WHITINSVILLE -  An Evening of Poetry will be held on Saturday, November 20, at the GB & Lexi Singh Performance Center at Alternatives’ Whitin Mill, 60 Douglas Road, Whitinsville. A celebration of poetic excellence, this event features readings from four regional poets and an open mic segment following intermission.  Scheduled from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m., the event is free and open to the public. 

The poetry showcase will spotlight Candace Curran, Paul Richmond, Karen Warinsky, and Gerald Yelle, who will all read during the first hour. Curran has twice been named Western Massachusetts Poet’s Seat laureate, while Richmond was honored as Massachusetts Beat Poet Laureate (2017-2019) and National Beat Poet Laureate (2017-2019). Warinsky has been a finalist in the Montreal International Poetry Contest. Her debut collection, Gold in Autumn, was released last summer. Yelle’s publications include The Holyoke Diaries and No Place I Would Rather Be. He is a member of the Florence, Massachusetts Poets Society.

Following intermission, community poets from the audience will be able to participate in an open mic segment, with five minutes allotted to each poet. Participants will be able to sign up to read at the start of the event. 

This event is being hosted by ValleyCAST, the arts and culture arm of Open Sky Community Services. Following Open Sky’s COVID safety protocol, all attendees are required to wear a mask regardless of vaccination status.

For further information about this program or to learn more about participating, email Karen Warinsky: [email protected]. To learn more about ValleyCAST and/or Open Sky Community Services, visit openskycs.org.