by Margaret Smith, Worcester Magazine
Published 5:12 a.m., ET March 5, 2025
Spring is in the air, and that means baseball, and only, poetry about baseball.
Organizers of the National Baseball Poetry Festival announced the festival’s third season with two national poetry contests, the first for grades 4 through 12, and the second for adults 18 and over.
The adult contest deadline is March 28, and the youth contest deadline is April 16.
The festival takes place May 2-4 at Polar Park in Worcester, with events at several venues, including Electric Haze and the Pop-Up at the Jean McDonough Arts Center.
‘A great honor’
Festivities will include a welcome reception, a youth poetry event, an open mic night, two Triple-A baseball games, a fireworks display, and other activities. Prizes will be awarded to 80 poets, 20 in each of the following categories: elementary school, middle school, high school and adult.
In 2024, a poem written by Karen Warinsky, Woodstock poet, and coordinator of Poets at Large, an area spoken word performance group, was one of 20 from throughout the nation chosen for recognition.
“It was a great honor to have my poem, ‘Little League Moms,’ selected for recognition at the 2024 festival, and a wonderful experience to be on hand in Worcester for all the festivities,” Warinsky said in the press release. “I would encourage student and adult poets throughout Windham County (Connecticut) to submit a poem, and hopefully join us at Polar Park in Worcester in May.”
According to festival founder Steven Biondolillo, the National Baseball Poetry Festival is the first-ever festival to unite sports and the fine arts.
Teachers interested in encouraging students to apply can visit BaseballPoetryFest.org, where a complete lesson plan and contest form can be found.
‘A home run for the city’
The festival website features a schedule of activities, videos, and a list of poets expected to attend and perform at the festival’s open mic night. “Please reach out to me directly for more information,” encourages Warinsky. “I’m happy to be helping with this year’s festival, and can be reached at karen.warinsky@gmail.com.”
The National Baseball Poetry Festival is a project of the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce and Biondolillo Associates LLC. Worcester — the birthplace of Ernest Thayer, author of “Casey at the Bat” — is the Festival’s permanent home and early-May — which follows National Poetry Month — its strategic place in the calendar.
Ahead of the first festival in 2023, Charisse Martinez, director of sales for Discover Central Massachusetts, said, “We knew right off the bat it would be a home run for our city.” Martinez added, “The festival is going to bring many visitors to our region.”
