30 Poems in November!

30 Poems in November! is a literary fundraiser to support Center for New Americans’ free English classes for immigrants, refugees, migrants, and asylum-seekers. Writers write a poem each day in November and encourage family and friends to sponsor them.

Our annual “Poem-a-thon,” the literary equivalent of a charity road race, raises awareness of immigrants in our community and valuable support for our free English classes. Writing poetry has become a fall tradition. Participating writers are inspired by daily prompts from our Event Chair, Sarah Sullivan. Several of our English teachers also write and raise while infusing poetry into our English classes.

We celebrate our success and honor our writers with an annual Reading & Celebration and publication of an anthology featuring their new poems.

Reading & Celebration!

We held a lovely Reading & Celebration hosted by Smith College on Thursday, December 12th. Thanks to support from Northampton Open Media, a recording will be available soon. Approximately 35 writers shared their new work to a supportive audience.

Thank you to Smith College, Northampton Open Media, Reading sponsors, Broadside Bookshop, Marisa Labozzetta and Martin Wohl, Grey Matter Books, Pioneer Valley Hotel Group, Wohl Family Dentistry.

View the Program

details for 30 poems in november 2024 reading and celebration

Here’s how the event works:

Writers write one poem a day for 30 days in November
Friends and family donate $$ for each poem ($1 x 30 poems = $30)
If you are new to this wonderful tradition, just follow the prompts!

For Writers

Create or log into your fundraising page

If you’ve forgotten your password, click “Forgot your password?”
You’ll then be directed to a fresh page, ready for you to fill out for this year’s event. Who can remember from last year?! (PS: We strongly advise setting up your page on a computer or tablet. You can do it on a phone but it will be clearer, at least for now, on a computer.)

For Friends and Supporters

Support a participating writer or make a general donation

Event Leadership

Sarah Sullivan,
Event Chair

Sarah is a medical doctor and prolific poet who holds an MFA and regularly receives awards for her poems. She has volunteered as Event Chair for many years. Sarah inspires writers with daily prompts, encourages fundraising with creative tips, and offers writing workshops to foster community. She welcomes our immigrant students and lifts up their voices.