Red Letter LIVE! Poetry Reading – 7th Annual Event
Join us for the 7th annual Red Letter LIVE! poetry reading, presented by the Arlington Center for the Arts as part of Arlington Open Studios.
This special afternoon will feature poetry readings by three distinguished poets with strong connections to the New England Poetry Club: Patrick Sylvain, Mary Buchinger, and Steven Ratiner.
Hosted by Arlington Poet Laureate Emeriti Steven Ratiner and Jean Flanagan, the event will begin with a musical performance, followed by readings from the featured poets.
Featured Poets
Mary Buchinger
Mary Buchinger is the author of eight poetry collections, including There Is Only the Sacred and the Desecrated, which received the Paul Nemser Book Prize Honorable Mention, and Navigating the Reach, which won honors from the 2024 Massachusetts Book Awards. Her work has appeared in scores of fine journals including: AGNI, Ibbetson, Ilanot Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, On the Seawall, Plume, and others. A former president of the venerable New England Poetry Club, she is a member of Slate Roof Press and a professor of English and communication studies at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Boston. Early on, Buchinger was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador and earned a doctorate in linguistics from Boston University. She lives in Cambridge with her husband, dog, and two tuxedo cats.
Patrick Sylvain
Patrick Sylvain is a Haitian-American educator, poet, writer, social and literary critic, and translator whose work explores Haiti and the Haitian diaspora’s culture, politics, language, and religion. The author of Fire on the Tongue (Arrowsmith Press), Habits of Light (Finishing Line Press), and Underworlds (Central Square Press). Forthcoming works in 2026 and 2027 include: poetry collections from Central Square Press (Unfinished Dreams / Rèv San Bout), and an academic book from Bloomsbury Academic (Five Drum Majors of Haitian Poetry: Literary and Historical Consciousness). Sylvain holds degrees from UMass-Boston, Harvard, Boston University, and Brandeis University, where he was the Shirle Dorothy Robbins Creative Writing Prize Fellow. He’s now an Associate Professor in the Department of Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies, and Director of the minor in Human Rights at UMass Boston.
Steven Ratiner
Steven Ratiner is the author of Grief’s Apostrophe, published by Beltway Editions in 2025, as well as three poetry chapbooks and a collection of poetry interviews. His work has appeared in scores of journals in America and abroad, and has been translated into Mandarin, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Hebrew. He’s also written poetry criticism for The Christian Science Monitor, The San Francisco Chronicle, and The Washington Post. Giving Their Word––Conversations with Contemporary Poets was reissued in a paperback edition (University of Massachusetts Press). He is Poet Laureate Emeritus for Arlington, Massachusetts, and was elected as President of the New England Poetry Club, one of the oldest literary associations in America. His weekly Red Letter Poems features a diverse range of poets, from up-and-coming talents to some of the most important voices in contemporary poetry (stevenratiner.com).
Reception Following the Reading
Following the readings, everyone is invited to a reception at 990 Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington. Enjoy good food, drinks, and conversation with the poets and fellow poetry lovers.
Event Details
- Date: Saturday, November 7, 2026
- Time: 12:45–2:30 PM
- Location: Robbins Library, Community Room, 700 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, MA
- Admission: Free and open to the public
- Accessibility: Accessible venue
- Parking: Two nearby public parking lots and street parking
For additional information, visit Arlington Center for the Arts.
All are welcome!