“Made possible by Friends” - An apt phrase for my book Singing from the Deep End that is in many ways an ode to friendship! Lovely to read with Andrea Ballou at the Concord Free Public Library this afternoon. Many thanks to the Friends of the Library for sponsoring this event and to E. Glenn Mitchell for organizing and Stephan Bader for being the most supportive right-hand man ever. And gratitude to all who came out to listen and support poetry on a day that looked like slide two! 🌞📚🌳 I ♥️ libraries!
Join the Friends of the Concord Free Public Library on Sunday, May 17 for an afternoon of poetry, featuring poets Andrea Ballou and Rebecca Hart Olander. 3-4:30pm in the Goodwin Forum, Main Library at 129 Main Street, Concord, MA, 01742. Info & registration in Linktree at @rholanderpoet , or visit concordibrary.org. 🍃📚🌿 @andreaballou@concordlibrary
Andrea Ballou (CRF 2025) Reads " Jack Wonders Why We Call Friday Good" in the Castle Library. There are just a few seats remaining for our annual Poetry Month reading next Monday, April 20th with Andrea reading alongside three other 2025 Writing Fellows. Reserve your spot at the link in our bio now. Drinks, stuzzichini, and poetry await!
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Join Civitella at 6 PM on Monday, April 20th at 28 Hubert St. for our annual reading in celebration of Poetry Month. This year, four recent Writing Fellows, representing all four fellowship sessions in 2025, will share their work at Civitella's Tribeca home base: Maggie Burton, Elisa Gonzalez, Robin Walter, and Andrea Ballou.
RSVP now at the link in our bio!
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Whew! What a fantastically packed day. Thank you for everyone that came out to the @artnowatmu Poetry and Image workshop and reading with @andreaballou and @mccarthywriter Andrea Ballou and Mike McCarthy led the @monmouthuniversity students through a workshop using poetry and image - generating ideas using physical prompts, the tactile, and the intuitive. We practiced being comfortable being uncomfortable and thought about how that will help us generate more creative ideas and content. Followed by a reading by Ballou, McCarthy and I shared work created during my collaboration with McCarthy on his latest book Behold. Thanks again - I am so grateful for all the support for this event especially for @artnowatmu and Dr. Jeffrey Jackson and the @muenglishdept@monmouthreview and @poetsintheclassroom
Here Now: Andrea Ballou is the 2025 Lexi Rudnitsky/Persea Books First Book Prize Affiliated Fellow from the USA. She is the author of “Other Times, Midnight,” winner of the Lexi Rudnitsky Poetry Prize (Persea Books, 2025). A Pushcart Prize nominee, Andrea has received fellowships from the National Resource Council, the Tinker Foundation, and others. She earned her PhD from the University of Chicago in Romance Languages & Literatures and an MFA from Lesley University. Currently she is the Director of the Poetry Lab for Elders at the VNA in Somerville, where she has taught poetry and creative writing since 2018. She divides her time between Massachusetts and mid-coast Maine.
For some time, Andrea's practice has included collecting and experimenting with found natural objects as a way into difficult material she might not otherwise be able to unearth. At the Castle, she has has been collaging objects sourced from the grounds with old passport photos of hers and family members. Swipe for a peek into her process in "Vista," her studio at Civitella!
Images:
1 - Adrianne Mathiowetz
2 - Cover art "Drift" by Stuart Buchanan
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Submit your manuscript to @perseabooks Lexi Rudnitsky Poetry Prize! Deadline is Oct 31st. The prize incudes a six-week writing residency at @civitellaranieri . Such an incredible gift!
