly ordained priest struggles with guilt and longing when he runs into his ex-girlfriend. A woman weighs the cost of protecting her daughter from a man they both adore. A teenage busboy has a jolting brush with a famous musician. A young man tries to salvage a long-distance relationship while caring for his mentor, an erotic writer dying of AIDS.

In edgy, disquieting stories, Michael Lowenthal traces the paths that attraction and erotic encounters take, baffling and rueful as often as electrifying. This fraught and funny collection forces us to grapple with our own subconscious desires and question how well we can ever really know ourselves.

Michael Lowenthal is the author of four novels:The Same Embrace, Avoidance, Charity Girl, andThe Paternity Test. He lives in Boston.

In conversation with Michael Lowenthal and Bill Lychack
2021-04-01 19:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | Online Event
Michael Lowenthal (Fiction, MFA Writing Faculty) will feature in White Whale’s virtual events series for his latest, Sex with Strangers. He’ll be joined by local author and professor, William Lychack, author of Cargill Falls, for a reading.

Michael Lowenthal is the author of four novels: The Same Embrace, Avoidance, Charity Girl, and The Paternity Test. His short stories and essays have appeared in Tin House, Ploughshares, the Southern Review, the Kenyon Review, the New York Times Magazine, True Story, Guernica, and The Rumpus, and have been widely anthologized. The recipient of fellowships from the Bread Loaf and Wesleyan writers’ conferences, the MacDowell Colony, and the Mass Cultural Council, Lowenthal has taught creative writing at Boston College and Hampshire College, and as the Picador Guest Professor for Literature at Leipzig University. Since 2003, he has been a faculty member in the low-residency MFA in Creative Writing program at Lesley University.

William Lychack is the author of Cargill Falls, The Wasp Eater, and The Architect of Flowers, and his work has appeared in The Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize, The Best Small Fictions, and on public radio’s This American Life. He currently teaches at the University of Pittsburgh, where he is Director of the Graduate Writing Program.

Michael Lowenthal in conversation with Stephen McCauley
2021-04-06 20:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
Boswell presents an evening with writer Michael Lowenthal (Fiction, MFA Writing Faculty), author of Avoidance, The Paternity Test, and now Sex with Strangers: Stories. For this event, Lowenthal will be in conversation with Stephen McCauley, author of My Ex-Life.

Recognizing that any partner is unknowable on some level, Michael Lowenthal writes about how intimacy can make strangers of us all. A newly ordained priest struggles with guilt and longing when he runs into his ex-girlfriend. A woman weighs the cost of protecting her daughter from a man they both adore. A young man tries to salvage a long-distance relationship while caring for his mentor, an erotic writer dying of AIDS.

In edgy, disquieting stories, Lowenthal traces the paths that attraction and erotic encounters take, baffling and rueful as often as electrifying. This fraught and funny volume forces us to grapple with our own subconscious desires and question how well we can ever really know ourselves.

Purchase your copy of Sex with Strangers at https://www.boswellbooks.com/book/9780299332648

Finnegan Lecture with National Book Award finalist Candice Iloh ’17
2021-04-07 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Online Event
Lesley University’s 2021 Evelyn M. Finnegan Children’s Literature Lecture Series speaker is Nigerian-American writer and dancer Candice Iloh. A 2017 graduate of Lesley’s MFA Program in Creative Writing for Young People, Candice is a fitting choice for this well-regarded lecture series. Their first novel, “Every Body Looking,” was a 2021 Printz Award Honoree and a finalist for a 2020 National Book Award. Named in honor of the noted children’s book author, the lecture brings to the Lesley community renowned authors and artists recognized for excellence in the children’s literature genre. The university and the Finnegan family are proud to welcome this distinguished alumna artist back to Lesley for the first-ever virtual Finnegan lecture.

Candice Iloh is a first-generation Nigerian-American writer and dancer from the Midwest by way of Washington, D.C., and Brooklyn, New York. They are a graduate of Howard University and the Rhode Island Writers Colony. They received her MFA in Creative Writing for Young People at Lesley in 2017. Their work has earned them fellowships from Lambda Literary and VONA and a residency with Hi-ARTS where they debuted their first one-person show. A 2020 National Book Award Finalist and 2021 Printz Award Honoree, “Every Body Looking” is their first novel.

Author Talk with Dr. Lisa Gruenberg
2021-04-08 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Online Event
Join Lisa Gruenberg (Nonfiction, June 2007) for a virtual event at the Temple Adas Israel in Sag Harbor, NY as she talks about her recently published memoir, My City of Dreams.

What The Universe Is: Boston Gordon and Tommy Archuleta
2021-04-08 20:00 - 21:30 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
Boston Gordon (Poetry, January 2015) is a poet and visual designer living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They run the You Can’t Kill A Poet reading series – which highlights queer and trans identified writers in Philadelphia. Boston earned their MFA in Poetry through Lesley University. They received a Leeway Foundation Art & Change grant in 2017. They have previously been published in such places as Tinderbox, PRISM International, Guernica and American Poetry Review.

Tommy Archuleta is a mental health counselor and substance abuse counselor for the New Mexico Corrections Department. Most recently his work has appeared in the New England Review, Guesthouse, Snapdragon, El Palacio, and the Poem-a-Day series sponsored by the Academy of American Poets. He lives and writes on the Cochiti Reservation.

This Zoom reading is free and open to the public.

Watercress: Story Time with Andrea Wang and Jason Chin
2021-04-10 11:00 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Online Event
Join us for a special story time with Andrea Wang (WFYP, June 2011) and Jason Chin to celebrate the release of their new picture book, Watercress!

Andrea Wang tells a moving autobiographical story of a child of immigrants discovering and connecting with her heritage, illustrated by award winning author and artist Jason Chin, working in an entirely new style, inspired by Chinese painting techniques. An author’s note in the back shares Andrea’s childhood experience with her parents.

Andrea Wang is the award-winning author of The Nian Monster and Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando. She was inspired to write Watercress by her experience growing up in rural Ohio as a child of Chinese immigrants. Andrea holds an M.S. in Environmental Science and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing for Young People. She lives in Colorado with her family.

Jason Chin is a celebrated author and illustrator of children’s books. His book Grand Canyon was awarded a Caldecott Honor, a Sibert Honor, and the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award. He is the author and illustrator of Your Place in the Universe, which Kirkus called “A stimulating outing to the furthest reaches of our knowledge”, as well as other acclaimed nonfiction titles—Coral Reefs, Redwoods, Gravity, and Island: A Story of the Galapagos—which have received numerous starred reviews and other accolades. He lives in Vermont with his wife and children.

Poetry Reading -- Jennifer LeBlanc's "Descent"
2021-04-12 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
Jennifer LeBlanc (Poetry, June 2012) earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Lesley University. Descent is her first full-length book, and individual poems have been published in journals such as The Adirondack Review, CAIRN, The Main Street Rag, and Melusine. Jennifer was nominated for a 2013 Pushcart Prize and works in the English Department at Tufts University.

The MSU Filmetry Festival: Voices Amidst the Virus: Poets Respond to the Pandemic
2021-04-14 19:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Online Event
The MSU Filmetry Festival is an annual collaborative art-making endeavor that pairs filmmakers with poets to create exciting new pieces of work. Now entering its 3rd year, co-founders Cindy Hunter Morgan and Pete Johnston are thrilled to once again invite filmmakers to synthesize and adapt poetic work into film. Their hope is that through this collaboration, both artistic partners can witness not just an adaptation of a written piece into audiovisual media, but the transformation of the original piece into something wholly new.

This year, the poems will be selected from the newly published anthology Voices Amidst the Virus: Poets Respond to the Pandemic, edited by Eileen Cleary (Poetry, June 2016) and Christine Jones (Poetry, January 2014). 20 filmmakers will be invited to partner with poets to create their new work.

The Ecstasy of Influence: A Seminar and Workshop with Steven Cramer
2021-04-15 18:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
In this workshop, led by poet and professor Steven Cramer (Poetry, MFA Writing Faculty), some of the great poetic influences (think John Keats and Wallace Stevens, or Emily Dickinson and Adrienne Rich) will be explored and two prompts will be provided to inspire you to invite influence into your work. Steven Cramer’s sixth poetry collection, Listen, was published in 2020 by MadHat Press. He founded and now teaches in the Low-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

The Writers Place with Kevin Prufer, Wayne Miller, and Katie Manning
2021-04-16 20:00 - 21:00 (America/New_York) | Online Zoom Event
Kevin Prufer (Poetry, MFA Writing Faculty) is the author of seven books of poetry and the editor of numerous anthologies, the most recent of which is How He Loved Them (Four Way Books), winner of the Julie Suk Award and long-listed for the 2019 Pulitzer Prize. Prufer is also Co-Curator of the Unsung Masters Series, and Professor in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston. Among Prufer’s awards and honors are four Pushcart prizes and multiple Best American Poetry selections, numerous awards from the Poetry Society of America, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Lannan Foundation.

Brookline Poetry Series with Steven Cramer and Nathan McClain
2021-04-18 14:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Online Event
Steven Cramer’s (Poetry, MFA Writing Faculty) sixth poetry collection, Listen, was published in 2020 by MadHat Press. He is the author of five previous collections, most recently Clangings (2012) and Goodbye to the Orchard (2004), which won the Sheila Motton Prize from the New England Poetry Club and was named an Honor Book in Poetry by the Massachusetts Center for the Book. Recipient of two grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, he founded and teaches in the Low-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing at Lesley University.

Nathan McClain is the author of Scale (Four Way Books, 2017), a recipient of fellowships from Sewanee Writers’ Conference, The Frost Place, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, and a graduate of MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson. His poems and prose have recently appeared in Poetry Northwest, Zocalo Public Square, Green Mountains Review, Poem-a-Day, The Common, and The Critical Flame. He teaches at Hampshire College.
