William Carlos Williams wrote, “It is difficult/to get the news from poems/though men die miserably every day/for lack/of what is found there.” What exactly do poets bring to the newsroom?

In this panel, four poets will explore through their poetry, current and past events that have preoccupied us including: war in the middle east, antisemitism and other forms of racism, the Covid epidemic, homophobia, global warming, and gun control. The panelists are all widely published poets: Richard Michelson and Lesléa Newman (both from Northampton), Jayne Benjulian (West Stockbridge), and Owen Lewis (Stockbridge).

About the poets:

• Jayne Benjulian's poems and essays appear widely in journals and anthologies. David Wojahn described her poetry collection Five Sextillion Atoms  as "a highly distinctive and gripping book notable for the ways in which it combines the stories of family history with larger matters of public history." She was a Teaching Fellow at Emory University, and a Fulbright scholar in Lyon, France and mentored poets and prose writers at the University of San Francisco and San Francisco State. She served as Director of New Play Development at Magic Theatre in San Francisco and Chief Speechwriter at Apple. In the Berkshires, she continues to mentor writers and guide their books from concept to publication. April 5th is her 12-year anniversary in West Stockbridge. 
• Owen Lewis is the author of four collections of poetry and three chapbooks, most recently Knock-knock. Field Light was a Distinguished Favorite, 2020 NYCBigBook Award and a 2021 “Must Read”, Mass Book Awards. best man was the recipient of the Jean Pedrick Chapbook Prize of the New England Poetry Club. Recent prizes include the 2023 Guernsey International Poetry Prize and the 2023 Rumi Prize for Poetry/Arts & Letters. He is also recipient of the International Hippocrates Prize for Poetry and Medicine. At Columbia University he is Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics and teaches Narrative Medicine. (www.owenlewispoet.com)
• Richard Michelson’s books have been listed among the Ten Best of the Year by the NY Times, Publishers Weekly, and The New Yorker; He’s received a National Jewish Book Award (plus twice finalist), two Gold Medals from the Association of Jewish Libraries, and two Massachusetts Cultural Council Fellowships. His collections include Sleeping as Fast as I Can (Slant), More Money than God (U Pittsburgh), Battles and Lullabies (U Illinois), and Tap Dancing for the Relatives (U Central Florida). Michelson’s work was chosen to represent the Commonwealth at the 2018 Library of Congress National Book Festival, and in 2019 he became the sixth recipient of the Samuel Minot Jones Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement. Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Michelson now lives in Western Massachusetts. He served two terms as Poet Laureate of Northampton, where he owns R. Michelson Galleries and hosts Northampton Poetry Radio.
• Lesléa Newman has created 87 books for readers of all ages including the memoirs-in-verse, I Carry My Mother and I Wish Father; the novel-in-verse, October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard; the poetry collection, Lovely; and the children’s books, Sparkle Boy, Heather Has Two Mommies, Welcoming Elijah: A Passover Tale with a Tail; and Joyful Song: A Naming Story. Her literary awards include a poetry fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Massachusetts Artists Foundation, two National Jewish Book Awards, two American Library Association Stonewall Honors, the Association for Jewish Libraries Sydney Taylor Body of Work Award, and the Massachusetts Book Award. She is a past poet laureate of Northampton, MA.

This event will also be livestreamed on our YouTube channel and available to view afterward. Click here to view.