MCC to Host Award-Winning Poet During Online Event

Middlesex Community College is celebrating 50 years by hosting college events throughout the 2020-2021 academic year. As part of its Visiting Writers Series, Middlesex will host poetry writer Lillian-Yvonne Bertram online at 12:30 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, October 7.

During the event – which will be live streamed – Bertram will read and may perform some of their work. There will also be an opportunity for students to ask questions.

To Bertram, talking about and teaching students how to write helps to “demystify the process.”

“Writing – and writing well – is something anyone can do,” they said. “Writing is connected to reading and so it’s important to stress that strong writers are also strong and avid readers. It’s hard to have one without the other. But there’s really no substitute for writing – everyone does it – it’s a central part of any field or career. Good writing skills are – I think – the most important things a student can learn.”

Bertram is Director of the MFA in Creative Writing at UMass Boston and the Chautauqua Writers’ Festival. They have published four books of poetry, including “Travesty Generator” (2019) – which won the Noemi Press Poetry Prize, the Poetry Society of America Anna Rabinowitz Prize – and was a finalist for the National Poetry Series.

Their other works include “How Narrow My Escapes” (2019), “Personal Science” (2017), “Grand Dessein” (2017), “a slice from the cake made of air” (2016), “& But a Storm is Blowing From Paradise” (2012), “cutthroat glamours” (2012), and “Tierra Fisurada” (2002).

Bertram’s poetry, prose and essays have also appeared in Callaloo, Harvard Review, Black Warrior Review, Narrative Magazine and others. They have received grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Massachusetts Council Cultural, Vermont Studio Center, and Cave Canem among others.

Visit https://www.middlesex.mass.edu/english/creative.aspx to participate in the event.

MCC’s Visiting Writers Series is co-sponsored by the Creative Writing Program and the Office of Student Engagement. For more information, call 978-656-3363 or email StudentEngagement@middlesex.mass.edu.

There is still time to register MCC’s Mini-mester II, an accelerated, eight-week session that starts November 2. Visit www.middlesex.mass.edu/registration/ or call 1-800-818-3434 for more information and to register for classes.

Discover your path at Middlesex Community College. As one of the largest, most comprehensive community colleges in Massachusetts, MCC has been a proven leader in online education for more than 20 years. We educate, engage and empower a diverse community of learners, offering more than 80 degree and certificate programs – plus hundreds of noncredit courses. Middlesex Community College: Student success starts here!