Jamaica Pond Poets: What We Do and Who We Are

 

Jamaica Pond Poets (JPP), founded in 1995, meets every Saturday morning to
creatively comment on one another’s poems. Members of JPP have been
published in literary magazines, had collections of their poems published, and
won awards for their work (See About the Poets).

 

The group sponsors Chapter and Verse, a 25-year-old literary reading series that
welcomes poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction in its programs. Chapter and
Verse takes place monthly at the Loring-Greenough House on Friday evenings
during fall through early spring. except January and February when they are on
Zoom.

 

The group has provided assistance to the Friends of the Roslindale Library in
setting up a reading series there, Rozzie Reads, that includes an open mic.
Members of JPP are also active with other literary organizations such as the New
England Poetry Club. 

 

JPP has joined with other organizations to produce programs over the years. At
the 2016 Massachusetts Poetry Festival, Jamaica Pond Poets read humorous
poems followed by an open mike. Jamaica Pond Poets has read as a group at a
Winter Solstice event at Jamaica Pond and at Forest Hills Cemetery’s Poetry in
the Chapel Series. The group was selected to conduct a reading at both the 2012
and 2014 Massachusetts Poetry Festivals. Jamaica Pond Poets is a Poetry Partner
of the Massachusetts Poetry Festival. Members also frequently read at various
area events, and some give workshops.

 

As of September, 2025, active members include: Mary Birnbaum, Dorothy Derifield, Audrey Henderson, Holly Guran, Susanna Kittredge, Dorian Kotsiopoulos, Valerie Loveland, Jennifer Markell, David Miller, Alan Smith Soto,
and Sandra Storey.

 

For more information about Jamaica Pond Poets, contact us.