The Massachusetts Poetry Festival 2017

Writing lyric history—poetry about real historical events—presents a number of challenges, but it allows writers to go beyond the facts and into the hearts of the people who came before us. Ginny Lowe Connors and Sherri Bedingfield each have new poetry books based on witch hunts of the 17th century. Toward the Hanging Tree: Poems of Salem Village is just right for a poetry festival located in Salem! The persona poems in it allow the accusers, the accused, neighbors, and others from that place and time to have their say. The Clattering: Voices from Old Forfarshire, Scotland shows that the phenomenon of the witch hunt had its roots in Europe. This too is a book of multiple perspectives. The program will explore approaches to writing about historical events, balancing a desire to stay faithful to the research while creating poems of lyric power.