Second Tuesday Poetry with the Meter Maids

Join us this month as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the local writing group The Meter Maids, featuring members of the group reading their work. Open mic following featured readers. NOTE: 7 pm start time.

Below is a history of the Meter Maids:

What began as a sharing of poetry between two women who worked with the committee that brought the 20th Anniversary of Earth Day to Modesto in April 1990 inspired one to reach out to other friends who wrote and loved poetry.
The group gathered monthly at various homes and remained nameless for many, many years, welcoming a few men and many women into its fold. Eventually, the group evolved into an ever-changing, nurturing sisterhood, whose members have ranged in age from 16 to 80 and included two mother-daughter partners. One daughter, the 16-year-old, is grown, married and continues to meet with us from New York on Zoom with her infant son on her lap.
The structure of our monthly meetings departs from most poetry groups, which usually write independently and bring poems to be read, critiqued and enjoyed. We are not designed as a critique group, but critique does happen. We are not a therapy group, but we do support one another through our personal challenges. We share a common love of poetry and passion for writing.
Over the years the group has developed a tradition of staring each meeting with an afternoon “tea” schmooze during which members catch up with one another, share our lives, gather words or suggest prompts, then write and share. The tradition includes sharing the fun of writing and creating around such monthly prompts as fortune cookie Monday in January; hearts; MLK; dead presidents in February; Women’s History in March’ the four seasons at solstices and equinoxes; Cinco de Mayo in May, Stone Soup; pumpkins, ghosts and goblins in October; Dia de los Muertos and Thanksgiving in November; and the many, many holidays in December.
Over the past 30 years, three chap books have been published, and a 30-Year- Anniversary book featuring poetry submitted by members past and present will go to press very soon, thanks to the talented and dedicated work of one of our original founding members, Karen Baker.
We share these samplings of our poetry with gratitude for the talented community of poets both in Meter Maids and in the Modesto area. We are pleased that members who have moved away to new adventures can join our Zoom meetings during this quarantine year and beyond.
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Meeting ID: 977 8229 7419