Boston Poet Laureate D**anielle Legros Georges** is tasked with raising the status of poetry in the everyday consciousness of Bostonians, acting as an advocate for poetry, language, and the arts. Hear her and **Carpenter Poets Joe Bergin and Bill Thibodeau** entertain with poetry. You won’t be sorry. Danielle's poems have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies and even in her own book, _Maroon_. She has also received awards for her work such as a recent Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship in Poetry. Bergin has been cited for his poetry by Mayor Menino, and Bill has appeared on PBS and The Poetry Channel. His poems are part of the high school curriculum in Quincy.
Danielle Legros Georges is Boston's Poet Laureate. She was born in Haiti but grew up in Boston's Haitian community in Mattapan. She has been teaching in Lesley University's Creative Arts in Learning Division since 2001. Her recent literary awards include the 2014 Massachusetts Cultural Council Artist Fellowship in Poetry, the 2012 Massachusetts Cultural Council Finalist in Poetry, Lesley University Faculty Development Grants, and a 2013 Black Metropolis Research Consortium Fellowship/Andrew W. Mellon Grant. She’s quoted on the website as saying, “America is best when it recognizes its inherent plurality. Americans are best when, embracing plurality, we move toward and seek to understand those around us. Americans are best when we are engaged and dialogic . . . . It allows us to see that, though different in many ways, de Crèvecoeur, Wheatley, and Lazarus, were each immigrants or the daughter of immigrants. They were bicultural, and bilingual, if not speakers of several languages.”
Joe Bergin is a founding member of the Carpenter Poets of Jamaica Plain.
Bill Thibodeau is the author of a collection of poetry: American Icon and Other Poems. He is a member of the Carpenter Poets of Jamaica Plain: a group of men and women who gather after work once a week at a local pub to share their poetry about their trade and other matters. Bill, along with his fellow carpenter poets, has been featured on PBS, The Hallmark Channel, and in the Boston Globe. As a carpenter, Bill is in demand around Boston's neighborhoods: The South End, Bay Village, Beacon Hill, and the Back Bay where historical accuracy and quality work are equally important.