The Westcott Neighborhood Association (WNA) hopes to continue its summer poetry reading series – part of our successful cultural series Westcott Words & Music, for third year. organized by our Judson street neighbor and Onondaga County Poet Laureate Georgia Popoff, the series has featured 18 scheduled poets reading their work, as well as many “volunteers” participating in each session’s “Open Mike” segment.
This year WNA is applying for support from TNT (tomorrow’s Neighborhoods Today). The proposal will be voted on at the Eastside TNT meeting, along with other Eastside organization proposals, at the public (on Google Meet) meeting on Tuesday, February 16th, at 6:30 p.m. WNA urges all our members, and all residents of the Eastside to show up and vote in support. In every case, we recommend coming to TNT monthly meetings for important local information and discussion.
Here is the meeting agenda and link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1M_zwM2VzpEkPZ2V8nbir9hixvBUsLdo_m52_so6lssY/edit?tab=t.0
For the past two years WNA has organized a year-long series of cultural events featuring local artists, writers, and performers in local venues under the series title “Westcott Words & Music: Local Artists in Local Venues.” The signature events of the series are Westcott Remembers (a
community commemorative event, this year scheduled for May 31), Summer Poetry Readings by local writers (this year June 29, July 27, and Aug 31); the Halloween Dog Parade with music (this year Oct 26), and Pop-up Music Events at local venues.
In 2023 and 2024 all the events of the series were substantially and generously supported with funding from CNYArts, with grants of $5,000 (2023) and $3,500 (2024). WNA dispersed the entirety of these grants to local artists, writers and performers. We are continuing the programs in 2025, but CNYArts funding has been cut to $900, which we are applying to a single event (the Halloween Dog Parade), while we look for support for individual events from other sources.
We are asking TNT to support a third year of Summer Poetry Readings at Mom’s Diner. These readings are organized by our neighbor and Onondaga County Poet Laureate Georgia Popoff. To date, we have had two years of three reading sessions each summer, for a total of 18 invited poets, plus Georgia reading, and probably an equal number of poets utilizing our Open Mike.
WNA has requested $1,500 to continue our summer poetry readings at Mom’s Diner with sessions in the afternoon of the last Sunday of each summer month. Georgia Popoff will select and invite the poets, begin each session with a poem of her own, and then introduce each poet who will read. Afterward, we have an Open Mike in which other writers are encouraged to present up to two poems each. WNA pays honoraria to all featured writers who read.
If we do not get TNT support, we will seek out private donations, but may have to cut the number of readings, the number of poets, or the amount we pay writers to read.
This year, as a related project, but not part of this request, WNA is exploring the publication of a book of poems featuring three years of series participants.