The 2025 Massachusetts Poetry Festival

Timothy Gager has published 20 books of fiction and poetry, including his fourth novel, Shadows of the Seen, and his most recent book of poetry, Almost Bluing for X-Tra Whiteness. He hosted the successful Dire Literary Series in Cambridge, MA, from 2001 to 2018, and started a weekly virtual series in 2020. He has had over 1000 works of fiction and poetry published, 19 of which were nominated for the Pushcart Prize. His work has also been nominated for aMassa... Read More →

Casey Lynn Roland is a writer, artist, and maker on the North Shore of Massachusetts. Her work has appeared in The Bookends Review, Harpur Palate, Rougarou Journal, and West Trade Review, among others. She holds a BA, MA, and MAT in English from Salem State University, where she... Read More →

Born and raised in rural Ohio, Betsy Miller is a dance artist, educator, and facilitator now based in Salem, Massachusetts. Her choreography blends improvisational practice, ritual, athleticism, and theatricality through collaborative practices and has been presented across the country... Read More →

Meghan McLyman is a professor of dance and the dance program coordinator at Salem State University. The University recognized her passion for teaching with the 2017 Distinguished Teaching Award, and in 2018, she received an Arts Learning Distinguished Teaching and Arts Advocacy Award... Read More →

Subhaga Crystal Bacon (they/them), is the author of five collections of poetry including: A Brief History of My Sex Life, forthcoming from Lily Poetry Review Books; the Lambda Literary finalist, Transitory, 2023, winner of the BOA Editions, Ltd. Isabella Gardner Award for Poetry... Read More →

Hannah Larrabee's Wonder Tissue won the Airlie Press Prize. Her new chapbook--The Observable Universe --is out from Lily Press and was longlisted for a Massachusetts Book Award. Hannah wrote poetry for the NASA James Webb Space Telescope program, and she participated in the Arctic Circle Residency in Svalbard. Hannah has an MFA from the University of New Hampshire where she studied... Read More →

Anna V. Q. Ross’s most recent book, Flutter, Kick (Red Hen Press), won the Benjamin Saltman Poetry Award. Her previous books include If a Storm (winner of the Robert Dana-Anhinga Prize for Poetry), Figuring (Bull City Press), and Hawk Weather (winner of the Jean Pedrick Chapbook Award from the New England Poetry Society). She is a Fulbright Scholar, a Mass Cultural Council fellow, and poetry editor for Salamander, and her work appears or is forthcoming in The Kenyon Review, Harvard Review, The Missouri Review, The Nation... Read More →

Michelle Deane started her dance training in Southern California, where she studied ballet at Desert Ballet Centre.  She graduated with a BFA in Dance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and continued her education at Cambridge College receiving her M.Ed. Michelle has been... Read More →

Abriana McCollim (Abri) is an outgoing mover, born and raised in Massachusetts. She has been dancing for 15 years. Abri graduated from Salem State University in 2022, with a BA in Dance and a minor in Psychology. She is continuing school to become a licensed Therapist / Dance Movement... Read More →

Sarah Soares (they/them) is a local queer artist & a recent college graduate who studied dance & psychology at Salem State University. Sarah experiments with movements rooted in modern dance & improvisation. They have participated both as a performer and a choreographer in events... Read More →

Olivia Fasino is a Boston based dancer with a Bachelors of Arts in dance from Salem State University where she graduated with a concentration in modern. She has trained in many styles including ballet, jazz, hip hop, tap, lyrical, and contemporary. She has danced for various companies... Read More →