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, 2023, 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 be on Zoom only. (From October, 2020 to May 2022 all of the readings were held on Zoom due to the pandemic). The other readings will be live only. Chapter and Verse usually features three readers per event. Chapter and Verse managers are: Dorothy Derifield (Director), David Miller (Co-director). For more information, contact dorothy.derifield@gmail.com
Please join us. To be on our email list for readings, email dpmiller1955@outlook.com 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 2023 – Spring 2024
October 13 – at LGH – John Fulton, Jan Schreiber, and Vivienne Shalom
John Fulton is the author most recently of The Flounder and Other Stories, which was a Poets & Writers Page One New and Noteworthy Book selection, and three other books of fiction: The Animal Girl, which was short listed for the Story Prize, Retribution, which won the Southern Review Fiction Prize, and the novel More Than Enough, a Barnes and Noble’s Discover Great New Writers selection. His short fiction has been awarded the Pushcart Prize and been published in Zoetrope, The Sun, Ploughshares, and The Missouri Review, among other venues. He lives with his family in Boston, where he teaches in and directs the MFA program at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
Jan Schreiber was Poet Laureate of Brookline, Massachusetts from 2015 to 2017. His books include Digressions (1970), Wily Apparitions (1992), Bell Buoys (1998), Peccadilloes (2014), and Bay Leaves (2019). A collection of his criticism, Sparring with the Sun, was published in 2014. His translations of The Poems of Paul Valéry appeared in 2021. An advisory editor of Think journal, he teaches in the BOLLI program at Brandeis University and runs The Critical Path, an annual symposium on poetry criticism.
Vivienne Shalom is the author of the recent chapbook The Truth Is, published by Choefpleirn Press. The book won their Jonathan Holden Award for best first chapbook of 2023. Vivienne is a long-time committee member of Rozzie Reads Poetry. Two of her poems were published in Tell Tale Inklings #5. She is the author of the children’s book, The Color of Things (Rizzoli, 1995). A former ESL teacher, graphic designer and welder, she is currently retired and active in the Roslindale community and in the arts.
November 10 – at LGH – Dan Johnson, Dorian Kotsiopoulos*, and Ladette Randolph
December 8 – at LGH – Ben Berman, Jason Tandon, and Lynne Viti
January 12 – on Zoom – Gloria Mindock, Rodrigo Restrepo Montoya, and Christine Tierney
February 9 – on Zoom – readers to be announced
March 8 – at LGH – Holly Guran*, David Surette, and Gary Whited
April 12 -at LGH – Martha Collins, Charles O. Hartman, and Susan Rich
May 10 – at LGH – Leslie Bannatyne, Gary Duehr, and Maureen McElroy
*Member of the Jamaica Pond Poets
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
April 14 – Jean Monahan, Robert Pessek, and Lloyd Schwartz; MC – Alan Smith Soto
May 12 – Tom Daly, Rebecca Kaiser Gibson, and Cheryl Clark Vermeulen; MC – Dorothy Derifield
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 of the Jamaica Pond Poets
October 14: Kathleen Aguero, Eileen Cleary, and Steven Riel: MC: Sandee Storey