The Changing of the Bard: Brookline Poets Laureate celebrate Allison Adair

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Allison Adair’s debut poetry collection, The Clearing, was selected by Henri Cole for Milkweed’s Max Ritvo Poetry Prize and was named a New York Times “New and Noteworthy” book. Allison’s poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Arts & Letters, Best American Poetry, Kenyon Review, Waxwing, and ZYZZYVA; and have been honored with the Pushcart Prize, the Florida Review Editors’ Award, and the Orlando Prize. Originally from central Pennsylvania, Allison teaches at Boston College and Grub Street. Find out more about Allison's book here.

Jennifer Barber’s most recent collection is The Sliding Boat Our Bodies Made, available from The Word Works and the following bookstores: Brookline Booksmith, Grolier Bookshop, Harvard Bookstore, and Newtonville Books. The anthology she co-edited with Jessica Greenbaum and Fred Marchant, Tree Lines: 21st century American poems, may be ordered from Grayson Books; it’s also available at Brookline Booksmith, Newtonville Books, Grolier, and the Trident Bookstore Cafe. Barber is the author of Works on Paper (winner of the 2015 Tenth Gate Prize, published by The Word Works, 2016); Given Away (Kore Press, 2012); and Rigging the Wind, winner of the 2002 Kore Press First Book Prize, published by Kore Press, 2003). Her collection Given Away was translated into French by poet and translator Emmanuel Merle, and published as Délivrances by La rumeur libre editions in France in 2018. She served as the poet laureate of Brookline, MA, for the term between 2021 and 2025. Find more here.

Judith Steinbergh, poet, teacher, and scholar, has worked as poet-in-the-schools since 1971, teaching students of all ages and providing Professional Development throughout Eastern Massachusetts. Judith was Poet-in-Residence in the Brookline Schools from 1986 to 1992 rotating through all grades K-12 and all Brookline schools, leading poetry workshops, partnering with teachers, creating curriculum, and co-coordinating readings and poetry anthologies. She also taught part-time at Driscoll School between 1985 and 2006 and continues to lead poetry workshops at several Brookline schools. Judith has published a book of poems for children, Marshmallow Worlds, with Cary Wolinsky, books of poems for adults: Motherwriter; A Living Anytime; and Writing My Will; three textbooks on teaching poetry writing to children: Beyond Words: Writing Poems with Children (co-authored with Elizabeth McKim); Reading and Writing Poetry, Grades K-4 (Scholastic Books); and Reading and Writing Poetry with Teenagers (co-authored with Fredric Lown). Judith Steinbergh was selected as Brookline’s first Poet Laureate for a term of two years in April 2012.

Jan Schreiber was born in 1941 and grew up in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. He received his BA at Stanford University, his MA at the University of Toronto, and his PhD in English literature at Brandeis University, where he studied with J. V. Cunningham. Schreiber is the author of five books of poetry: Bay Leaves (Kelsay Books, 2019); Peccadilloes (White Violet Press, 2013); Bell Buoys (Aliquando Press, 1998); Wily Apparitions (Cummington Press, 1992); and Digressions (Aliquando Press, 1970). He is also the author of two books on poetry criticism: Breath Lines: How Poems Work and Why They Matter (LSU Press, 2025) and Sparring with the Sun: Poets and the Ways We Think About Poetry in the Late Days of Modernism (Antilever Press, 2014). Find more here.

Zvi A. Sesling was the third Poet Laureate of Brookline, MA and a prize winning poet. He has been published widely in print and online nationally and internationally. Sesling is Editor of Muddy River Poetry Review, publishes Muddy River Books and reviews for the Boston Small Press and Poetry Scene. He has been a featured reader in various venues in the Boston area and San Diego, as well as on local cable television and radio stations. Sesling has been a featured reader at the Boston National Poetry Festival and the Massachusetts Poetry Festival. His poems have been featured at the Spring Rain Festival on the island of Cyprus, and the Somerville, MA “Arts at the Armory”. Sesling has been nominated four times for a Pushcart Prize and was awarded First Prize in the Rueben Rose International Poetry Competition. He is author of three volumes of poetry, The Lynching of Leo Frank (Big Table Publishing Co, 2017), Fire Tongue (Cervena Barva Press, 2016), and King of the Jungle, (Ibbetson St. Press, 2010) as well as two chapbooks Love Poems From Hell (Flutter Press, 2017) and Across Stones of Bad Dreams (Cervena Barva Press, 2011). He has taught at Suffolk University, Emerson College and Boston University. He lives in Brookline MA with his wife Susan J. Dechter.

Brookline Booksmith, thriving in the heart of Coolidge Corner in Brookline, Massachusetts, since 1961, is one of New England’s premier independent bookstores. We offer a vast selection of books, ranging from current bestsellers to the most eclectic titles. We are also known for our beautiful and inspired gifts. Customers buy and sell gently used books in our treasured Used Book Cellar and enjoy our bountiful bargain book selection. We host award-winning events series (including our groundbreaking Transnational Literature Series), offering more than 300 author talks, community conversations, and book clubs annually. Find more at brooklinebooksmith.com!

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Brookline Booksmith, 279 Harvard Street, Brookline, United States