This essay was first heard as a radio essay on the “Sunrise” program of WUML, 92.5 FM, at UMass Lowell. Executive producer Chris Dunlap assembled writers in the area for the daily essay, a popular component of the morning public affairs show with a daily essay by writers from the…
This article first appeared in Merrimack Valley Magazine (Nov/Dec, 2020). “Oh, Babe, What Would You Say?”: A Holiday Mosaic Painting by Vassilios Giavis, reprinted from Merrimack Valley Magazine. St. Patrick’s Day, 1986, Liberty Hall (Merrimack Rep Theatre) in Lowell Memorial Auditorium. Benefit reading for a new organization pledged to…
Joe Blair grew up in Westford, Mass., and now lives in Iowa. He is the author of By the Iowa Sea: A Memoir, a story about a family in a small town which Oprah’s magazine “O” described this way: “so raw and true you’ll gasp.” On his Facebook page, Joe…
Our regular contributor from Alaska, Tom Sexton, sent us a new poem that shines a light in the darkness in these days that are getting shorter, with the news often disturbing. As he wrote on Sunday, October 24th, “At least the Pats won.” We need every and any reason to…
Hosted by Mark Bohrer, Poet Laureate of North Andover, and North Andover Poets Corner, the Powow River Poets will read from their work on Tuesday, August 17, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m., outdoors at the Stevens Estate at 723 Osgood Street, North Andover. The Powow River Poets is a group of…
That’s a lot of “l’s” in the headline. Lowell has a new bookstore, “lala books,” named for owners Laura and Greg LaMarre Anderson. They worked with local real estate consultants at The Edge Group to get established at 189 Market Street close to the city parking garage. The bright interior,…
Fred Woods of Cambridge, Mass., and places farther west in America is a past contributor to this blog. He has a poem in issue #1 of The Lowell Review. A media producer, lawyer, sailor, sports fan, and veteran of the Paul Tsongas political campaigns, Fred is married to Nancy Bellows…
Fresh off the writing table at the Tom Sexton base camp in Alaska, here’s a poem that Tom says is exact in each detail. He and his wife, Sharyn, recently did a road trip from Anchorage to Fairbanks to Delta Junction and around to Lake Louise. Like Robert Frost picking…
Eric Linder’s new book is The Blue in the Eye of the Girl at La Jolla: New & Selected Poems. His work has appeared in Harvard Magazine, The Quarterly, and The Annual of Light Verse and Funny Poems. He has owned Yellow Umbrella Books in Chatham, Mass., on Cape Cod…
For my fellow Lowell, Mass., nerds, please note the fabulous cover on this new collection of poems by the late Michael McClure. The editor is Garrett Caples of the City Lights Books team in San Francisco, who has roots in Lowell. Here’s what he writes about the cover: “When [Michael]…