JoAnn Cibelli is a retired high school teacher who lives in Hampden County. Besides writing JoAnn loves gardening, hiking, but most of all dogs. She lives in Chicopee with her three rescue poodles. “What Was Important” What was important: Gathering with friends and family Going to places of worship Working Sporting events Vacations Birthday parties, Read More
Straw Dog Writers Guild
“Too Beautiful” by Phyllis Lawrence
Phyllis Lawrence, living in Wendell: I participate in a weekly writing group in Wendell. In the light of this strange and terrifying pandemic time, I find the beauty of the natural world not only a solace but sometimes overwhelming. “Too Beautiful” Too Beautiful In this dimmed time I can barely keep my eyes open to the bright light. Read More
ALPHABET BOOK FOR 2020 by D. Dina Friedman
D. Dina Friedman received two Pushcart Prize nominations and has published in many literary journals. She is the author of one chapbook of poetry, Wolf in the Suitcase (Finishing Line Press) and two award-winning novels, Escaping Into the Night (Simon and Schuster) and Playing Dad’s Song (Farrar, Straus, Giroux). http://www.ddinafriedman.com. ALPHABET BOOK FOR 2020 If Read More
Voices from Afield Smith College Renga #1
Pictured left to right, top to bottom: Maggie Olszewski ’23, Sean Joyce-Farley ’20, Allex Dawn ’21, Bill Hagen, Arda Collins, Matt Donovan, Ellen Doré Watson, Clare O’Gara ’22, Jen Blackburn, Rosetta Cohen and Floyd Cheung. Design Credit: Lauren Anderson Smith College Renga #1: We are twelve students, staff, and faculty formerly on campus together at Read More
The View from the Register of the Leverett Village Co-op by Karen L Traub
Karen L Traub lives in the woods of Shutesbury and is a new member of Straw Dog Writers Guild. A student in the Newport MFA, Karen’s first published essay appeared in Brevity Online. She serves on the Editorial Board of Quabbin Quills and is writing a memoir about her local library. The View from the Read More
It Goes On by Rebecca Rice
Rebecca Rice is the author of A Time to Mourn: One Woman’s Journey through Widowhood. She has published in The New York Times, Redbook, and Cosmopolitan. She is working on a second memoir about divorce. A resident of Hampshire County, she has recently joined Straw Dog Writers Guild. It Goes On Everything is the virus. Read More
Sudden Wedding: March 27, 2020 by Sarah Pirtle
Sarah Pirtle was a founding member of a traveling feminist poetry troupe in the 1970’s. Sixty songs from her nine recordings are free on Sarah Hope Sings. Her five books include An Outbreak of Peace, a novel which received the Olive Branch Award for outstanding book on world peace. Sudden Wedding: March 27, 2020 The Read More
Refuge by Randi Stein
Randi Stein: I am a Straw Dog member and live in Amherst, MA (Hampshire County). I am a visual artist and writer, and often combine the two in mixed-media collages. Refuge In 1978, I spent three weeks underground, in a bomb shelter in northern Israel. The kibbutz where I lived, high in the mountains of Read More
Covid Tanka by William J. Jackson
William J. Jackson: Born, Rock Island, Illinois. Studied acting, Goodman Theatre, Chicago. Lived in N.Y.C., Vermont, India (3&1/2 years). B.A. degree, Lyndon State College. Forest fire lookout watchman, Bald Mountain, Vermont. Wrote “Walk Through a Hill Town.” PhD, Harvard University, 1984. Professor, IUPUI, Indiana. Writer and translator, living in Leverett. https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/10004144/posts/41 Covid Tanka When we Read More
So I Get to Reflect… by John Bos
John Bos lives in Shelburne Falls. He is a contributing writer for Green Energy Times, Citizen Truth, a regular My Turn contributor to the Greenfield Recorder and a columnist for the Shelburne Falls West County Independent. So I Get to Reflect… It is a time of deep reflection. My iPhone calendar constantly reminds me Read More