Ocean State Poets~~~Giving Voice
The Beginning
In 2010, Ocean State Poets, a non-profit to further promote the reading and writing of poetry across Rhode Island, flowed out of a prior inspiration known as Power to the Poets, a community outreach program of volunteer poets, created by Rose Pearson, Creative Director of The Writers’ Circle, in September 2008 and continued in 2009-2010 under the aegis of Praying Mantis Press, a non-profit established by poet Heather Sullivan.
Our Progress
To date, we have visited over 30 sites around the State, bringing free poetry programs to the public. At first, our focus was to reach out to marginalized populations in alternative schools, prisons, homeless shelters, group homes, addiction-recovery residences, The Institute for Non-Violence and nursing care facilities.
More recently, we have expanded our mission, hoping to include as many Rhode Islanders as possible, by conducting poetry readings and workshops for community and public libraries, as well as other venues. Some of our members have served as judges for competitions, including Street Sight’s National Poetry Contest for the Homeless. We have also utilized the media: our volunteers have been featured on the radio and on television. We often invite poets from our various workshops to take part in these events.
Through these forms of outreach, Ocean State Poets has served thousands of individuals across the State.
In April 2011, Ocean State Poets was recognized by the Rhode Island Attorney General at the Victim’s Grove Ceremony and given a citation for our “outstanding assistance and support to victims of crime.” In addition, we were given an award by the RI General Treasurer for our “advocacy of victims’ rights.”
Besides providing ongoing workshops for new and experienced poets, we have regularly produced chapbooks showcasing our participants’ work. Butterfly Wings and Poems on Branches, both published by Salve Regina University and edited by an OSP member, were created with students in Salve’s Learning Unlimited Program. A Circle Of Writers: From Both Sides of the Wall features poets at the Men's Medium Security Prison. We hope to publish more collections in the future.
Where We Are Now
Currently, Ocean State Poets has 25 members who are involved in the workshop teams, including Lisa Starr, Rhode Island Poet Laureate. Several more poets are in the process of joining. Our growth as a nonprofit organization includes the writing of by-laws, the election of officers and the creation of a website.
Our volunteer poets’ professional backgrounds are as diverse as our individual poetic voices: some work in the fields of social services and teaching; others in engineering and strategic planning; we are musicians, technology experts, librarians, inn keepers, business owners, life coaches, ministers, spiritual guides, bartenders and housecleaners.
What unites us is a true desire to build community through the writing and sharing of poetry, to inspire others through the beauty and honesty of language. Our tagline, giving voice, continues to be at the heart of what we do. The Ocean State Poets program is all-volunteer; our workshops and services are free of charge, though donations are appreciated.
In 2010, Ocean State Poets, a non-profit to further promote the reading and writing of poetry across Rhode Island, flowed out of a prior inspiration known as Power to the Poets, a community outreach program of volunteer poets, created by Rose Pearson, Creative Director of The Writers’ Circle, in September 2008 and continued in 2009-2010 under the aegis of Praying Mantis Press, a non-profit established by poet Heather Sullivan.
Our Progress
To date, we have visited over 30 sites around the State, bringing free poetry programs to the public. At first, our focus was to reach out to marginalized populations in alternative schools, prisons, homeless shelters, group homes, addiction-recovery residences, The Institute for Non-Violence and nursing care facilities.
More recently, we have expanded our mission, hoping to include as many Rhode Islanders as possible, by conducting poetry readings and workshops for community and public libraries, as well as other venues. Some of our members have served as judges for competitions, including Street Sight’s National Poetry Contest for the Homeless. We have also utilized the media: our volunteers have been featured on the radio and on television. We often invite poets from our various workshops to take part in these events.
Through these forms of outreach, Ocean State Poets has served thousands of individuals across the State.
In April 2011, Ocean State Poets was recognized by the Rhode Island Attorney General at the Victim’s Grove Ceremony and given a citation for our “outstanding assistance and support to victims of crime.” In addition, we were given an award by the RI General Treasurer for our “advocacy of victims’ rights.”
Besides providing ongoing workshops for new and experienced poets, we have regularly produced chapbooks showcasing our participants’ work. Butterfly Wings and Poems on Branches, both published by Salve Regina University and edited by an OSP member, were created with students in Salve’s Learning Unlimited Program. A Circle Of Writers: From Both Sides of the Wall features poets at the Men's Medium Security Prison. We hope to publish more collections in the future.
Where We Are Now
Currently, Ocean State Poets has 25 members who are involved in the workshop teams, including Lisa Starr, Rhode Island Poet Laureate. Several more poets are in the process of joining. Our growth as a nonprofit organization includes the writing of by-laws, the election of officers and the creation of a website.
Our volunteer poets’ professional backgrounds are as diverse as our individual poetic voices: some work in the fields of social services and teaching; others in engineering and strategic planning; we are musicians, technology experts, librarians, inn keepers, business owners, life coaches, ministers, spiritual guides, bartenders and housecleaners.
What unites us is a true desire to build community through the writing and sharing of poetry, to inspire others through the beauty and honesty of language. Our tagline, giving voice, continues to be at the heart of what we do. The Ocean State Poets program is all-volunteer; our workshops and services are free of charge, though donations are appreciated.
