Tag: Grapevine Poets

Merrill Oliver Douglas and Suzanne Cleary at BCAC!

Yesterday, it was my pleasure to attend a reading by my fellow Grapevine and Boiler House Poets Collective friend Merrill Oliver Douglas and Suzanne Cleary at the Broome County (NY) Arts Council.

Merrill and Suzanne met decades ago in Binghamton, where Suzanne grew up and where Merrill re-located for graduate school and then settled. Merrill grew up in New York City and Suzanne has lived in that area for over thirty years. Their mirrored biographies drew together a fun mix of people in attendance, including Merrill’s Grapevine poet-friends and some of Suzanne’s high school classmates. We filled the Artisan Gallery at the Broome County Arts Council, commandeering extra chairs as needed. Bonus: In addition to poetry, we enjoyed the BCAC Members’ Juried Exhibition on display this month.

The impetus for the reading was the release of Merrill’s first full-length poetry collection, Persephone Heads for the Gate, winner of the Gerald Cable Book Award published by Silverfish Review Press. We were treated to several poems from the new book, including the title poem, as well as a number of more recently written poems. As always with Merrill’s work, I was impressed by her ability to bring a unique but no-nonsense perspective to everyday objects and occurrences, curating just the right details to reveal the essence of her subjects. Persephone joins Parking Meters into Mermaids (Finishing Line Press, 2020) on the shelves at the Artisan Gallery. For those outside our area, they can also be ordered through the provided links.

This was my first opportunity to hear Suzanne Cleary read in-person and I loved it! She somehow manages to maintain energy and insight in longer narrative poems, a skill that I much admire but doubt I will ever attain. In honor of reading back in her hometown, Suzanne chose some poems with local ties, as well as those relating to different time periods and circumstances. Some were from her prior books (listings with ordering information here) while others were newer work. We all loved the first poem she read, which was about her experiences with reading Merrill’s work! We were also thrilled with the news that Suzanne will have a new book, The Odds, published in Spring 2025 by New York Quarterly Books. It was chosen by poet Jan Beatty as winner of the 2024 Laura Boss Narrative Poetry Award. Updated information should be available through the links I’ve provided or ask at your favorite bookstore.

Merrill and Suzanne answered audience questions and then engaged in conversation and book signing. It was a wonderful experience! I encourage you all to check out their work and enjoy!

One-Liner Wednesday: Anger by Merrill Oliver Douglas

SWWIM Every Day is featuring the poem “Anger” by my fellow Grapevine and Boiler House poet Merrill Oliver Douglas, with the special bonus of a recording of Merrill reading her work. Enjoy!

This post is brought to you through Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays. Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/09/11/one-liner-wednesday-do-you/

back in the saddle (sort of)

Early this morning, I sent out a couple of (hopelessly above my level) submissions of my revised, full-length poetry collection, which centers on the North Adams, Massachusetts area.

I had mentioned in my National Poetry Month wrap-up that I would be working on revisions after feedback from April Ossmann. Unfortunately, my revision work got sidetracked by my still-mysterious medical condition, but I’ve been chipping away at it on days when my brain fog allows. It’s been difficult for me not to be able to workshop some of the revisions with my Grapevine Poets friends, but I decided the manuscript had been out of circulation for more than long enough that I had to skip this step.

I sent it today to a couple of places that were closing at the end of the month. They are not on my list of target publishers but are places that I want to support. If I’m going to send them money, I might as well send my manuscript rather than just a donation.

I’ll try to send out some more submissions soon. I will continue to sneak in some more revisions, too, especially if I can manage to get enough energy back to be able to workshop again.

Onward – however haltingly…

National Poetry Month wrap-up

April is National Poetry Month in the United States and I had a busy time this year, so I thought I’d do a post with links for those who wanted to catch up.

On April 14th, I sang with the Madrigal Choir of Binghamton in a concert entitled America Speaks. We sang settings of poems by American poets with readings by members of S.T.A.R. (Southern Tier Actors Read).

On April 2oth, I travelled to Cooperstown for the Write Out Loud 2024 performance which included my poem “Some Time Else” from my chapbook, Hearts.

On April 27th, I read with the Grapevine Poets at the Broome County Arts Council, where their POETREE was on display.

Throughout the month, my poem “North Adams Public Library” was part of their National Poetry Month display.

I contributed to the Tioga Arts Council’s Poetry Out Loud series with a recording of my poem, “The Bridge.”

On April 30th, current US Poet Laureate Ada Limón read at Smith College, which, though I could not attend in person, I wrote about here.

One thing that was missing from April this year was attending workshops with the Binghamton Poetry Project, which is in the process of being re-organized as the Binghamton Writers Project. I missed the chance to learn from Binghamton University grad students and other community poets who attend these workshops.

I took another step forward with my full-length poetry collection by sending a revised draft to April Ossmann for review. April has sent me extensive feedback so there will be more revisions and then a new round of submissions. Stay tuned for updates!

Early May bonus is that poet Samantha Terrell is featuring me in the SHINE section of her website.

I love it when National Poetry Month goes into overtime!

I’d love to hear in comments about others’ National Poetry Month experiences this year. Stay tuned for more poetry news – and more eclectic musings – here at Top of JC’s Mind.

Grapevine Poets at BCAC ’24

On Saturday, April 27, seven of the Grapevine Poets happily returned to the Broome County Arts Council’s Artisan Gallery to offer a reading in honor of National Poetry Month.


We decided to use the format of our first group reading at BCAC in April ’23, with each poet reading their own work together with that of another poet. After a welcome from Connie Barnes, BCAC’s Gallery and Education Manager, and introduction from Merrill Douglas, Richard Braco gave a moving tribute to Myron Ernst, the local poet who was the origin of what grew into the Grapevine Poets and who passed away over the winter. Myron’s work appeared in many journals over the decades. His 2013 collection, God Time Creosote, follows his life from childhood through old age.

My own selections this year centered on the interplay of the arts, history, and our current social circumstances. I read two of my yet-to-be-published ekphrastic poems, “Revelation in Shadow” and “Memphis, Tennessee,” along with Robert Frost’s “Choose Something Like a Star,” which was set to music by Randall Thompson and performed by the Madrigal Choir of Binghamton at our concert earlier this month.

One of the things I especially liked about our reading this year was the frequent expressions of how important community is for us as poets. While the stereotype of writers in general and poets in particular is that they are off alone in a secluded spot scribbling away, the reality is that our work is often strengthened by coming together to share our works-in-progress with our fellow writers. I often acknowledge the Grapevine Poets, the Boiler House Poets Collective, and the Binghamton Poetry Project in my bios because I know I would never have been able to publish without their example, advice, and support. During National Poetry Month, it was good to acknowledge what we are to each other as poets.

This year’s participants were (left to right) with quilt exhibit in the background: Sharon Ball, Wendy Stewart, Susan Thornton, Richard Braco, Joanne Corey, Jessica Dubey, and Merrill Douglas.


After the reading and Q&A, there was time for us to greet our guests, browse the Artisan Gallery, and visit the POETREE, which is pictured above. Several of the Grapevine Poets had poems that were part of the POETREE display, which showcased short, spring- or renewal-themed poems from local writers.

Many thanks to Connie Barnes and the Broome County Arts Council for inviting us to read with them in honor of National Poetry Month. We Grapevine Poets look forward to more collaborations in the future.

One-Liner Wednesday: Grapevine Poets at BCAC

Binghamton, NY area folks are cordially invited to come hear me and six fellow Grapevine Poets read works by ourselves and others in honor of National Poetry Month at the Broome County Arts Council’s Artisan Gallery on Saturday, April 27, 2024 at 1:30.

This invitation comes to you as part of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays series. Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/04/24/one-liner-wednesday-parenting/

belated poetry

2023 Binghamton Poetry Project anthology

This spring is the tenth anniversary of my involvement with the Binghamton Poetry Project, which offers workshops to the area community, let by graduate students at Binghamton University.

Today, I’m sharing the link to the 2023 online anthology which became available at some point over these last weeks. Usually, an anthology release coincided with our final readings at the end of the spring and fall sessions, but, last year, for various reasons, no anthologies were published at those times. The link above has three poems from the spring 2023 workshops; I had submitted three from the fall, but they appear to have evaporated into cyberspace.

My poems, “With Nana” “After Cataract Surgery” and “The Way Home”, were written from prompts from our workshop leaders. “After Cataract Surgery” is closest to “real life”; the other two are more imagined. They were written and revised quickly because I needed to make the original anthology deadline, so no judgement on the level of editing!

A transition is underway with Binghamton Poetry Project which is now being re-named the Binghamton Writers Project. The plan is to offer community workshops in other literary genres in addition to poetry. Right now, we are still waiting to see what that will look like.

I owe a lot to the Binghamton Poetry Project. I’ve learned a lot about craft from their workshops. BPP connections helped me find the Grapevine Poets, with whom I workshop on a regular basis year-round and participate in readings. I was invited to write and deliver a poem at the Broome County Heart of the Arts dinner in 2016. A number of poems in my chapbook Hearts and in my still unpublished full-length collection began as Binghamton Poetry Project prompts.

I’m hoping (selfishly) that the Binghamton Writers Project will always keep a poetry offering available.

I wonder how long it will take me to stop calling it the Binghamton Poetry Project or BPP?

Vestal Barnes & Noble event

Gearing up for a Saturday, March 16, 2024 event from noon to 4 PM at our local Vestal, NY Barnes & Noble Bookstore, featuring five Grapevine Poets, including me. The Grapevine Poets take their name from The Grapevine Cafe in Johnson City where we meet regularly to workshop poems, talk, and eat, of course!

Merrill Douglas, Jessica Dubey, Carol Mikoda, Burt Myers, and I, Joanne Corey, will be at individual tables scattered about the store for book signing and conversation from noon to three. We will each have a stamp to mark your entry to a drawing for a Barnes and Noble gift card if you visit all five of us.

At 3:00 or so, we will have a reading in the music department. We are hoping that some of our Grapevine colleagues will appear, as well.

Please join us at whatever point you are able. You can say that you “heard it through the grapevine!”

Many thanks to Burt Myers for the flyer. Burt is a talented graphic artist besides being a talented poet.

Carol Mikoda’s new book!

Poet-friend and fellow Grapevine poet Carol Mikoda has a new book forthcoming from Finishing Line Press, Wind and Water, Leaf and Lake.

Carol’s nature poems have great depth. Of the book, James Crews writes, “The tender, attentive poems of Carol Mikoda show us how to look up and outside of ourselves to notice the intricate aliveness at play in clouds, leaves, and water—to feel the whole world.”

Through August 25th, you can pre-order your copy so you will be among the first to read it in October when it is released. Bonus: you will receive $2 off the list price!

Order today by clicking on the link above!

The Grapevine Poets Read

April is National Poetry Month in the US and there are often poetry readings scheduled in celebration.

This year, the Broome County (NY) Arts Council invited the Grapevine Poets to present a reading, which happened Tuesday evening.

The Grapevine Poets is a group of local poets who meet regularly to workshop each other’s poems, meaning we bring in our drafts for feedback from the poets in attendance in order to assist us in revisions. We also have done manuscript reviews for each other, several of which have been chosen for publication. I am the current record-holder for most manuscripts reviewed with three, my chapbook Hearts (forthcoming soon from Kelsay Books), my full-length collection Small Constellation and my newest chapbook Half a Duet, both of which I am submitting to presses in hope that they will be published someday, too.

While we have been meeting for years and frequently mention the group in our acknowledgements or bios and although we have sometimes read at the same open mics, this was the first time that we formally presented ourselves as the Grapevine Poets. It was very much a collaborative effort with everyone pitching in and divvying up the tasks of scheduling, organizing, publicity, programming, etc. in conjunction with Connie Barnes at the Broome County Arts Council, which is still settling into its new home in the section of State St. in Binghamton often called Artists’ Row.

We decided on a format that each poet would read a poem from another poet we admire and one of our own. We each chose whether or not we wanted the poems to be related to each other in some way. I chose to link my selections thematically, reading “Woman in Suite A, 1922” from Kyle Laws‘ book Uncorseted and my poem “Studio 7 – Building 13” which both relate to a woman’s experience writing in a new studio.

After Connie’s welcome, Wendy Stewart provided the story of the Grapevine Poets, the format of the reading, and her selections. We had decided to each introduce the next poet, so Wendy introduced me and, after my reading, I introduced Sharon Ball. We continued with Burt Myers, Andrée Myers, Merrill Douglas, Jessica Dubey, and J. Barrett Wolf, who also led the question and answer period.

One of our big concerns before the event was would people actually come! I’m pleased to say that we had about thirty-five people there, which is sizable for a poetry reading in our area. There was a bit of a scramble to find and set up more chairs but it was a great problem to have.

I was happy that some people that I had invited were able to attend and that one person came because they recognized my picture from the flier that Burt had designed for the reading. Burt is the art director for the communications and marketing office at Binghamton University and we are grateful to have his professional expertise on hand, as well as his poetic voice.


I’m trying to wrap my head around knowing that some people might come to a reading specifically because it involves me. I’m more accustomed to thinking of myself within a group context, whether it’s the Grapevine Poets or the Boiler House Poets Collective or the Binghamton Poetry Project, and of invitations that come my way to read as being because of these affiliations and my more-established poet-friends.

But, with my first time as featured reader coming up on May 13 at 1:30 at the Tioga Arts Council in Owego along with Merrill Douglas and my first chapbook Hearts forthcoming soon from Kelsay Books, I’m trying mightily to adjust my mindset so I can present myself as more professional, for want of a better term.

Not sure I have the chops to pull it off, but I’ll try.