Shivering Mouse
Poetry in the Park
The Shawna Foundation Launches Poetry in the Park, a New Seasonal Poetry Series Set In Gray Rock Pocket Forest
New three-part series brings the Foundation's Shivering Mouse Poetry Salon outdoors to the Gray Rock Pocket Forest on October 25 with featured poet Joanne Johnson of Worcester
The Shawna E. Shea Memorial Foundation announces the launch of Poetry in the Park at Gray Rock, a new seasonal literary series set inside the Gray Rock Pocket Forest in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. The series opens Sunday, October 25, 2026, at 3 p.m., with featured poet Joanne Johnson of Worcester, and continues with gatherings in April and August 2027.
The spoken word events are hosted by Art DuBois, the Shawna Foundation's Program Director, and follows a format patterned after the Foundation's monthly Shivering Mouse Poetry Salon, with a featured poet, an audience Q&A with the poet, and an open mic segment that invites anyone in attendance, poet or not, to take part. All three 2026–2027 gatherings are free, open to the public, rain or shine, with no RSVP required. Attendees are asked to bring their own chairs.
"There’s something different about hearing a poem read aloud inside the Gray Rock Pocket Forest instead of a living room, a hall, or a bookstore," said Anna Chinappi, President and Founder of the Shawna E. Shea Memorial Foundation. "Our goal is to bring the spirit of our Shivering Mouse Poetry Salon outdoors, into a place our community already loves."
The inaugural season runs across three dates:
• Sunday, October 25, 2026, 3 p.m. — Gray Rock Pocket Forest. Featured poet: Joanne Johnson of Worcester.
• April 2027 — spring gathering. Date, time, and featured poet to be announced.
• August 2027 — summer gathering, closing the program year. Date, time, and featured poet to be announced.
Poetry has long treated attention to the land as a form of care rather than mere observation, a lineage running from poets Mary Oliver through Wendell Berry and Gary Snyder. Hearing a poem read aloud inside the Gray Rock Pocket Forest is a different experience than reading it on a page, and it draws out an appreciation for the land that signage alone can't capture.
The Gray Rock Pocket Forest is stewarded by the Gray Rock Pocket Forest Posse, a volunteer group the Shawna Foundation thanks for its continued care of this small but mighty gem of an historic parcel in North Uxbridge.
The Shawna E. Shea Memorial Foundation has run community and arts programming since 2012, including three film festivals that have engaged artists, writers, indie filmmakers and creatives worldwide.