Tag: library

Come Home to Smith!

Smith College, my alma mater, is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year with a number of events. I travelled to our Northampton, Massachsuetts campus for the “Come Home to Smith” events on November 1st. The campus was beautiful as always and it was a privilege to be back on campus with other alums and current students, as well as family members who were visiting as it was also Family Weekend.

It was my privilege to also attend the first-ever event of the Smith VOICES (Variety of Opinions, Interests, Cohorts, and Experiences are Supported) initiative, organized around the theme of “Joyful Care.” I enjoyed fascinating presentations on wellness for individuals and communities, offered by alums and staff. I appreciated the opportunity to interact with other alums from across the age spectrum and from many different backgrounds and communities.

I especially enjoyed the opportunity to learn new things, reflect, and deepen my understanding. Smith is a champion for liberal arts education, encouraging both breadth and depth of learning and I cherish being part of that tradition. While I didn’t have as much time and energy to wander around campus, I had to stop and learn about this research garden, tucked along the pathway between Wright Hall and Chapin House:


I also enjoyed spending time in some renovated spaces on campus. The opening of VOICES was in Alumnae House in the same room where we held our wedding reception in 1982. Later presentations were in Neilson Library. The photo below was taken in the Browsing Room and shows the official portrait of Jill Kerr Conway, the first woman president of Smith, who was president when I was a student.


To cap the Come Home to Smith activities, current president Sarah Willie-LeBreton addressed the alums and answered questions with insight and warmth. I heard from several alums and staff members how vital President Sarah’s leadership has been in these stressful times for higher education and for society in general. I also love how everyone calls her “President Sarah” with true affection. This was my first opportunity to hear her speak in person. She was astute, thoughtful, and joyful, even when touching on challenges that we are facing.

I ended the day with the Montage concert, which brought together musical groups now active on campus, over half of which were not in existence when I was a student. My favorite new-to-me group was the Wailing Banshees, Smith’s Celtic music ensemble. I loved seeing that the handbell choir, which was very small in my day, has grown to enable ringing five octaves. A newer tradition that has developed is ending with an audience participation piece. We joined in with “Let There Be Peace on Earth” with the Glee Club and Orchestra, which, I admit, made me teary.

In her will, Sophia Smith provided the funds to build and maintain a college for women that would provide an education equal to that available to men. The will states, “It is my wish that the institution be so conducted, that during all coming time it shall do the most good to the greatest number. I would have it a perennial blessing to the country and the world.” I’m grateful that Smith College continues to be a blessing and that it grows and changes in ways that honor Sophia Smith’s wishes. Having previously made their financial aid packages loan-free, Smith recently announced the Next 150 Pledge , which will make Smith tuition-free for families with incomes up to $150,000.

I’m proud to be part of the Smith College family and hope that we will continue as a “perennial blessing” for the next 150 years and beyond!

A birthday poetry reading

As I wrote about here, I am in North Adams for the 10th anniversary residency with my beloved Boiler House Poets Collective.

It is unusually warm for early October this year, which is, unfortunately, riling up some of my health issues, but I did manage to spend some time in the buildings at MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) yesterday. Although I wasn’t putting pressure on myself to write, I was so moved by the Ohan Breiding Belly of a Glacier exhibit that I sat in the gallery and drafted a poem about it. Bonus: the centerpiece of the exhibit is a film and then I was able to sit in the related exhibit room to write so I got to rest and not have to worry about keeping my balance for a long bit.

Ohan Breiding – Even the stones are alive (a letter to the future), 2024


I was able to participate in workshopping with the poets before spouse B came to pick me up for dinner and the evening with one of your high school friends who still lives in the North Adams area. B and daughter T came into town to be able to attend the special Boiler House Poets Collective 10th anniversary reading on Saturday.

I was a bit nervous about reading, as my health has kept me from doing it much over these last couple of years, so I practiced a bit more beforehand than usual. We were thrilled to be reading at the North Adams Public Library in their third floor community space, which is part of the original mansion that became the library in 1898.

Through the wonders of alphabetical order, I introduced the group with a brief history and then read the two North Adams-themed poems I had chosen. It was very cool that the podium we were using was a gift to the library in honor of a local poet, artist, and teacher, D. Patrice Bolgen, who passed away in 2021.


The reading was fantastic! It was so great to hear a sampling of work from all ten of us: Joanne Corey, Merrill Douglas, Jessica Dubey, Mary Beth Hines, Judith Hoyer, Kyle Laws, Deborah Marshall, Carol Mikoda, Eva Schegulla, and Wendy Stewart. It meant a lot to me to have B and T there for the reading. My poet-friends surprised me with a card and birthday flowers – along with the traditional singing of “Happy Birthday to You” – after the reading.


We were also thrilled to be able to present our gift to North Adams for ten years of hospitality to the Boiler House Poets Collective, a collaborative poem that you can read at the beginning of the post. Wendy Stewart read it as part of the thank yous at the reading and we gave it to people who were at the reading. A larger broadside version is our gift to the library, The Studios staff, and other officials who make our time here so joyous.

A collaborative poem is one that a group of poets write together. For this poem, each of us contributed several lines on the theme of praising North Adams which a smaller group assembled into the poem. We were happy to be able to craft a special gift to North Adams in honor of our tenth anniversary in residence with The Studios at MASS MoCA.

After lunch, I was able to do a revision of the poem I had drafted in the Breiding exhibit on Friday in time to bring it to our workshopping session. I was glad to have something to bring as I had thought I might not manage it until Sunday or Monday. Of course, that means I don’t have anything prepared for today yet, so I think it’d better close this post and get over to the Museum or my studio and work on something.

Or take a deep breath and remind myself that there is no pressure to bring something to workshop today. I am among trusted friends who will understand if today is not my day to share.

One-Liner Wednesday: October 4 BHPC reading

For those in the North Adams, Massachusetts: Join the Boiler House Poets Collective for a special reading in honor of our tenth anniversary at the North Adams Public Library on Saturday, October 4, 2025 at 11:00 AM!

This invitation issued under the auspices of Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/10/01/one-liner-wednesday-look-what-came-in-the-mail/

One-Liner Wednesday: Save the Date for BHPC reading

For those in the North Adams, MA area, the Boiler House Poets Collective invites you to a reading in celebration of our 10th anniversary residency at The Studios at MASS MoCA on Saturday, October 4, 11 AM at the North Adams Public Library.

This invitation brought to you through Linda’s One-Liner Wednesday. Join us! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/09/17/one-liner-wednesday-pockets/

Poetry feature on Samantha Terrell’s SHINE

I am honored that poet Samantha Terrell has chosen to feature my work as part of her SHINE – Featured Poets series this month.

I first met Samantha virtually through the Binghamton Poetry Project last year. Her poetry lives in a socially conscious context and she is very generous in sharing her talents with the community.

She recently led a workshop at the Broome County Arts Council entitled “Using Your Voice: A Poetry Workshop for Authenticity.” This inspired the creation of a new poetry club, Binghamton Beatniks, which will meet for the first time on May 14, 2024 at 11 AM in the Fenton Free Library, 1062 Chenango St., Binghamton NY. Local poetry lovers are invited to attend and bring along a poem to share.


Many thanks to Samantha Terrell for featuring me on her website this month and for all she is doing to celebrate poetry in our community!

A poem for Banned Books Week

In honor of Banned Books Week, I’m sharing my poem “The Banned Bookmobile” which was first published in the Fall-Winter 2022 issue of Rat’s Ass Review.

THE BANNED BOOKMOBILE by Joanne Corey
 
Do you need a special license to drive
a bus of books? Children
 
are more fragile; books,
more combustible.
 
Children’s minds need fire,
need those books to start a blaze.
 
How else to know that a pair of penguin
dads can raise a chick?
 
That witches and wizards can be evil
or good or somewhere in the flawed between?
 
That even the bluest eye cannot
confer beauty and love?
 
That it’s a sin to kill
a mockingbird?


(You can read a bit of backstory for this poem in my blog post here.)

A normal-rare event

On July tenth, there was a rare island of normalcy.

Or an almost normal version of a rare event.

I participated in a live poetry reading in conjunction with the Empty the Inkpots exhibit at the Vestal Museum. The reading was part of the Summer Art Festival, a collaboration of the Museum and the Vestal Public Library. Several of the poets from the Binghamton Poetry Project who have work included in Empty the Inkpots read from the stage/deck at the Museum with the audience arrayed in scattered chairs and benches and on the lawn. It was the first time in many months that I have participated in a live-and-in-person poetry reading. It had been even longer since I had had to read with a microphone. The amplification was useful because the museum is near a busy roadway.

I chose not to read the poem I had on display, which is about the early months of the pandemic; it is available at the link above. Instead, I read three poems from my manuscript about the North Adams, Massachusetts where I grew up. “Conveyance” appeared in the spring 2021 anthology of the Binghamton Poetry Project. The other two poems, “North Adams Public Library” and “Monroe Bridge Mail”, are currently unpublished so I won’t share them here.

I was very happy with the reading on a number of counts. First, there were people in the audience who came at my invitation, including one who saw my Facebook announcement of the event. Second, though I was nervous before, I was reasonably comfortable during the reading, even managing the microphone adjustment without much trouble. Third, the reading was well-appreciated by our audience. We had six poets, with diverse styles and viewpoints, represented. We read in alphabetical order. Uncharacteristically, I was not first, which was helpful for me. I like to read early in the order, but I’m better at reading second than first. I was also grateful that the most experienced poet and performer was last as it gave a strong finish to event. No one should have to follow J. Barrett Wolf at a reading!

Lastly, I was pleased to receive personal compliments after the reading from family and friends, some of whom are also poets. What was most heart-warming was that a woman that I did not know came up to me afterward and told me how much she enjoyed my poems and asked where she could find my work. Of course, I don’t have any books of my own out, but I was able to give her my paper copies of my poems, which included my bio for the exhibit and the address for Top of JC’s Mind.

The reading was an island of normalcy not only because of the pandemic but also because most of my time these days has been wrapped up in dealing with the care of my 96-year-old dad who is currently in a rehab/skilled nursing facility after a fall and ensuing complications. It’s why it has taken me so long to post about the reading.

It’s also why, for the first time in years, I am not registered for the current sessions of the Binghamton Poetry Project. I am usually visiting my father in the early evenings. Even if another family member is available to visit, I can’t predict if I will have any creativity/brainpower left late in the day.

It’s made the reading that much more important as a reminder that my poetry life is still there, waiting for me to go back to it when things are more settled.

Someday.

Mass MoCA Poetry Residency: Tuesday

Today was full of surprises and women’s voices.

This morning, we had a fabulous session with Carol Ann Davis. She masterfully tailored her talk, handouts, and exercises to our group of poets, with so many useful tips that I should make them into a (large) sampler and keep them beside me when I write. She graciously signed two of her poetry books for me which I am looking forward to reading when I am in a more relaxed situation.

Most of our group had a fun lunch at Brewhaha, which is close to Mass MoCA and our residency apartments, then went in several different directions. I wanted to go visit the North Adams downtown churches and take some photos, because I am writing a poem that features them. Another poet who fancied a walk on this gorgeous afternoon accompanied me as I played tour guide. I took her into the library, which was once the home of the Blackinton family, owners of a woolens mill and the wealthiest residents in the city. I used to go to the library as a child because it was so much larger than the one in Monroe Bridge, which occupied a relatively small room in the school/town offices/town hall. On Saturday trips to the North Adams library, I remember climbing the grand staircase to the children’s section. The library has since been renovated and is even more beautiful than it was 45 years ago. It also has a new, LEED-certified expansion in the back, so there is plenty of space.

We circled back to the studios. I needed to pick up my things to bring them to the Tupelo loft for a 3:30 presentation. Because the batteries in my camera had died on the first walk, I headed back up Main Street to continue my photo-taking tour. I had made my way back to the library and was taking photos of woodwork and fireplaces and chandeliers and the staircase, when someone called my name. It was Cousin Kim, from B’s side of the family, who was up from Cape Cod visiting old haunts. I had not seen her in over twenty years. As a Facebook friend, she had seen my blogposts and knew I was in North Adams, but had resolved not to contact me because she knew we were busy. We had time for hugs and about twenty minutes of conversation before I had to get to the loft and she had to head back to the Cape. It was a wonderful bit of serendipity.

At the loft, Cassandra led an enlightening exploration of the use of space in poetry, with wonderful exemplars and discussion. It was fun for me that music made several notable appearances. I love drawing music and poetry together as some of my poetic impulse came from the forced diminishment of my musical life. But that’s a whole other blog post…

I ate dinner on my own so that I could talk to B and tell him about Kim. And I got to have a mocha sundae for dessert, although it is not as good as in childhood days at Apothecary Hall where we used to go with Nana. Another poem I need to write.

This evening, we continued our reading series among ourselves. I read with my three apartment mates. We had so much fun! The others’ poetry was amazing and I so loved hearing it in their own voices. It was also fun for me to read so many of my poems at once. It’s the first time I have ever read more than three poems at an event. It was fun, even though I kept reading poems about illness and death. I did sprinkle in some lighter poems and ended with my Mahler haibun, although I realized too late that I had grabbed an earlier draft.

I get a chance at redemption tomorrow as we hope to do a recording of the whole group in the boiler room sound installation. We may even record it on video, which would be cool, especially if we get to share.