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/
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/
I’m happy to share the news that, on September 25th, Felling Trees: Selected Poems 2000-2025 by Samantha Terrell will be released by Low Hanging Fruit!
Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2025/09/10/one-liner-wednesday-not-a-duck-or-goose-in-sight/
Linda’s prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday this week is “something that opens.”
Something that opens is my first chapbook, Hearts. In a shameless exercise in self-promotion, I’m using this post to draw attention to a post that I just finished about the second anniversary of Hearts.
Check it out!
A little over two years ago, Hearts, my first poetry chapbook was published by Kelsay Books. The poems center around my mother, concentrating on her final years as she lived with heart failure.
I know that many people are unfamiliar with the term “chapbook.” A chapbook is a short book that is usually organized around a central theme.
As someone who didn’t pursue poetry until later in life, I am honored to have a book in print. There are several ways to buy a copy: directly from Kelsay Books, from Amazon, on special order from any bookstore that has access to Ingram, or directly from me, in person or by mail. (Please send me an email at jcorey.poet@gmail.com to make arrangements.)
People who have been following my history as a poet know that I had very little formal coursework in poetry; I have developed my skills through the generous sharing of my poetry community, including the Binghamton Poetry Project, the Grapevine Poets, and the Boiler House Poets Collective.
What has been more difficult is developing the publicity skills needed to promote a book. I am by nature an introvert and struggle with self-promotion. I’m also not great with asking people to spend money. Unfortunately, there have been other obstacles in the form of personal and family health struggles that have kept me from doing a great job at selling my book.
I am very grateful for the friends – and the people who are unknown to me – who have read my book. I especially appreciate those who have reached out to me about Hearts, often sharing stories about their own loved ones. I write in order to connect with others and am deeply honored that my work resonates with them.
One thing that I hadn’t anticipated was what it feels like to lose friends who have read Hearts and written or spoken to me about it. It adds another aspect to their loss. I also wonder what will become of the copies that they had, especially when they are inscribed. I somehow imagine someone picking up a copy in a secondhand bookstore and wondering who the prior owner was and how I was connected to them.
I still hope to publish another book some day/year but I will always be pleased that my first book was about my mom.
And every time I see bleeding hearts, I think about Hearts and about her.
For people in the North Adams, Massachusetts area, please join the Boiler House Poets Collective, currently in residence with The Studios at MASS MoCA, for a free reading at Bear & Bee Bookshop, 28 Holden St., North Adams at 7 PM with light refreshments to go along with the great poetry!
Join us for Linda’s One-Liner Wednesdays! Find out more here: https://lindaghill.com/2024/10/09/one-liner-wednesday-on-my-walk/
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.
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/
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?
Last week, I received my first ever royalties payment on the copies of my poetry chapbook Hearts, which was published by Kelsay Books in May, 2023.
The payment covered the copies sold through the Kelsay Books website and on Amazon in 2023. (If you are lucky enough to still have an independent bookstore near you, they can also order Hearts for you through Ingram.)
It turns out that I had sold more copies myself, in person and through mail order, than I had online.
Yay, me?
At any rate, I’m now working on 2024 sales, so feel free to order at either of the links above, through your favorite local independent bookstore, or directly from me. I can arrange to meet up or deliver locally or send by mail in the US. You may email me at jcorey.poet@gmail.com to make arrangements or for more information.
I’m also available to give readings at bookstores, book club meetings, libraries, or anywhere else that might want to invite me. I could discuss Hearts, which revolves around my mother in her final years, or, more likely, read a more wide-ranging selection of my work and take questions. I could even throw in some blogging discussion, if that is of interest. I’m open to travelling to your venue or appearing virtually, so feel free to make a proposal that would suit you and your group!
I’m still near the beginning of the learning curve on the whole promotion aspect of authorship, so, please, also feel free to send along any advice or tips you may have.
Thanks to everyone who has purchased or read Hearts, written a review, and/or communicated with me about their own reflections and reactions. It has been a special experience for me knowing that my poems reach people and remind them of aspects of their own lives.
I also appreciate the support of the readers at Top of JC’s Mind. I’ll continue to keep you posted about my poet-life, plus a whole lot more, here.
In gratitude,
Joanne Corey
Joanne Corey 