Service and Outreach
Community Programs
MWG played an integral role in developing the Poetry Out Loud (POL) program in the Monadnock Region. Our group provides judges for both the Keene Public Library Open and Conval High School competitions. The Conval POL winner and runner-up receive gift certificates to The Toadstool Bookshops.
We have a strong community presence and collaborate with area organizations such as the Mariposa Museum. In the past, we have created a poetry-on-demand booth at the Keene Street Fair and participated in Peak into Peterborough celebrations as well as a continued collaboration with the Peterborough Town Library.
Global Outreach
“In late 1993, I had a wonderful meeting in Peterborough, New Hampshire, with writers from the Monadnock Region. Since then, many have sent me their books, answered my questions, and are sharing their joy with me in what they have achieved. I am glad to have kept in touch with them.”
Zhang Ziqing, translator, poet, Director of Foreign Literature, Nanjing University,
Nanjing, China, 2013
Sixteen years later, Zhang Ziqing proudly wearing the blue MWG t-shirt he received in 1993. Since then, that collaboration has grown with MWG participating with Keene State College in 2016 as part of the Poetry Bridging Continents III Symposium, which brought calligrapher Zi Chuan and poet Chen Yihai to spend a week with poets and poetry in the Monadnock Region.
In 2018, MWG joined with New England College for PBC IV which brought five poets from China to present a dual-language and ekphrastic reading at The Jaffrey Civic Center. Though COVID-19 put an end to international travel for 2019, there have been two cross-cultural poetry events held via Zoom.