Poetry at the Manse: Trapper Markelz, Doug Holder, Alix Klingenberg
The NEPC’s 2026 season at The Old Manse in Concord, Mass., concludes on Sunday, September 27. This free reading will be held under a tent outdoors, at an accessible venue.
Make a day of it! Arrive early or linger after the reading to explore the orchard, stroll along the Concord River, or enjoy a picnic on the grounds. You can also deepen your visit by joining a guided tour of the historic house before or after the event.
Learn more and pre-register for a tour: https://thetrustees.org/place/the-old-manse/.
Trapper Markelz (he/him) writes from Arlington, Massachusetts. He is the author of the chapbooks Childproof Sky (Cherry Dress 2023) and Off To War, Daughter (Rockwood Press, 2026). His work has appeared in the journals Baltimore Review, Passengers Journal, Pine Row Press, Wild Roof Journal, The Dewdrop, and Poetry Online, among others. He is also a Board Advisory and Member News Editor of the New England Poetry Club. Learn more at trappermarkelz.com
Doug Holder is the founder of the Ibbetson Street Press. Formerly the co-president of the NEPC with Denise Provost, he now is on the Board of Directors. The “Doug Holder papers collection” resides at the University of Buffalo Libraries. For many years Holder has taught creative writing and college writing at Bunker Hill Community College and Endicott College. For 23 years he was the director of the Newton Free Library Poetry Series. He has been the arts/editor for The Somerville Times for the past 24 years, and many of his taped and video interviews with poets and writers are archived at U/Mass Boston, Harvard University, and elsewhere. His own work has been published in Rattle, the Worcester Review, Lowell Review, South Florida Poetry Journal, Toronto Quarterly, the Boston Globe, The Cafe Review, and many others. He now resides in Revere, Mass., with his cat Klezmer.
Alix Klingenberg is a poet and essayist whose work explores animism, desire, theological complexity, and creativity as a spiritual practice. She is the author of four poetry collections: Secrets & Stars, Bread Sex Trees, Hermit Season, and Quietly Wild (Mandala Earth Publishing, 2025), a gathering of poems, photographs, and rituals attuned to the turning year.
Her work has appeared in literary journals and anthologies, and she serves as Managing Poetry Editor at Phil Lit Journal. Alix studied visual art at Oberlin College before earning a Master of Divinity from Meadville Lombard Theological School. She teaches workshops and leads creative retreats through Earth & Verse, her Substack publication. She lives in Melrose with her family and a small, opinionated band of animals.