2012 Holiday Book Drive

Special thanks to everyone who donated to our 2012 Holiday Book Drive. We collected over 200 books for the Community Academy of Science and Health (CASH) in Fields Corner. The haul included titles from some of literature's most empowering authors -- Baldwin, Cisneros, Lahiri (to name a few) -- as well as best-selling -- Martin, Patchett, Lehane. Thanks especially to Charlotte North and WriteBoston for their collaboration.

December 13th Write on the Dot at Savin Bar & Kitchen

Write on the Dot 12/13/12, a set on Flickr.

Teen Writer Showcase Recap & Video

Reprinted from GoLocal MetroBoston...

The 1st Teen Writer Showcase presented by Write on the DOT featured six Dorchester teenagers reading from their original poetry and spoken word at the Fields Corner branch of the Boston Public Library on November 13th. Representing Codman Academy, Cristo Rey, and The Harbor School, the teens read poems about riding the T, overcoming violence, love poems and persona poems (one written from the point of view of a soldier returned from Iraq), an Ekphrastic poem (based on a painting by Brazilian artists Os Gêmeos), and poems written on-the-spot on iPhones. 

A walk-up audience of over 25 library patrons (many of them no older than the students themselves) listened, and occasionally participated, as the young writers also discussed their writing processes, the influence of Dorchester as a setting for their writing, and their reasons for writing. 

Prior to the event, writers and attendees enjoyed a delicious variety of pizzas donated by Tavolo Ristorante (located just down Dorchester Avenue near the Ashmont T Station). GoLocal MetroBoston assisted in the donation, and the librarians at the Fields Corner public library also contributed cookies and refreshments to put a sweet touch on the evening. 

It was inspiring to see so many neighbors drawn in by the words of the young writers (and the scent of sausage slices, to be sure, but they all stuck around for the poetry). Writing gives our world back to us, naming the struggles we face and the oft undetected truths that sustain us. Shawntell, Nia, Kameron, Tito, Shaheem, and Kortaysa delivered just that.

It was equally uplifting to find collaborative community with GoLocal MetroBoston, BPL, and Tavolo’s: partners who support education, youth development, and the arts.

Write on the DOT's next reading is Thursday, December 13th starting at 6:30pm downstairs at Savin Bar & Kitchen. We’re asking attendees to bring new or lightly used books to donate for a book drive in partnership with WriteBoston.

End-of-Year Reading

Write on the DOT

End of the Year Reading & Celebration

Thursday, December 13th 

at Savin Bar & Kitchen

6:30PM -- Live music from Colin O'Day

7:00PM -- Readings by Krysten Hill, Joel Wool, Nazila Hafezi, & Karyn Polewaczyk

Plus the debut of Metaphoria! Dorchester's 1st Metaphor Improv Game 

(...sure to be a simile smackdown)

AND bring new or used books (in good condition) to donate for our holiday book drive in partnership with WriteBoston. More details coming soon.

Reader & Performer Bios:

Krysten Hill is a third year MFA student at UMASS Boston from Kansas City, Missouri. She received her BFA in Creative Writing from Stephens College.

Joel Wool is a community organizer, environmental advocate, friend of Haiti and alumnus of Emerson College. He currently serves on the board of the Dorchester Community Food Cooperative and lives in a cooperative house in Fields Corner.

Nazila Hafezi studies fiction in the MFA program at UMass Boston. She is originally from Iran. She got her B.Sc. in Software Engineering from Sharif University of Technology. Five years ago, she came to US to study for an M.Sc. degree in Biomedical Engineering in El Paso, TX. She has worked as an engineer since 2004. She has also published short stories and poems in Persian language and has been working on several translation projects during the last five years. 

Karyn Polewaczyk is a South-Boston based writer who, once upon a time, lived in Dorchester's Polish Triangle. Her work has been published in the Weekly Dig, Critical Flame, Jezebel, xoJane and ELLE Reads, among others, and she is slated to pen Boston.com's "Let's Go Out" column.

Colin O'Day is a singer/songwriter and fiction writer who attends UMass Boston and lives in Dorchester. He has played more venues in the greater Boston area than he can remember as either the bass player of James the Viking or the frontman of sadbastardgoespop. He has also read fiction at Literary Firsts.

Teen writers - read with Write on the DOT!

Write on the DOT is looking for a few more awesome Dorchester high-school age writers to read at its November Teen Writer Showcase. Any teens are welcome to read their original poetry, short stories, or personal essays. The event is scheduled for Tuesday, November 13th, 6-8PM, at the Fields Corner branch of the Boston Public Library.

All readers will also have the opportunity to publish their work in the second volume of the Write on the DOT journal!

If you are interested or know anyone who might be, please email: aajamde@yahoo.com

Reading Recap + Insta-Poems

Thanks to all who came to the Savin Hill Yoga Studio last week and made our September Kickoff reading  a great night. We had one of our biggest turnouts -- over 50 attendees -- and heard some outstanding poems and stories read by local writers Charles Thiesen, Carol Dickerson, Shilpi Suneja, and Teresa McMahon.

Another highlight was the creation of "Insta-Poems" written on-the-spot as arriving guests responded to pre-printed questions and left their answers to simmer in the Poetry Cauldron. Audrey Mardavich of Clam Point ousted Kurt Klopmeier of Savin Hill for the audience vote, taking home the Insta-Poet Title Belt. You can read their poems below. (In Kurt's poem, the audience contributions are italicized. Kurt and Audrey shared many of the same slips taken from the Poetry Cauldron.)

I Controlled Time and Space

by Kurt Klopmeier

Defied physics, logic to live

a thousand lives. I married

Typhoid Mary, predisease.

We moved to Panama, strolled

among the mud hens and guava trees.

I rowed George Washington

across the Delaware and died

by Prussian gun, so I made

a mundane life, had a girl,

populated her room with dollhouses

and unicorns, mastered white jazz.

But I needed to see the future,

so I spent a life on the Mars

spaceship and drifted slowly

into the cosmos, dot dot dot.

Life on Mars

by Audrey Mardavich

Life on Mars is a lot like life on Earth

except there’s no good Mexican food,

my Mother’s not here, either

even though I paid like a MILLION dollars to get here.

I’m RICHARD NIXON

I’m CEO of Mitch Manning’s Extreme Makeover,

you won’t be able to count the amount

of insufferable Harvard undergrads’ heads

I stomped on to get here.

Someone, send me a French Vanilla Iced Coffee!

The ground is very dry--full of rocks.

I miss waffle house.

I miss “diaper boy.”

No one told me Mars sucks and is extremely lonely.

I love you George Washington!

I love you yogurt!

I never thought I’d say this but

Earth rules.

September Kickoff

Thursday, September 6th

Savin Hill Yoga Studio

11 Pearl Street (off Dorchester Ave in Savin Hill)

6:30PM - Reception with drinks & live music from Dorchester singer-songwriter Brendan Little

7PM - Write on the DOT reading featuring: Charles Thiesen, Carol Dickerson, Shilpi Suneja, and Teresa McMahon.

Plus, the first ever *Insta-Poet Showdown*

And copies of Write on the DOT: Vol. 1 available for purchase ($3) 

Come toast to what's left of summer & kick off the new semester 

with an evening of poetry, stories, neighbors, and fun. All are welcome.

Directions: By MBTA, take the ASHMONT-bound Red Line train to SAVIN HILL station. Exit onto Savin Hill Avenue and walk west (downhill, away from the bridge) to Dorchester Avenue. Turn right on Dorchester Avenue and walk 3 blocks to Pearl Street (on your left). 11 Pearl Street is at the end of a long driveway on your right. Map for driving.

Reader Bios:

Charles Thiesen writes a lot: journalism (Yankee, Ranger Rick, Boston Globe, etc.), technical manuals (exciting bulleted lists!), novels (two so far, waiting to emerge), flash fiction (on line at 10 Flash Quarterly). He lives in a co-op house in Upham's Corner, Dorchester, with a garden, a cat, and six housemates, only one of whom is his sweetie. 

Teresa McMahon is a Dorchester native. She studied English/Creative Writing at Suffolk University. At the moment she is working on a book of translations from the French language and is taking Polish classes in Harvard Square. 

Shilpi Suneja was born in India and came to the United States at the age of 15. She holds a BS in Computer Science from NC State University, an MA in English from NYU and will be pursuing her MFA in fiction at UMass Boston.

Carol Dowd-Dickerson has been a word-weaver and storyteller since she was very young. An educator with Boston Public Schools she has introduced new people, places, and things to her students by teaching them to read, as well as teaching many of them how to perform the written word. Carol is a member of the Pentimenti Women's Writing Group in Codman Square. She is currently writing a novel and has the beginnings of a play taking form.