Mass. Poetry Festival bows in Lowell

Former U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky (left), Lucie Brock-Broido, Nick Flynn, Martin Espada, Rhina Espiaillat and Regie Gibson are among the writers feature at the first-ever Mass. Poetry Festival this Friday through Sunday in Lowell. Also featured are workshops for writers and teachers, a small-press fair, literary heritage tours, events for children and teens and street poetry. Many events are free. Details: www.masspoetry.com/festival. (Flynn replaces Andre Dubus III on the schedule.)

On the festival blog, planning committee's Michael Ansara touts a free event on Saturday at 3 at the Whistler House Art Museum, with Martin Espada, Richard Hoffman, and Ann Killough talking about bringing a moral perspective to poetry in a time of war and torture and economic collapse. Does art suffer when a poet tackles politics? Should they tackle these issue at all? And if so, how? These are questions we wrestle with all the freakin' time here at HubArts, and we'd sure like some answers.

Photo copyright: © Jared C. Benedict.