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
April 14 – Jean Monahan, Robert Pessek, and Lloyd Schwartz; MC: Alan Smith Soto
Jean Monahan is the author of Mauled Illusionist (Orchises Press, 2006), Believe It Or Not (Orchises Press,1999) and Hands (Anhinga Press, 1992). She is working on a fourth poetry collection, Search Party. She has published widely in journals and anthologies. Formerly a denizen of Jamaica Plain and Cambridge, for the last 22 years she has made her home in Salem.
Bob Pessek, the son of an immigrant, was raised on a small Minnesota farm; his first six years of education were in a two-room rural schoolhouse. After two years overseas with the US Army, Pessek sailed three years in the salt water merchant marine. Pessek attended the University of Minnesota and has a master’s degree from Northwestern University. Pessek worked as a journalist for seven years with The Kansas City Star. In Boston, Pessek freelanced with the late Boston Phoenix and other publications while substitute teaching in the Boston Public Schools. He then was a planner with the Boston Parks Department. He is a fiction writer and lives in Allston.
Lloyd Schwartz is Poet Laureate of Somerville, Frederick S. Troy Professor of English Emeritus at UMass Boston, and arts critic for NPR’s Fresh Air and WBUR, and an editor of the poetry and prose of Elizabeth Bishop. His awards include the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism and Guggenheim Foundation, NEA, and Academy of American Poets fellowships in poetry. His poems have been chosen for the Pushcart Prize, The Best American Poetry, and The Best of the Best American Poetry. His latest collection is Who’s on First? New and Selected Poems (U of Chicago Press).
May 12 – Cheryl Clark-Vermeule, Tom Daley, and Rebecca Kaiser Gibson; MC: Dorothy Derifield
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.
February 10: Jean Dany Joachim, Mark Smith-Soto, and Alan Smith Soto; MC: Audrey Henderson
To view a recording of this reading, click here
To buy Mark Smith-Soto’s book, Time Pieces, click here
March 10 – Wendy Drexler, Holly Guran*, and Tom Laughlin; MC – Sandra Storey
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