The Friends of the Gleason Public Library invite the community to celebrate the power of poetry at the 2025 Poetry Festival, taking place on Saturday, May 17 at 2 p.m. at the Gleason Public Library.
The festival will feature the announcement of the winners of the 2025 Friends of the Library Poetry Contest. Winning poets from four age categories will be recognized and invited to read their poems aloud to the community.
In addition to the awards and readings, the event will include a variety of poetry-themed activities for children and teens, designed to inspire young writers and encourage creativity in a fun, interactive environment.
A highlight of the festival will be a panel discussion with three published poets—Michael Ansara, Carla Schwartz, and Carolyn Oliver—who will offer insights into their creative processes, discuss their recent publications, and reflect on the inner workings of the writing life.
The afternoon will conclude with refreshments, book sales, and opportunities for attendees to meet and chat with the panelists and fellow poetry enthusiasts.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Carlisle Cultural Council, a local agency supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency.
The Panelists:
Michael Ansara has been a long time activist and organizer. He is the co-founder of Mass Poetry. His first book of poetry, What Remains, was published in 2022 by Kelsay Press. His memoir, The Hard Work of Hope, will be published this July by Cornell University Press. Michael and his wife, Barney Arnold, have lived in Carlisle for 38 years.
Carla Schwartz’s poems have appeared in “The Practicing Poet” and her collections “Signs of Marriage,” “Mother, One More Thing,” and “Intimacy with the Wind.” Learn more at https://carlapoet.com, or on all social media @cb99videos. Recent/upcoming curations: Autumn Sky Poetry Daily, Contemporary Haibun Online, Eunoia Review, Modern Haiku, New Verse Review, New-Verse News, North Dakota Quarterly, One Art, Rattle Magazine, Sheila-Na-Gig online, Sense and Sensibility, Silver Birch, Spank the Carp, and The MacGuffin, and Verse-Virtual Online. Carla Schwartz received the 2023 New England Poetry Club E.E. Cummings Prize. A Carlisle resident, Schwartz is passionate about cycling, nordic skiing, hiking, fresh water long distance swimming, paddle-boarding, reading, and gardening.
Carolyn Oliver is the author of The Alcestis Machine (Acre, 2024); Inside the Storm I Want to Touch the Tremble (University of Utah Press, 2022), winner of the Agha Shahid Ali Prize in Poetry; and three chapbooks, including, most recently, Night Ocean (Seven Kitchens Press, 2023), which was selected for the Rane Arroyo Series. Her poems appear or are forthcoming in Poetry Daily, TriQuarterly, Ecotone, Copper Nickel, Image, Consequence, and elsewhere. Her website is carolynoliver.net.
This program is supported in part by a grant from the Carlisle Cultural Council a local agency which is supported by Mass Cultural Council, a state agency. Additional support by the Friends of the Gleason Public Library. More information on the poetry contest is below.
The Gleason Public Library is hosting its annual poetry contest in celebration of National Poetry Month this April. This year’s theme is “Wonder.” All ages are welcome. Winners will be selected (at the judges’ discretion) for the following age groups: ages 8 and younger, ages 9-12, ages 13-17, and ages 18+.
First place winners will receive a $100 cash prize and recognition at a poetry festival and awards ceremony at 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 17th. First place poems will be printed in the Carlisle Mosquito.
Entries will be judged based on use of language, use of poetic techniques (such as rhyme, rhythm, repetition, alliteration, and more), originality, evocation of emotion in the reader, and connection to the theme of “Wonder”.
Contest Guidelines:
- Open to anyone who lives or works in Carlisle.
- Contestants may submit one original, unpublished poem.
- Collaborations and anonymous works are not eligible for prizes.
- Poems may not exceed 45 lines in length (including title) and must fit on a single 8.5”x11” page.
- Poems should address the theme “Wonder.”
- All entries must include a cover sheet with the contestant’s name, age group, and contact information; to facilitate blind judging, names and contact information should not appear on the poem.
- Entries will be accepted by email to director@gleasonlibrary.org or in-person at the library.
- All entries must be received by 3 p.m. on Friday, April 25th