Dozens get in the rhythm for state's 1st poetry fest

LOWELL - To Susan Roney-O'Brien, poetry is a rock-solid constant in an otherwise unpredictable life.

"Poetry is so important, especially during times of economic stress," said Roney-O'Brien, 60, of Princeton. "It's the one thing you can count on. The words aren't going to change on the page."

Her belief in the importance of poetry was shared by many yesterday as dozens of poets and poetry aficionados gathered for the first Massachusetts Poetry Festival.

Thirty-seven programs were scheduled for the three-day festival, which ends this afternoon. The 92 poets and performers who participated hailed from throughout the state and ranged from 16-year-old high-schoolers to a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor.

"It's taken a lot of work," said LZ Nunn, Lowell's cultural affairs and special events director and one of the festival's organizers.

"We've been working on it nonstop for about six months with our 36 partner institutions across Lowell and through poetry networks around the state, including colleges and universities," said Nunn, who is a poet.

The event also featured readings by poets including Robert Pinsky and Martin Espada. Lowell was chosen partially because of the recent 50th anniversary of the publication of city native Jack Kerouac's "On the Road."

"It's incredible, just incredible. I hope it goes every year," said Eve Rifkah, the artistic director for the Worcester-based nonprofit Poetry Oasis, who organized and moderated a reading titled, "Poetry From the Heart of the Commonwealth: Readings by Worcester County Poets."

Roney-O'Brien, a middle school English teacher at the Thomas Prince School in Princeton, was one of the four Worcester-area poets who were featured. She read several of her poems, including a moving tribute to one of her students, 14-year-old Ali Pierce, who died of liver cancer in November 2006.

In a soft voice, the teacher spoke of "a lost student, a girl with night-sky eyes."

The audience of about 20 listened attentively with an occasional gasp and sigh. They applauded loudly after she was done.

The poet said she was heartbroken about the tragedy, which was compounded when the girl's father, John, died about a year later while running a half-marathon to raise money for pediatric cancer care and research.

Roney-O'Brien said she drew continuing inspiration from her students and other young writers.

"My students are such good writers," she said. "So many young people are; it's just that they're not discovered. You have to discover them early so that they can think of themselves as writers."

The final two events take place today. They are a free Jack Kerouac-themed walking tour of Lowell that starts at 11 a.m. at the library, and a forum on poetry's ties to culture from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Lowell National Historic Park Visitor Center Theater on Market Street.

John M. Guilfoil can be reached at jguilfoil@globe.com.

Correction: Because of a reporting error, a story in Sunday's City & Region section about the Massachusetts Poetry Festival in Lowell misstated when Ali Pierce died. The 14-year-old student, who inspired a poem that was written by her teacher, died in 1996.