Our Readers & Writers Guild meets select months in the Preston Cutler Room at Christ Church to hear a featured reader, as well as, share open mic time and peruse attendee's books for sale. We will share potluck snacks. All are welcome! For further information, please contact Betsy Retallack.
Next meeting: 7:00 p.m. on Friday, September 19, 2025
Featured Reader: Neal and Kerry Zagarella
Kerry Zagarella is a writer, performer, activist, educator, and advocate for young children. Kerry has been involved in the greater Boston poetry scene for 50 years, and has most recently turned her attention to writing, acting and storytelling. In addition to her poetry performances across New England, Kerry was a featured performer at Boston’s First Night celebration and toured as a member of the first Boston Poetry Slam team. Kerry continues to perform original work and won the judges and audience award in the annual Full Moon Slam competition held at the Firehouse Theater in Newburyport. Kerry won a MOTH Storytelling competition and advanced to perform at the Huntington Theater in Boston. Two of Kerry’s original plays have won spots in the annual New Works Festival, also at the Firehouse in Newburyport. Kerry has organized many poetry and cultural events for the community and was the founder of the multi-media arts celebration, “Arts in the Park” held annually in Beverly, Massachusetts. Her work has been published in several magazines and collections including, “A tribute to Brother Blue” published by Yellow Moon Press and on a CD entitled, Beat Night at the Electric Café’. Her first full length novel and most recent publication is 1968 The Age of Reason (released April 2022). Kerry resides in Ipswich and enjoys writing plays and spinning Kindergarten academics into stories for her students. You can find her most current work on thisworkspress.substack.com
Neal Zagarella is the author of the novel On Top of Everything and the recently published collection of poems and essays A Child of Crane River. Two previous collections, Falling Asleep In America and Liberty in Exile are available from This Works Press. A selection of his poetry and prose can be found in Madmen of Lynn from Ring of Bone Press. His work has appeared in several other publications over the past three decades. Neal was one of the co-founders of WAIL! Magazine and the WAIL! Coffeehouse. WAIL! Magazine chronicled the North Shore literary circuit for over a decade and is part of the Peabody Essex Museum archive on local culture. Issues of WAIL! are also collected at Brown University and in the papers of W.E. Butts at Keene State University. In the 1990’s he co-founded This Magazine and open mike. Neal has performed his work across New England. He currently resides in Ipswich, MA. You can find his most current work on thisworkspress.substack.com.
Upcoming meetings: The third Friday of every other month in fall, winter, and spring. November 21, 2025; January 16, 2026; March 20, 2026, May 15, 2026