First-ever Massachusetts Poetry Festival

FIRST EVER MASSACHUSETTS POETRY FESTIVAL, OCT. 10 - 12, 2008,

FEATURED READERS INCLUDE ROBERT PINSKY, ANDRE DUBUS III, LUCIE BROCK-BROIDO AND MORE

(Lowell, Mass. - July 15, 2008) An extensive and diverse group of partner organizations will come together to present the first-ever Massachusetts Poetry Festival in various locations in Lowell, Mass., Oct. 10 - 12, 2008. The event will feature readings by well-known poets such as Robert Pinsky, Lucie Brock-Broido, Andre Dubus III, Martin Espada, Rhina Espiaillat, Reggie Gibson and many more, as well as workshops for writers and educators, symposia, small press fair, teen poetry, literary heritage tours, children's programs and street poetry. Some events are free, and others have a nominal entrance fee. A complete lineup, with schedule and locations, will be available in the coming weeks. For more information, visit the Mass Poetry Festival Web site or call (978) 275-1831.

The Massachusetts Poetry festival is a celebration of the rich literary heritage and vital contemporary poetry community of the Commonwealth. The organizers hope to create new opportunities for poets to showcase their work, by increasing public awareness about all of the wonderful poetry being created in Massachusetts. In addition, they hope that providing broad access to the wealth of work available will help bring poetry back into everyday culture. Organizers plan to make the festival a biennial event.

"Lowell is thrilled to host this inaugural event," said Paul Marion, Executive Director of Outreach for University of Massachusetts Lowell. "We think it's a fitting place to start, because the Greater Merrimack Valley area gave us such profoundly influential poets as Anne Bradstreet, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Greenleaf Whittier, Robert Frost and Jack Kerouac. "

Hotel and travel information is available from the Greater Merrimack Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Partners in the Massachusetts Poetry Festival include Bootstrap Press, Concord Poetry Center, Grub Street, Haverhill Poets, Lowell Celebrates Kerouac, Lowell Poetry Network, PoemWorks, Powow River Poets, and the Robert Frost Foundation.

The Massachusetts Poetry Festival is sponsored by the City of Lowell, Cultural Organization of Lowell, Greater Merrimack Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau, Lowell National Historical Park, Mass POP, Massachusetts Cultural Council, Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities, Merrimack Valley Economic Development Council. Moses Greeley Parker Lectures, Patrick J. Mogan Cultural Center, Pollard Memorial Library and University of Massachusetts, Lowell.