The Gloucester Writers Center is a place for working writers in a working town
The publication of Michael Casey's latest book, There It Is: New & Selected Poems, has been called "an event to celebrate" (Edward Field). The winner of the 1972 Yale Younger Poets Prize for his stunning collection of Vietnam War poems titled Obscenities, Casey is the author of several collections, including Millrat and Check Points. […]
Ben Berman’s first book, Strange Borderlands, won the 2014 Peace Corps Award for Best Book of Poetry and was a finalist for the Massachusetts Book Awards. His second collection, Figuring in the Figure, is recently out from Able Muse Press. He has received awards from the New England Poetry Club and fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and Somerville […]
FISH TALES With Maureen Aylward Birth It's all about creation. Friday, September 15th 7:30 Cultural Center at Rocky Neck 6 Wonson Street East Gloucester $10 Donation – no one turned away due to lack of funds In partnership with the North Shore Postpartum Task Force
“Memoirs of Places & Phrases” with Kate Tarlow Morgan Kate Tarlow Morgan is a choreographer, NEST (New England States Touring) Artist, and grateful artist-in-residence at Gloucester Writers Center. She is editor-in-chief of Currents Journal for the Body-Mind Centering Association, and editorial consultant for Lost & Found Poetics Document Initiative at C.U.N.Y-Center for Humanities. As […]
Monthly Meeting on Mondays -7:00 - 9:00 pm Carl Jung spent his lifetime exploring the relationship of our individual existence to the Grand Cosmology of the world around us. He addressed simple questions which are still being asked today. What is our relationship to ourselves, to others and to the world of nature […]
College Essay Program Training Night Every Fall, the Gloucester Writers Center organizes volunteers to go into Gloucester High School to help seniors with their college essays. You do not necessarily need to be a writer, but good reading and editing skills are a plus. The volunteers sit in the high school library, and students come […]
Each reader gets five minutes. Bring your words. Get heard!
Writing Through Preston Hood and Dorothy Shubow Nelson will read from their recent poems in response to each other's work, and share a few of Vincent Ferrini's and Charles Olson's poems as well. Open mic and refreshments afterwards. Dorothy Shubow Nelson’s poems have appeared in Polis IV, 2014; Human Architecture VII, 2009; Consequence Vol. I, […]
Joel Dinerstein is the author of several works on the history of cool, including The Origins of Cool in Postwar America (University of Chicago, May 2017), Coach: A Study of New York Cool (Rizzoli 2016), and American Cool (2014). He was the co-curator of American Cool (2014), an acclaimed photography and cultural history exhibit at […]
Jungian Study Group Monthly Meeting on Mondays -7:00 - 9:00 pm Carl Jung spent his lifetime exploring the relationship of our individual existence to the Grand Cosmology of the world around us. He addressed simple questions which are still being asked today. What is our relationship to ourselves, to others and to the world […]
Tuesdays - 6:00 - 9:00 pm The 10-minute play format has all the elements of drama – plot, characters, dialogue and conflict. Learn how to put those elements into a short piece written specifically for the stage, for actors and for an audience. Participants will create a 10-minute play for a Festival to be […]
Robert Buckeye and Peter Anastas will read from new work in fiction and non-fiction, followed by a dialogue focusing on the writers and texts that have informed and inspired their writing and brought them to where they are now. Anastas will read from his recently completed memoir From Gloucester Out. Buckeye will read from […]
Ann Charters, noted Beat Generation scholar, photographer, and Professor Emerita at University of Connecticut, Storrs, visits Gloucester to discuss her correspondence with poet Charles Olson. Beginning in 1968 with Charters' request for Olson to reflect on his "earliest enthusiasm for Melville," and continuing until late 1969, these letters traverse the final two years of Olson's […]
Rescheduled for October 24 Anita Diamant, New York Times Bestselling Author October 24th from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. The Azorean Restaurant, 133 Washington Street, Gloucester, Massachusetts Limited Number of Tickets Available Online ONLY. $50.00 per person, includes a wide variety of delicious tapas (cash bar) Proceeds benefit the Gloucester Writers Center […]
Don Wellman's most recent publication is Albiach / Celan: Reading Across Languages (Annex Press, Spring 2017). He will read from recent translations of the work of Roberto Echavarren and Néstor Perlongher, both are crucial poets with respect to the development of experimental or neobarroco poetry from Latin America. He will also read from a new […]
Laura Harrington, award winning playwright, lyricist and librettist, winner of the 2008 Kleban Award for “most promising librettist in American Musical Theatre,” has written dozens of plays, musicals, operas and radio plays which have been produced in 28 states, Canada and Europe, in venues ranging from Off-Broadway to Houston Grand Opera to the Paris Cinemateque. […]
Be a part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! The Sawyer Free Library and the Gloucester Writers Center invite all young adults to a series of workshops to help with the process, culminating in an open-mic style reading at the Gloucester Writers Center. We will meet Mondays in the Young Adult section of the library […]
Jim Dunn is the author of SOFT LAUNCH (Bootstrap Productions), CONVENIENT HOLE (Pressed Wafer), and INSECTS IN SEX (Falling Angels Press). His work has appeared in various publications including Bright Pink Mosquito, Gerry Mulligan, Carve, No Infinite, Shampoo, EOAGH, Polis, The Battersea Review, and Jacket2 and elsewhere. He lives in Beverly, MA. Laurette Folk […]
Be a part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! The Sawyer Free Library and the Gloucester Writers Center invite all young adults to a series of workshops to help with the process, culminating in an open-mic style reading at the Gloucester Writers Center. We will meet Mondays in the Young Adult section of the […]
Gabriel Barboza was birth'd in Massachusetts - Nurtured by New Bedford / Fall River people - Had first meeting with Walt Whitman at 16 - Digs the cosmos / circles / sexes / dreams - Currently learning to breathe. Born in Salem, Paul Cultrera found his way to Gloucester in 1974. While there two books […]
Be a part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! The Sawyer Free Library and the Gloucester Writers Center invite all young adults to a series of workshops to help with the process, culminating in an open-mic style reading at the Gloucester Writers Center. We will meet Mondays in the Young Adult section of the […]
Be a part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)! The Sawyer Free Library and the Gloucester Writers Center invite all young adults to a series of workshops to help with the process, culminating in an open-mic style reading at the Gloucester Writers Center. We will meet Mondays in the Young Adult section of the […]
Danuta Borchardt’s memoir, Life behind an Author’s Works—Memoir of a Translator, subtitled How I Came to Translate Witold Gombrowicz and the Many Faces of Thom covers about twenty years of her life. It deals with the art and craft of translating the novels of Witold Gombrowicz (1904-1969), an avant-garde Polish writer, allegedly a nominee for […]
If you’re looking for something a little different to do with your Friday evening, try attending a Fish Tales; a popular, oral storytelling event, hosted by the Gloucester Writers Center. For every new Fish Tales, there is a chosen theme, and local storytellers gather to tell their tales. Whether the theme is baseball or nerds, […]
Monday, December 4: NaNoWriMo Reading at the Gloucester Writers Center Join us at 126 East Main Street for a celebration of all of our hard work. Questions? Contact AnnaKatherine Amacker at Amacker@sawyerfreelibrary.org or Amanda Cook at amanda@gloucesterwriters.org. For more NaNoWriMo resources visit nanowrimo.org.
Jungian Study Group Monthly Meeting on Mondays -7:00 – 9:00 pm Carl Jung spent his lifetime exploring the relationship of our individual existence to the Grand Cosmology of the world around us. He addressed simple questions which are still being asked today. What is our relationship to ourselves, to others and to the world […]
As the cold weather settles in, we look forward to catching up on our reading. The Gloucester Writers Center starts is on its winter break. We look forward to seeing you as we open the season with our Open Mic on February 5.
Rory O’Connor; grown and educated in the old country, he traveled the world and got shipwrecked in Gloucester, where he has lived for close to 400 years. Yes, he’s an old soul and he is very excited about his upcoming birthday in 2023. Check him out as he belly’s forth his particularly humorous view of […]
Our friend Gerrit Lansing passed away on February 11, two weeks shy of his 90th birthday. We had planned a reading to celebrate the day and have moved it from the Gloucester Writers Center to the Unitarian Universalist Church on Middle Street to make room for everyone who would like to celebrate Gerrit's life on […]
An informal get-together in Josh’s shed, the Responders take turns providing prompts and convene every Friday night to share responses and constructive critique over drinks by the fire. The get-together became a pact of “at least 52 weeks,” which has been fulfilled with this reading of selections from the past year. Organically, themes of Ward […]
Due to unforeseen circumstances this event has been postponed. We will announce a new date soon. 10 Playwrights & 10 Ten-Minute Plays. Come and join us for the 1st performance of the plays and give your feedback to the playwrights! Reception after the performance. Rocky Neck Cultural Center. $10 Suggested donation - No one turned […]
A daybook, a memoir, and a serial poem, Ironstone Whirlygig is also something else. The book began as a blog written in stolen moments--in the hours between the local closing and the sun coming up, when children and husband are asleep and the world is quiet and still enough to allow the mind to remake […]
Situ is a hesitant unfolding of demise, a text that occupies the interstices between diegetic, philosophical, and poetic discursive timbres. From this tension—which finds form in an indeterminate subject’s relationship with a bench, his anguished site of rest and motion—the subsequent flux at the center of the narrative voice facilitates a kind of epistemology of […]
Pass The Word to Veterans and The Families of Veterans Veterans Writing Workshop Resumes Thursday March 29 The Cape Ann Veterans Writing Workshop resumes this spring on Thursday March 29 and continues on Thursdays through May 3 from 10:00 a.m. until noon. This is the fifth year and tenth season of the writing workshop. […]
This event has been cancelled due to a medical emergency. We hope to be able to reschedule at a future date. *Proudly sponsored in part by Anthony and Dodge, PC, Certified Public Accountants, South Hamilton, MA. Presentation Topic: Jacquelyn’s extensive career as a writer of both fiction and nonfiction. She may also discuss her […]
Timothy Donnelly is the author of two books of poetry, Twenty-seven Props for a Production of Eine Lebenszeit, and The Cloud Corporation. Donnelly is an assistant professor and director of undergraduate creative writing at Columbia University. He is also the poetry editor for Boston Review. Donnelly is originally from Rhode Island but now lives in […]
WE HOPE TO PRESENT THIS EXCITING TRIO DURING THE SUMMER. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE. Jazz-up your Saturday night – literally! On the evening of the seventh of April, the Rocky Neck Cultural Center will be hosting a Jazz Poetry night to benefit the Gloucester Writers Center. Saxy Poetry, Jazzy Song – as the gathering […]
Visit capeannfarmersmarket.com for tickets.
Nausheen Eusuf is a PhD candidate in English at Boston University and a graduate of the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins. Her poetry has appeared in The American Scholar, Southwest Review, Salmagundi, PN Review, Literary Imagination, World Literature Today, and other journals. Her first collection of poems, Not Elegy, But Eros, was recently published by NYQ Books (US) and Bengal Lights Books […]
Joan Houlihan will be reading poems from her newly-published book, Shadow-feast, from Four Way Books. Houlihan is the author of four other books of poetry: Hand-Held Executions: Poems & Essays (2003); The Mending Worm, (which received the 2006 Green Rose Award from New Issues Press); The Us (2009), which received a Must Read distinction from […]
French poet and native Sétois Paul Valéry referred to Sète as “L’ile Singulière,” the remarkable island. George Brassens, popular singer/songwriter and poet also drew inspiration from this Mediterranean port city and its inhabitants. New Wave filmmaker Agnès Varda directed her debut film La Pointe Courte in a Sétois fishing neighborhood of the same name. In […]
Joseph Bathanti is former Poet Laureate of North Carolina (2012-14) and recipient of the 2016 North Carolina Award for Literature. He is the author of ten books of poetry, including Communion Partners; Anson County; The Feast of All Saints; This Metal, (nominated for the National Book Award, and winner of the Oscar Arnold Young Award); Land […]
Join Rosemary Haughton and Nancy Schwoyer on May 21,7:30 p.m. at the Gloucester Writers Center for a conversation about the book they are working on. The book explores through stories and theory how a small local organization, Wellspring House, became over decades a force for social justice, rooted in a shared vision and common practice. Two of the […]
Cape Ann author Sandra Williams, will read selections from her first collection of short stories. Time and Tide is an assortment of tales, speaks of change—sometimes a long time coming, sometimes in an instant, but always inevitable. The first story, “Book of Hours,” creates the frame for the rest of the tales. Helen, an American writer […]
With stories by: * Brian Orr * Phoebe Potts * Cassy Bretton * Heather Sweet * Sandra Winter * Lilly Wandwoffen * Catherine Clark
Garrison Nelson: Elliott A. Brown Green and Gold Professor of Law, Politics, and Political Behavior Department of Political Science reads from his new book on John McCormack. Before the house had Tip O'Neill, there was John McCormack. How did this man, with an eighth grade education and a false family history, become Speaker of the […]
Dale Smith explores the correspondence of Robert Duncan and Charles Olson as a pivotal moment in mid-twentieth century American writing, drawing on ideas of form and place in the making of poetry vs. what Duncan called "the mania that a nation is." Dale Smith is a poet, critic and scholar of poetry and poetics […]
Veterans and Their Families will read their stories and poems from the anthology, The Inner Voice and The Outer World, on Saturday, June 9th from 3 – 5 PM at the Cultural Center at Rocky Neck, 6 Wonson Court. The writers represent current and recent members of the Cape Ann Veterans Writing Workshop. James Grigg, […]
Bob Holman, founder of the Bowery Poetry Club, is the author of 17 poetry collections, including Sing This One Back to Me (Coffee House Press), and A Couple of Ways of Doing Something (Aperture, a collaboration with Chuck Close), and has taught at Princeton, Columbia, NYU, Bard, and The New School. These days, a lot […]
We will celebrate the work of the Gloucester Writers Center with The Incredible Dancer Gala in a tent by Pavillion Beach on one of the longest nights of the year. In the words of the poet Vincent Ferrini we will “take conviviality to another sphere” with music, dance, and delicious food. Buy tickets here!
In this visually rich memoir, Sigrid Olsen traces her journey from art student entrepreneur to nationally known fashion designer, and full circle back to her roots as an artist and spiritual seeker. After multiple major upheavals that left her gasping for air, Sigrid did what any burned-out, creatively compulsive, former-hippie, fashion executive would do…she packed […]
Noted author William Bernhardt stops by the GWC for a conversation about writing Monday, July 9th, 7:30 PM William Bernhardt is an American thriller/mystery/suspense fiction author best known for his "Ben Kincaid" series of books. With sales of over 10 million books, William Bernhardt is one of the most popular writing instructors in the nation, […]
BUDDHA and HAMLET in BEDLAM: SYNOPSIS The play is set at McLean Hospital where Hamlet is admitted, misdiagnosed “psychotic with homicidal hallucinations,” and prescribed Haldol, an antipsychotic medication. Hamlet requests a second opinion and Dr. Frank Faith diagnoses “parasomnia,” discontinues Haldol, and cures Hamlet through holistic psychiatry: body (fencing), mind (playwriting), and spirit (meditation). In […]
Building on his work with the Refugee Tales project (www.refugeetales.org), and taking the contemporary fact of detention as its starting point, David Herd’s talk considers the interlocking attempts of Charles Olson, Hannah Arendt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to arrive at new forms of political space. David Herd’s collections of poetry […]
In addition to Post & Rail, Erica Funkhouser has published four books of poetry with Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and one with Alice James Books. Included in Sure Shot (HM 1992) are three dramatic monologues in the voices of 19th century American women: Sacagawea, Louisa May Alcott, and Annie Oakley. The Oakley poem was adapted for […]
Among other books, Ann Charters has written & edited two books about & by Charles Olson in the 1960s, compiled a bibliography of Jack Kerouac & wrote his first biography (1973), and edited ten editions of the college textbook THE STORY AND ITS WRITER (1985-2019). Her talk is A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE: REVISITING […]
Hettie Jones will be bringing her memoir workshop back to the GWC on August 10 and 11 for three hours each day. The two-day session is $200. Enrollment is closed. Thank you for your interest! For more information on Hettie Jones visit www.hettiejones.com/about
Jewish temple worship and Christian communion are both the direct product and development of late Bronze Age (1200-1000 BCE) ritual orgy. So-called Echidnaic-Ios rites sprang from the genius of a single pre-classical venom specialist, a female immigrant to ancient Georgia, who pioneered the use of her vagina as a device for bio-engineering and administering psychotropic […]
Raymond Foye was born in 1957 in Lowell, Mass. He is a writer, curator, editor and publisher. He studied with Stan Brakhage at the Art Insitute of Chicago. He was a literary editor with City Lights Books, New Directions, and Black Sparrow Press. He was Director of Exhibitions and Publications at Gagosian Gallery from 1990-95. […]
Writing Around the Fold a writing and paper play workshop for all ages with Gloucester Writers Center’s Amanda Cook in collaboration with B O U S T R O P H E D O N S an exhibit at Flat Rock Gallery Saturday, September 1 3:00 77 Langsford Street Gloucester
Symbiotic Earth How Lynn Margulis rocked the boat and started a scientific revolution. Explores the life and ideas of Lynn Margulis, a scientific rebel who challenged entrenched theories of evolution to present a new narrative: life evolves through collaboration. "An amazing film...I was on the edge of my seat the entire film, completely engrossed in the story […]
Dogtown Writers Festival (DWF) Committee Needs Assistance... New dates of Friday Sept 20th and Saturday, Sept 21st 2019 have been scheduled for GWC’s Dogtown Writers Festival with the theme: “Finding Words In Place.” The committee needs assistance in several areas, including: -Administrative Assistance and Oversight, -Marketing and Promotion, -Corporate Sponsorship, -Registration, -Hospitality, Local Author “Bookfest”, […]
To celebrate the September 7 birth of Jonathan Bayliss (1926-2009), the writer who worked and died in the city of his fiction tetralogy GLOUCESTERMAN (the novels Prologos, Gloucesterbook, Gloucestertide, and Gloucestermas), local residents will read and comment on selected passages.Presenters include Saira Austin, Diane Faissler, Steve Farrell, Doug Guidry, Paul McGeary, Susan Oleksiw, Ann Rhinelander, […]
GWC Writers Group Now Forming Are you interested in joining a writers group? Come to an Introductory Session at the GWC on Thursday, September 13th from 7-8pm. Talk with other writers who are interested in joining a group that meets regularly to write, share segments of their writing, and provide each other with feedback. Ask […]
GUIDED AUTOBIOGRAPHY GROUP: The Journey of a LifetimeJoin members of our community for a journey of personal exploration,writing, and community building as we:• leave a legacy for family members • facilitate life transitions• enhance personal growth • contribute to history • enjoy thethrill of self-discoveryGuided autobiography is a fun and effective process for life reviewthat […]
Unburying Malcolm Miller Filmmakers Kevin Carey and Mark Hillringhouse bring the outsider poet Malcolm Miller back to life in this riveting documentary. Miller found early success with his poetry and a close friendship with McGill classmate Leonard Cohen, but later succumbed to mental illness and obscurity and living a life on the margins. In spite […]
Join poets, musicians, and artists around the world in a celebration to promote peace, sustainability and justice and to call for serious social, environmental and political change. Bring a poem, a song or a short piece to share. Each reader gets up to five minutes. For more information on the global movement, visit 100tpc.org.
Every Fall, the Gloucester Writers Center organizes volunteers to go into Gloucester High School to help seniors with their college essays. You do not necessarily need to be a writer, but good reading and editing skills are a plus. The volunteers sit in the high school library, and students come in with drafts in all […]
Wendy Drexler’s third poetry collection, Before There Was Before, was published by Iris Press in March 2017. A three-time Pushcart-Prize nominee, she’s also the author of Western Motel (Turning Point, 2012) and the chapbook Drive-Ins, Gas Stations, the Bright Motels (Pudding House, 2007). Her poems have appeared widely or are forthcoming in […]
Fish Tales True stories told live. Deadline Friday October 19 7:30 pm Cultural Center at Rocky Neck 6 Wonson Street, Gloucester Featured storytellers include: Phoebe Potts Heather Atwood Charles Nazarian Bill Wrinn and more!
This illustrated lecture, “A Life of Olson, with Glyphs,” will feature a sequence of projected color Glyphs with text and comments on key points in Charles Olson’s life and times, including the personal interactions of Olson with Ed Sanders beginning in 1962 and continuing until Olson’s passing in early 1970. Included will be a tracing […]
Broken Glory deals with the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Fifty years after there are still unanswered questions about whether his murder was the result of a conspiracy. Broken Glory is a graphic history told in epic verse of Bobby Kennedy's life and times leading up to the fateful 1968 election campaign, with 100 illustrations […]
In Honor of Veterans Day presenting Rough Seas Readings and Reflections on War and Writing from the Cape Ann Veterans Writing Workshop Join us for an evening to honor Veterans Day Featured Readers James Grigg, Poet, Viet Nam Veteran Heather Dupont, Poet, V.A. Health Professional Sign up at 7:15 for the Veterans […]
Women's Work on Charles Olson Kate Colby is author of seven books of poetry, including The Arrangements (Four Way Books, 2018). A book of literary essays, Dream of the Trenches (Noemi Books, 2019), is forthcoming. Fruitlands won the Norma Farber First Book Award from the Poetry Society of America in 2007. She has received awards […]
God Bless Cambodia is a picaresque comedy about a never-married hypochondriac who takes a trip around the world hoping to change his luck with love. It's an unflinching look at how men feel about sex, love, marriage, and massage parlors. The book features adult situations, adult language, and more adult situations. "A very entertaining story […]
Join Rosemary Haughton and Nancy Schwoyer on Wednesday, Dec. 5,7:30 p.m. at the Gloucester Writers Center for a conversation about the book they are working on. It is based on their experiences as founders of Wellspring House and their many years of practicing "radical hospitality". In their words:"The phrase 'home-making' has traditionally meant women's work, something […]
The Gloucester Writers Center invites you to share a poem you have given as a gift, a poem given to you as a gift, or a poem dedicated to someone to share as we enter the season of giving.
Are you interested in sharing your experience Indie Publishing or learning more about it? If so, come to our Indie Publishing discussion on Wednesday, October 24th from 7-8pm. Talk with other writers who have already Indie Published or are thinking about the possibility. If you have any questions, send an email to GWC Education Committee […]
Join us for a reading of work from the Gloucester High School Elicitor.
We are still in our winter holiday. See you in February!
The Business of Writing group is now forming and has scheduled its first meeting. Monday, January 14th at 6:30pm at the GWC Working writers in all genres often struggle with the business end of their process. Finding new outlets for a poem or essay, knowing which editor to contact, keeping a regular submissions […]
"Joan of Arc and Doctor Dark in Bedlam's Park" is a one-act play with four scenes. It explores how a teenage, illiterate, cross-dressing, peasant girl, who did not know how to ride a horse, became commander-in-chief of the French army and turned the tide on the Hundred Years' War, the most brutal, barbaric and […]
Brenda Coultas’ poetry can be found in the recent anthologies: Readings in Contemporary Poetry published by the DIA art foundation, What is Poetry (Just Kidding, I Know You Know) Interviews from the Poetry Project newsletter, (1983-2009) and Symmetries Three years of Art and Poetry at Dominque Levy. This fall Coultas was a featured blogger for […]
Guided Memoir: A Small-Group Experience with Claudia Filos Make new friendships and nurture your creativity as you write your life story, two pages at a time! Join this small-group of 6-8 participants as we support and encourage each other through a powerful 10-week reading and writing program. Each week we will explore our life story using […]
FROM INFINITE PEOPLE TO KNOW FISH "The Authors are in eternity" -- W. Blake To be a gathering of attention toward the work of Vincent […]
Jennifer Martelli is the author of My Tarantella (Bordighera Press). Most recently, her work has appeared in Tinderbox Poetry, The Bitter Oleander, Sugar House Review, The Baltimore Review, and The Superstition Review. She has been nominated for both the Pushcart and Best of the Net Prizes and is the recipient of the Massachusetts Cultural Council […]
FROM INFINITE PEOPLE TO KNOW FISH "The Authors are in eternity" -- W. Blake To be a gathering of attention toward the work of Vincent […]
The Gloucester Writers Center invites members of two long-standing Rockport writing groups to share their work. With readings by Connie Komack, Joe Muzio, Chuck Francis, Caroline Haines, Jean Keith, Holly Herring, and Joe Rukeyser.
Dan Wilcox is the host of the Third Thursday Poetry Night at the Social Justice Center in Albany, N.Y. and is a member of the poetry performance group "3 Guys from Albany". As a photographer, he claims to have the world's largest collection of photos of unknown poets. He has been a featured reader at […]
Join us as we celebrate the work of Gloucester High School students with the launch of the literary magazine, the Elicitor. Readers to be announced.
Join us as we celebrate International Women's Day by reading writing by women. Bring a short piece (up to 5 minutes) by a woman to share with the group, or come to listen.
Otto Laske was born in what is now West Poland (Wroclaw/Breslau) three years before the onset of World War II. His first poetry emerged in German at age 15, perhaps as a result of war trauma and the return of his father from Russian prison camps when he was 11. After studies in music, the […]
Like Vincent Ferrini, poet Linda McCarriston is a native of Lynn. She has two sons and four granddaughters. It took her much longer to settle in Gloucester than it did Vincent (she treasures a copy of No Smoke that he gave her in 2002). Educated in Lynn's Catholic schools, she won some high-school writing […]
Brenda Coultas’ poetry can be found in the recent anthologies: Readings in Contemporary Poetry published by the DIA art foundation, What is Poetry (Just Kidding, I Know You Know) Interviews from the Poetry Project newsletter, (1983-2009) and Symmetries Three years of Art and Poetry at Dominque Levy. This fall Coultas was a featured blogger for […]
Guided Memoir: A small-group experience for new writers Make new friends and nurture your creativity as you write your life story, two pages at a time! Join a small group of 5-10 participants as we support and encourage each other through a powerful reading and writing program. Our focus is on writing and sharing as […]
Yonghong Gu is from Suzhou, China. She is a visiting scholar at UMass Boston. She has studied history, literature and business. She has worked in education and business. Joseph Torra is a poet, fiction writer, editor and teacher. Being Exiled is a novel in progress by Yonghong Gu. She and Joseph Torra are […]
A program of photographs, haiku, and clarinet compositions originating from Halibut Point. Friday evening, April 12, 7:30 at the home of Stephen and Isabella Bates, 2 Masconomo Street, Manchester. Seating 60. Reservations required, (978) 526-1443 or clarone@comcast.net. Admission is free. Donate $20 at the door to the Gloucester Writers Center, receive a […]
Schuyler Hoffman has published two books of poetry: Words in a Foreign Language and The Spaces Between as well as the collaborative poetry-music CD Sacrifice. His work has appeared in The Café Review and in The Anthology of Post-Beat Poetry in translation in China. His new book Signal to Noise explores the myriad ways that […]
Neeli Cherkovski was horn in Los Angeles and has Lived in San Francisco since 1974. He is the author of many books of poetry and prose and books translated into Turkish, German, Italian, and Spanish. He is recipient of a PEN Josephine Miles Award for excellence in literature and the Jack Mueller poetry prize for […]
A mosaic is made of many pieces together, as is our fine city. Three organizations are collaborating to present The Mosaic that is Gloucester: MosaicGloucester; Maritime Gloucester; and the Gloucester Writer’s Center. In Part 3 of the event, The Gloucester Writers Center and The Maud/Olson Library will present What Holds Us Together: This Place in […]
On Sunday, May 5, from 1 to 3 p.m., Literary Cape Ann presents three of our region’s best-selling authors sharing stories about how their books became popular movies and what that career-changing experience was like. Our panelists are Rodman Philbrick, author of “Freak the Mighty,” a middle grade book still taught in schools and […]
Come remember and celebrate Gerrit Lansing with poems, song and stories.
Donald Wellman, poet, editor, and translator, his recent book of poetry is Essay Poems (Dos Madres: Loveland OH). Other books from Dos Madre include The Cranberry Island Series and A North Atlantic Wall; Prolog Pages was issued by Ahadada (2009); Fields (Light and Dust 1995). For several years, he edited O.ARS, a series of anthologies, […]
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Jay Featherstone’s Glass is true to its title as these poems allow the reader to look straight though language to see clearly how joy and loss are inextricably connected (“On the path to impoverishment,/tenderness. // In the long taking away, / hearing festival sounds / through all the streets of the city.”). From Wilkes-Barre to […]
The word 'Community' is the core of Wellspring's Mission Statement, created in 1987. That word expresses the way in which Wellspring's life, work and decisions developed in a relational organizational model, with an ethic of friendship and the practice of mutuality. In the book about Wellspring that Rosemary and Nancy are writing, they explore how […]
In July 1976, a twenty-four-year-old white woman, Margo Olson, was found in a shallow grave in Stamford, Connecticut, with an arrow piercing through her heart. A few weeks later, Howie Carter, her black boyfriend, was killed by the police. Howie and Margo’s interracial relationship held a distorted mirror to the author’s own, with Howie’s best […]
Mary Baine Campbell is a Cambridge-based poet and scholar (of literature and the histories of travel, geography, science and utopia), as well as a climate activist. Her publications include The Witness and the Other World, Wonder and Science: Imagining Worlds in Early Modern Europe and poetry collections The World, the Flesh, and Angels and Trouble, […]
Join us at the Maud/Olson Library for a celebration of Walt Whitman's 200th birthday! Wine, dine, and revel on the deck with us at the M/OL, as we celebrate the man and his work on the eve of his 200th birthday. His poetry will be available in the library to read, discuss, and enjoy. All […]
Áine’s presentation will focus on writing personal essays--such as those published in The Boston Globe Magazine, Brevity, The New York Times Modern Love series and other publications. She will discuss the risks and rewards of writing about our personal experiences, including why and how she wrote and published her just released essay collection (about immigration) 30+ […]
Judith Wright was born in 1939 and is an artist living in Gloucester, Massachusetts. She became a Freedom Rider and was jailed in the Mississippi State Penitentiary in 1961. Later, in 1964, she spent a year in Meridian, Mississippi working with her husband Sib in the Civil Rights Movement. Acts of Resistance; A Freedom Rider […]
PATRICK DONNELLY is the author of four books of poetry, Little-Known Operas (Four Way Books, 2019), Jesus Said (a chapbook from Orison Books, 2017), Nocturnes of the Brothel of Ruin (Four Way Books, 2012, a Lambda Literary Award finalist), and The Charge (Ausable Press, 2003, since 2009 part of Copper Canyon Press). Donnelly is director […]
Naming the World - a weekend of Personal Essay based on Bret Anthony Johnston’s book. To write well we must be able to "name the world" around us in such a way as to throw a new light on the ordinary, to see the everyday through a different lens - one that measures the now […]
Framing the Story: An Introduction to the Art of the Graphic Memoir Before we can put a single word down on the page, we must first behold the mental image, however fleeting, that informs our meaning-making process. This is what makes the graphic novel such an incredible lesson to us as writers. It teaches us how to frame images in […]
Cathy Curtis is the author of two previous biographies of women artists, RESTLESS AMBITION: GRACE HARTIGAN, PAINTER (Oxford University Press, 2015) and A GENEROUS VISION: THE CREATIVE LIFE OF ELAINE DE KOONING (Oxford University Press, 2017). Her next book will be a biography of the novelist and essayist Elizabeth Hardwick. Curtis was elected to a two-year […]
Ann Charters will be talking about how Charles Olson influenced her a young writer. She met him in 1968, after she had spent the years 1963-65 in the graduate English program at Columbia. Her dissertation was about 19th century writers in the Berkshires, with chapters on Melville and Hawthorne. When she began to read Olson […]
Join us for a night of fun and reading of three completely different kinds of books! Jane Keddy and Barbara Boudreau are both charter members of The Finish Line, a writer's group that formed in the fall of 2011 and continues today. Both women have published books, Boudreau's novel, The Frenchman in 2013 and Keddy's Serial […]
Join us for a night of fun and reading of three completely different kinds of books! Jane Keddy and Barbara Boudreau are both charter members of The Finish Line, a writer's group that formed in the fall of 2011 and continues today. Both women have published books, Boudreau's novel, The Frenchman in 2013 and Keddy's Serial Monogamy earlier […]
Eloise Weld Hodges grew up in Essex, then moved in 1954 with her family to Dolliver’s Neck, Gloucester. As Associate Editor and feature writer for North Shore Magazine (1975-80), she wrote about people and places that illuminated that part of the world. She will read from Wishbone, a collection of essays about family events and related […]
Every Fall, the Gloucester Writers Center organizes volunteers to go into Gloucester High School to help seniors with their college essays. You do not necessarily need to be a writer, but good reading and editing skills are a plus. The volunteers sit in the high school library, and students come in with drafts in all […]
Ellen Wilkin has been writing for 45 years as a poet and essayist, as a technical writer and editor in the computer industry, and as a novelist. Several of her poems were published in THE POETRY JAM SESSIONS, a collection she also edited. Her current project is a science fiction/time travel novel. She also runs […]
Dogtown Writers Festival September 27 and 28 Join us and other fellow writers in exploring and celebrating PLACE, with Cape Ann as a microcosm of the global macrocosm. The festival will be looking at what shapes our progressive future without losing “grounding” in our cultural roots and the history we grow out of. We […]
Mitch Manning is the author of city of water (Arrowsmith, 2019). He’s taught poetry in central China and his poems have been read in Basra, southern Iraq as part of the Boston to Basra Project. He teaches in the English and Labor Studies programs at UMass Boston, and is Associate Director at the Joiner Institute for the Study of […]
The Gloucester Writers Center and Cape Ann Plein Air invite you to share you plein air writing. Join us at Beauport Hotel for an open-mic reading on Wednesday, October 9 at 7:00. Below is a list of locations painters participating in Cape Ann Plein Air often paint from, as well as some prompts for these […]
Patrick Barron grew up in the Pacific Northwest, lived in Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, and Italy for a number of years, and is now based in Boston, where he teaches at the University of Massachusetts. His poems, essays, and translations have appeared in various journals. His most recent books are Towards the River's Mouth (Verso […]
Stephen Fredman is the author of "'Difficulties Are Once More': Charles Olson, John Dewey, and the Rhythm of Experience.” Stephen's talk considers three features of Olson's writing--rhythm, history, and performance--as they occur in works composed during his time at Black Mountain College. The American pragmatist, John Dewey, will be our companion, especially his Art as […]
Stephen Kalaghan is a long time Cape Ann area resident, having lived in Gloucester, MA and Rockport, MA since 1990. Originally from Weymouth, MA, he is a 1986 graduate of Cotting School, in Lexington, MA, and a 1994 graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Boston, where he earned a B.A. Degree, majoring in Theatre […]
Nadine Boughton, M.A., is a writer/poet, collage artist, coach and teacher. Her writing has been published in literary journals, trade books and presented in a number of venues. She studied writing and voice with teachers in the oral tradition, including David Whyte. Nadine’s visual art is represented by the Matthew Swift Gallery in Gloucester and […]
Joey Gould is a non-binary poet from Hopedale who tutors & often works with Mass Poetry for content writing, event planning, hosting, & performing. Their writing has appeared in Drunk Monkeys, District Lit, Glass: A Journal of Poetry, & Memoir Mixtapes. Joey performs in the Boston cast of The Poetry Brothel as Izzie Hexxam & […]
Join us for a marathon reading of Charles Olson's Maximus Poems
The Embodied Voice The embodied voice is one rooted not only in larynx and throat but the Earth; it retains the animal, the sounds of the world rising up through the body. As Charles Olson wrote: whatever you have to say, leave the roots on, let them dangle And the dirt Just to make […]
In Which Side Are You On, author James Sullivan delivers a lively anecdotal history of the progressive movements that have shaped the growth of the United States, and the songs that have accompanied and defined them. Come share in the music with a perfect handful of Cape Ann Musicians singing there own interpretations of these […]
This evening writing workshop is suitable for working adults or those balancing volunteer work with family responsibilities. The Words after Work workshop will cover the following: - An overview of the documented research and benefits on/of expressive writing for personal wellness and resilience - How to develop and maintain a consistent writing practice--even when you work full time […]
Creative nonfiction refers broadly to fact-based essays, written for publication, that emphasize point of view and often employ narration. We will focus on the basics of writing creative nonfiction: purpose, audience, shaping, voice and tone, style, and use of sources. Most class time will be devoted to critiques of student writing, and all students will […]
The news is overwhelming. How do you sort through it? Where to begin? How do you know what's true? Come listen to a journalist outline how she ferrets out information using tools of the trade. You'll learn how to: - Identify a meme or unreported story vs. news written by professional journalists - Figure out […]
Buy tickets here. If you have a story you'd like to tell, please contact Casey Breton at caseybreton@outlook.com.
Come enjoy Tapas appetizers, drinks, and conversation in an intimate setting with novelist and short story writer Andre Dubus III. Andre’s seven books include the New York Times’ bestsellers House of Sand and Fog, The Garden of Last Days, and his memoir, Townie. His most recent novel, Gone So Long, has received starred reviews from […]
A reading from spoKe six including David Rich reading from his essay on Gerrit Lansing, James Cook reading from his essay on Sam Cornish, poems by John Mulrooney, Jim Dunn and Amanda Cook. Hosted by Karina Van Berkum and Kevin Gallagher. David Rich worked as the poet Gerrit Lansing’s archivist from 2017 to 2018, […]
This event will be closed to the public. Please join us for the live stream on Facebook! Peter Almond is a documentary and narrative filmmaker, whose career includes work on public issues as a journalist and in public policy with both US and international projects. Current work include a drama set in the lead up […]
This event has been postponed until the fall.
The GWC is a community Partner with Salem Film Festival again this year. The Guardian says, "...a moody plunge into the anguish of the artistic process...By the end of this movie you’ll realize that Gilliam’s struggles are humanity’s struggles." In 2000, when he Terry Gilliam first attempted a screen adaptation of Cervantes’ masterpiece, Don Quixote […]
In order to keep our community safe, the Gloucester Writers Center has postponed our events for the next month. Looking for something to do? We have a wealth of readings and events archived at gloucesterwriters.org. Visit our media archives to listen to podcasts of our readings or watch videos of past events. We will evaluate […]
Please stay tuned for updates.
Click on down and join us for our first social distance event Join us @ www.facebook.com/GloucesterWritersCenter/ for Let the People Pick the President Jesse Wegman is a member of the New York Times editorial board, where he has written about the Supreme Court and legal affairs since 2013. Our interviewer is GWC Advisory Board member, lawyer […]
Let's have a conversation together about the specifics of being a class traitor in New England. We can define it together. Public figures like Eileen Myles (Arlington, Massachusetts), Carl Andre (Quincy, MA), and Marsden Hartley (born in Maine; painted in Gloucester) will serve as touchstones. Together, we will break down how often (but not always!) […]
Dear Friends, During this time of mass isolation we are hunkering down with our Board to explore, regroup and reimagine how we can best serve the community while moving sustainably into our this unpredictable future. To do this we are temporarily suspending our live programming and events until the invisible storm passes. We want […]
virtual Roger Davis invites you to a scheduled Zoom meeting for the monthly Gloucester Writers Center Open Mic. As usual, each reader will have five minutes to read a piece of prose, fiction, or poetry. In lieu of […]
Mark the Date. Watch the Stream. Ask a the Author. Wednesday, May 6 at 7 p.m. CLICK HERE FOR REGISTRATION DETAILS. Anna Solomon & Charlotte Gordon discuss Anna's new book. Here's what Publisher's Weekly had to say: "Fresh and tantalizing, with fascinating intergenerational discussions about desire, duty, family, and feminism, as well as a surprising, […]
Join our Storyteller in Residence, Casey Breton for our first Virtual Fish Tales on May 22nd thru May 31st. Like so many non-profits in order to continue our mission to the community and keep in touch with our friends we are moving into the virtual. We look forward to be with you LIVE. In the […]
Host Roger Davis invites you to our second Zoom OPEN MIC. Monday June 1st Sign in at 7:15pm here https://us02web.zoom.us/j/71829688421?pwd=UURXYXF0RXVwZTFGYUF5cmgzb2hHZz09 and chat before reading Bring your words get heard. Anyone needing help with Zoom sign in can email Roger at Rdavis@gmail.comMeeting ID: 718 2968 8421 Password: words
Join host Roger Davis on Zoom Bring your words get heard. Sign in at 7:15 below and chat before reading https://us02web.zoom.us/j/71829688421?pwd=UURXYXF0RXVwZTFGYUF5cmgzb2hHZz09 Anyone needing help with Zoom sign in can email Roger at Rdavis@gmail.com Meeting ID: 718 2968 8421 Password: words
Tuesdays July 21, 28, Aug 4 & August 11 7pm EST Peter Almond is a film producer and writer in both documentary and narrative genres. He is currently filmmaker/Writer-in-Residence at the GWC. He wants to give a ZOOM Screenwriting Workshop as a contribution! All proceeds from the workshop will all go to the GWC. These […]
Join Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons, producer of the nonfiction series No, YOU Tell It! (noyoutellit.com), for this generative storytelling workshop. Participants will turn out and trade true tales to examine what makes a powerful, affecting, and expressive story on the page or stage. Have a Fish Tales story you want to hone or a new tale you’ve […]
A Benefit Workshop led by poet Tom Daley via Zoom for the GWC. "If you avoid the conflict to keep the peace you start a war inside yourself.' (Cheryl Richardson) From Hamlet's soliloquy, "To be or not to be," to Katniss Everdeen's conflict between the reluctance to kill and the wish to be a warrior […]
HOSTED BY CASEY BRETON With stories from Rev. Wendy Fitting, Abram Kielsmeir-Jones, Doug Rich, Dick Prouty, Laila Goodman, Bobbie Wayne, and Keith Harris. RESERVE YOUR TICKET TODAY Online Ticket Purchase Available Here OR CALL: 978-281-4433
Storytelling Guru Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons offers four workshops 10am - 11:30 the following Saturdays (Take one for $35 or $25 for two or more) Saturday, Oct 10th - What? vs. Why? Generative workshop that explores WHAT the story is about, but more importantly, WHY it needs to be told? Saturday, Oct 24th - Story Starters Hook readers […]
The Art of Visual Storytelling w/ Anne Rearick October 10, 17 & 24th $175 for workshop - Class maximum 10 This workshop will guide and support participants in honing their storytelling skills through photography. Stories may be personal and explore family and community or address larger societal issues like the Black Lives Matter movement or […]
Our second screenwriting workshop with film producer and writer Peter Almond Starts 7pm EST. Class starts on October 20th and runs four consecutive Tuesdays. Workshop is limited to eight - $150 To save your space email Eileen@Gloucesterwriters.org These 90-minute workshops will consider basic screenplay writing issues involving premise, structure, character and […]
Storytelling Guru Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons offers three more workshops 10:00am - 11:30 (Take one for $35 or $25 for two or more) Saturday, Nov 7th - Story Starters Hook readers with varied techniques to start a story. Saturday, Nov 21st - Aha! Moments Moments of joy, pain, or change that send the story in a new direction. Saturday, Dec 5th […]
The Art of Visual Storytelling w/ Anne Rearick Oct. 31 - Nov. 7 & 14 1-3 pm $175 for workshop - Class maximum 10 This workshop will guide and support participants in honing their storytelling skills through photography. Stories may be personal and explore family and community or address larger societal issues like the Black […]
NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH is an annual internet based creative writing project that takes place during November. This year Gloucester School Teacher, Heidi Wakeman is volunteering with the GWC to facilitate the program. Heidi says, "I've always wanted to write a novel and what better time then now! " Every Monday in November from 7pm to 8:30 the […]
The Return of the 10 Minute Play Over the years M. Lynda Robinson's 10 play workshop produced several award winning shows. If you've ever wanted to write a play this is a great introduction to the craft. Classes planned for November. Four sessions on Zoom. $125 To save your space email: Eileen@gloucesterwriters.org
The Art of Visual Storytelling w/ Anne Rearick Oct. 31 - Nov. 7 & 14 1-3 pm $175 for workshop - Class maximum 10 This workshop will guide and support participants in honing their storytelling skills through photography. Stories may be personal and explore family and community or address larger societal issues like the Black […]
NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH is an annual internet based creative writing project that takes place during November. This year Gloucester School Teacher, Heidi Wakeman is volunteering with the GWC to facilitate the program. Heidi says, "I've always wanted to write a novel and what better time then now! " Every Monday in November from 7pm to 8:30 the […]
Four Thursdays 7-9:00 pm EST November 19, 26, December 3, 10 $75.00 7 person min. enrollment birds dreamed hungry: a poetry workshop on Larry Eigner and Black Mountain Poetry Workshop with Jennifer Bartlett & George Hart This workshop will focus on the work and life of Larry Eigner and his relationship with Gloucester poets, Vincent […]
Storytelling Guru Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons offers three more workshops 10:00am - 11:30 (Take one for $35 or $25 for two or more) Saturday, Nov 7th - Story Starters Hook readers with varied techniques to start a story. Saturday, Nov 21st - Aha! Moments Moments of joy, pain, or change that send the story in a new direction. Saturday, Dec 5th […]
NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH is an annual internet based creative writing project that takes place during November. This year Gloucester School Teacher, Heidi Wakeman is volunteering with the GWC to facilitate the program. Heidi says, "I've always wanted to write a novel and what better time then now! " Every Monday in November from 7pm to 8:30 the […]
NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH is an annual internet based creative writing project that takes place during November. This year Gloucester School Teacher, Heidi Wakeman is volunteering with the GWC to facilitate the program. Heidi says, "I've always wanted to write a novel and what better time then now! " Every Monday in November from 7pm to 8:30 the […]
Storytelling Guru Kelly Jean Fitzsimmons offers three more workshops 10:00am - 11:30 (Take one for $35 or $25 for two or more) Saturday, Nov 7th - Story Starters Hook readers with varied techniques to start a story. Saturday, Nov 21st - Aha! Moments Moments of joy, pain, or change that send the story in a new direction. Saturday, Dec 5th […]
Host Roger Davis invites you to our Virtual OPEN MIC. First Monday of the month! Sign in at 7:15pm and chat. Reading begins @ 7:30 Click Here to go to Zoom or paste this. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/71829688421?pwd= UURXYXF0RXVwZTFGYUF5 cmgzb2hHZz09 Anyone needing help with Zoom sign in can email Roger at 16rdavis@gmail.com Meeting ID: […]
Host Roger Davis invites you to our Virtual OPEN MIC. First Monday of the month! Sign in at 7:15pm and chat. Reading begins @ 7:30 Click Here to go to Zoom or paste this. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/71829688421?pwd= UURXYXF0RXVwZTFGYUF5 cmgzb2hHZz09 Anyone needing help with Zoom sign in can email Roger at 16rdavis@gmail.com Meeting ID: […]
Host Roger Davis invites you to our Virtual OPEN MIC. First Monday of the month! Sign in at 7:15pm and chat. Reading begins @ 7:30 Click Here to go to Zoom or paste this. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/71829688421?pwd= UURXYXF0RXVwZTFGYUF5 cmgzb2hHZz09 Anyone needing help with Zoom sign in can email Roger at 16rdavis@gmail.com Meeting ID: […]
