Powow River Poets

The Powow River Poets

In late 1991, the Powow River Poets formed after several poets met at Middle Street Foods Café to hear Joe Dunn's readings as well as many other aspiring poets. By early '92, the founding members were meeting monthly in each other's homes, cafés and other public places, and finally at the Newburyport Public Library, where we still meet on the second Saturday of each month as a workshop. The Powow River Poets now have twenty-five members; a good number attending regularly to exchange poems, engage in critiques, and share information about contests, publications, and other matters of interest to us. Several of our members have enjoyed national and international recognition of their work; including book and magazine publication as well as prestigious poetry awards.

In addition to the workshop, since January of 1996, the Newburyport Art Association has housed our monthly reading series, one Wednesday evening each month. This series presents featured readers, often celebrated and widely published poets who volunteer their time while on tour, in the interest of encouraging aspiring poets and enhancing public awareness of poetry. Additionally, a spirited component of this monthly series is our "Open Mic" portion of the evening when poets in the audience, who sign in as they enter, are encouraged to read their work before the group. Our readings are free and open to the public, and generally feature book signings and the opportunity to question the featured poet. We are pleased to hear, repeatedly, from first-time attendees that our Opens with the warm and inviting atmosphere, are the best in the Boston area.

We hope to see you at our events!