2018 Massachusetts Poetry Festival

Can art change the world? Where do we draw the line between investigation and activism, intervention and witness, persuasion and propaganda? Who gets to claim personal and communal narratives, and what are the implications of breaking silence versus forgetting history?  Post-election, poetry has emerged as a way to channel the uncertainty that comes with regime change. Poets share their thoughts and work that focuses on justice, resistance, and/or ways to bolster spirits and protect the disenfranchised in uncertain times. They also will offer prompts to quell the disquiet and awaken our spirit of resistance.  . Poems of social action not only challenge and change us but help us feel more hopeful and less alone. As the late June Jordan wrote, “We are the ones we have been waiting for.”