The 2023 Massachusetts Poetry Festival

At this celebration, friends of Ray J. Whittier will share memories, poems, and reflection on the poet's work and influence. Ray J Whittier is an active 90-year-old poet, past Poet Laureate of Lynn, Massachusetts, veteran of readings, open mics, writing groups, workshops, classroom visits, and author of several volumes of self-published poems. A former sign painter, his work is still visible in the North Shore, including such clients as the Hawthorne Hotel, the Salem Witch Museum, and area churches. As a member of the U.S. Army, Ray witnessed first-hand the atomic bomb tests in Nevada in the 1950s, assigned to record the event in drawings now in the national archive; he has written poems about the experience also. Ray J. Whittier is a tremendous living resource for Massachusetts poets.