Anali reports a bill to create the position of Poet Laureate for the Commonwealth could go to the House for a vote this week:

... I have no idea what poets will be in the running for nominations, but it will be interesting to find out. I wonder who it will be and what their first poem will be like. ...

H.3146: An Act to create the position of poet laureate for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Doug Holder talks to Sam Cornish on his influences, why he doesn't consider himself part of the '60s Black Arts Movement and on the importance of stripped-down poetry. Also:

... Right now I am available for people through the library and also through Mayor Menino's office. If people call and request my presence at a school or senior citizen's center, or where people would like a poet, I go. I try to be the person to bring a poem to people who might not read poetry, or those who want to talk to a poet about the craft. ...

Great article by James Parker in The Phoenix this week about Boston poets Rafael Campo and Franz Wright, who write about the body in sickness and in health. (Full disclosure: Campo is indeed a doctor, my own, in fact.) Long before he was my PCP, Campo intrigued me with his devotion to forms, particularly the sonnet, and the way that he subverted the norms of the Shakespearean norm and wrote poems about AIDS and death.

October 10 and 11, 8:00 PM

Cambridge Family YMCA Theatre, 820 Mass Ave in Central Square
Tickets: $11 in advance, $12 at the door

Come join the Boston Firefly Project for a night of art, poetry, and activism as we raise awareness around the issue of poverty worldwide. Local artists, poets, and writers will be presenting and displaying their work on Thursday, August 14th from 7-9pm at the Lincoln Institute for Land Policy on 113 Brattle Street in Cambridge, a short walk from the Harvard Square T stop. Come meet other activists in the area and take part in the convergence of art and human rights - snacks and beverages provided!

You want to see how it is done. Doug Holder writes that you can see Bagel Bards poets in action at the Au Bon Pains in Davis and Central Squares on Saturday mornings (they alternate each Saturday; he provides the specific schedule).

Boston-area poets PLEASE SUBMIT POEMS to LOCUS POINT by May 30 to .

LOCUSPOINT IS:
A community-centered approach to poetry publishing: Each edition of LOCUSPOINT is built on a set of cities or regions. Guest Editors in each location are tasked with locating poetry community within their areas to whatever extent or degree they experience it by selecting seven poets whose work they want to highlight. Each poet contributes five pages of poetry to the city. The Guest Editor writes an introduction to his or her selections to comment on the poetry scene where they live.

Jack notes the demise of public readings in Cambridge:

... The Middle East will host no more poetry. Just this week, another Central Square venue, the Green Street Grille shut its doors, with no warning, on Demolicious, the last monthly series in the Boston area that typically featured an open mic as well as a spotlight on accomplished out-of-town readers. ...

But he adds that John Mercuri Dooley, co-curator of Demolicious, hopes to lead an effort to find new venues for readings.

Chad says the venerable Stone Soup Monday night poetry readings in Cambridge need your help:

... If you're a poet in the area with nothing to do on Mondays between 8 and 10 in the evening, it would be great if you could come down and catch a reading. If you'd like to be a feature, well, that'd be even better. ...