Saranac Lake, NY – Poetry is alive and well in the Adirondack region, inspiring folks to embrace their creative sides while visiting various locations in the Adirondacks. Two such examples of artistic outlets include a recently released Poetry Machine created by those at the Adirondack Center for Writing (ACW) based in Saranac Lake. Another is ACW’s upcoming Poem Village 2023, a program in which submitted poems will be published and hung in storefront windows in Saranac Lake in mid-April, remaining up until mid-May. Poetry submissions are due by April 1. 

ACW’s Poetry Machine:

Pay attention the next time you’re in the grocery store, diner, restroom, or your local gas station… you might encounter one of ACW’s Machines. In collaboration with Visiting Writer Erin Dorney, ACW is repurposing a number of machines to distribute poems and other writing throughout the Adirondack region.

ACW’s first project is an old capsule machine, the kind you might spend two quarters to get a bouncy ball, sticky hand, or small plastic alien from in the vestibule of a convenience store. With this machine, you can get your very own poem (for free—no quarters necessary).

ACW website photo.

Where you can find the Poetry Machine:

March – Indian Lake Theater (13 W Main St, Indian Lake, NY)
April – J.F. Farm Store & Cafe (132 N Main St, Northville, NY)

Interested in hosting the Poetry Machine in your community? Fill out this form and let ACW know! ACW is always on the lookout for new North Country location suggestions.

What’s inside?

Inside the Poetry Machine are 10 different poems. Each one features a unique style of poetry, including haiku, cento, epistolary, list, ode, ekphrasis, prose poem, how-to, erasure, and cut-up. ACW is excited to feature work by the following writers:

• Julia Bloch – “Dear Kelly [p.43]”
• Erin Dorney – Erasure and cut-up poems
• Camille T. Dungy – “​​this beginning may have always meant this end”
• Ashley M. Jones – “Summer Vacation in the Subjunctive”
• Lillian Klein – “Quarantine Haiku”
• Laurie Kolp – “Carry Me”
• Steven Leyva – “Ode to Lando Calrissian”
• Kathleen Lynch – “How To Build An Owl”
• Sasha Pimentel – “The Kiss”

Adirondack Center for Writing’s new poetry machine. ACW website photo.

About the Project:

Creatives Rebuild New York (CRNY), a project of the Tides Center, is a three-year, $125 million investment in the financial stability of New York State artists and the organizations that employ them. The ACW Poetry Machines were made possible through support from CRNY’s Artist Employment Program in collaboration with Visiting Writer Erin Dorney.

Deadline: April 1, 2023

Submissions open now until April 1st, 2023. Poems will be published and hung in storefront windows in Saranac Lake in mid-April. They will remain up until mid-May. Poems will also be published digitally on the ACW website.

Rules:

• You must live at least part time in the North Country
• Your poem must not be longer than 25 lines or 300 words (whichever comes first)
• Your poem must be your original work

“Every spring in the North County, the April showers cause a variety of poems to flood into the Adirondack Center for Writing, and the deluge creates Poem Village.” — Your neighbors are poets. Maybe you are too! by Mountain Lake PBS Spotlight

Since 2016, ACW has invited writers of all ages, experience levels, and locations within the North Country to send poems to be published and installed in windows in Saranac Lake during National Poetry Month.

Poem Village is an annual, village-wide beautification project that gives writers a chance to publish their work and reach audiences of passersby, visitors, and Saranac Lake locals.

A previous Poem Village participant shows off her work. ACW website photo.

Poem Village 2022

In 2022, ACW hung nearly 300 poems in 60 windows of local businesses and organizations. Special thanks to ACW sponsors: Adirondack Health, ArtyLadyMsD, Spencer Boatworks, SL Book Nook, Geomatics Land Surveying, Play ADK, and Tell Media.

• View poems 1-99
• View poems 100-199
• View poems 200-224

Poem Village 2021

Check out almost 100 poems from 2021.