Poetorium Too Poetry Reading & Open Mic Featuring bg Thurston & Eric Petersen aka ESP

Please join us for another special Worcester Wednesday double feature edition of our monthly open mic and featured poetry reading series The Poetorium (formerly held at the Starlite in Southbridge) at TidePool Bookshop on August 27th from 5 pm to 7 pm hosted by Ron Whittle and Paul Szlosek. It will be a full two hours of poetry and spoken word starting with a brief interview on stage with our two featured poets bg Thurston (Author of The Many Lives of Cathouse Farm/Tales of a Rural Brothel) and Eric Petersen AKA ESP (Author of Memos From The Milieu) followed by poetry readings by our two features, a short intermission, and then an open mic (with 5-minute slots for each reader if time permits).

bg Thurston lives with her husband on a sheep farm in Warwick. Massachusetts. After a career in computers and finance, she received her MFA in Poetry from Vermont College in 2002. She taught poetry courses at Lasell Village, online for Vermont College, and conducts poetry workshops. Her first book Saving the Lambs by Finishing Line Press was a Massachusetts Book Awards highly recommended reading choice. Her second book, Nightwalking, was released by Haleys in 2011. Her third book, The Many Lives of Cathouse Farm/Tales of a Rural Brothel, is the culmination of a decade of historical research about her 1770’s farmhouse.

Eric Petersen (AKA ESP) is a social worker and resident of Gardner, MA, as well as a poet whose work often covers his struggles with depression, substance abuse, parental alienation, and divorce. Many of his poems have appeared in several anthologies and publications including Silkworm 17 and Many Voices - One Stage. Eric’s second collection of poetry to appear in print, Memos From The Milieu (his first was Brutal Rhymes for Brutal Times) was published by Metaphysical Fox Press in July of 2025.