Sunday, January 20, 2013 Event: Panel discussion and reading honoring poet Christopher Gilbert: his life & work Time: 1:00 PM Place: Blue Lounge (first floor of the student center), Worcester State University, 486 Chandler Street, Worcester, Massachusetts 01602 A celebration of the new issue of The Worcester Review devoted to Gilbert. Mary participates in a panel discussion about his work and reads poems of his with other former members of the community of poets and artists' workshop of which Chris was a primary force in the Worcester of the 1970s and early '80s. You can read "Our Mutual Landcape," Mary's personal essay about her friendship with Chris and his involvement in the poetry community in the special issue of TWR. (Click this link for purchasing information and a sample--Yusef Koumunyakaa's poem, "Gingkoes," inspired by Chris Gilbert.
Friday, March 22, 2013 Event: Reading Time:7:00 PM Place: Cervena Barva Press Studio, B8, Arts at the Armory Building, 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA
Poets and translator Jana Moravkova Kiely gather to participate in a talk and reading of some of the work of the great Czech playwright, poet, essayist, dissident, and politician. In addition to Mary Bonina, the program includes George Held, Gloria Mindick, and others.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013 Event: Reading Time: 7:00 PM Place: Cervena Barva Press Studio, B8, Arts at the Armory Building, 191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA
Mary reads new poetry and an excerpt from her forthcoming memoir, My Father's Eyes (Cervena Barva Press, Fall 2013). Maine poet Preston Hood reads a selection of his poetry.
Sunday, April 14, 2013 Event: Concert- "An Afternoon of Art Song" Time: 3:00 PM Place: Davidson College, Tyler Tallman Hall, Sloan Music Center, Davidson, North Carolina
The concert program includes the performance of "Grace in the Wind," a collaboration between Mary Bonina and Paul Sayed, music for a set of three poems commissioned by the composer. Soprano Caitlin McCarville sings Mary's words. Paul Sayed will give a talk about the process of a composer collaborating with a poet for his final composition.
Saturday, May 4, 2013 Event: Panel discussion on "The Silences and Space in Poetry," Massachusetts Poetry Festival 2013 Time: 2:45-3:45 PM Place: 181 Essex Street, Peabody Essex Museum, Carriage House, Salem, MA
Part of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival 2013 happening all weekend May 3-5. Please click this link for the festival's schedule, and see description of the panel below.
The poet Li-Young Lee writes "The real subject in poetry isn't the voice. The real subject is silence. It's like in architecture, where the medium is not really stone or metal, but space. We use materials--brick, glass, whatever--to inflect the immaterial, space. I would say that the real medium of poetry is inner space..." Lee's provocative comment speaks to the power of silence in a poem. Evoked by white space on the page, silence can be a way of turning over in the mind what has come before, or making room for what might follow. It can prolong a moment, giving readers more time to imagine themselves inside the poem. Where silences fall and how spaces between words, lines, and stanzas are intrinsically connected to context, image, and meaning, is a subject that has long preoccupied poets in modern and contemporary times, as evidenced in Pounds' discussion of the importance of the rhythm of sense of a pulse conveying an inner voice. The panel of poets--Jennifer Barber, Mary Bonina, Liz Flint-Somerville, and Danielle Legros Georges--all affiliated with the Writer's Room of Boston (which provides space for the emergences of writing)--will present poems in which silence plays an active role. They will encourage a dialogue with audience members who, as practitioners, will have insights to add.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013 Event: Annual Reading of the Writer's Room of Boston Time: 6 PM Place: Marran Gallery, Lesley University, 36 Mellen Street, Cambridge, MA
The program will include Mary Bonina, Debra Colson, Betsy Gomez, Bill Henry, Priyatam Mudivarti, Alexander Nemser, Joelle Renstrom, and Anna Ross. This even is free and open to the public. Wine reception to follow. Please click this link for more information.
Thursday, October 3, 2013 Event: Book launch reading for Mary Bonina's new memoir My Father's Eyes Time: 7 PM Place: Porter Square Books, Porter Square Shopping Center (At the Red Line Stop), Cambridge, MA Reading and Q&A, followed by book signing.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013 Event: Reading Time: 7:30 PM Place: Gloucester Writers' Center, 126 East Main Street,, Gloucester, MA
Mary Bonina reads from her newly published memoir, My Father's Eyes. Mark Pawlak reads poetry from his most recent collection, Go to the Pine.
Friday, December 13, 2013 Event: Chapter and Verse Reading Series Time: 7:30 PM Place:Loring Greenough Historic House, Jamaica Plain, MA
Mary will be reading from her new memoirMy Father's Eyes. The program will include other poets and writers TBA.
