October 08, 2024

Maria Mazziotti Gillan Reading at Eastern Connecticut State University

A video reading by Maria Gillan Poetry as part of the
Visiting Writers Series at Eastern Connecticut State University.



Maria Mazziotti Gillan's newest poetry collection is When the Stars Were Still Visible . Other recent publications are the poetry and photography collection, Paterson Light and Shadowand the poetry collections What Blooms in Winter and The Girls in the Chartreuse Jackets, a pairing of her poems with her paintings.
Maria's artist website is MariaMazziottiGillan.com and her poetry website is MariaGillan.com.

October 01, 2024

Poetry Workshop Weekend December 2024



Maria Mazziotti Gillan will be hosting another of her very popular in-person Poetry Weekend Intensives along with poet Kevin Carey on December 13 - December 15, 2024 in Mendham, NJ.  

WRITING YOUR WAY HOME: A POETRY WEEKEND INTENSIVE is held at St Marguerite’s Retreat House, an English manor house located in Mendham, NJ. Situated on 93 acres of wooded land with pathways for exploring the property. this serene setting is perfect for nurturing the creative spirit.

The weekend begins with your arrival Friday by 5 PM giving you time to settle into your room before dinner where you will meet your hosts and fellow writers. After dinner, we will break into two groups (about 12 to 15 in each) and have our first opportunity to write and share.

Saturday, after breakfast, we will break into two groups for morning workshops. Lunch will be followed by one afternoon workshop and either free time or a critiquing session with the poet faculty. Interested participants can sign up in advance (at the retreat house) and may bring previously written, typed work for feedback. After dinner, there will be an additional workshop.

Sunday breakfast is followed by our fourth and final workshop session. A final reading by participants will serve as the “closing ceremony” to what we hope will be an inspiring and productive weekend. Lunch will offer another opportunity for socializing and networking.

Download the pdf with complete information and the registration form. Send the registration form with your check payable to Maria Gillan to 40 Post Avenue, Hawthorne, NJ 07506. Please contact Maria with any questions.



Maria Mazziotti Gillan's newest poetry collection is When the Stars Were Still Visible (2021). Other recent publications are the poetry and photography collection, Paterson Light and Shadowand the poetry collections What Blooms in Winter and The Girls in the Chartreuse Jackets, a pairing of her poems with her paintings. Maria's artist website is MariaMazziottiGillan.com and her poetry website is MariaGillan.com

Kevin Carey is Coordinator of Creative Writing at Salem State University. He has published a chapbook of fiction from Red Bird Chapbooks, The Beach People (2014) and three books of poetry, The One Fifteen to Penn Station (2012), Jesus Was a Homeboy (2016) which was an Honor book for the Paterson Literary Prize, and Set in Stone (2020) all from CavanKerry Press. Kevin is also a novelist, playwright and filmmaker. His website is kevincareywriter.com

September 03, 2024

Seton Hall' University's Poetry Collection Available for Viewing

Seton Hall University's rare book collection is a literary treasure trove that spans centuries and continents, from ancient works like a 1678 edition of Milton’s Paradise Lost to the earliest known printed books from the fifteenth century, called incunabula (published just after the invention of the printing press). And the rare book collection features prominent modernist poetry which expands its diversity. 

Maria Gillan, a prolific New Jersey poet has a featured collection at Seton Hall. An Italian American, she has mentored a generation of young poets and sends many examples of their works to share with the Seton Hall community. 

Gillan's own poetry explores cultural duality, intertwining the tapestry of her Italian heritage with contemporary English expression. One of her poems, "Public School No. 18, Paterson, New Jersey," echoes the immigrant experience, capturing the concepts of alienation and adaptation. Other poems of hers highlight universal themes of love, loss, and the passage of time.

Source shu.edu/news/seton-hall-s-rich-poetry-collection-on-view-at-walsh-library.html


Maria Mazziotti Gillan's newest poetry collection is When the Stars Were Still Visible (2021). Other recent publications are the poetry and photography collection, Paterson Light and Shadowand the poetry collections What Blooms in Winter and The Girls in the Chartreuse Jackets, a pairing of her poems with her paintings.
Maria's artist website is MariaMazziottiGillan.com and her poetry website is MariaGillan.com.

August 16, 2024

The Distinguished Poets Series 2024-2025

The new season of readings and workshops at The Poetry Center at PCCC's for 2024-2025 are now listed online. The season includes both in-person and virtual workshops and readings by a diverse group of poets including: 12/7/2024    Saida Agostini & Marie Howe, 1/18/2025    Zoom  -  Tony Medina , 2/15/2025    Zoom  - Joshua Bennett, 3/1/2025     Nicole Cooley & Meghan O’Rourke, 3/15/2025    Zoom  -  Beth Ann Fennelly and  5/3/2025  Kwame Dawes & Maya C Popa.

All readings are free and open to the public. Workshops require registration and a fee of $20. The registration form is available on the website.

This season's readings will begin on 11/2/2024 with the Publication Celebration for the new issue of the Paterson Literary Review #52.

Workshops also include the very popular Mature Poets virtual workshop series of six sessions in September and October.



Maria Mazziotti Gillan's newest poetry collection is When the Stars Were Still Visible (2021). Other recent publications are the poetry and photography collection, Paterson Light and Shadowand the poetry collections What Blooms in Winter and The Girls in the Chartreuse Jackets, a pairing of her poems with her paintings.
Maria's artist website is MariaMazziottiGillan.com and her poetry website is MariaGillan.com.

August 07, 2024

Imagining Grandparents



Charlie Brice, on Facebook, posts that "To learn about narrative, about imagery, about injecting all the senses into a poem, and to learn about generosity and love of family, I always turn to the poems of Maria Mazziotti Gillan." He selected this poem as an example.

I Dream of my Grandmother and Great-Grandmother

I imagine them walking down rocky paths
toward me, strong, Italian women returning
at dusk from fields where they worked all day
on farms built like steps up the sides
of steep mountains, graceful women carrying water
in terra cotta jugs on their heads.
What I know of these women, whom I never met,
I know from my mother, a few pictures
of my grandmother, standing at the doorway
of the fieldstone house in Santo Mauro,
the stories my mother told of them,
but I know them most of all from watching
my mother, her strong arms lifting sheets
out of the cold water in the wringer washer,
or from the way she stepped back,
wiping her hands on her homemade floursack apron,
and admired her jars of canned peaches
that glowed like amber in the dim cellar light.
I see those women in my mother
as she worked, grinning and happy,
in her garden that spilled its bounty into her arms.
She gave away baskets of peppers,
lettuce, eggplant, gave away bowls of pasts,
meatballs, zeppoli, loaves of homemade bread.
"It was a miracle," she said.
"The more I gave away, the more I had to give."
Now I see her in my daughter,
the same unending energy,
that quick mind,
that hand, open and extended to the world.
When I watch my daughter clean the kitchen counter,
watch her turn, laughing,
I remember my mother as she lay dying,
how she said of my daughter, "that Jennifer,
she's all the treasure you'll ever need."
I turn now, as my daughter turns,
and see my mother walking toward us
down crooked mountain paths,
behind her, all those women
dressed in black.

by Maria Mazziotti Gillan




Maria Mazziotti Gillan's newest poetry collection is When the Stars Were Still Visible (2021). Other recent publications are the poetry and photography collection, Paterson Light and Shadowand the poetry collections What Blooms in Winter and The Girls in the Chartreuse Jackets, a pairing of her poems with her paintings.
Maria's artist website is MariaMazziottiGillan.com and her poetry website is MariaGillan.com.