Kerry Zagarella is a writer, performer, activist, educator, and advocate for young children. Kerry has been involved in the greater Boston poetry scene for 40 years, and has most recently turned her attention to writing, acting and storytelling.  In addition to her poetry performances across New England and beyond, 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. Recently, Kerry won a MOTH storytelling slam, and will advanced to the finals performing at the Huntington Stage in Boston, MA. 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 annual 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 entitled: 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. 

 

Neal Zagarella  Neal Zagarella is the author of the novel On Top of Everything and the recently published collection of poems and essays Falling Asleep In America, and Liberty in Exile, published by This Works Press. A selection of his poetry and prose can be found in Madmen of Lynn from Ring of Bone Press. His works 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. Currently he resides in Ipswich