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| Photo by Trish Crapo |
The Northampton Arts Council
is thrilled to announce the appointment of Amy Dryansky as Northampton’s poet
laureate for the 2017 – 2019 term. As Northampton’s 8th laureate,
Dryansky joins the illustrious ranks of poets Martin Espada, Janet Aalfs, Jack
Gilbert, Lesléa Newman, Lenelle Moïse, Richard Michelson, and Patrick Donnelly.
Dryansky’s first book, How I Got Lost So Close to Home, won the
New England/New York Award from Alice James Books. Her second book, Grass Whistle (Salmon Poetry,
Ireland) received the 2014 Massachusetts Book Award for poetry. Dryansky’s
poems have appeared in a variety of anthologies and journals, including Barrow Street, Harvard Review, New England
Review, Memorious, Orion and The
Women’s Review of Books. She’s received honors and awards from the
Massachusetts Cultural Council, MacDowell Colony, Vermont Studio Center and the
Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. Dryansky is also a former Associate of the Five
College Women’s Studies Center, where she looked at the impact of motherhood on
women poets.
Dryansky has a long history
of working at and for arts and community organizations in the Valley, and is
currently the assistant director of the Culture, Brain & Development
Program at Hampshire College. During her tenure as poet laureate, she hopes to
partner with local organizations like the Center for New Americans, the
Literacy Project, Historic Northampton, David Ruggles Center and the
Northampton Arts Council to highlight the diverse voices--past and
present--that make up our vibrant Northampton community.
Dryansky lives in Conway,
has two kids ages 15 and 18, and tries very hard to maintain a blog called Pokey Mama, about
her attempts to navigate the territory of mother-writer. Her kids, despite their mother’s many accolades, remain unimpressed with the
fact of her being a poet.
For more about Dryansky and
her work, please visit: amydryansky.com
