Chapter and Verse
Chapter and Verse is a literary reading series sponsored by Jamaica Pond Poets, usually on the second Friday of the month, from October through May at 7:30 pm. The readings resume in fall, 2022, at the historic Loring Greenough House, 12 South Street in Monument Square in Jamaica Plain where they have been held for more than 20 years.
Readings in January and February will still be on Zoom in 2023. (From October, 2020 to May 2022 the readings were held on Zoom due to the pandemic. Chapter and Verse usually features three readers per event. Chapter and Verse managers are: Dorothy Derifield (Director), Sandra Storey (Co-director). For more information, contact dorothy.derifield@gmail.com
Please join us. To be on our email list for readings, email sandeestorey@fastmail.fm with your name and email address. In January and February, to receive a Zoom invitation with a link on the day of the reading, RSVP to sandeestorey@fastmail.fm with your email stating that you want to attend.
Upcoming Readings: Fall 2022 – Spring 2023
February 10 – Jean Dany Joachim, Mark Soto, and Alan Smith Soto; MC – Audrey Henderson
Jean Dany Joachim is a poet, past Cambridge Poet Populist, Poet in residence at First Church in Cambridge, Director of City Night Readings Series, and in residence at Little Crepe Café in Cambridge. He has three published collections of poetry, Crossroads/Chimenkwaze
Poet/translator Mark Smith-Soto was born in the U.S. and raised in his mother’s country, Costa Rica. He has authored three prize-winning chapbooks and three full-length poetry collections, Our Lives Are Rivers (U. Press of Florida, 2003), Any Second Now (Main Street Rag, 2006) and Time Pieces (Main Street Rag, 2015). His work, recognized in 2005 with an NEA Fellowship in Creative Writing, has appeared in Kenyon Review, Literary Review, Louisville Review, Missouri Review, Nimrod, Poetry East, Rattle, The Sun and many other journals and anthologies. His work of translation, Fever Season: Selected Poetry of Ana Istarú (2010) and his lyrical memoir Berkeley Prelude (2013), were both published by Unicorn Press.
Born in San José, Costa Rica into a bicultural family, Alan Smith Soto lives in Jamaica Plain, Mass. and is a member of Jamaica Pond Poets. He has published three collections of poetry: Fragmentos de Alcancía (Treasure Jar Fragments, 1998), with a grant from the Spanish consulate in Boston; Libro del lago (Lake Poems, 2014); and Hasta que no haya luna (Till the Moon is No More, 2021). He translated Life and Death, by Robert Creeley. Vida y muerte, was published in 2000. His translation and edition of a special issue of the International Poetry Review, Spain’s Poetry of Conscience, was published in 2006. In 2017, he directed and acted in Tres episodios y un incendio (Three Episodes and a Fire), a work of poetry written with Pilar González España. His current work includes a collection of poetic pieces for stage and his first poetry collection in English.
March 10 – Wendy Drexler, Tom Laughlin, and Ladette Randolph; MC – Sandra Storey
April 14 – readers TBA
May 12 – readers TBA
Previous Readings
with links on how to buy readers’ books and to videos of some of the readings
Readings: Fall 2022 – Spring 2023
October 14: Kathleen Aguero, Eileen Cleary, and Steven Riel: MC: Sandee Storey
To order Kathleen Aguero’s World Happiness Index, click here
To order Eileen Cleary’s 2 a.m. with Keats, click here
To order Steven Riel’s Fellow Odd Fellow, click here
November 11: Jennifer Barber, Charles Coe, and Aaron Tillman: MC: Dorothy Derifield
December 9: Ann Bookman, Harris Gardner, and Sandra Storey: MC: David Miller
January 13: Susan Donnelly, Jim Nichols, and Melissa Peters: MC: Susanna Kittredge
To view a recording of this reading, click here.
To buy Susan Donnelly’s books, click here.
To buy Jim Nichols’s book, click here.
Readings: Fall 2021 – Spring 2022
October 15: Frannie Lindsay, Maureen McElroy, Brian Simoneau; MC: Sandee Storey
To view a recording of this reading, click here.
To order Frannie Lindsay’s The Snow Wife, click here
To order Maureen McElroy’s chapbook, contact her at mcelroy55@rcn.com
To order Brian Sim0neau’s No Small Comfort, click here
November 12: Gail Mazur, *David Miller, Elizabeth Chiles Shelburne; MC: Dorothy Derifield
To view a recording of this reading, click here
To order Gail Mazur’s book, click here or here
To order David Miller’s book, click here or, write to him at dpmiller1955@outlook.com
To order Elizabeth Chiles Shelburne’s book, click here or here
December 10: Danielle Legros Georges, *Jennifer Markell, Jan Schreiber; MC: David Miller
To view a recording of this reading – click here
To order Danielle Legros Georges’s book, click here or here
To order Jennifer Markell’s book, click here or go to her site for a signed copy
To order Jan Schreiber’s books go to Amazon.com
March 11: *Dorothy Derifield, Mark Pawlak, and Sheryl White
To view a recording of this reading – click here
To purchase Dorothy Derifield’s book, click here
To purchase Mark Pawlak’s book, click here
To purchase Sheryl White’s chapbook, click here
April 8: Sam Cha, Gloria Mindock, and Peter Schmitt; MC: Sandee Storey
To view a recording of this reading – click here
To purchase Sam Cha’s books, click here or here
To purchase Gloria Mindock’s book, click here
To purchase Peter Schmitt’s book, click here
May 13: Kevin Gallagher, Marcia Karp, and Chandreyee Lahiri; MC: Dorothy Derifield
Readings: Fall 2020 – Spring 2021
October 16: Mary Buchinger, *Valerie Loveland, *Jennifer Markell; MC: *Alan Smith Soto
November 13: Allison Adair, Robbie Gamble, *Susanna Kittredge; MC: *Jennifer Markell
December 11: Joshua Coben, Steven Cramer, Joyce Peseroff; MC: *Sandra Storey
January 8: Poetry in Spanish and Translations into English and into Music
Poet: Pedro Granados Translator: Leslie Bary
Poet: Daisy Novoa Vásquez Translator: *Alan Smith Soto
Poet: Juana Borrero Translator/Composer: Stephany Svorinić
MC: *Alan Smith Soto
February 12: Susan Buttenwieser, Jennifer Martelli, Scott Withiam; MC: *Dorothy Derifield
March 12: Sally Bliumis-Dunn, Robert Carr, and Jennifer De Leon; MC: *David Miller
To view a recording of this reading, click here.
April 9: Clare Beams, Greg LeStage, and David McCann; MC: *Mary Birnbaum
To view a recording of this reading, click here.
May 14: Jane Brox, Jeffrey Harrison, and Jennifer LeBlanc; MC: *Susanna Kittredge
To view a recording of this reading, click here.
Buy Jane Brox’s books here
Buy Jeffrey Harrison’s books here
Buy Jennifer LeBlanc’s book here
*Member Jamaica Pond Poets
October 14: Kathleen Aguero, Eileen Cleary, and Steven Riel: MC: Sandee Storey