Poetry slam, poetry workshops and celebration at Milkweed’s new home

Milkweed Poetry Workshop, a weekly poetry meet-up devoted to reading, creating, and sharing poems, has found a home at the Warwick Historical Society. Thanks to the support of WHS, the group, which meets every Wednesday (on Zoom), is now holding an in-person session the third Wednesday of each month at the A. W. Buckbee Center.

Currently hosted by Brooke Hamling and Wendy Insinger, the workshop aims to offer people opportunities to find and share their “creative vibes and voices,” says Insinger.

“I’m thrilled to be doing face-to-face poetry events again!” says Hamling, who grew up in Warwick and now lives in Florida, New York. “I hope ours will inspire locals to get together and try something new.”

Poets and non-poets are all welcome.

“I always saw myself as a writer, but never as a poet,” said Insinger. “Milkweed came along at a very low point in my life. I was recovering from a three-year bout with Lyme’s disease and was creatively empty. The feeling of meeting and writing regularly in a non-judgmental, fun atmosphere re-energized me, and continues to energize me every time we meet. I hope Milkweed can provide that kind of space for other people, too.”

Wednesday, November 16, Milkweed celebrates its 291st workshop. In addition to the regular writing workshop, featured spoken word poet and hip-hop artist, Daniel Villegas, of Warwick, will perform poems, perhaps throwing in a bit of drumming and/or crowd-sourced freestyle poetry.

Friday, November 18, Milkweed is running a Poetry Slam with the audience as judges. Offering a Grand Prize of $100 to the winner, this event will be emceed by Milkweed Founder and National Poetry Slam Poet Bryan Roessel. Entry fee: $10.