Jack’s 103rd birthday celebration

Readers:

Cayleigh Baillargeon is a student and award-winning poet from Lowell currently pursuing degrees in American Studies and history at UMASS Lowell. Her studies inform her poetry, which often focuses on themes of social justice, colonialism, immigration, and failures of the American Dream. She spends most of her time outside of school hanging out with her loyal dog Walter and taking as many road trips to historical sites as they can fit in.

Tom Driscoll’s poetry has appeared in Scapegoat Review, The Worcester Review, Oddball Magazine, Carcosa Magazine, Decadent Review, Drawn To The Light, What Rough Beast and Moonstone Arts Center’s Poetry Ink Anthology. His poem ‘Duty Leave Home’ won the Robert P. Collén Poetry Prize in 2017. ‘Notes on Demolition’ was selected an Editor’s Choice for the Allen Ginsberg Prize and ‘This isn’t the first time’ received Third Place in The Frank O’Hara Prize —both in 2021. He has published six poetry collections, including The Champion of Doubt (2023). tomdriscollwriting.com

Meg Smith is a writer based in Lowell, Mass. She has published numerous poems, short stories, and other writings and journals, publications, and anthologies. She is the author of four poetry books. Her latest poetry book, Pretty Green Thorns, is available now. She is a longtime contributor to Lowell Celebrates Kerouac and the creator of Poe in Lowell. megsmithwriter.com

“The cause of the world’s woe is birth, the cure of the world’s woe is a bent stick.”
-Jack Kerouac from ‘The Scripture of The Golden Eternity’